NGP Power being cut

[tj236]

I just read an interesting article on another gaming site about the NGP power capabilities being cut.

Anyone care to comment on the validity of this? Or if this could still be next gen? Should it be illegal for a handheld made in 2011 to have 256 MB of RAM?

It just sounds like this will be their initial release model, and then have a pro version come out 6 months later to up-sell everyone.

http://www.industrygamers.com/news/sony-cutting-ngp-ram-in-half-rumor/

According to 01net, the NGP without 3G capabilities could see RAM memory decreased from 512MB to 256MB.

It has also been reported that the same model will more than likely not offer an internal flash memory capability. The 16MB planned specification could be removed in favor of a cheaper set up that would require an external memory device to be used.

 

[Treblaine]

#1 they seem to have mixed up Megabytes and Gigabytes saying the "16MB planned" when every official source has talked about NGP having 16GB of storage. This casts doubt on the authority of this story.

#2 this may be a good thing if the smaller RAM is FASTER.
the iPad is held back to a certain extent by how it has a lot of RAM (for a tablet) but it is not very fast. That is OK for web-pages and so on but very poor for games.
It should be noted that the PS3 only has 256MB of video RAM and 256MB or SEPARATE system RAM and has worked very well with that limited RAM because it is lickety fast.


Look at the later ages of the Nintendo 64 how it was able to outperform the PS1 thanks to the mastery of the N64's smaller but faster RAM.

If NGP really is trying to be "pocket sized PS3-lite" then 256mb RAM may be a smart move.

 

[Phishfood]

The PS3 has 256 MB of RAM.

I don't see the big deal here. 256 far exceeds the memory capacity of the PSP (which originally only had 32, was bumped to 64 only to decrease load times). Hopefully, it will be faster than the original RAM they put in there. Besides, I hope this means they put a full and separate GPU and CPU in there, that will be nice. Battery consuming, but nice.

256MB? Ew...

I've become such a spoiled PC gamer

Everyone else is talking about a handheld.....

 

[oplinger]

#1 they seem to have mixed up Megabytes and Gigabytes saying the "16MB planned" when every official source has talked about NGP having 16GB of storage. This casts doubt on the authority of this story.

#2 this may be a good thing if the smaller RAM is FASTER.
the iPad is held back to a certain extent by how it has a lot of RAM (for a tablet) but it is not very fast. That is OK for web-pages and so on but very poor for games.
It should be noted that the PS3 only has 256MB of video RAM and 256MB or SEPARATE system RAM and has worked very well with that limited RAM because it is lickety fast.


Look at the later ages of the Nintendo 64 how it was able to outperform the PS1 thanks to the mastery of the N64's smaller but faster RAM.

If NGP really is trying to be "pocket sized PS3-lite" then 256mb RAM may be a smart move.

er, excuse me on this one..but, you're comparing the 64 and the PS1 incorrectly. The N64s RAM was unified, as in...it -had- system RAM. 4MB, and can be upgraded to 8MB. The PS1 however has RAM for each component (CPU, Video, Sound) to a total of 3.5MB It had no actual system RAM.

Also smaller faster RAM does not make it better. Not even for gaming. Faster RAM is unnoticeably faster (You shave off maybe 2ms, it's almost never in the double digits these days)

Less RAM means the size of textures will be lower, less geometry can be loaded and the like. It won't really make for it to be a better system if the RAM is faster.

OT: Cutting the power to make it cheaper seems reasonable. However I doubt the truth of the article >_> Wait and see if it crops up more.

 

[Treblaine]

Also smaller faster RAM does not make it better. Not even for gaming. Faster RAM is unnoticeably faster (You shave off maybe 2ms, it's almost never in the double digits these days)

Less RAM means the size of textures will be lower, less geometry can be loaded and the like. It won't really make for it to be a better system if the RAM is faster.

OT: Cutting the power to make it cheaper seems reasonable. However I doubt the truth of the article >_> Wait and see if it crops up more.

Maybe I should have clarified.

Smaller RAM is good if it means if that mean they can afford to get faster RAM.

Obviously the ideal solution is RAM that is both faster and larger, but Sony is in the business of making money and they may not be able to afford that. I say go for the smaller+faster, because loading times on a portable.

Apple already has the lead in quantity of RAM, plus they own so much of the infrastructure they can produce greater quantities, this would be the wrong way to compete with them. Far better for focus on speed, that would be appreciated much more.

also, I'm taking this over here:
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/110438-Rumor-Sony-Downgrading-NGP-Tech-to-Compete-with-3DS-Pricing

Sorry OP, you may have beat escapist to the punch but this is where the big discussion is going to be.