After years of rumours and leaks surrounding Playstation products, it's safe to say that we always know what Sony are planning. In photos and accounts of varying quality, we've learned months in advance of every major hardware release of the last five years: PS3 slim, PSP Go and yes, the latest Playstation Portable successor. And hey Sony, is that a Playstation Phone in your pocket or are you hoping that several confirmed sightings of the thing aren't enough to spoil the surprise?. Regardless, the recent "Playstation Meeting" exposed the long acknowledged PSP2 console on the 27thof January. The new PSP (the device is codenamed NGP, but no official name has been announced yet) has a good chance of making it into the hand-luggage of any embarking on 2011 Australia holidays. But the handheld market is perhaps over crowded: it's not longer only Nintendo with which Sony must lock horns, but the smartphone gaming market too.
Smartphones are being taken increasingly seriously by the old order of portable manufacturers. To outdo the smartphones, Sony are taking a not-atypical approach, packing the NGP with features and amping up the power dial all the way to eleven. Even without the 3D capabilities of the 3DS, the screen is a lot bigger than most competing screens, and leverages beautiful OLED technology to achieve a superior effect. You'll find not only the ubiquitous touch operated screen, but a touch sensitive rectangle on the rear of the machine too. Control is an important divider between portable devices and smartphones at the moment. The handheld gaming consoles have far too many controls for the casual gamer: for more complex game, the smartphone hasn't got enough controls. The next PSP is particularly overladden: 9 buttons, two joysticks, one joypad, two touch screens and a 'sixaxis' motion detector (in addition to all the cameras and other input solutions). However, when you want to play home-console quality games whilst sailing on a Cruise Australia , the handheld consoles are the only way to game for any extended period of time.
Something that's true to say of all these devices, is that the impressive technology is let down by the available battery life. Those on Australia tours are going to be stopping off to recharge both the 3DS and PSP2 at least every five hours. Considering that the 3DS, likely to be the cheapest of all devices, is going to cost $250+, many will wait and see for improvements.
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