Sound Workshops and Foley Sessions

This week our group sound workshop sessions with Mathew Applegate came to an end.

In these workshops Matt told us about himself, his life and his career. He explained sound concepts such as diegesis and non-digesis.

Diegesis and Non Diegesis

In a movie or game, diegetic sounds are caused by a sound source present on the screen. The characters in the world can actually hear the sound.

Non-diegtic sounds are the opposite, the sounds don't exist in the 'world' of the movie or game, only the audience can hear them. These sounds are sometimes used to set the mood of a scene, so the character may have theme music, to clue the audience in on their future If this is sinister music, the audience will realise the character has a dark future ahead of them, but since the character can't hear the music, they have no way of telling that anything is amiss. Narration is another example of non-diegtic sound. Narration is a good method of explaining the situation to the audience without effecting the 'world' or characters in the game or movie.

Opening Shot

Matt taught us the importance of the opening shots of a movie or game. The opening shot is quite simply, the first 5-10 seconds of sound the audience hears upon starting the movie or game. This piece of sound instantly clues the audience in on the atmosphere and mood of the media they are watching or playing. Matt used the example of the Star Wars the Clone Wars animated cartoon, to show the effect of the opening shot. The opening of the cartoon contains a massive amount of information. Classic star wars music plays, along with marching footsteps, and a short burst of the Imperial anthem. The cartoon is aimed at both old and new star wars fans. The quick short, Imperial burst was clearly put there for long time fans, who will know that it signifies how the clone wars ends, and how the Empire begins.

Matt also taught us that sound can describe what size an object is. In Star Wars for instance, the bigger Star Destroyer like clone ship engines make a very deep rumbling sound, whereas the small one man fighter ships make a lighter higher pitched sound.

Other concepts Matt taught us include, room tone, how the size and materials of a room can drastically change the sound output in that room. A simple example of this is, in some FPS games, if you fire a weapon in an open space, say a large cavern, and then fire the same weapon in a small enclosed room, the sounds produced with be very different.

Thematic Music

Thematic music is non-diegtic music, which gives the audience an impression of what the character is like and how they act. In the Star Wars animated cartoon, Anakin Skywalker's theme music, sounds troubled and discordant, reflecting the conflict present in Anakin's future. Internal monologues allow the audience to see what a character is thinking. A reverb is usually added to these monologues so the audience is in no doubt that they are listening to the characters thoughts, rather than hearing them speak directly.

Willhelm Scream

An interesting aside that Matt taught us was about the Willhelm scream. The Willhelm scream is used in a staggering number of movies and games, for comedic effect. The scream sounds cartoony and very unrealistic, so directors and sound designers seem to like adding the scream in as a kind of inside joke. I was amazed at the sheer number of movies I watched that featured the scream. Everything from Star Wars, to LOTR, to Toy Story 3, to Inception. If you think of a movie, it's likely the Willhelm Scream will be present at some point.

Stepping Back

Matt also taught us that in order to properly analyse a movie or game, we as an audience, must step back from the story and sound, and experience it at an entirely different level.

This is particularly difficult in games, since it is extremely difficult to do well at a game without concentrating and being immersed in its world.

Matt recommended using video capture card software to record ourselves playing a game, and then watching it back to analyse it. I plan to try this in the summer, since I've always wanted to record some of my favourite moments in gaming so I can easily relive them.

Foley Sessions

We were privileged to have two Foley sessions with Matt. Foley is the process of creating sounds using everyday objects. It is extensively used in TV, movies and games.

Matt let us create sounds using a large variety of objects. Below I have attempted to list every object I can remember us using, and what sound it created.

Slinky and Plastic Cup = Various laser sounds.

Path Tiles = Scraping sound, sounds like a heavy and a light object being moved depending on which side of the tiles is used.

Frozen Vegetables (Carrots, Cabbages etc) = Bone crunching, bone breaking, alien pods.

Trainers = Very pronounced clear footsteps.

Cloth sheet, Crisp Packet, Bubble Wrap and Children's Toy = crackling fire sound.

Creaky Door = Loud creaking sound.

Normal Door = Quiet low creaking sound.

Movie Light rotated = Horrible creaking sound.

Vending Machine Motor = Loud sound of motor running. Edited to produce engine sounds of big spaceships.

Electric Light = Electrical humming/clicking sound.

Metal Ladder and Metal Pole = Metal tapping sound.

Cushions, Cloth Sheet and Punching/Kicking = Realistic punching/kicking sounds.

It was an awesome experience to both see how foley sounds are created, and to take part in creating those sounds. The Slinky and Plastic Cup left me speechless, when Matt first demonstrated it. Actual laser-like sounds coming out of a toy and a plastic cup combined is quite an experience. I'd heard that if the two objects were put together correctly they could cause the sounds, but I don't think I seriously believed it until I saw it happen.

Conclusion

It's a shame our sound sessions have come to an end so rapidly. Matt was able to bring his passion for sound into the lessons he taught, which made the subject both interesting and enjoyable. I certainly learnt a lot and discovered that sounds are much more interesting than I thought.

I will attempt to analyse the sounds in movies I watch and games I play. As I said above, so far I am mainly noticing the Willhelm Scream, but I suppose that's still a start. :)

As usual, thanks for reading.

References

Star Wars The Clone Wars (George Lucas). 2008

Star Wars: Return of the Jedi (George Lucas). 1983

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Peter Jackson). 2002

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (Peter Jackson). 2003

Inception (Christopher Nolan). 2010

The Dragon Speech

This weekend I discovered the "Dragon Speech" by Chris Crawford and found it really great. He brings up a lot of good stuff, and touches on many subjects that I have ranted about. You can watch it here:

Part 1 "The Dream Well"
Part 2 "Interactivity"
Part 3 "Genesis of Art"
Part 4 "Characters"
Part 5 "Charge!"

I am actually a bit embarrassed that I never seen this talk before. I have heard about it, but never thought much about it and thinking it was not worth any attention. Now that I have seen it, I can say that is definitely not the case and it is one of the best things I've heard/seen on games.

Which brings me to another point: This talk is almost twenty years old and yet not much have changed. The points he bring up on focus on "fun" and serving a hardcore market are all still very valid. Also, characters in games have evolved very little, in fact, apart from a few IF games like Galatea, not much has happened since Monkey Island days. It feels like his views were ignored by most people in the industry. (If anybody has sources on what kind of impact it had on other people at the time, I would be really happy to hear about it!)

I like to think that things are shaping up a bit though. For instance, players and media have started to accept that games does not have to just about "fun", but can be about other type of emotions as well. (Something I like to think the horror games of the last ten years or so as had a part in). We are also starting to see the first step at a merge between the "casual" and "hardcore" market*, with games such as Drawn, which I see as the beginning of a less specialized market. The situation is far from good, but at least there are some sources of light.

Another thing of interest is that Chris Crawford has never made a conventional games since he held this speech. Right now he seems to be involved in something called Storytron, which I have to admit I do not know much about and have never tried. Now I feel I really must give it a go though! If anyone has tried it, I would be very interested in hearing your thoughts about it.

Finally, I also recently heard that Chris will be giving a speech at GDC this year. So will definitely try to attend that (me and Jens will be going there because of IGF and all).


*I do not like the names casual and hardcore. because they compartmentalize the audience far too much and I also think it is a bad way at looking at things (either you like to shoot stuff or play simple puzzles!!!). But since I refer to a trend in the industry I thought it was kinda okay to to use them.

The Dead Island Trailer and the Future of Games

By now most of you have probably seen the teaser trailer for Dead Island. If not, you can check it out here:
http://www.gametrailers.com/video/cinematic-trailer-dead-island/710652


This trailer has been getting tons of attention over the Internet and many seem to think that it is one of the best game trailers ever. I find that this is quite interesting, since just about everything that makes the trailer good are things that modern video games lack. I would even go as far as to say that a video game made using modern gameplay-centric design could never create something that gives the same experience.

This is why I think so:


Non-coherent narrative
The video does not have follow the normal rules of making a narrative (where time flows coherently through plot events), but instead provide a disjointed one. Past and present are not explicitly stated, but is something that the viewers must figure out themselves. Game with a focus on story just do not work like this and instead go through plot points in a predetermined (although sometimes branched) fashion.

In order to get the same kind of feeling you get from the trailer in a game, stories needs to be looked upon in a different way. A story should not be seen as a string of plot points, but as a certain essence that is meant to be communicated. (See this post for further discussion on the subject).


Violence is not the focus nor the fun part.
This is something that I have talked about lots before, most recently in a discussion on Dead Space 2. When you start to focus on making sure that all gameplay is fun, then that trumps any other emotions that could have been evoking. The violence in the Dead Island trailer is not fun. It is desperate, repulsive and tragic. How can you possibly hope to evoke the feelings of a man forced to "kill" his own daughter if your aim is for it to be fun?


Hard-to-repeat moments
An important part of video games today is that they stop you from making progress unless you meet specific requirements. This is mostly in the form of some skill-based challenge (succeed or restart), but can also be in the form of navigational or puzzle-like obstacles. While of course imperative in some games, this sort of design can greatly decrease the emotional impact of events. Mainly because forcing a player to relive an event dilutes its impact and sets focus on mechanical aspects. Secondly because blocking the player from progress can make certain situations unbearable.

The trailer has both versions of this problem. For instance, the chase sequence where the child runs to the door is not something that works when repeated. Also, the event when the child falls through the window is an example of something that you do not want to replay or get stuck at. (A more in-depth discussion can be found here.)

Just so I am clear here: I do not mean that a game should try and replicate the events exactly like in the trailer. Video games are a different medium from film and needs things to be done differently. Instead what I do mean is the recreation of the essences of these events and situations; to provoke the same kind of emotions and thoughts. Not to make a direct copy.


A holistic experience
What I mean by this is that you need to see the whole thing to get the full experience. Unless you see the trailer until its end, you will not the get full meaning of the work. Mainstream games almost never work in this way, but rather focus on maximizing the entertainment value moment-to-moment. This is partly because of the goal to make games "fun" above all else. Other causes are the focus put on length of the experience as a large part of the value, and a general attitude of games as products rather than works of art (explained nicely here and here).



With the above in mind, it should come as little as a surprise that I find it highly unlikely that Dead Island will be anything near what the trailer is like (although I hope the reactions to this trailer inspire them to give it a shot and perhaps succeed!). I think there really is a desire for games that offer a different and more emotional experience, the attention this trailer got being a clear sign of that. But if we stick to the tried formula of making video games, these kind of experiences will remain beyond our reach.

IGN: 2011 Video Game Release Time line

What is a game designer?

People almost always confuse game designers with game developers; they would point out a developer and say: yeah I know this guy, he works in game design; The process of explaining what is a game designer exactly has been a pain for such a long time; I'm pretty sure almost 70% of the people I know have no idea what I do and what I found shocking is that I had to explain the concept in interviews when I applied to local game development houses. 

The state of game development in the middle east and in Jordan especially is a subject of a different post beyond the scope of this one. 

To many of us, we love this man like a father; I had the honour of meeting him back in 2007; didn't wash my hands for weeks

For now, let us start with the definition of a game designer. 

Definition 

A game designer is a person who designs games. The term normally refers to a person who designs video or computer games, but it can also refer to one who designs traditional games, such as board games. 

Game design is the creation of the rules and content of a game. It does not involve programming, art or animation, or marketing, or any of the other myriad tasks required to make a game. All of these tasks collectively can be called “game development” and game design is one part of development.

A video or computer game designer develops the layout, concept and gameplay: the game design of a video or computer game. They work for a video game publisher or developer. This person usually has a lot of writing experience and may even have a degree in writing or a related field (such as English). This person's primary job function is writing, so the more experience they have with the activity, the better. Some art and programming skills are also helpful for this job, but are not strictly necessary.

History

Early in the history of video games, game designers were often the lead programmer or the only programmer for a game. This is the case of such noted designers as Sid Meier and Will Wright. This person also sometimes comprised the entire art team! As games became more complex and computers and consoles became more powerful (allowing more features), the job of game designer became a separate job function, with the lead programmer splitting his time between the two functions, moving from one role to the other.

 Sid now strictly designs; his focus shows in creating complex titles such as civilizations series 

Later, game complexity escalated to the point where it required someone who concentrated solely on game design. Many early veterans chose the game design path eschewing programming and relegating those tasks to others.

Today, it is rare to find a video or computer game where the principal programmer is also the principal designer, except in the case of relatively simple games, such as Tetris or Bejewelled. With very complex games, such as MMORPGs, designers may number in the dozens! In these cases, there are generally one or two principle designers and many junior designers who specify subsets or subsystems of the game.

What is a Game Designer?

As you may have noticed, game design is an incredibly broad field. Those of us who are professional designers sometimes have trouble explaining what we do to our families and friends. Part of the reason for this is that we do so many things. Here are some analogies I’ve seen when trying to explain what it is like to be a game designer:

• Game designers are artists. The term “art” is just as difficult to define as the word “game”… but if games can be a form of art then designers would be artists.
• Game designers are architects. Architects do not build physical structures; they create blueprints. Video game designers also create “blueprints” which are referred to as “design docs.” Board game designers create “blueprints” as well — in the form of prototypes — which are then mass-produced by publishers.
• Game designers are party hosts. As designers, we invite players into our space and try our best to show them a good time.
• Game designers are gods. We create worlds, and we create the physical rules that govern those worlds.
• Game designers are lawyers. We create a set of rules that others must follow.
• Game designers are educators. As I have discussed earlier, entertainment and education are strongly linked, and games are (at least sometimes) fun because they involve learning new skills.

Hanarubo Sakaguchi created worlds in the Final Fantasy series players still enjoy to this day 

Game design in the real world

In the video game industry, the job of game designer is one of the hardest to obtain. It is not easy, though many people think they "have what it takes" to perform this job. It is the biggest problem that faces designers is that people always have opinions about everything, and while it's part of the designers job to collect those pieces of information and take what suits the project the most; the constant nagging could get tiresome. 

Because everyone think that there's nothing to being a game designer and they can be it, it could lead to lots of clashes with the management; Game designers are creative people and hostile disrespectful environment in which the boss dictates what 'he' thinks best all though it's out the scope of his expertise could get the designer very very frustrated.  

Almost everyone in the game industry has what they believe is the ultimate game concept and is waiting for the opportunity to develop the game. As a game designer, they may get the opportunity to develop that game concept, so competition is usually very high.

Since a video game publisher may invest millions of dollars towards a game's development, it is easy to understand why they choose game designers carefully—one or two poor game concepts could end up costing them millions of dollars of revenue and could even risk bankrupting the company. For this reason, game publishers usually choose game designers who have a proven track record with several hit games under their belts. Less seasoned designers may be assigned to low profile games that have budgets in the low thousands.

Hideo Kojima works with huge teams to create cinematic gameplay experiences; I attended a lecture of his in TGS 2006 in which he described in full detail the creation of MGS4; he inspired me to become a better designer 

Being a successful game designer implies handling all these pressures and coming up with a title that will entertain the masses and bring back the company the most revenue possible. 

Thoughts on Dead Space 2

Introduction
So I just finished Dead Space 2 and wanted to discuss it a bit. Mainly because it is a perfect example of some trends in game design that I find are really harmful. I also find that it has some moments that could have been brilliant if just slightly changed, making it extra interesting to discuss.

Before going into the actual critique I want to say that the game did have some enjoyable parts, especially the at times absolutely amazing scenery. Dead Space 2 just radiates production value and it is a very well-put together game. I quite liked a lot of it and it is one of the few games in recent memory that I played until the end. The game has very nice atmosphere in places and even attempts at a sort of meaningful theme(more on that later).

At the same time, it is very clear that Dead Space does not aim for any real sophistication. For instance, you need to stomp on dead mutant children to get hold of goodies and gore is quite excessive. In many ways, the game is much closer to Dead Alive (Braindead) than to something like Alien, and should probably be judged that way. However, in the following discussion I will approach the game as if the goal was to create a tense sci-fi horror game.

With that out of the way, let's get down to business.


Cheap deaths
When I started the game, I was not in the best of moods (being a bit agitated), but I did what I could, darkened the room and so on. Everything to heighten immersion. As the game started out, it began with a non-playable sequence, something which made me relax and slowly immerse myself. Once the game actually began and I gained control, my mood had changed quite a bit and I felt I was ready to be immersed and role-play. Then after just playing for 30 seconds or so, I took a wrong turn and died.

This broke all the immersion I had built up over 10 minutes or so, and I had to start all over. The intent was probably to communicate the danger to the player, but this could have been made a lot better. Why not simply hurt the protagonist, or something similar, giving in-game feedback that the player should be very careful. After I had died and gotten a loading screen, I had to build up my mood again almost from scratch.

The same thing happened at the end of game, where you need complete a sort of chase-sequence before the final cinematic. I was unsure of the controls in this sequence and died just before it was over. Just like with the death at the start, this completely spoiled my mood and removed any emotional impact the ending might have had. Instead of becoming an exciting sequence, it became an obstacle and I concentrated on the pure mechanics instead of role-playing.

Having cheap deaths during immersive/emotional events like this is just lazy design. The sequences are meant to be completed in a specific fashion anyway, so I cannot understand what can be gained by having players restart over and over until they "get it". Sure it adds some kind of excitement, but this is greatly removed on subsequent attempts anyway, not speaking of how bad this is for immersion and role-playing. And considering there are other ways to add consequences to actions, I do not think it is a valid reason. It is just falling back to old and uninspired design.


Saving Progress
Scattered across the game are save stations, all using an interface similar to 20 year old games. I do not understand why these are in, as it is the most immersion-breaking device one can think of. Having to enter a menu, and choose a slot in which to save, has no connection to the game world at all. Consoles nowadays have large hard drives (and save games can be made very small) so it cannot be a technical limitation like in older games. I am guessing it is just another case of falling back to old design patterns, and again I think it is totally unnecessary.

The way I save games in systems like this is to loop through the visible slots (usually four), always picking the oldest save game to overwrite. That way I have three older save games to go back to in case something screws up. As this is basically the system we emulate in Penumbra and Amnesia, and nobody has raised any complaints on that, I guess I am not alone in saving like this. So, if one still wants to use the save stations, my first suggestion would be to simply skip the interface and just save upon interaction. If players want to go back to certain places have a "Save Game" option in the menu or simply a chapter selection.

But why stop at that? I would have liked the game to skip saving altogether and do it automatically for me. Dead Space 2 implements resource streaming extremely well and you never feel like you travel between different maps, but roam a continuous environment. Not having any kind of visible save system would fit this design perfectly and most likely increase atmosphere.


Repetition
It seems quite clear to me that Dead Space 2 tries very hard to provide a lengthy adventure (took me 10 hours or so go through) and to do so it repeats many elements over and over. This is something that exists in just about any game, where the goal of having filling a certain length quota trumps pacing, story development and the like.

For example, I really liked the first time the protagonist is forced to crawl through a ventilation shaft, but the tenth time this was repeated it just felt old and uninspired. Instead of trying to come up with new ways to create similar moments, the first one used is just recycled. Another example is the hacking mechanic that was served as an interesting diversion the first time, but ended up being an unwanted frustration.

You rarely see this sort behavior in other media (at least the good works). It is only in games where an, at first intriguing and noteworthy, event/idea is repeated until tedium. I would much rather have a shorter game that constantly bombards me with unique and inspiring sequences.

Dead Space 2 does do this right at a few times though. For instance, one section has the protagonist hanging upside while enemies swarm from all directions. This sequence is never repeated and not even dragged out. I would have liked to see that for all parts of the game.


Looting and Shooting
I might be that I am slightly disturbed, but I find shooting limbs of monsters a great pastime. Especially with the fun and greatly varied arsenal that Dead Space 2 provides. So much did I enjoy it in fact that it is hard to focus on much else. Sure, some of the fighting can be pretty intense with enemies swarming you, but not that much different from how a game like Tetris can be. Added to this is the focus on upgrading the weapons and finding ammo/money, which further brings your mindset toward the shooting part of the game.

I have talked about how focusing on fun can be bad before, and Dead Space 2 is such a perfect example. Your main motivation to explore the environment is not to get deeper into the story or to enjoy the art, instead it is to search for goodies. Because the game constantly bombards you with items popping up and force you to pay attention to them (you will run out of ammo otherwise), this becomes the main thing occupying your mind. Everything else is simply pushed into the background, which is really a shame consider the epic set pieces and sometimes interesting background facts. In their effort to comply with "fun" gaming standards, the creators have actually let much of their hard work go to waste.

I must add that the combat was not completely un-scary though. I started out playing on normal, and at one point, my resources had almost run out, which made me much more careful and tense when I thought monsters might be near. As I was put in this state, it completely transformed how I approached the game, and I started to pay more attention to background sounds and the like. Unfortunately, as I died the combat sequences stopped being scary and instead became tedious challenges in resource management. This together with the increased urge to find hidden items, killed most of the atmosphere to me. I then change to easy difficulty and could enjoy the game more as I did not have to worry about looting or combat strategies as much.


Story
Dead Space 2 does have a story, but you will have to make an effort to find and experience it. As if the focus on combat was not enough, the actual story seems to be consciously pushed into the background. I can actually only recall one time when you had to actively confront the story (reading a note gives a clue on solving a puzzle). The rest of the story just plays out in the background and as a player you are pushed on by the urge of upgrading weapons and dismember mutants.

The game does have some interesting aspects though, for example trying to tie the entire game up with the protagonist's grief, but since it is so drawn out and overwhelmed by other elements, it does not really work. Another intriguing part of the game are some earlier sequences where you encounter people fleeing from monsters and people locked up in cells. Hearing the hammering of somebody wanting your help was quite disturbing and had they just added some kind of interaction related to this (like try to open the door) it could have been extremely effective. Instead it was just pushed into the background.

One of the story things that I did really enjoy was how a recording spoke of the material of a ceiling in an upcoming room. When entering the room your attention is directly drawn up and you could relate the recording, graphics and background story to each other in a nice way. I really wished the game had a lot more of this.


Motivation
In the first Dead Space you played the part of a silent errand boy, something that the creators tried to change in the sequel. The way they try to do this is to make the protagonist an active character and make his own decisions. However, I think this sort of backfired and in Dead Space 2 I had even less of an idea on what is going on. Several times I had to check the "mission log" in order to find out what I was up to, and to find out the reasons for this. Since the protagonist was already talking, I wished he could have done this just a little more, explaining his action and reminding me, the player, of what I was supposed to do.

This also connects to the way the story is told, and further distances the player from the events in the game. Instead of deciding for yourself what the right course of action is, you just follow the game's instructions in hope that will allow you to progress. So while in the previous game you followed the commands of in-game characters you now follow the commands game's interface. This is of course much less immersive.


End notes
Playing Dead Space 2 made me both sad and hopeful.

Sad because I feel there is so much excellent work that has gone to waste and that I keep wondering if there will ever be any change to this. For every game i play I feel that there is so much potential lost due to following old and dull game conventions.

Hopeful because while there is much I do not like, it feels that there is not that much needed to totally transform the experience. Simply removing all combat focus and making the game half as long would probably have created a much more interesting experience. The question is if that will ever happen, but now I am at least confident that it is possible.

SONY PSP2 AKA NGP Announcement

At the PlayStation Meeting 2011 over in Tokyo, technology overlord Sony finally and officially unveiled the PSP2, currently codenamed the Next Generation Portable, or NGP. The PSP’s successor looks fairly impressive so far, sporting the long-desired dual analog sticks that the original PSP was missing, built-in 3G and a touch-sensitive OLED screen, among many other neat features.

Current Name


Though most people will most likely refer to the device as the PSP2 well after it receives an official name, the current codename of the device is the Next Generation Portable, or the NGP for short. Not exactly creative, though if you feel a currently unofficial, uncreative codename is a problem, I cordially invite you to whip out your Nintendo DS and remember what those two little letters stand for.


Hardware and Software


- High-resolution, touch-sensitive OLED screen
- Built-in WiFi
- Wireless 3G connectivity
- Tilt-sensitive SIXAXIS controls
- Three-axis electronic compass
- Built-in GPS
- Front and back facing cameras
- Buttons: D-Pad (up, down, left, right), dual analog sticks (finally), action buttons (triangle, circle, X, square), shoulder buttons (left, right), start, select, volume controls, PS button, - power button
- New LiveArea service and new application Near 
- Built-in mic
- Built-in stereo speakers
- Capacitative multi-touch pad on back of the device

an unusual location for an unusual touch surface 

Storage Media


As we all expected, no more UMD. 
NGP uses a small flash memory card, dedicated for NGP software
The new game cards will store add-on content (presumably downloadable content) directly on the card itself, as well as store save data directly on the card (like game cartridges have done in the past)


Battery Life


It is supposedly around the same as the original PSP, which means anywhere from a few hours to ten hours, depending on what features are being used. 
It would seem to average out at around four to five hours, which makes it on par with the battery life of the upcoming Nintendo 3DS


Specs


- CPU: ARM Cortex-A9 core (quad core)
- GPU: SGX543MP4+
- Dimensions: Approximately 182.0 width x 18.6 height x 85.3mm depth
- Wireless: 3G, IEEE 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR
- 5-inch OLED touchscreen, with a 960×544 resolution (by comparison, the current PSP has a 4.3-inch screen with a 480×272 resolution)


LiveArea and Near


- Near app can detect all other NGP owners in your area 
- Shows other NGP owners are playing
- Can chat with other NGP owners
- Display NGP owners’ rankings for games


Games Shown


- Based on existing franchises: Uncharted, Killzone, WipeOut, Resistance, LittleBigPlanet, Hustle Kings, Hot Shots Golf, Monster Hunter, Call of Duty
- New franchises: Little Deviants, Reality Fighters (supposedly an augmented reality game, Virtua Fighter pun?), Gravity Daze
Trophies
- NGP games will feature trophies
- Backwards Compatibility
- Can play any downloadable PSP game
- Can play any PSOne game supported by the PlayStation Suite


PS3 Exportability


Real life Big Boss Hideo Kojima showed off the PS3 Metal Gear Solid 4 running on the NGP, and it reportedly looked almost as good as the PS3 version
Kojima said the NGP demo of MGS4 took the model and data environments from the PS3 and exported them directly to the NGP
Though the NGP isn’t exactly as powerful as the PS3, this sort of portability suggests it’s fairly close, and could seemingly lead to playing proper PS3 games on the NGP
Example: If the PS3 and NGP can share save data, less powerful PS3 games (many of the PSN games) could surely be played with both devices, allowing a user to bring their PS3 game with them after they leave the house


Interesting Notes


- A price has not been announced
- The window for a Japan release is during the 2011 holiday season, no other details about release dates have been mentioned as of yet
- No word yet on internal memory, or what kind of memory card will be used for external memory (for videos, music, downloadable games, etc.)
- SONY apparently decided against integrating 3D technology into the device; gamers are debating on the matter, Nintendo's venture would probably unveil how this technology would serve gamers of the next generation. 
- The Uncharted game is supposedly a brand new one, not a port, with graphics so incredible that it apparently looks like regular PS3 graphics at a glance
- The back end touch pad doesn't make sense to me yet; but it would be interesting to see how designers are going to use the double sided touch features to create games; would be revolutionary or would be just another gimmick no one would care for in a while? supporting games would tell.