10 reasons you'll buy Sony’s NGP

With this generation of consoles mimicking this generation of humans in living longer, there’s more than the usual excitement being lavished on this year’s major handheld releases.

Both the the Nintendo 3DS and the Sony NGP are getting a lot of press because, well, we like new gaming gadgets, and they’re the first to have come along in quite a while.

There’s also the fact that the NGP is looking like a seriously capable bit of kit. Here are ten reasons why you should be putting the NGP at the top of your Christmas list. Or, y’know, planning to buy one if that’s not your thing.

Okay, that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but it’s pretty close. Thanks to an advanced quad-core processor-GPU combo that’s about four times as powerful as any portable device we’ve seen (smartphones and all), the NGP is going to pack a serious punch.

This is evident by looking at some of the videos doing the rounds. See that Uncharted one? That looks just about as good as the PS3 games on which it’s based – which are, in turn, some of the best-looking games on the home console platform.

It’s a pretty simple equation – like PS3 games? Then you’ll like NGP games.

Not only is the NGP approaching PS3-standard, it’s the only handheld device on the horizon that can be classed as such. Or, to phrase it differently, the NGP is the only next-gen handheld that’s likely to be released (at least until the next-next-gen comes along).

The 3DS, for all its clever 3D jiggery-pokery, is a decidedly under-powered device by comparison. Indeed, it’s closer to the original PSP than the forthcoming NGP in terms of raw polygon-pushing power.

As the last generation of handhelds showed, portable gaming is about far more than mere power, but it certainly helps.

The last few years has seen an explosion of novel gaming input methods, including various types of touchscreen and motion control. NGP features multiple examples of both, with a five-inch multi-touch screen and rear touchpad (more on which later) joining three (count ‘em) accelerometers.

Add to this the ever-solid set of PlayStation controls – that’s a D-pad and six buttons – and the presence of two analogue sticks (again, more on those later) and you have every form of control you could possibly want.

We could point out that there’s a lack of analogue triggers, but that would be churlish when you look at the sheer abundance of options at your disposal. Remember – more control options means more gaming possibilities.

We should probably emphasise this particular control implementation, lest it get lost amidst all the touchy-feely-hype. One of the main things the PSP got criticised for was its pathetic analogue nubbin.

While Sony’s original handheld had delusions of console-ness with its capable PS2-level performance, it proved to be a hamstrung experience without these two vital control inputs – especially when it came to 3D action games.

The NGP hasn’t just provided a decent replacement for the PSP’s woeful nubbin, fitting a full-on analogue stick under your left thumb - it’s gone and added one for your right thumb, too. For the first time ever, first-person shooters will be as playable on a handheld as they are on a console.

Some people have criticised the NGP for not innovating. Phooey, we say. When was the last time you saw a handheld or phone featuring a rear-mounted touchpad?

“That’s because it’s a lousy idea,” the dissenters may say. Well phooey to that too, because by pretty much unanimous decision the rear touchpad is a revelation to use.

For one thing, it eliminates the key problem with touchscreen gaming so far – the fact that your finger (or stylus) gets in the way of the action. For another, in conjunction with the traditional touchscreen, developers can implement innovative 'pinch' gameplay mechanics.

Speaking of developers, the reception for the NGP from the people being asked to make games for it has been almost unanimously positive. From the capability of the device itself to the ease with which you can program for it and Sony’s willingness to help and support developers, there’s been nary a bad word said about it.

It’s not like Sony has rationed its support to a few major players, either. An impressive 82 developers are said to be making games for the next-gen handheld, from giants like Activision and Ubisoft to boutique outfits like Nippon Ichi and Capybara.

A common criticism of the first PSP was that Sony concentrated on the hardware ahead of the games. It doesn’t look like it’s going to make the same mistake twice.

Tying in with that first point about the NGP being as good as a PS3 in your pocket, Sony is said to be actively encouraging developers to produce games that can be made to work across both platforms.

While the company also wants to distinguish its two leading games platforms, for obvious reasons, this could hint at a state of affairs we’ve long desired. We want to be able to start a game on our PS3s, then continue where we left off on the bus to work.

This would work perfectly for season modes in sports games like FIFA or Madden, but with the NGP’s graphical prowess if wouldn’t be a push to imagine it applying to more complex action or adventure games too.

For all the talk of NGP’s console-standard tech specs, it shouldn’t be forgotten that Sony has seen the way the portable gaming wind is blowing and has reacted accordingly. As such, not only will the NGP be playing host to graphically rich games, it will also be the natural home of PlayStation Suite.

PlayStation Suite is a 'hardware neutral' collection of PlayStation classics and original games that will represent the simpler end of the spectrum. To put it into context – PlayStation Suite games will also be playable on relatively modest Android handsets (including, but not exclusive to, the Xperia Play).

What this Android tie-in means is that as well as running Blockbuster Console FPS 4, the NGP will play host to Cheap ‘n’ Cheerful Casual Gem 2. It’ll have all gaming avenues covered.

Another major problem with the PSP was its requirement for the physical UMD media to run games. While these had decent capacity, they were flimsy, slow to load, and they required battery-sapping components to operate and read.

The PSPgo attempted to rectify that by removing UMDs from the equation, but its exclusively download-driven method was both ill-advised and premature.

NGP gets around both issues by implementing a high capacity SD card-like physical medium – yep, a bit like Nintendo’s DS approach. This should make the device harder-wearing, quicker loading and more energy efficient than its predecessor.

Another common complaint that we’ve heard about the NGP is that it’s too big. While it’s true that it’s a reasonably chunky piece of kit when compared to, say, an iPhone or even a Nintendo DS, it’s all relative.

We’d argue that it offers a nice compromise between a smartphone and the increasingly popular tablet format. With a five-inch screen, the NGP sits neatly between the iPhone (3.5-inch screen) and the iPad (9.7-inch).

It'll offer a more comfortable multimedia experience than the former, while still being able to fit in your jacket pocket (unlike the latter). I present to you the Sony NGP: the thinking man’s PMP.