RUMOR: PSP2 Will Ditch the UMD, May Rival Xbox 360 In Horsepower

kotaku

The Playstation Portable 2, rumored to have dual analog sticks, a bigger screen and touch controls, will also rival the Xbox 360 in processing power and ditch the UMD format, sources tell Kotaku.

Earlier this week multiple sources detailed meetings with Sony during the Tokyo Game Show about the long-rumored PSP2.

In those meetings about the portable, we were told, the device was shown to have a touch panel on the back of the system what looked like a mouse trackpad. The PSP2 also had dual analog sticks and a larger display which Sony touted as being "HD."

While the device was shown in two form-factors, one that looked like the PSPgo (seen above) and one that looked like the PSP, Sony told attendees that they have not yet settled on the final design for the system.

Since breaking the news earlier this week, a few more details have shaken loose about the device, which our sources have verified.

One of the key ones is that the PSP2 will not have a UMD drive. The UMD (Universal Media Disc) was launched in 2004 for use in the PSP. Initially, the format was used for movies, but slow sales of UMD films lead to studios dropping support for the format.

Sony's PSPgo is UMD-free version of the PSP, and sources tell Kotaku that the PSP2 will follow in the footsteps of that portable. Games will be stored on a Memory Stick, according to one source. Though we've also been told that Sony is still puzzling out what the final non-UMD storage solution will be for the PSP2.

We've also learned that the PSP2 will be a much more powerful gaming device with twice the RAM of the Xbox 360.

While we don't yet know all of the portable's system specifications, we have been told that the PSP2 will feature 1 GB of RAM. That's compared to the 64 MB of RAM the PSPgo and PSP 3000 have. Both of those portables use a MIPS R4000 CPU clocked at up to 333 MHz. By comparison the Xbox 360 has 512 MB of RAM and runs a 3.2 GHZ CPU.

The specs for the yet-to-be-released Nintendo 3DS haven't been officially detailed but we've heard it will be as powerful as the Nintendo Wii which features 64 MB of RAM, and a special processor clocked at 729 MHz.

It's starting to sound like someone at Sony is listening to the murmuring about the Playstation Portable and doing something to fix the issues some have with it. Dual analog sticks. No UMD. A bigger screen. More powerful tech. Touch controls. We're not hearing a single thing we don't like so far.

Hope they don't mess up on the battery again.

I'm glad they dropped the UMD.

will also rival the Xbox 360 in processing power.TheShadowLord07

and it will double as a hot plate (for about 5 minutes, before the battery runs out). There's no way it could get close to current gen consoles, the power consumption would be way to high for a handheld.jj42883

i dont see why people find it hard to believe a hand held can match the power of a 5 year old console because it can the only problem will be price (just like psp and ps3 you would think that sony would learn their lesson??) and battery life (psp), also some 3ds games look stuning and better than the wii

1GB of RAM? Uh... why? Sometimes I wonder if Sony just likes selling stuff at a loss.

and it will double as a hot plate (for about 5 minutes, before the battery runs out). There's no way it could get close to current gen consoles, the power consumption would be way to high for a handheld.jj42883

Sounds good. But I doubt it'll have the power of the current gen consoles.

The 10 minutes this thing would be powered up for will be glorious. MFDOOM1983

That means it rivals the PS3, too. :Pmusicalmac

Sounds like the PSP Go on steroids. I'll pass. I don't want a portable game device that's downloading only. I like to be able to sell my games. It needs to be able to run my current UMD's and do downloads. Once I beat the game, I like to sell them or trade them in and not just delete them from my PSP2 memory. How much memory is this thing going to have? 250GB? If the games are going to rival that of the PS3, then we know each game will be 1-10GB easily. Is the system going to be as powerful as the PS3/360, but still produce the regular PSP style games? More info is needed, that's for sure. Without the UMD, it's up in the air for me.

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[QUOTE="musicalmac"]That means it rivals the PS3, too. :Plbjkurono23

kotaku

The Playstation Portable 2, rumored to have dual analog sticks, a bigger screen and touch controls, will also rival the Xbox 360 in processing power and ditch the UMD format, sources tell Kotaku.

Earlier this week multiple sources detailed meetings with Sony during the Tokyo Game Show about the long-rumored PSP2.

In those meetings about the portable, we were told, the device was shown to have a touch panel on the back of the system what looked like a mouse trackpad. The PSP2 also had dual analog sticks and a larger display which Sony touted as being "HD."

While the device was shown in two form-factors, one that looked like the PSPgo (seen above) and one that looked like the PSP, Sony told attendees that they have not yet settled on the final design for the system.

Since breaking the news earlier this week, a few more details have shaken loose about the device, which our sources have verified.

One of the key ones is that the PSP2 will not have a UMD drive. The UMD (Universal Media Disc) was launched in 2004 for use in the PSP. Initially, the format was used for movies, but slow sales of UMD films lead to studios dropping support for the format.

Sony's PSPgo is UMD-free version of the PSP, and sources tell Kotaku that the PSP2 will follow in the footsteps of that portable. Games will be stored on a Memory Stick, according to one source. Though we've also been told that Sony is still puzzling out what the final non-UMD storage solution will be for the PSP2.

We've also learned that the PSP2 will be a much more powerful gaming device with twice the RAM of the Xbox 360.

While we don't yet know all of the portable's system specifications, we have been told that the PSP2 will feature 1 GB of RAM. That's compared to the 64 MB of RAM the PSPgo and PSP 3000 have. Both of those portables use a MIPS R4000 CPU clocked at up to 333 MHz. By comparison the Xbox 360 has 512 MB of RAM and runs a 3.2 GHZ CPU.

The specs for the yet-to-be-released Nintendo 3DS haven't been officially detailed but we've heard it will be as powerful as the Nintendo Wii which features 64 MB of RAM, and a special processor clocked at 729 MHz.

It's starting to sound like someone at Sony is listening to the murmuring about the Playstation Portable and doing something to fix the issues some have with it. Dual analog sticks. No UMD. A bigger screen. More powerful tech. Touch controls. We're not hearing a single thing we don't like so far.

TheShadowLord07

osnt the ps3s ram lower than the 360 even. so psp2 will be able to play killzone graphics?

I doubt it will be that powerful (without having 10 min battery life and a $500 buck price tag lol). Cheap jokes aside I hope the next PSP will ditch UMDs but I hope it isn't a system that will strictly rely on digital distribution.

That means it rivals the PS3, too. :Pmusicalmac

[QUOTE="MFDOOM1983"]The 10 minutes this thing would be powered up for will be glorious. King_Dodongo

ram has nothing to do with graphics we wont know what it can do until we see the cpu and gpu

[QUOTE="musicalmac"]That means it rivals the PS3, too. :Plbjkurono23

wow if its on par with the 360 that means at the very very least it will have to cost 299. Maybe more given that it will be new hardware and we all know new hardware is always more expensive...but if they can pull this off it will be so freaking sick!

[QUOTE="jj42883"]and it will double as a hot plate (for about 5 minutes, before the battery runs out). There's no way it could get close to current gen consoles, the power consumption would be way to high for a handheld.lbjkurono23

i dont know much about specs in computers but i know i hav a great computer and great consoles. about the 1 gb ram and the 512 gb ram. are those low??. on my computer non gaming pc i hav 4 gb ram and on my gaming one i hav 8 gb ram. i mean does that mean my pc is 16 times more powerful than my 360?

That means it rivals the PS3, too. :Pmusicalmac

[QUOTE="lbjkurono23"][QUOTE="musicalmac"]That means it rivals the PS3, too. :Pmusicalmac

Thats good... lets see how long till someone takes my comments seriously..:P

ps:I don't get last part of the post D;

ram has nothing to do with graphics we wont know what it can do until we see the cpu and gpu

icyseanfitz

Lets hope not. Otherwise no-one will make games for it.

Give us a system slightly more powerful than the 3DS. I want a multiplat handheld gen.

its not that hard to believe. i mean there is an 11inch laptop that beats out the ps3 and 360 in terms of power. and that's with a screen/full keyboard attached and it's still smaller than my ps3 slim.TheMistique

so i'm guessing the PSP2 will not be backwards compatible? gee thanks a lot sony ohthemanatee

[QUOTE="musicalmac"]That means it rivals the PS3, too. :PThePsTriple

Thats good... lets see how long till someone takes my comments seriously..:P

ps:I don't get last part of the post D;

lbjkurono23

If they're abandoning the UMD format, then I'm glad I simply got a cheap PSP1 instead of waiting for this more expensive successor. I'll be playing Peace Walker and Ghost of Sparta for cheap, thankyou very much.

Lets hope not. Otherwise no-one will make games for it.

Give us a system slightly more powerful than the 3DS. I want a multiplat handheld gen.

shutdown_202

[QUOTE="lbjkurono23"][QUOTE="musicalmac"]That means it rivals the PS3, too. :Pmusicalmac

The name of your network is "the ps3 is two times more powerful than the 360"? :o

I caught someone stealing mah internets (my own fault for not having a password, got lazy after the move and never set one up). I locked it up tight, and changed the name from NETGEAR, to "I see what you did there. ;) " I figured that was nicer than, "Internet theft is a felony." lolmusicalmac

:lol: thats pretty cool.

Sounds like the PSP Go on steroids. I'll pass. I don't want a portable game device that's downloading only. I like to be able to sell my games. It needs to be able to run my current UMD's and do downloads. Once I beat the game, I like to sell them or trade them in and not just delete them from my PSP2 memory. How much memory is this thing going to have? 250GB? If the games are going to rival that of the PS3, then we know each game will be 1-10GB easily. Is the system going to be as powerful as the PS3/360, but still produce the regular PSP style games? More info is needed, that's for sure. Without the UMD, it's up in the air for me.

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XanderZane

I'm guessing we won't have a BC PSP2. I doubt it will be that powerful since having that much power will reduce the battery time to just minutes. Sony should just go the route of cartridges like Nintendo and leave the DD to old PSP games you'll want to download.

well gpu's that can equal 360/ps3 (especially at the low resolution of a handheld) are dirt cheap these days (as in sub $100) the problem is having a gpu that will be small enough for the thing (maybe tegra 2 or something along those lines) and not destroy its battery, personally i couldnt care about the graphics as long as they are at 3ds standards, the only thing i care about is the scale length and story of my games

i dont know much about specs in computers but i know i hav a great computer and great consoles. about the 1 gb ram and the 512 gb ram. are those low??. on my computer non gaming pc i hav 4 gb ram and on my gaming one i hav 8 gb ram. i mean does that mean my pc is 16 times more powerful than my 360?

pc-ps360

I'm guessing we won't have a BC PSP2. I doubt it will be that powerful since having that much power will reduce the battery time to just minutes. Sony should just go the route of cartridges like Nintendo and leave the DD to old PSP games you'll want to download.

Ragnarok1051

I hope so too.

[QUOTE="shutdown_202"]

Lets hope not. Otherwise no-one will make games for it.

Give us a system slightly more powerful than the 3DS. I want a multiplat handheld gen.

SakusEnvoy

[QUOTE="TheShadowLord07"] will also rival the Xbox 360 in processing power.nervmeister

[QUOTE="Ragnarok1051"]

I'm guessing we won't have a BC PSP2. I doubt it will be that powerful since having that much power will reduce the battery time to just minutes. Sony should just go the route of cartridges like Nintendo and leave the DD to old PSP games you'll want to download.

lbjkurono23

I hope so too.

[QUOTE="pc-ps360"]

i dont know much about specs in computers but i know i hav a great computer and great consoles. about the 1 gb ram and the 512 gb ram. are those low??. on my computer non gaming pc i hav 4 gb ram and on my gaming one i hav 8 gb ram. i mean does that mean my pc is 16 times more powerful than my 360?

jj42883

great metaphor :) in other words if you cpu is below a dual core your pc is a monkey and if you have a crappy gpu it is a visually challenged monkey :twisted:

1GB of RAM? Uh... why? Sometimes I wonder if Sony just likes selling stuff at a loss.

SakusEnvoy