PSP specs!
 

So, in a nutshell, it plays MPEG4 (DVD-quality movie up to 2 hours), has 7.1 surround sound, 16:9 widescreen, USB2.0 and Wireless LAN support, MP3 compatible, and full 32-bit CPU.

Is this even a portable gaming machine anymore?!?!?

http://www.gamefront.de/

Auf Deutsch:

Cutting Edge Technologies (Aiming to explore the future):
- 90nm Semiconductor Process
- Dual MIPS R4000 Core
- Vector Floating Engines
- Reconfigurable DSP Engine(VME)
- Advanced 3D Graphics Engine
- AVC(MPEG4) Decoder
- AES Crypto System
- 1.8GB UMD

21st Century Portable System:
* Vereint alle Formen der digitalen Unterhaltung *
- 3D-CG Game
- 7.1ch Audio, 3D Sound
- ATRAC3 plus, AAC, MP3 for Music
- AVC/@MP for Picture / Movie
- 16:9 Widescreen TFT LCD
- Embedded Wireless LAN 802.11
- Li-ion Battery
- Extension for GPS, Digital Tuner...

Optical Disc System:
- Large Capacity (3 x to CD-ROM)
- Media for Game/Music/Movie/Publishing
- Lower Manufacturing Cost
- Minimize Inventory Risk
- Repoat Ordering System
- Parental Lock System
- Regional Code System
- Copy Protection

UMD - Universal Media Disc:
* Ultimate Portable Disc for SD System *
- 60mm
- Laser Diode: 660nm
- Dual Layer : 1.8GB
- Transfer Rate: 11Mbps
- Shock Proof
- Secure ROM by AES
- Unique Disc ID

PSP CPU Core:
- MIPS R4000 32-Bit Core
- 128 Bit Bus
- 1~333 MHz @ 1.2V
- 8 MB Hauptspeicher (eDRAM)
- Bus Bandwidth: 2,6 GB/sec
- I-Cache / D-Cache
- FPU, VFPU (Vector Unit): @ 2,6 GFlops
- 3D-CG Extended Instructions

PSP Media Engine:
- MIPS R4000 32-Bit Core
- 128 Bit Bus
- 1~333 MHz @ 1.2V
- Sub Memory: 2MB (eDRAM) @ 2,5 GB/sec
- I-Cache / D-Cache
- 90nm Cmos

PSP Graphics Core 1:
- 3D Curved Surface + 3D Polygon
- Compressed Texture
- Hardware Clipping, Morphing, Bone(8)
- Hardware Tessellator
- Bezier, B-Spline(NURBS)
- ex 4×4 / 16×16 / 64×64 sub-division
~ reduce program /data
~ reduce memory footprint & bus traffic

PSP Graphics Core 2:
- Rendering Engine + Surface Engine
- 256bit Bus, 1-166 MHz @1.2V
- VRAM :2MB (eDRAM)
- Bus Bandwidth: 5.3GB/sec
- Pixel Fill Rate :664 M pixels/sec
- max. 33 M Polygon/Sec (T&L)
- 24bit Full Color: RGBA

PSP Sound Core:
- Reconfigurable DSPs
- 128 Bit Bus
- 166 MHz @ 1.2V
- 5 Giga Operations/Sek.
- CODEC
- 3D Sound, Multi-Channel
- Synthesizer, Effecter, ...

AVC Decoder:
- AVC (H.264) Decoder
- Main Profile
- Baseline Profile
- @ Level1, Level2, Level3
- 2Hours (High Quality) ~ DVD Movie
- 4Hours (Standard Quality) ~ CS Digital

Kommunikation:
- Wireless LAN 802.11 (Hot Spots, Home Server, usw.)
- IrDA (PSP, Handy, usw.)
- Stereo-Kopfhörer-Anschluss
- Memory Stick
- USB 2.0 (PSP, PS2, PC, usw.)

...and all for the low, low price of $300!

Still curious how much there going to price this thing at. If the N-Gage is gonna be $300, who knows about this one.

-ohbfrank-

and it looks like this...

http://www.old-computers.com/museum/...orkstation.jpg

$300 would be too much... err... wouldn't it? :D

Considering the PS2 is under $200... surely they can just make their money back re-selling old Tomb Raider games? I personally think this thing is COOL. It's the only handheld I've wanted to purchase since the Gameboy Color...

I don't see how they could launch that at a price that it will sell well.

The GB/GBA has always been pretty cheap, and I'm sure that's a large part of its success. Especially when you factor in the number of kids that own them and have to talk their parents into buying them.

Not going to be portable with those specs.

7.1 surround? Umm, I know I don't carry around 7 speakers and a subwoofer when I'm looking to go portable.

More Specs and in English

http://psp.ps3insider.com/hardware/0004.html

:lol::up:

I just read through the specs, and all I can say is wow. I can honestly say that even if this thing was $300 (which it probably will not be) I would still buy it. This thing is more of a portable media unit than a portable gaming unit. Movies, MP3s, etc. I don't know about you all, but I can't wait til E3!

cough::vaporware::cough

So is this going to arm terrorists with the technology to launch nuclear warheads just as the PS2 has?

Well the PSP well more than likely come out so it's not really vaporware.

Whether it comes out with those specs and does all that crap is another story.

I'm pretty sure Vaporware is hardware which is claiming to be "the greatest" and doesn't provide specs. As soon as they provide specs, its no longer vaporware.

Vaporware is simply rumored/announced hardware that never materializes. There's been lots of game systems announced (with specs) that have never came out over the years.

I think PSP is actually going to be the PS3. IT's Sony's new Guerilla marketing that is trying to slip in their new system under the guise of a portable! :)

Seriously though, what interests me the most is the 802.11 connections. My Spidey sense says this will play a large part in PS3 connectivity.

.... and I seriously doubt this is vaporware at this point.

I predict this thing (if it has those specs) will be more in the $350-$400 range at least.

And no way it's going to compete with the Gameboy very much. It's a whole other market.

Well, its obvious that Sony is going to take a huge hit when they release this (something Nintendo refuses to do). I'm going to predict that this thing is going to retail at $200 which is really a bargain when you think about it.

I really can't see this retailing for $200.

The PS2 was $300 at launch (and still $179 and $199 for the online pack) and it likely cost less to make than the PSP will with those specs. Making technology small is pretty expensive, not to mention the screen will likely be pretty decent quality (and thus quality) if it's going to play movies.

Sony has already said that it would be "comparible" in price to GBA-SP, which probably means the $100 price tag it caries now. I think Sony is trying to do what Microsoft did - enter the market with superior hardware at a similar price. I think Sony knows the only way they are going to get a foothold in the portable gaming industry is if they offer a portable far superior to anything else out there at a price where people can easily switch over. I think the N-Gage would have some sucess if they priced it at $200 and I don't think Sony is going to make the mistake of going over that.

Sounds sensible... very UN-Gamespy forum ;)

The only thing I'd worry about is their proprietary disc format - and getting information from you PC to transfer over, if that's even a possibility. They say it's going to play movies - but do you really want to have to buy a movie in yet another format? I don't know about your music stores - but I don't see the MiniDisc section getting any larger... :D

Getting info to and from a PC will be a cinch with either the memory stick or the USB 2.0 connection or you could just use the wireless lan feature. ;) If it plays Divx then you could either, ahem, get those movies from somewhere, or convert your DVD's if you are into that sort of thing. As far as minidisc goes, I doubt they'll go that route. I think this is their pathway into the iPOD market with digital downloads written directly to the device on UMD or memory stick.

El Predicto predicts a price point of $150 with a buttload essential overpriced accessories to make money on.

For the record, vaporware refers to software that is announced, hyped and promoted, but never delivered or it's delivered so late as to be obsolete, eg Duke Nukem Forever. Strictly speaking, the PSP can't be vaporware since it's hardware, but even speaking loosely, you really can't call it vaporware until it at least misses its initial shipping date (4Q04)

In general, it's sort of Sony's style to go for the high-end in any new market they enter. The specs are indeed impressive, but Sony's got some experience with integrating MIPS cores in multi-function embedded processors (see the innards of the PS2). It's one of the advantages of being able to manufacture your own chips. If they're able to cram all that into one or two chips, it shouldn't be too expensive. My guess is they'll be selling it for $199.

I'm guessing that the 7.1 sound is just marketing spin for the fact that the movies/music for the device will have DD or DTS tracks. I doubt the thing is going to support surround sound gaming.

More interestingly, though, this implies that this system can be plugged into a TV/HT System to play back the movies and music. I suppose this means it's likely you'll be able to play the games on a TV as well.

I wonder if the WiFi functionality means it can hook into your LAN and play files off your computer. To be able to walk around the house and play any music or video file off the HD on my server? That'd be worth $200 by itself.

All this assuming these specs aren't the fevered dreams of some Sony fanboy.

There is NO way Sony can put this thing out at a 'comparable price to GBA'. GBA SP is $100 new right NOW, by the time the PSP comes out, SP will most likley be $70, and there might possibly be a new Gameboy on the market. Im still betting this thing will be $300-$350.

Good point - although what I'm really wondering is if the discs themselves will be writable/re-writable. I don't see any sort of hard drive on there for storage so I hope we can write to the discs... surely... right? :D

My guess is that you will not be able to write to the UMDs. First off, you could never do this internally because the laser won't support it. They won't supply an add-on for your computer, because they don't want people to copy the disc. So I really doubt they will provide such a thing.

As for movies, they have already struck deals with many movie studios to release feature length films on UMD for less than the cost of a DVD. I'm sure most of us won't have a problem selecting some of our favorite movies to re-purchase and have to watch anywhere. I can't wait for the day when I can watch Fight Club anywhere I want.

You don't have to wait. Buy a portable DVD player or get a laptop with a DVD drive. ;)

Hmm.. portable DVD player for $600? No. Laptop for $2000? No. PSP for $200? YES!

Ability to only watch your proprietary movies on your little handheld? Priceless.

Watch only my movies? What the hell are you talking about?

Sony Hand-Held PlayStation Offers Wireless Network
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tm..._playstation_dc

Tue Jul 29, 1:13 PM ET

TOKYO (Reuters) - Sony Corp (news - web sites) (6758.T) said on Tuesday its new hand-held PlayStation console would be equipped with a wireless network system which allows users within a close area to play games together and download game characters.


Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE), Sony's game unit, mapped out technical details of the upcoming "PSP" hand-held platform, which will compete head-to-head with Nintendo (news - web sites) Co Ltd's (7974.OS) dominant Game Boy Advance handheld console.

"We will be using some challenging technologies including wireless (news - web sites) LAN," SCE President Ken Kutaragi said at a meeting of game software makers and retailers.

"The PSP is a product with huge potential, following PlayStation and PlayStation 2 (news - web sites). The video game market may change in a big way," he said.

Kutaragi said the PSP, scheduled to debut in the fourth quarter of 2004, would employ "the latest and the most cutting-edge technologies" including two powerful micro-processors and an advanced 3D-effect graphics engine.

The new device will process data ten times faster than the original PlayStation console, SCE said.

Kutaragi also said the PSP would adopt advanced security technology which will help protect the copyright of game developers.

Sony, the dominant force in the $30 billion video game market, took industry watchers by surprise in May by unveiling its plan to launch the PSP, which features a color screen and a new high-capacity optical disc created especially for it.

The move puts Nintendo and its Game Boy hand-held platform directly in its sights, just as in 1995 when Sony first ventured into the game console business.

Sony has not set a price for the PSP, a multi-media unit that also plays movies and music, but analysts expect it to sell for 19,000 to 30,000 yen ($159-$251), well above the 12,500-yen price tag for Game Boy Advance SP, Nintendo's smaller version of its hot-selling device launched in February.

SCE plans to start distributing PC-base software emulator tools to game developers this autumn, followed by the final hardware tool next spring, Kutaragi said.

"We plan to demonstrate our prototype version of the PSP at the E3 trade show in the United States next May, and a software line-up at the Tokyo Game Show, ahead of the worldwide launch in the fourth quarter of 2004," Kutaragi said.

The news came after the Tokyo stock market closed.

Shares in Sony closed up 0.52 percent at 3,840 yen, while the Nikkei average (^N225 - news) index fell 0.06 percent.


Chris

Um... that stuff is all mentioned in the specs posted way earlier today.

Uh... your movies. You know the ones you are talking about buying to watch...

What my post is refering to is that these movies are proprietary in nature and can only be watched on this device. (as of now.) I have a hard time believing people will want to buy movies that they can only watch on a small portable device. That's what the hell I'm talking about.

Yes, but mines in plain English, for us simple folks! ;)

Chris

One of the reasons I like Nintendo is because they stick to games. I don't want my console or portable to do 900 different things. I want it to play games. As long as it doesn't affect the initial price I don't care, but if it debuts at $200 or some other nonsense price I won't bother.

Pretty amazing specs there, it will be interesting to see how many they sell at that price though. The beauty of handhelds was always their low cost.

Jeff's right,

Very few people are going to buy a movie in a format that they can only watch on a little handheld. As a result there likely won't be many movies released in the format.

Plus, unless sony is willing to take a huge loss (which I don't think they are) the quality will suck if they put it out at $200. Not to mention that the proprietary disks will likely be smaller than DVDs, making more compression necessary and likely offering a lower picture quality.

Plus portable DVD players don't really cost $600. I bought mine for less than $300 around 2 years ago and it's a Panasonic.

And laptops that can play movies don't really cost $2000. :D

They already have interest from movie studios, and UMDs of motion pictures should be $10-$15. They are using MPEG-4 so the quality will be there. They will be taking a huge hit. I don't know why you think they wouldn't; they took a huge hit on the PS2. The portable DVD players I have seen for under $500 either are crappy quality or the screen is tiny (yes, smaller than 4.5"). As for the laptop, if I'm going to splurg on a Laptop, it better do a lot more than play movies.