Digital Foundry: Nintendo-nVidia deal is true, PSP2 is a "technological monster" |
Tech blog Digital Foundry reports that sources "intimately involved with the alliances and deal-making within their sector" have effectively confirmed that Nintendo and nVidia are indeed teaming up for the next DS iteration. The report also mentions that Sony has formed an alliance with IMG for the PSP2.
While neither devices have been flat-out confirmed by both groups, Digital Foundry tosses around some tentative tech specs for the next generation of handheld gaming supposedly leaked by industry insiders. It's a long post, so we'll just get a few snippets for each handheld.
Here's what they can say about the DS2:
So, how does the Tegra 2 we expect to see in the new Nintendo handheld stack up? Let's just say that it is a significant improvement, and a colossal jump in performance compared to the current DS. While the amount of vertex shader units remains the same, TMUs and pixel shaders are doubled, and as the chip will be manufactured at a physically smaller size (40nm perhaps, versus the current Tegra's 65nm), we can expect a reasonable bump in clock speed too. Our sources can only speculate at this point, but suspect anything up to 300MHz is possible, depending on just how much the platform holders want to concentrate on battery power. The faster the chip, the more impact it has on battery life.
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Regardless, there's no doubt that the new Nintendo unit will have a useful graphical power boost over what's been seen in the currently available Tegra devices, and in terms of the tech demo discussed previously, we also need to factor in that handheld consoles are unlikely to require full WVGA 800x480: an iPhone utilises a 480x320 screen, for example. Fewer pixels means more effects or potentially higher frame-rates.
And here's what PSP fans can allegedly expect from the PSP2:
From what we've learned about the in-development PSP2, the device is going to be a technological monster. Insiders in the mobile space are fully aware that a deal has been struck between Sony and IMG (creators of the PowerVR derivatives found in the iPhone) and, as previously reported by Eurogamer, a multi-core variant of the forthcoming SGX543 looks set to the GPU of choice for the new machine. A four-core version of the chip appears to be most likely, and while this sounds like overkill, at 45nm you'd be looking at die of around 20 square millimetres based on measurement derived from IMG's own whitepaper. That's significantly lower than the silicon used by the current-generation PSP's graphics unit, which should give some inkling of an idea on costs and power consumption.
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The raw potential of Sony's mooted solution is seriously impressive, to the point where you really have to sit down and take a deep breath before reading the next bit: we're talking about a GPU with the potential to be a halfway house between the raw power of the original Xbox's graphics chip and the Xenos GPU found in the Xbox 360, without factoring in all the advantages of running on a much lower resolution screen.
You can check out the full post by clicking the source link below. It's long and filled with a lot of technical terms, but it does make for some interesting weekend reading, especially for hardcore technophiles.
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Via Digital Foundry
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Comments
I agree that psp is an overkill.. I am worried about the price tag.. the way things are looking it should have a wireless N connection too
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great dot pitch, color, contrast, AND amazing power savings
hell, the ZUNE HD uses one and it looks incredible
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Putting in dual cored GPU's and Hecto core CPU's will only bump up the price and leave you with a product which drains batteries like its christmas.
Sony you fools a Ferrari isn't really needed to get the groceries but needed for a race track. But a Micra would be ideal for a grocery trip but not very much for a race track.
If i was Sony i would upgrade the RAM and beef up the CPU and probably place a cheaper and smaller GPU in. RAM nowadays is cheaper and the wide use of the 45nm process means the 65nm process chips are cheap.
BTW the PS3 is owning now
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wth would nintendo need more power? their games only appeal to casual kiddie gamers.
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i would know, i had a NDS and i traded it in for $40 at gamestop (original model of NDS) and bought a psp
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... id better pick up programming again :)
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If this turns out to be true then i will be the happiest gamer in the world, as my favorite game is on PS2, Gran Turismo 3.
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oh, you owned a DS? you must be right then.
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Take Chains of Olympus for instance, the PSP doesn't have that much of a powerful GPU or a quad core, but Ready at Dawn managed to get the most out of the limited hardware...
With the current levels of piracy, devs might not be willing to break that extra sweat to polish our games...
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What Sony really should do is make it a PSPhone already. Throw in HSDPA connection and we can download all our games on the go. Additionally, add a touchscreen. That would be the smartest decision they can make and it would seriously eat in the marketshare of the iPhone.
If we learned anything from the Wii and the DS, is that pure graphical power isn't going to sell well.
The PS3 and the PSP are the most powerful HW on the console and handheld market, and on which palce are they? They're the last. Now if we look at Wii and DS, easily the weakest of the systems, are both leaders in the console and handheld race.
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The DS could do with a performance increase. I'd love to see what they could do with a new Pokemon or handheld Metroid title with this new chip.
But if they add a second analogue nub and stick some PS2 emulation or ports on the new PSP I'd buy that in an instant.
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BTW money is a issue nowadays if you noticed the big thing that the media reported about. Something call the "Recession" ;) It hit home to most people, me included.....
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I love my psp but sometimes when using it portable, like on a bus or train, holding it and trying to accurately use the analog stick can be a bit difficult
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BTW, the piracy on the DS is nothing compared to the piracy on the PSP.
And, let's look at it this way, nothing stays the same forever. Things will get more advanced in time. So we can expect a huge leap from current gen handhelds. The only downfall to all this, is the price tags these new devices will come out to be.
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XD
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The real boost will be CPU speeds to power better AI, more enemies etc, or memory to store it all without loading.
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Calling it now: FAKE
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After all, CPUs/GPUs manufactured at those process levels require significantly less power than usual. And certainly, PowerVR (Imagine Tech) has done their homework on GPGPUs and portable devices, as the GPGPU variant they intend to use on the PSP2 is very much optimized for handheld devices, such as cellphones, which I'm sure you know NEED to last as long as it can, battery-life speaking.
You can look up to whitepaper of the SGX543 in PowerVR's site. It has pretty impressive stats for a mobile processor, while having highly efficient energy consumption.
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Now what does that say about the possibility of using it in the next PSP generation?
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http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/games/archives/playstation/2005/02/psp_officially_as_powerful_as_ps2.html
Basically the PS2 IS more powerful than the PSP, however the PS2 is running at a much bigger resolution (2.3 to be exact), while the PSP has a smaller screen which makes the difference in the resolution nearly unnoticable.
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It has outlived three cell phones models, several generations of iPods, two versions of the DS, and it I still use it everyday. I'm still amazed by what it can do... it's an incredibly powerful device.
I mean a gizmo that still feels best in class going into it's fifth year? That's freaking unheard of.
It's also the reason I'm not going to like a retarded soon to be ripped off Apple customer when I'm standing in line for a day one PSP2.
It's also the reason the PS3 will end up being the number one current gen console when all is said and done.
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With a second analog stick, though, it would be awesome if we could start seeing some "PS2 Classics" for it right at release. It should have enough power to do a software emulation for it ala POPS on PSP.
I think Sony has a potential goldmine with the PS2 library. The God War Collection HD Remix on the PS3 is going to prove that.
I'd love to be able to take my PS2 games and load them on the go like I do the PS1 games with the current gen PSP (along with HD versions on PS3).
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WLAN-N has an average speed of 50 to 144 mbits. If this still isn't enough for you, you cannot be helped.
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So in place of basing belief on solid evidence, we should play it by logic, educated guesses and plain common sense:
- The next-gen for handhelds is definitely coming soon. The past few iterations were simply revisions/modifications of existing products (PSPGo, 3000, DS Lite, DSi), so a new gen should already be in the works, as the PSP and the DS have reached their 5-6th year.
- Next Gen means better in many or all respects: power consumption, more raw power and/or efficient processing techniques, etc. That being said, if the products are set to come out in the next 1-2 years, it would make sense to use technology that already exists today. Because if you were to make your own, it would add a few more years to develop.
- In that respect, Imagine Tech (iPhone) and NVidia (Zune HD) are quite capable of delivering high-performance for low power with their respective products. One would have to be pretty silly not to take advantage of them.
And so on.
The information, while being from 'anonymous sources', sounds very viable from many, if not all standpoints. I see the future developments happening to be exactly as they say or at least, be very similar.
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I don't think we'll see a DS successor until 2012, 2013. After all the DSi IS a hardware boost over the DS Lite, they can carry on with that for a while.
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That's a misconception. Why do you think companies like AMD, Intel, ATI, and Nvidia release products either concurrently or closely to the release of their competitors, even if they were 'winning' in the generation? Like, why would ATI release the X series when NVidia releases GF6 when ATI clearly won the 9000vsFX war? Companies have to keep up with the 'new' vibe of their competitor if they wish to stay in business.
The GB had a long lifespan due to lack of technology. When the GBC came, it didn't last that long until the GBA came and replaced it. The GBA was then partially survived by the GBA SP, primarily due to problems with the first generation.
What you also miss is that Nintendo had other projects even before the GBA and GBC, like the Virtual Boy. Unfortunately, that flopped badly, so the lifespan of the GB was extended. The gap between GB and VB was only 5 years, and the GB and GBC 8 years. The the gap between the GBA line and the DS is only 4 years.
No electronics company would be dumb enough to rely on a technology for 15 years. 6 years is already pushing it, actually...normally the life cycle of a device would be 5 years at best. Afterwards, a hardware redesign or a new design must be made.
2011 would mark the 7th year of the DS line, well beyond the average lifespan. And with their competitors (read: Sony) preparing to make a new handheld, they'd be pretty silly not to step up to the challenge.
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