34 replies to this topic

[Starscream]

Link below is in Japanese but the specs are very readable. I know Sony is mostly hype, but in any case this thing is will kick serious ass. If it's affordable, Nintendo better get serious real quick or get beat at their own game again.



http://www.zdnet.co..../29/news08.html

[Yar]

I know this has been said before, but this could be a major threat to Nintendo's handheld empire.


Oh, and Dancing Grimlock is the best thing. Ever. Out of everything in the world, it's the best.

[chrisbid]

wooo hoo, a portable FMV player

[Jasoco]

Well... looks like it's gonna be a fun show.

THe handheld market is the only thing Nintendo still really has left. THeir Game Cube isn't doping what they hoped. And now someone wants to take the handheld crown too. And it's SONY again. Nintendo.. see what you got yourself into?

[Makes popcorn]

[chrisbid]

this is sad, becuase as ive said before, the death of the GBA will be the final nail in the coffin for 2D gaming.

[figgler]

I don't think we need worry just yet about GameBoy's death.

EVERY single kid it seems has one. This new PSP is clearly not intended for kiddies and such. As this thread demonstrates, it's aimed at techie geeks and people looking for "the walkman of the future" as Sony puts it.

Give me and all those kids on the playground pure gaming anyday and the rest of ya'll can go wireless 3D FMV Optical Disc till it hurts.

GBA will live!

[Jasoco]

As I said.. wait, no I didn't.

Anyway, it's gotta die anyway. Why not now?

Edit: Actually, Sony has strictly said the PSP will not be meant for rugged play. It is really more intended for older gamers. But what's gonna stop kids from getting them anyway? And breaking it the first time they drop it.

[liquid_sky]

In the PlayStation Meeting 2003, Sony Computer Entertainment revealed details and specifications for its upcoming handheld, the PSP. SCE described the PSP as the "21st-century Walkman," showing confidence in the company's upcoming product, which utilizes a number of high-end components. The PSP will consist of two microprocessors, an advanced sound engine, a 3D graphics engine, a 4.5-inch 16:9-format TFT LCD screen, and a number of connection capabilities.

The PSP will run under two 32-bit MIPS R4000 microprocessors, described by SCE president Ken Kutaragi as each having 10 times the clock speed of the PlayStation?s CPU and the same amount of power as the PlayStation 2's CPU. One of the microprocessors will be used as the CPU, and the other will be utilized as an engine dedicated to handling media such as movies and music with its own 2MB of memory. Although the PSP's main memory will be 8MB, Kutaragi commented that it is an extraordinary volume for a handheld game console. In general, all the components used in the PSP are designed for low energy consumption since it is a portable device, and the microprocessors feature a low-voltage (1.2V) design.

The GPU (graphics processor unit) will work as both a 3D rendering engine and a surface drawing engine. Morphing, tessellation, and other rendering abilities are supported by hardware to reduce the loads on programs. The GPU will come with 2MB of VRAM and a bus with a 5.3gbps transfer rate. In theory, the PSP will be able to handle a maximum of 33 million polygons a second. In terms of sound, the PSP will feature 3D sound and 7.1 channels, adopting the use of a digital signal processor named the VME (Virtual Mobile Engine). The VME is a technology developed by Sony for use in its portable MD and MP3 players, and it allows sounds to be processed with less energy consumption compared with traditional DSPs (digital sound processors). As firmware, the VME can be updated to the latest instruction codes when required. The PSP's VME will also allow playback of MP3-, AAC-, and ATRAC3-format music under SCE's current plans.

The control buttons for the PSP are similar to the PlayStation joypad--there will be circle, cross, triangle, square, R1, L1, start, and select buttons, as well as a directional pad and an analog stick. As revealed in prior announcements, the PSP will read proprietary 60mm wide optical disks named UMDs (universal media discs) that can hold up to 1.8GB. The PSP will support advanced-video-coding-format MPEG4s that have high compression rates, and one UMD can contain up to two hours of DVD-quality video. There will be an advanced encryption technology used on the PSP for the copy protection of software as well. In terms of communication, the PSP will come equipped with 802.11-standard LAN, IrDA, and USB 2.0. 802.11-standard LAN is a wireless LAN specification that can communicate in a 100-meter range with a transfer rate of up to 2mbps, and IrDA is a standard for infrared wireless communication.

To promote early development of games, SCE plans to distribute development kits for the PC that will emulate the PSP at about a 10th of its actual speed. A more complete hardware-based developer kit will be released in spring 2004. SCE aims to make programming software for the PSP as easy to develop as the original PlayStation, and provide programmers with a number of libraries and middleware to support development.

The prototype of the PSP and several game titles are scheduled to be revealed at E3 2004, followed by a display of games at the Tokyo Game Show 2004 and the release of the handheld in the last fiscal quarter of 2004. No price was revealed for the PSP in today's announcements.

PSP Specifications:

PSP CPU Core

MIPS R4000 32-bit core
128-bit bus
333MHz
8MB eDRAM main memory
2.6Gbps bus transfer rate
FPU, VFPU (2.6 billion flops)
3D graphics extended instructions
1.2V


PSP Media Engine

MIPS R4000 32-bit core 128-bit bus
2MB eDRAM submemory
90nm CMOS manufacturing process
1.2V


PSP Graphics Core

2MB VRAM
5.3Gbps bus transfer rate
3D curved surface and 3D polygon engine
Support for compressed textures, hardware clipping, morphing, bone, tessellation, bezier, b-spline (NURBS)


Sound Core

VME (Virtual Mobile Engine)
Reconfigurable DSP engine
166MHz
128-bit bus
5 billion operations per second
CODEC capabilities
3D sound, 7.1 channels
Synthesizer, effecter, and other abilities
ATRAC3 plus, AAC, MP3 for audio
1.2V


Media

UMD (Universal Media Disc)
60mm-diameter disc
660nm laser diode
1.8GB capacity (dual-layered disc)
11Mbps transfer rate
AES crypto system
Unique disc ID
Shock proof


Other Specifications

16:9-format widescreen TFT LCD (480x272 pixels, 24-bit full color)
MPEG4 AVC decoder
Wireless LAN (802.11)
IrDA (Infrared Data Association)
USB 2.0
Memory Stick
AV in/out
Lithium ion battery

[figgler]

Cut and Paste?

[figgler]

Cut and Paste anyone?

Big deal anyway.

Don't believe the hype

[figgler]

Cut and Paste anyone?

Big deal anyway.

Don't believe the hype

[King Atari]

I'm betting Nintendo will counter, since this seems to be the area they still have a stronghold on, I doubt they'll want to let go of it that easily.

I'm glad to here they're not taking the same route as Sega, just read in Game Informer that they intend to release their next console around the release of the PS3.

[figgler]

Sorry my computer froze up there or something.

Besides, 3rd time's a charm right?

[Jasoco]

Good job, Mr. Triple Poster.

The specs don't impress me. I dopn't even like portables much. At least not lately. Though, if I had a portable NES and I mean actual NES or SNES or even N64 that could play the actual cartridges, I'm there. If I had money to pay that guy at that site that makes those things, I would.

I guess it just comes down to most games on the GBA these days are just remakes of older games and they aren't ported all that well actually. (Mainly because of Nintendo's huge oversight in leaving off two buttons and making the resolution smaller than a TV. GOOD GOING, NINTENDO!)

Yep. I like the classic originals. The smaller versions don't cut it.

Unless the PSP blows me away. It would be better if it played actual PSX games at least. And I mean the actual things. Not repackaged versions.

[AtariYoungin]

http://www.lik-sang....roducts_id=170

Little thing called the Game-Axe, plays full NES carts. They're out of em right now, but supposed to be a great product.

[Jasoco]

Yes. I've heard of those. I've also heard how horribly made they are. But it's a start.

[chrisbid]

the game axe is a piece of shit

the screen is dim and blurry, and it does not play NES carts, it plays famicom carts. an adapter is included, but its just a naked circuit board, if you use it, there is no way to attach an NES cart to the system, and consequently the cart just hangs there, and the machine frequently crashes.

[liquid_sky]

Quote

Cut and Paste?

nope, english.. because if i would have cut and pasted starscreams link you would have been confused

[Jasoco]

Exactly. If I'm gonna spend that much, I'd rather just fix the NES I have and forget about portable. Or make my own quasi-portable.

Besides, I'd rather have a SNES portable with a NES converter. Best of both worlds. Or an N64 portable. Mmm.. Portable Mario 64. Or even ther ORIGINAL PSP.

[Ze_ro]

Man, the hype sure is piling up for this thing... 5 years from now when it comes out at a price of $600 and a 2 hour battery life, maybe it'll get some marketshare, but since 99% of people will have a GBA by then, who knows?

Personally, I'd love to see Nintendo release a portable GameCube... it would be easily powerful enough to compete with this machine, it would have an existing base of games, and it's already pretty small, so more miniaturization probably wouldn't be all that difficult. Don't count Nintendo out yet.

However, I'm starting to wonder if complex handhelds like this will actually work out well... having junk like memory cards and wireless ethernet might just make things too complex for kids, and too expensive for parents.

--Zero

[AtariYoungin]

didn't know the gameaxe was that baddly made, heard from one friend that he liked it. *shrug* to each their own.

[Jasoco]

Is the Game Cube circuitry crammed in the case? What does it look like inside? Anyone have a GCN Take-apart manual with pictures? I'm curious to see how small it could be made. And if some unusable parts could be dropped, like whatever controls the Serial ports on the bottom, it could be smaller still.

[JB]

I, too, have heard the GameAxe actualy works rather well.


Regarding the PSP...
The thing's a joke. It's a mish-mash of diffrent tech levels(a high-end graphics chipset coupled with a low-res screen and only 2 meg of video RAM?) with no real focus other than creating as many buzzwords as possible.


Ona sad note...
Sony claims the R4000 is as powerful as the PS2's Emotion Engine.
The R4000 is approaching a decade old. The Emotion Engine is brand-spanking-new tech.
Sony's engineers must REALLY suck.

[Starscream]

Jasoco said:

Is the Game Cube circuitry crammed in the case? What does it look like inside? Anyone have a GCN Take-apart manual with pictures? I'm curious to see how small it could be made. And if some unusable parts could be dropped, like whatever controls the Serial ports on the bottom, it could be smaller still.

Here ya go. found this a few days ago. Nintendo fans PLEASE don't click on this link. You will see the insides of a GC.....more or less. it's a long clip and I didn't find it entertaining.

http://mywebpages.co...ga/cubegone.wmv

[Jasoco]

Starscream said:

Jasoco said:

Is the Game Cube circuitry crammed in the case? What does it look like inside? Anyone have a GCN Take-apart manual with pictures? I'm curious to see how small it could be made. And if some unusable parts could be dropped, like whatever controls the Serial ports on the bottom, it could be smaller still.

Here ya go. found this a few days ago. Nintendo fans PLEASE don't click on this link. You will see the insides of a GC.....more or less

http://mywebpages.co...ga/cubegone.wmv

God DAMN YOU MICROSOFT. Why the fuck did they create a format with so many non-standard codecs?

If you haven't figured it out, none of the three WMV players I have will play this.

Anyone have a converted file? One in a file format that doesn't suck? Which actually leaves only QuickTime. But I'll take Real if I have to.

Or at least a link to pics? I don't have the time, screwdriver or heart to open my own.

Edit: I watched the video. It didn't give me any good idea. It sucked. They just smashed it. How can I tell what's inside? I need pics! I'd rather not get hands-on with mine yet until it's been used a while longer.