The New Generation

 

Whether you like it or not, the next generation of video game consoles is coming. This fact became clear with the announcement of the 3DS- Nintendo's new entry to it's portfolio of portable gaming devices. Then, it wasn't long for Sony, after much leaks and speculations, to reveal their own next-gen handheld- the Next Generation Portable (or NGP for short). Keeping in mind that it has not been a lot of time since the two devices' announcements, only general technical info and a list of launch titles (amongst which there are some quite interesting stuff) have been officially released. 

The NGP

Visually, the Sony NGP's design doesn't differ much from the original one's. However there's a number of changes and most importantly- tasty, tasty new stuff. The first thing you have probably noticed are the not one but, count them, two analog sticks on the front- yes, all the prayers of the players have finally been answered! But it doesn't stop here. The console's much bigger than the old PSP's 5 inch 960x544 OLED screen with a 16:9 aspect ratio is going to be multi-touch sensitive, opening a vast number of control possibilities. Another thing is, as you can see, that there are no buttons beneath the screen but instead, the volume buttons are now on top, the PS button is on the left-hand side of the devise and the start and select ones are on the right, respectively. An interesting control feature are the two capacitive multi-touch pads on the back of the NGP. I have no idea how they're going to be used or even utilized in the games themselves but if done properly, I'm sure it'll be awesome. The handheld will also be fully motion sensitive with a three-axis gyroscope, three-axis accelerometer and a three-axis electronic compass.

The processing power of the NGP is simply mind-blowing for a portable device. There are even rumors going around the net that it's Quad-core ARM Cortex-A9 CPU and Quad-core PowerVR SGX543MP4+ GPU are going to be capable of producing PS3-like visuals! Talk about sheer computing might! Other hardware includes options for WiFi, Bluetooth and 3G mobile network connectivity, a GPS and one camera on each side with resolutions not yet known.

The list of games announced so far looks very exciting. Uncharted, LBP, Resistance, Wipeout, Metal Gear Solid and Call of Duty are just a few of the titles, going to be playable on Sony's newest console. An interesting thing is that no UMDs or anything disc-based will be used but instead, they're going for cartridges, which is great news for two very important reasons: faster load times and longer battery life. The release date and price tag is unknown but I tell you, all that hardware WON'T be cheap.



The 3DS
Just like Sony, Nintendo have decided not to alter the visual design of the NDS when making the 3DS.
The special thing about it is that it's going be able to display 3D images on it's top screen, hence the name, without the need of wearing any glasses. On the right-hand side there is a slider for adjusting the visual depth of the screen or completely turning the 3D feature off. This handheld gets a +1 analog stick too, a 3-axis accelerometer and a 3-axis gyroscope for motion controls.

The top screen is a 3.5 inch with an effective resolution of 400x280 while the lower one is a 3 inch 320x240 and is touch sensitive but whether it's multi-touch or not is not certain yet. One frontal and two rear cameras (for 3D photos and videos) will be placed on the unit. The DMP PICA 200 GPU is said to be capable of graphics, even better than the Sony PSP.

Streen Fighter 3D, Kid Icarus, Dead or Alive: Dimensions and 3D reworks of old Nintendo classics such as Legend of Zelda:OOC and Super Mario Land are some of the promising titles announced.
The Nintendo 3DS is scheduled to be released in the US on the 27th of March at $250.

Conclusion:
Personally, I am very excited for both handhelds and I think that they have a lot to offer to us in the upcoming years. If I had the money I'd definitely get both but since I don't I'll just wait and see how things develop (and for the prices to drop in the meantime) and then get one of them, tho I'm kinda leaning towards the NGP for now. There are just slightly more games I find worthwhile for it than the 3DS and I've spent countless hours on my PSP, while barely touching my NDS, which eventually got sold.

Another thing that makes me uncertain about Nintendo's console is the 3D screen itself. I've seen glassless 3D before and it's main disadvantage is it's very limited viewing angle, where you have to stare from one specific spot, otherwise it gets blurry and simply unwatchable.

Despite my own views, the 3DS is probably going to dominate the market again for three main reasons: the lower price tag, it's general appeal to the casual community and the pre-generated popularity from it's predecessor. But yet again, I might be wrong.


So which one do YOU think looks more promising? Which would you buy and why? Please feel free to share your thoughts!