I’ll keep this one short and sweet, since we’ve covered these rumours to death already. Eurogamer’s Digital Foundry blog says that they can confirm the rumoured deal between nVidia and Nintendo for the DS2, and then proceed to toss around conceivable hardware specs for DS2 and PSP2.
Speaking under conditions of anonymity, further credible sources from within the mobile graphics industry have provided Digital Foundry with further background detail on the raw technical capabilities of the new hardware. These sources, intimately involved with the alliances and deal-making within their sector, effectively confirm the reported allegiances between Nintendo/NVIDIA and Sony/IMG, but also provide a fascinating insight into the kinds of devices the new handhelds will be, and the power levels we can expect.
In many ways, the next generation of handheld gaming technology will mirror the differences in philosophy seen in today’s devices. Nintendo’s new machine will offer a modest level of 3D power using established parts, while Sony will once again be aiming for the bleeding edge in mobile performance, which could well come with the same kind of price premium we saw with the launch of the original PSP.
That’s the gist of it anyway. It’s a long post, so head on over if you’re interested in reading about a Quake III demo running on the technology supposedly powering the DS2’s graphics. (Although, later on in the article, they debate whether Nintendo will return to a single screen format with DS2, so take it with the usual grain of salt.)
