Sony has been keeping its cards close when it comes to its new PS Vita’s hardware, but a developer has let a couple of things slip when it comes to the anticipated console’s specs.
Techradar.com reports that developers have had access to Vita kits under the condition they don’t share the anticipated device’s details.
Whoops.
When being interviewed by Develop magazine, CEO of PSP games studio in Novarama, Dani Sanchez Crespo revealed “the first PSP had 32MB of RAM and we have about ten times that now.”
Vita will “have a whole lot of headroom in terms of GPU power, CPU power and indeed RAM,” Crespo taunts. He also claims that Sony have decided against including 512MB of RAM. But despite this, his optimism continues to shine, believing the RAM won’t affect developers.
“It’s actually good for developers to work under constraint,” he said. “We still have a whole lot of headroom in terms of GPU power, CPU power and indeed RAM.”
Sony seems to be taking the responsible route here, balancing the need of the console’s power with the company’s dime. Its gaming division hasn’t always been this conscientious, a look at the PlayStation 3’s history reveals.
Crammed with the best technology Sony had to offer, the PS3 was considered expensive relative to its cheaper rival, the Xbox 360. It was only last year that the console began generating a profit, which was owed to Sony removing backwards capability and other hardware refinements.
“This year is the first time that we are able to cover the cost of the PlayStation 3.” said Shuhei Yoshida, President of Sony’s Worldwide Studios. We aren’t making huge money from hardware, but we aren’t bleeding like we used to.”
With the Vita though, Sony seem to be focussing on selling a higher number of units at a lower cost, driving sales and hopefully building up software support.
“Remember, more hardware features means more costs for buying the handheld. Our main interest is for Sony to sell a lot of [PS Vita] units. Clearly the Sony guys in Japan have a tough job of what to leave in and what to leave out.”
So far they seem to be doing a decent job with the hardware side of it, with Crespo praising the Vita’s battery performance.
“And the system’s battery life, by the way, is really good. You’d think with all the processing power that it would drain fast, but it’s fantastic.”
Oh and what processing power, with a 4 core ARM Cortex-A9 processor and another 4 core SGX543MP4+ GPU. On the outside it’ll house a 5 inch multi-touch capacitive screen, Bluetooth, Wifi and 3G connectivity.
But like its sibling, the PS3, it’s going to need more than good hardware to compete in the current gaming climate, with its main rival, the Nintendo 3DS, drastically slashing prices in a desperate bid to move units.
Nintendo 3DS Price Crash: $249 In Oz As Slash Forecasts 82% here
With Vita still in development, we’ll have to wait to see if Sony can price its latest offering competitively, within a market that’s being breached by iPhone-esque mobile gaming.
