Source:
Rumor: NGP Specs Downgraded, 2011 Release in Japan
La NGP sortira bien en 2011 un prix trs raisonnable

The French site has been pretty reliable with the specs of the NGP thus far, so I think this rumor is credible. To me it looks like they would have cut the OLED screen first if they wanted to cut costs.

What are your thoughts?

Ty for the post, too much ram reduction from memory tho.

The 16gb cut out is actually a good solution, in order to actually decrease prices.

The 256 mb of ram reduction is actually a ton. the OS trimming isn't something that you want. and this is going to effect multi tasking big time.

For the gaming side i dont think much will change tho, the v-ram and 256 ram is going to be far enough. but they wont have anything left for multi tasking. so its probably going to be 200+ ram for games in the end.

Actually suspected a cut on these parts even v-ram ( good lord they didn't go for that ). its simple the most expensive stuff to place inside.

edit

they cant cut off the oled screen, as its the main feature of the PSP2. much like what the 3DS 3D screen is.

We will see tho.

250 bucks for it is going to be incredible if true

I think the NGP will still be good even if those reductions are true.

Its not going to effect the games probably. its going to effect the OS and multitasking high likely.

Loading times on top of it can be a tad longer through not being able to pre-catch much into the memory at the end. And later on in its live 256mb is going to be limited compared towards other mobile devices which makes ports etc problematic.

And ofcourse games are becoming more limited as times goes by. the first model needs to be future proof.

its like 3DS memory cut from 128 > 64 = massive specially if 32mb = for the OS.
Thats why they stated trimming the OS has been done.

Is there any significant advantage to OLED screens that would justify the increase in cost?

Wait, is OLED what I think it is? A flexible screen? If so, the NGP is flexible?

Its basically advertised big time already towards gamers.

the v-ram / normal ram / internal storage was specifically not discussed even at GDC they didn't placed out any numbers and no other developer like epic that got asked about it could say anything about it.

Its obvious that something still wasn't set in stone at that time, and they where still discussing it.

As oled was thrown in as major feature its impossible to cut out without having people wait on revisions, as they saw what could hit it later on.

The advantages of OLED are basically:
- razor sharp screen
- real black levels and solid colors.
- incredible low MS ( perfect for gaming ) no ghosting at all. like 0.0002 or something. ( normal home tft/lcd/led screens are 2-5ms )
- big view angles from every side without distortion. ( gyro/moving etc )
- bendable which means it doesn't break fast on falling, and its basically shock resisted pretty much.

its beyond better then other solutions.

But the biggest deal breaker for sony is going to be, oled = lesser demanding on power in general = better for battery life time. cutting that out for another lcd screen is probably going to impact the complete performance or battery life time.

Another good point why its implanted high likely = because the screen is incredible thin = more room for cooling or hardware or battery room etc.

In other words, its impossible for them to take it out without people getting upset big time. Its the main selling feature. ( if i would buy the NGP, i would skip the first one and wait for a revision that has one in it ).

As the ram / v-ram / internal ram wasn't know. they could easily jump on this. ( which basically cost the most )

NGP isn't flexible. but yes the oled screen can be hammered on and can be bend until oblivion without cracking etc.

If the screen gets some pressure like in your pants, its not going to break for sure. i dont even think if you would bend the 2 outer parts against eachother that the screen still is intact after that.

here video of such a screen:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbTO5VM6s-4

If the rumor is true to me this would be surprising since sony is almost always about cutting edge, and for them to downgrade the specs is showing that they want to compete and make some money on hardware.



It could be a number of thing's that would force them to downgrade the specs like the price of the machine it self or just about anything.

Added after 44 minutes:

the impact on graphic quality securities should again be minimal


how much minimal I guess we would have to see.

There never was a confirmation about the memory. only a rumor popped up that dev kits had 1gb of memory and ngp itself had 512mb. the other information was accurate on that site. so people aspected that it should be the case.

Still the only real information we got about it, was a GDC picture, which mentions:

closer to ps3 in memory size.

ps3 = 256mb main ram + 256 mb v-ram = 512mb memory size
ngp = 256mb main ram + 128 mb v-ram = 384mb memory size

which basically makes a hell lot more sense in that picture.

I dont think the NGP was designed originally with 512mb in mind, but just 256mb. ( dont forget they are all rumors yet )

Otherwise there would stand more memory then ps3. and thats clearly not the case.

Even if they did downgrade it. i hardly dont think it would effect the graphical department in games at all. it would only effect the easy ps3 multiports without having to optimize anything. Now they will have to take some additional time to make a multiport much like ps3 > xbox360 or other way around.

So i dont actually think, that they downgraded it at all. it would be a weird set to do so. as 1mb of main ram lowering can already thrown in tons of complications let alone 256mb of main ram reducement when games go gold.

I think the site at its first was wrong about the 512mb of main ram, i actually think it was 256 all along and just wanna correct it on this way.

But they are all still rumors.

Cutting specs = Lower cost, graphics lower than PS3, less taunting from Sony fanboys saying that the NGP is uber power than the 3DS.

Win-win!