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PSP2: More Internal Memory Than The 360, Could Run Uncharted 3?

Well, if Game Informer will soon run an article about it, how much of a rumor can it really be?

According to MaxConsole , the Australian branch of the gaming publication recently ran a piece called, "PlayStation's New Portable," which is pretty self-explanatory. It also tells us the powerful little unit is actually capable of running something like Uncharted 3 and although we find that a tad difficult to believe, we have to realize that handheld technology improves right alongside console technology. There was a time when none of us could've dreamed we'd hold anything in our hands that could rival the PS2. Now, they say the next PSP is codenamed "Veta" for the time being and will hold even more internal memory than the Xbox 360 (1GB). Based on everything we've heard thus far, the PSP2 sounds like a beast of a machine, and we have heard an Uncharted game is in the works for the new portable hardware. That'd be one hell of a launch title, huh? I'd buy it.

We have to assume Sony is poised to unveil the PSP2 because at this point, it won't come as any big surprise, but at least we'll finally have all the facts.

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Temjin001
Temjin001
13 years ago

1GB of RAM would be about as much memory as the PS3 and 360 combined.

EDIT: after reading that again, I think they're just referring to onboard memory for saves and game files etc.
Not game RAM.


Last edited by Temjin001 on 12/20/2010 10:44:16 AM

Temjin001
Temjin001
13 years ago

And for the record, the current 360 Arcade/Squat has 4GB of onboard memory for data files and saves.

TheHighlander
TheHighlander
13 years ago

They might be talking about DRAM Temjin, if the CPU/GPU isn't as powerful as people are saying (and considering it's a hand held I don't see how it could be…) giving the unit a ton of RAM would allow the use of memory intensive methods to handle complex lighting effects that otherwise would cripple the GPU.

STAY3R
STAY3R
13 years ago

1gb of ed ram? are u nuts? that will increase th-e cost of each unit to 1000$

TheHighlander
TheHighlander
13 years ago

Did I say eDRAM? It's not 1GB of embedded DRAM. *If* it has 1GB of RAM it will be more conventional memory than eDRAM. I don't even think you could get 1GB of eDRAM embedded on a processor die anyway.

LPDDR2 memory uses very little power in the order of about 400mW per unit. That kind of RAM would be more than acceptable and possibly provide 1GB capacity with ease. Samsung are sampling 8Gb memory modules at 30nm for release in 2011. Such devices would more than match the power and capacity requirements as well as offering good performance.


Last edited by TheHighlander on 12/20/2010 1:02:03 PM

Qubex
Qubex
13 years ago

Well Highlander, that was my concern; the battery issue. The more powerful the pSp2 is, the worst the battery performance.

On these new mini computer smart phones, the battery performance is atrocious.

Q!

"play.experience.enjoy"

Temjin001
Temjin001
13 years ago

I gave myself thumbs up because two boneheads out their gave me thumbs down. Yeah, sucks to be you.
Anyhow, it'd be crazy if the PSP2 had 1GB of RAM. Devs would have massive amounts of memory to make games like Oblivion and Infamous to be insanely massive in real time complexity.

But I seriously doubt it, but hey! this PSP2 has got to beat the snot out of the 3DS and the Apple competition to really give itself a unique identity. And you can't do that with sub-par processing and memory. Maybe Sony just wants to really dig their claws in on the premium gaming market for the handhelds.. It'd probably not sell as well as it's competitors in terms of volume, but it'd sure as heck keep the more dedicated gamers nestled in with premium gaming.

Nynja
Nynja
13 years ago

One of the sources I read state the PSP Phone will have 512MB of RAM and 1GB of ROM.

The source also claims a Feb 2011 launch date and April 2011 for the UK.

RebelJD
RebelJD
13 years ago

When the PSP2 gets announced and the specs and features are mentioned, and it's a dream next to the PS3, then we'll start seeing some Playstation mayhem all over again. Oh yeah!

STAY3R
STAY3R
13 years ago

that's flash memory for saving games, not actual RAM, newz it will be something between 384~512 for sure

STAY3R
STAY3R
13 years ago

and If it was a PS3, why is the PS3 console itself so HUGE if they can use smaller components?
bs, but i'm quite sure it will be powerful enough to run unreal 3 engine, now that's quite amazing

PAKINIPS
PAKINIPS
13 years ago

Is that what I looks like?
I thought it looked crap? That looks good?
Specs sound good anyhoo

Jawknee
Jawknee
13 years ago

No that's not what it looks like. It hasn't been officially revealed. It's just a mock up some one created on the internet.

AntDC
AntDC
13 years ago

You might be getting confused with pictures and videos that have been leaked of the PSP Phone.

I've noticed quite a few people on this site are assuming that the PSP 2 and the PSP Phone are the same thing, they're two independent releases guys.

CH1N00K
CH1N00K
13 years ago

So which will be announced "officially" first? The PSP2 or the PSPhone? and how will they compare technically? I know that they are two different animals, but for myself, I'm trying to decide that if I had the choice, would I get one or the other as I probably won't be investing in both.

StangMan80
StangMan80
13 years ago

I'm in the same situation. I would love the PSphone but don't know much at the momet, the 'Veta' is sounding so awesome. Sighn me up.
Uncharted(portible) sounds cool. So far it looks like I;m buyinh my 'FIRST' 'NEW' PSP. I still want to play MGS peace walker. Whats the chance of peace walker m,aking it to the PS3? I guess I'll be playing it on the 'Veta' any ways.

TheHighlander
TheHighlander
13 years ago

The phone has more or less been confirmed, there are eve reports of it's early performance benchmarks (which suck).

Zorigo
Zorigo
13 years ago

If this is upthere with the biiiig handheld devices (iphone,itouch, top androids etc) ima get this.
what i want from a handheld is good internet (wifi) good games, good storage, good movie capability. this sounds like the sweetspot atm.

Kiryu
Kiryu
13 years ago

oh my god Ps3 games on a handheld?and we'll be able to connect them to a hdtv for high definition output then we don't need a ps3 but it might be just a rumor.
How long will be the battery life for one charge then?


Last edited by Kiryu on 12/20/2010 11:04:49 AM

AcHiLLiA
AcHiLLiA
13 years ago

Hope it has a good battery life on one charge.
If 1GB of memory that will be great.

Snorge
Snorge
13 years ago

Im hoping the 1GB is for the memory and not for storage….the PSPGo has 16GB built in for saving games and so on, why would this come with 1GB? Im not gonna make any speculations (more than what I already have) and wait for the OFFICIAL announcement..

Oh yeah, what was the big game debuted after the VGAs?…havent heard anything about it

Lawless SXE
Lawless SXE
13 years ago

It was a press exclusive event to show off Drake's Deception. Not an actual new game reveal.

Jawknee
Jawknee
13 years ago

""Im hoping the 1GB is for the memory and not for storage….the PSPGo has 16GB built in for saving games and so on, why would this come with 1GB?"

Exactly, those claiming its just the internal storage are making little to zero sense given this fact.

Snorge
Snorge
13 years ago

@ Lawless, Thanks alot, was curious, and heard nothing of it.

@ Jawknee Thats almost common sense IMO. Speculating on that level really kills me. Why would Sony have a killer handheld with HD screen, touch interface, dual analogs and so on to have on 1GB storage on there? GTFO. 1GB of ram is nice!

JLB1
JLB1
13 years ago

Honestly, all this talk of the PSP2 gets more amazing. I'm just hoping once it's finally released, no one is disappointed.

TheShadow
TheShadow
13 years ago

Sounds very interesting, uncharted in the go.

ed_winchester
ed_winchester
13 years ago

Naughty Dog did say they'd like to see an Uncharted game on handheld although not necessarily that they themselves would make it. And aren't the Ready at Dawn guys working on a new game? Too soon for another God of War surely?

Just imagine, actually, fantasise at what game we'd end up with; Uncharted on PSP2 from developers that can only be described as PSP wizards! <drools>


Last edited by ed_winchester on 12/20/2010 12:07:17 PM

Lawless SXE
Lawless SXE
13 years ago

That's crazy. It exists, that much is pretty obvious, but if these specs are true Sony should just not make the PS4, because this will be capable of rivalling anything on it. Oh yes, the PSP2 will be that good.

But not really. Damn… I can't wrap my head around this. Here's to hoping it'll be unveiled at CES in January.
Peace.

Jawknee
Jawknee
13 years ago

This isn't the first time this has been reported. It was reported a few months ago that the PSP2's graphics and hardware capabilities could rival the 360's. As Snorge pointed out, the PSPGo has 16gb of internal storage memory, why on earth would Sony cut it down to 1gb when releasing the PSP2? If this article is true then it's more likely the 1gb IS RAM and not internal storage.

StangMan80
StangMan80
13 years ago

I'm pretty sure there not talking about the internal memory, There will be plenty of that I'm sure.

TheHighlander
TheHighlander
13 years ago

I think that there is a certain amount of hype and gloss in these rumors about what the PSP2 can/can't run.

If you made some compromises in the rendering and detail, you could run something like Uncharted on a suitably powerful handheld, bet let's not get carried away. There are no CPU/GPU combinations or System on a chip combinations in the mobile processor market that come remotely close to the kind of processing power in the PS3.

The very most you're talking about is a quad core based design running at 1Gz or less. Anything more would cripple the battery life beyond repair. There are currently no mobile processor architectures that resemble the Cell architecture, and in the embedded processor market there are a couple of designs but the one that comes closest to the rumored 4 core Cell-like processor consumes between 10 and 30 watts depending on the clock speed. Considering that even a 4000Mah battery can manage just 14.4 watts for a maximum of an hour (or some combination of watts vs time), that's just not going to happen.

So in terms of processor speed, when Uncharted is running at near peak performance on a 3.2Ghz processor with 1 PPC core and 6 active SPEs running at 3.2GHz with XDR memory running at 3.2GHz and a 500MHz GPU chugging along with it's own 48 processing elements in parallel; I just don't see how any mobile device available, or even on the drawing boards, today can hope to match that.

But then it's not about matching the computational power, it's about matching, or coming close to matching the functionality/appearance of a PS3 title.

Whatever is in the PSP2 it will be good, of that I have no doubt. But what it won't be the equivalent of half of a PS3.


Last edited by TheHighlander on 12/20/2010 12:49:44 PM

Snorge
Snorge
13 years ago

Damn Highlander, can I get some of that genious juice you're drinking? How do you know so much about the PS3 architecture but DONT work for Sony? LoL


Last edited by Snorge on 12/20/2010 1:03:38 PM

TheHighlander
TheHighlander
13 years ago

I'm a hardware geek, I learned about the Cell processor about two years before the PS3 even launched, and it really caught my eye – in a geeky way. So I have followed it closely, read a lot of white papers and technical journals, and whatnot on the Cell BE and the PS3 in general.

I probably know it about as well as anyone who doesn't develop for it can. Don't get me wrong, I've a computer science degree, I've programmed for a living, and continue to work in the field, so I have the background.

I just really appreciate an innovative architecture like the one that the cell is. I've paid close attention to the PlayStation hardware in general too, but this PSP2 has me intrigued. I've been researching the various mobile processor designs and concepts, and although there's a mountain of reading still to do, I have a pretty good feel what what is and is not possible in the mobile processor market right now.

Funnily enough, the other processor architecture that I know well is the ARM which is at the core of the majority of the world's mobile processors. Although it has come a long way since I followed it as closely

Snorge
Snorge
13 years ago

Ok cool, thats very interesting…self taught in the design of the PS3…hmmmm…….You hear that? Sony is knocking at your door…they have a job application for you. LoL

I'm into tech as well, and find it amazing that you know this much information (prob more than some third pary devs) and yet you keep to yourself (unless you have a hidden blog or something) and then decide to bless us here at PSXE with your ungodly PS3 knowledge…awesome job man.

TheHighlander
TheHighlander
13 years ago

Thanks, I do my best. I also try to acknowledge when I make an error and correct it too. There's nothing worse than being a geeky writer and not knowing how to say, "Sorry, I was wrong…"

I used to write part time for a tech site, so I'm not entirely without experience. I just find that my day job normally takes too much time to do this professionally. That said, if the office gets any quieter this week, we'll be able to sneak out at noon every day. I hate this time of year at work, everyone else is on vacation and so little gets done.

Shadow_Ninja
Shadow_Ninja
13 years ago

This is the best comment i've read on this article.

Because even if the PSP2 does have more internal memory than the 360, it still won't be a better performance console than the 360 or even come close to the PS3. of course, that may not mean it's not possible in hypothetical terms of just powering the Cell BE with a battery, but who would want to play let's say, Uncharted 2 for only 20 minutes and then wait to get home and charge your PSP2 again?

I am pretty sure Sony is producing the PSP2 to be the best and compete with the rest of the handheld devices and not consoles directly.

Nynja
Nynja
13 years ago

Remeber guys, we are talking about a portable. Not a device that's expected to output 1080p graphics on a 55inch screen. On a smaller screen, developers will be able to get away with less polygons which would reduce the workload on the CPU/GPU.

A scaled down version of Uncharted 1, 2, or 3 would be possible on a device with half the processing power and twice the amount of RAM – well, twice the amount of total RAM. I'm sure some minor sacrafices would be made, such as draw distance and AA.

Temjin001
Temjin001
13 years ago

Yes, Nynja, a smaller interface means proportionately scaled back processing and memory. Look at the PSP, it's not nearly a PS2 but it still manages to make games comparable to it, only in a bite-sized delivery format. In fact, PSP games tend to look sharper than PS2 games because, usually, PS2 games are running at a far lower pixels-per-inch level while playing on large TV's.

So I expect no less from PSP2. I think we'll see games that look and feel near PS3 caliber. It'll be interesting to see the facts once this think gets officially unveiled. Heck, there's rumors suggesting that it could be using a powerful 4 core mobile GPU by NVIDIA.

Temjin001
Temjin001
13 years ago

An edit I should make, that rumored PSP2 GPU is by PowerVR and it's named the SGX55x
The rumor may turn out to be bogus, but it's indicator to what may be possible for the little beast.

TheHighlander
TheHighlander
13 years ago

@Nynja,

I understand what you are saying, Devs can 'cheat' to an extent because of the dimensions of the screen. However if the PSP2 has a true 720p screen, Devs will develop to that standard.

With respect to making a guestimate about what would be required to run Uncharted with a lower resolution/polygon count, I don't know. What I d know is that you won't get a half of the performance of a PS3 in a mobile device, a Portable device perhaps, but not a hand held mobile device. Both in terms of the number of cores and clock speed, there is simply no way you can shoe horn half a PS3 into a mobile device, not if you want it to have a battery life that extends beyond about 30 minutes. If you went with 4 cores at 1GHz (or there about) you might, get a device that is half the performance of a Cell BE running at 1GHZ, but since the PS3 runs at 3.2GHz, it's more like 1/6 of the processor power. Remember the Cell BE and RSX are fully fledged desktop devices, they make no concessions to ultra low power operation. The cores in mobile devices are not just on very low power materials with lower clock speeds, their very design is optimized for power consumption. Compared to a full desktop processor, these mobile devices can be missing some of the performance optimizations made for desktop use.

Now, all of that said, considering the power of a PS3, a hand held with a significant fraction of the power of a PS3 is absolutely nothing to be sneezed at. But, people really do have to reconsider just what is truly possible in the kind of power envelope mobile processors in hand held devices run in.

My Motorola Droid, for example has a Coretex A8 ARM processor clocked at 550MHz. It's fairly speedy for most – ordinary – tasks. That processor uses about a third of a watt, it is a sub-watt device. That is the kind of power envelope that a hand held has to run in. Sony might use a *much* bigger battery and get away with over a watt for the CPU, but you have to add in the power costs for the other components including the GPU, screen and backlight.

If you assume that they take the 1200mAh battery from the PSP2000/3000 and double it, that's 2400mAh. At 3.6 volts that's 8.6 watt hours. To get a 4 hour life, the system has to run on just over 2 watts per hour. Incidentally, this means that the PSP-2000/3000 runs on about 1 watt per hour, sometimes less. The original PSP used about 50% more power.

The PSP2 has to be a very low power device, it's simple physics. The battery capacity and expected battery life time set the parameters.

Temjin001
Temjin001
13 years ago

Yeah, Highlander, the design dynamics have to be different for handhelds when having to consider batteries. Someone needs to invent heat sensors that convert the heat from your hands into power.
We could be our own battery =p

TheHighlander
TheHighlander
13 years ago

Temjin,

Those actually exist, there is a whole field of solar energy technology that tries to capture the solar energy in the infra-red spectrum rather than the visible, so that's not too far from being a possibility.

Nynja
Nynja
13 years ago

@Highlander; Agreed. PSP2 pushing PS3 comparable graphics is not that far fetched. As for the PSP2 running fully optimized PS3 games, I find that hard to believe – unless handled via RDP(aka: Remote Play).

When people say the PSP2 can run Uncharted 3, I believe we should take into consideration the marketing push behind the claim. Really what they are probably saying is PSP2 can be capable of some of the best PS3 graphics.

@Temjin; The Tegra 2 is what the rumor was for the Nvidia GPU on PSP2. Though, as Highlander has been adamant about the power consumption being an issue, the article I read states that it's actually one of the hurdles they apparently have with the Tegra 2.

As for the image looking sharper, with a small screen the developers are able to get away with the removal of anti-aliasing with minimal visual impact to reduce the workload on the GPU allowing for better performance. This and the higher resolution LCD screen compared to your standard CRT 480i makes the PSP appear to have sharper images. The screen really makes that much of a difference when comparing the PSP and the PS2.

The PS2 CPU may run at a slower clock speed than the PSP, but is capable of far better graphics than the PSP. I would not be surprised if the core issue preventing a mobile gaming device from exceeding graphic capabilities of console brethren all fall back to power consumption.


Last edited by Nynja on 12/21/2010 12:25:28 PM

Oxvial
Oxvial
13 years ago

This worries me , hope the psp2 doesn't get a bunch of Ps3 sub par ports.

I want the psp2 to have original games.

TheHighlander
TheHighlander
13 years ago

LOL! You know what's funny about that comment?

When the PSP was launched, people said:
"I hope the PSP doesn't get a bunch of sub par PS2 ports. I want the PSP to have original games."

Well, there were some poor PS2 ports, but the PSP soon started to get games of it's own. The trouble was that by that time, people wanted PS2 games on the PSP. It's best for there to be a mix of games. Personally I like having mobile versions of my favorite games on my PSP, and I like having games made specifically for it.

The worst thing about what you say though is that when that same argument was used on the PSP is was used to decry the lack of original games. In other words it was one of those damned if you do, damned if you don't situations where if original games were made, they didn't sell as well, but if PS2 ports happened, people bashed because it was a port.

Personally, I think you're worrying over nothing.

Snorge
Snorge
13 years ago

Who wants to bet PSP2 might have some type of 3D capabilities?

FatherSun
FatherSun
13 years ago

Like I mentioned before.. I just hope all the hype is not being fabricated in order to get the consumers hopes up only to be disappointed when the genuine article is released.

Corporate sabotage?

LittleBigMidget
LittleBigMidget
13 years ago

Prepare for a $600 handheld

PorkChopGamer
PorkChopGamer
13 years ago

Yup. Sony must think they are Apple or something. Sony's last few launch price unveils have been disastrous.

mackid1993
mackid1993
13 years ago

Uncharted=Instant Sale for me.

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