At the very end of the day, I had a chance to catch up with Kazuo Hirai, President and Group CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. While I knew I’d be unable to gather any more details than what was announced earlier in the day, I was curious about the broader aspects of the news: Why announce NGP now? Where does it fit into the PlayStation console life cycle philosophy? How did publishing partners like Epic Games and Activision get involved in the announcement? I hope you enjoy hearing these answers in detail directly from Mr. Hirai.

Today in Tokyo, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. announced the next generation portable entertainment system (codename: NGP). NGP will make its debut at the end of the 2011, but here’s everything you need to know right now.

Key NGP features:

• Multi-touch 5-inch organic light emitting display (OLED) as the front display
• Multi-touch pad on the rear of the device
• Dual analog sticks
• Two cameras (front and rear)
• Software titles on small, dedicated flash memory-based cards
• Three motion sensors, gyroscope, accelerometer and electronic compass
• Wi-Fi and 3G network connectivity
• PlayStation Network access, including ““LiveArea™”, “Near” and “Activity” log features Trophy Support
• NGP will be able to play PSP titles, minis, PS one classics, video and comics from the PlayStation Store.

Now, the technical specs:

Software Franchises shown or talked about at PlayStation Meeting 2011 (titles are not final)

• Killzone
• Uncharted
• WipEout
• LittleBigPlanet
• Call of Duty
• Resistance
• Little Deviants
• Hot Shots Golf
• Reality Fighters
• Gravity Daze
• Smart As
• Broken
• Hustle Kings

It’s still early going, so we understand that you likely have questions not addressed here. Details such as release date, price, and more will be announced in due course. We’ll keep you updated.

When PSP first launched in 2005 in North America it changed the way people thought of portable gaming and raised expectations in regards to the variety and quality of games users expected to access while on the go. It has since become the go-to handheld entertainment system for more than 64 million users who seek home entertainment quality games along with access to their music, movies, photos and more.

With NGP we carry on this rich history of redefining industry standards and raising the bar for consumer expectations for what portable gaming can deliver. Designed to blur the lines between interactive entertainment and reality, the NGP will offer Wi-Fi and 3G network connectivity. The 5-inch OLED front multi-touch display will bring brilliant images to life and the multi-touch pad on the rear will allow users to engage with the game and characters with a simple movement of their fingertips. Additionally, services created specifically for NGP will be available on PlayStation Network. These services are designed help users take their gameplay, as well as interaction with other gamers, to new levels.

While we here at PlayStation are thrilled to bring this cutting-edge technology to your fingertips, we all know that content is critical to the success for all of our platforms. I’m pleased to share that your favorite franchises will be coming to NGP, including Uncharted and Call of Duty. We are working with our extensive network of 3rd party developers and publishers as well as SCE Worldwide Studios to create experiences unlike anything else on the market.

Also announced this evening was PlayStation Suite, an entirely new initiative from PlayStation that will provide fans with the opportunity to enjoy PlayStation content on an open operating system for the first time in PlayStation history. PlayStation Suite will work with Android based, “PlayStation Certified” portable devices – including mobile phones, smart-phones, and tablet PCs – to offer “PlayStation quality” content to users worldwide. In addition to providing a selection of PS one Classics, we are also working with developers to create new and exciting content that will be available on both PlayStation Certified devices and the new NGP when it comes to market

I think you will agree that the incredible momentum behind PlayStation continues to grow with each passing year. While 2010 was record breaking thanks to an unsurpassed line-up of award winning AAA software, the introduction of 3D entertainment into millions of homes and the launch of our incredibly successful PlayStation Move motion controller, 2011 is already shaping up to be one of our biggest years yet.

Thanks,
Jack Tretton

We’ll be liveblogging the proceedings starting at 3pm Japan time (10pm Pacific/1am Eastern), so stay tuned below!