PSP - Timeline
Wednesday9th Feb 2011
Feature Competition: We've Got Ten Copies Of Blimp: The Flying Adventures To Give Away!
To celebrate the permanent price reduction of Grip Games' PlayStation Mini, Blimp: The Flying Adventures, we've got ten copies of the surprisingly addictive blimp-em-up to give away
We described the game — which is now available for $1.99 / 1.99 from the PlayStation Store — as "a fun little Mini, built around a strong physics driven...
News PlayStation Network Sales Surge By 40%, PlayStation Plus Subscriptions Exceed 100k
Perhaps the most overlooked area of the PlayStation business is the ever-expanding PlayStation Network
Since the PS3 launched we've really watched Sony expand the digital-content service into a fundamental component of the platform, an area they lagged behind Microsoft going into this console generation. With that in mind, digital analysts conclude...
News Japanese Gamers Really, Really Want Sony's NGP
If the PSP is a muted success globally, it's a rip-roaring Goliath in Japan
Sony's first portable gaming system is frequently the most purchased gaming system in Japan, despite waning support worldwide. So it's little surprise Japanese gamers are hyped for the console's successor. In a reader poll published in the latest issue of Famitsu magazine,...
Listen to the games media and you'll hear one converging opinion: "People are done with playing actual games on the go and would rather fiddle about with birds on their iPhone
" It's an endorsement we're not sure we agree with. Clearly there are lots of people happy enough with their smartphone gaming applications, but they also belong to the...
Tuesday8th Feb 2011
News Yes SEGA, We Would Love Virtua Tennis On The NGP Please!
SEGA's told Eurogamer that while there are no plans for a Virtua Tennis game on NGP right now, "if people want it then we'll obviously answer wishes"
Ok, here we go: please, please, please SEGA, we'd love Virtua Tennis on NGP. "They should write on forums and elsewhere on the internet that they want it." Virtua Tennis: World Tour was a...
Monday7th Feb 2011
News AvP Developer Rebellion Get Down And Dirty With Sony's NGP
A Develop report states that British outfit Rebellion -- the guys behind the infinitely popular Aliens Vs
Predator — are actively involved with Sony's new NGP handheld platform. The report notes that the studio has successfully reworked its Asura Engine to take advantage of Sony's portable "in preparation for a new series of internally-built...
UK Charts Dead Space 2 Keeps The Jump Scares Up Top
There's a lot of movers and shakers in this week's UK sales charts, but nothing really of notable discussion
Dead Space 2's continued its reign aloft the UK sales charts for a second consecutive week, beating out the usual convoy of FIFA 11, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood and Call Of Duty: Black Ops. Media Molecule's LittleBigPlanet 2 has kept its...
There's no better platform for promoting a product in North America than the Superbowl
We don't know what it's like in other parts of the world, but here in Britain most people hit the channel changing button when the commercials start up. Judging by years of online anecdotal evidence, that's when Americans start to take interest in the Superbowl...
Friday4th Feb 2011
News EEDAR Suspects NGP Will "Handsomely Surpass Sales Of" PSP
Now Sony's Next Generation Portable has been announced, the question on most people's lips is "price, price, price"
Analyst group EEDAR predicts that the system will cost "between $299 to $349" for the Wi-Fi only model, adding that it will "not exceed $399 in the United States". The firm furthers that some regions may not see the...
Thursday3rd Feb 2011
News Leaking Like A Burst Pipe: Xperia Play Commercials & Demo Booths Hit The 'Net
Sony's well known for suffering some infamous leaks, but the Xperia Play (or "PlayStation Phone") is in a whole different league
The device has yet to be announced, but we still know pretty much everything about it. Now we have a commercial courtesy of Norwegian site, Droidnytt. The advert, posted here on Youtube, shows the Android mascot being...
News PlayStation 3 Sales Rise To 47.9 Million, Within Touching Distance Of XBOX 360
Look, fanboys hat off, we've all known that unless Microsoft's Kinect was a global cultural phenomenon, PlayStation 3 was always going to overtake the XBOX 360 in worldwide sales at one point
While Kinect's success is constantly being rammed down our throats by the American press, we're just not seeing the same story in Britain. Has Kinect flopped?...
Wednesday2nd Feb 2011
News Kaz Hirai: Sony Aiming To Match And Exceed PSP's Install-Base With NGP
The PlayStation Blog's put up an interview with Sony Computer Entertainment president Kaz Hirai regarding the NGP
While the interview is naturally light on new details, a tired looking Kaz does discuss some of the reasoning behind the handheld's January announcement (nothing to do with 3DS, honest), as well as talking about Sony's success barometer...
News North America Can, Ahem, Get To Grips With Aya Brea From March 29th
Parasite Eve is back
(Sort of.) Square Enix has readily slapped a March 29th release date on Square Enix's PE spin-off, The 3rd Birthday. Bizarrely, the game will only release on UMD, with "no plans" for a digital version. We don't get it. What's the disadvantage of releasing the game on UMD and the PlayStation Store? Weird. In addition to...
Tuesday1st Feb 2011
News With This Next Generation Portable Footage We'd Like To Launch A Public Appeal
You can sell anything with quick cuts and a catchy chorus, but thankfully the Next Generation Portable looks like it's actually going to be pretty rad
Still, we're not here to talk about how good Uncharted NGP looks and how excited we are for a new Wipeout. We're here to launch a worldwide public appeal. What is the name of that song? We've tried...
News Square Enix Reveal The 3rd Birthday's Pretty Awesome Looking Twisted Edition
Square Enix has formally revealed the Twisted Edition of upcoming PSP shooter, The 3rd Birthday
The Europe-only (for now) package includes a number of premium items, all of which focusing on the game's, err, lovely protagonist Aya Brea. There's an artbook, lithographs and more. It sounds like all UMD copies of The 3rd Birthday will ship as the...
Naughty Dog's reassured fans that they are set to work hard with developers Sony Bend to ensure Uncharted NGP is a "great addition to the franchise"
Speaking at London's PlayStation Experience event, Naughty Dog revealed they are collaborating with Sony Bend to make sure the game lives up to the quality of the series. "We're not actually...
News Sony Cool With Expanding PlayStation Suite To Other Platforms, Focusing On Android For Now
While Sony's PlayStation Suite will have humble beginnings as a PSone emulation service for Android devices, Sony's clearly aiming bigger with their mobile gaming initiative
We already know Sony plans to extend the service with new bite-sized content, but it sounds like the platform holder's also keen to bring the program to as many platforms as...
Monday31st Jan 2011
News Hirai: NGP Is Still In Prototype Phase, Price & Battery Details To Come
Sony Computer Entertainment's top-bod Kaz Hirai has said that details on NGP's price and battery have not yet been disclosed as the system is still in a prototype phase
Kaz did stress however, that Sony are aiming for targets that "should please consumers" either way. While price details are completely up in the air (analysts are guessing...
News Original PSP UMDs Could Be Re-Released On NGP Gamecards
If you were smart (like us) you would have switched to purchasing your PlayStation Portable content via the PlayStation Store a long time ago
UMDs were clearly a dead format many years ago, regardless of your stance towards digital download content. Paying a little extra for digital games this past few years has paid off though. While the Next...
News SEGA's Riding High On Next Generation Portable Optimism
One of the challenges many people thought Sony would face with their Next Generation Portable is third-party software support
Despite selling an enormous amount of hardware, software always struggled on the platform outside of Japan. Therefore, t's been refreshing to see publishers — both Western and Eastern — extend words of encouragement about...
News DarkStalkers 3, Cyberbots, Mega Man 4 & More Coming To Japanese PlayStation Network
Capcom's confirmed on Twitter that they are bringing four more PlayStation classics to the Japanese PSN
Star Gladiator, Darkstalkers 3, Cyberbots and Mega Man 4 are all set to be added to the Game Archives. No word on pricing or release yet.
UK Charts Dead Space 2 Tops While LittleBigPlanet 2 Holds Strong
Unsurprisingly Dead Space 2 has topped the UK sales charts this week, destroying the numbers of its predecessor by a good 70 percent
And people wonder why publishers release sequels rather than new IP. Speaking of which, Media Molecule's LittleBigPlanet 2 continued its dally with the top of the charts, finishing this week in a respectable second...
Saturday29th Jan 2011
SCEA's whacked up footage of this Thursday's Next Generation Portable announcement on the PlayStation Blog, allowing you to relive the historical moment in full 1080p
The press conference includes plenty of gameplay snippets, including Uncharted NGP and Little Deviants. Sony's also put up an official website for the PlayStation Meeting event through...
As expected, Sony has revealed the successor to the PlayStation Portable this morning
The device is currently codenamed the NGP, or 'Next Generation Portable'. According to the platform holder, the NGP has been designed around five core pillars: user interface, social connectivity, location-based entertainment, converging real and virtual gameplay,...
Feature Opinion: PlayStation Suite Is The Ace In Sony's Portable Strategy
PushSquare editor Sammy Barker follows up his original reaction to the NGP with discussion on why PlayStation Suite is the overlooked ace in Sony's portable gaming strategy
</em> I've had a few days to analyse the reaction to Sony's NGP announcement this week, and I've been overwhelmed by how much positivity I've read. People seem to get it...
Friday28th Jan 2011
News Epic Games: NGP Appropriate For Gears Of War-Style Experience
Epic Games' Gears Of War franchise may be XBOX 360 exclusive, but the company's president, Mark Rein, reckons the series' gameplay would be an "appropriate" fit for Sony's new Next Generation Portable
"This is the kind of machine that a Gears of War-style experience would be appropriate on because it has the control layout that games like that...
News EEDAR Pegs Sony's NGP In The $300-$350 Price Bracket
Sony said after the NGP's announcement yesterday that the device's price would be "affordable" and "appropriate for the handheld space"
EEDAR's Jesse Divinch reckons that puts the system in the $300-$350 price bracket. Divinch doesn't think the high price will be a problem though, explaining, "The market is ripe for portable high-end gaming...
News Sony Decided Against 3D Technology For NGP, "Shared Experience" Not Suitable For Handhelds
For a company pushing 3D so hard, many people are bemused at the NGP's lack of three-dimensional technology, particularly with Nintendo pushing the feature so hard on 3DS
Sony's admitted that they dabbled with 3D technology for NGP, but SCEE president Andrew House has concluded that the "shared experience" didn't translate to portable...
We've gotten so used to getting games at the same time as our brothers in North America, that we hadn't even considered the NGP not launching in Europe this year
While a "Holiday 2011" release date was paraded around the system's reveal yesterday, SCEA gaffer Jack Tretton admits a worlwide launch will be "difficult". "I know...
News Nintendo President Weighs In On Sony's Next Generation Portable Announcement
We're certain the codename "Next Generation Portable" is a subtle dig at Nintendo on Sony's part
It's no coincedence that months prior to Nintendo's latest handheld launch, Sony should reveal a system that they're dubbing the "Next Generation Portable". Sick burn. Nintendo president Satoru Iwata doesn't seem too concerned though. After...
News Blow Up The NGP's Touch Interface And It Looks A Bit Like A Tonka Toy
The NGP will not support Sony's familiar XMB interface
The platform holder's ditching the award-winning navigation system for something more touch control suitable. The NGP's hub menu system is certainly colourful, but we can't help but feel it all looks a little bit messy. Like any smartphone really. Perhaps the bigger issue is how child-like it...
Thursday27th Jan 2011
News Forget $599, Try $999 For Sony's NGP*
* Obviously Sony hasn't confirmed a price for the NGP yet, so Gamestop's pre-order listing is more a case of the company covering their asses than an indication of the device's actual price
Still, kinda funny.
News Sony NGP Will Be Available In Multiple SKUs: With Or Without 3G Connectivity
Sony announced this morning that their new handheld, the NGP, would feature 3G connectivity
That functionality, according to SCEE boss Andrew House , will be entirely optional however. "The first thing to clarify, which I'm not sure the presentation did a perfect job of doing today, is that all of the devices will have Wi-Fi capability; a...
News Sony Announces Its Next Generation Portable
Available towards the end of 2011
Today Sony announced the successor to its PlayStation Portable (PSP) console, currently codenamed NGP (Next Generation Portable.) SONY COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT ANNOUNCES ITS NEXT GENERATION PORTABLE ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEMUltimate Portable Entertainment System Makes Its Debut This Year, Further Expanding the...
News Nihilistic Software On Resistance NGP Development Duties
While Nihilistic Software put the finishing touches to PlayStation Move Heroes, the studio already has another project in the works
A Tweet from Resistance creators Insomniac Games has revealed that Nihilistic are the studio behind the upcoming Resistance title for NGP. According to Insomniac, the game will be a new entry in the franchise and not a...
News Little Deviants Is One Of The More Clever Titles Coming To Sony's New Handheld
While a majority of Sony's first-party line-up for new handheld NGP appears to rotate around traditional experiences, Little Deviants looks like something completely fresh
The game utilises the NGP's rear touch panel to manipulate the geometry of a lush environment. Putting your fingers behind the NGP has a similar effect to putting them beneath a...
News Shuhei Yoshida: "NGP Is Not Going To Be $599"
Our first hint at the NGP's pricing is a reference to Kaz Hirai's infamous E3 '05 meme
With Sony well known for their expensive products, many are wondering just how much the NGP will cost. You can rule out that famous "five-hundred-and-ninety-nine-US-dollars" price point for a start. Its not going to be $599, Worldwide Studios boss...
News Kotaku Goes Hands-On With NGP: "Pleasantly Surprising. It's Light, And It's Beautiful."
Kotaku's just gone live with some overwhelmingly positive first impressions of Sony's Next Generation Portable
The site describes the system's OLED screen as "stunning", while explaining that the touch components provide "a new experience for PlayStation Portable gamers". The site adds that the device is much lighter than...
Feature Uncharted's Next Generation Portable Entry Looks Staggering
It probably got slightly overlooked in the carnage of this morning's Next Generation Portable announcement, but Sony announced a new Uncharted game this morning
The game's set to be a fresh spin-off of the Uncharted franchise (not a port) and is in development at Sony Bend. (Told you so.) We've been lead to believe that Naughty Dog are overlooking...
News PlayStation Meeting 2011: Let's Take A Look At Some Of The NGP's Games
The one thing that's been missing from all this morning's NGP action has been actual games footage
Now we've got a smattering courtesy of Engadget. The reel demonstrates Uncharted, Wipeout (please remove the tilt controls), as well as Resistance and others. As expected, everything looks stupidly pretty. We know it's a cliche, but we can't wait to...
Opinion Why Sony's Next Generation Portable Sounds Like The Perfect Device For Me
PushSquare editor Sammy Barker delivers his first reaction to Sony's new handheld announcement, the Next Generation Portable
I often feel like I'm the only person in the world not caught up in the iOS hype hurricane. I think Apple's devices are fantastic pieces of kit, but as gaming systems they don't come anywhere near meeting the kind of...
Report NGP's Battery Life Pegged At A Reasonable 4-5 Hours, Sony To Make A Loss On Each Unit
After the demonstrations of PlayStation 3 titles running on the NGP, the concern on most people's lips -- if not price -- is battery life
A report on Eurogamer pegs the device's battery at a reasonable 4-5 hours, comparable with the notably inferior Nintendo 3DS. According to Eurogamer, 6-8 hours was Sony's original target for the device, something...
News PlayStation Meeting 2011: This Is The NGP Screenshot That Excites Us More Than Anything Else
So you've got a problem with console games coming to portable systems
Fair enough, we've got the perfect game for you. Hidden amongst the spectacle of Killzone, Uncharted and Call Of Duty for NGP, Clap Hanz announced a new Hot Shots/Everybody's title for the device, tentatively named Hot Shots Golf Next. Not only does it
So now we've heard the marketing line on Sony's NGP, it's time to digest the specifications
We'd love to give you a colourful commentary on what all the specs mean, but errr, we don't understand any of this stuff. Feel free to peruse the technical details as released by Sony after the jump though. If the thing can run PS3 games, we're assuming it's...
News PlayStation Meeting 2011: NGP Concept Video Is All About Putting The Power In Your Hands
Some elements of this NGP concept video are agonisingly cringe-worthy, but it gets across the main pillars of Sony's new handheld device
It showcases the handheld's top-tier features such as trophies, "Near" GPS connectivity and the PlayStation Network. Get the trailer after the jump.
News PlayStation Meeting 2011: Yakuza: Of The End & Lost Planet 2 Demonstrated On NGP
Yakuza: Of The End and Lost Planet 2 are PlayStation 3 games
But that doesn't stop them running on Sony's latest portable device, the NGP. During Sony's PlayStation Meeting press conference in Japan, Capcom's Jun Takeuchi took to the stage to demonstrate Lost Planet 2 running on the new handheld. Takeuchi said the demo was running MT Framework...
News PlayStation Meeting 2011: Unreal Engine 3 Demonstrated On NGP
Epic Games' Tim Sweeney dropped by at Sony's PlayStation Meeting this morning to demonstrate that the Unreal Engine 3 runs on the NGP
Sweeney showcased an updated version of the iPhone's "Epic Citadel" tech demo, which featured more interaction and characters than the iPhone version. Sweeney claimed that the NGP is "four times as...
News PlayStation Meeting 2011: NGP's "Near" Application Tracks Your Location
Amongst its ridiculously powerful specifications and control interfaces, Sony's NGP also has some pretty neat GPS functionalities
An application built into the device called "Near" is an ongoing map allowing you to track where you are and where you have been. Near connects with the PSN to find out what games are popular in your current...
According to Sony, LiveArea is the NGP's "game oriented communication platform"
It will replace the popular XMB interface that has graced numerous Sony products over the past five or so years. LiveArea will support popular PlayStation staples such as the PlayStation Store, Trophies, PSN friends, messaging and more. At long last: trophies on the go!
News PlayStation Meeting 2011: ... And The NGP Looks A Little Bit Like This!
Sony's just sent us press photos of their new PlayStation handheld, the NGP
You can read more about the actual device through here. For now let's gaze at pretty pictures.
