First NGP games announced

Sony has finally taken the wraps off its Next Generation Portable at a Japanese press event, doling out details on the system, including hardware specs and a holiday release window. Unfortunately, Sony was not as forthcoming with some other details on the system, specifically price and third-party software lineup.

On the first-party front, Sony confirmed that a slew of its biggest franchises are in development for the NGP. In addition to showing off new Uncharted and Hot Shots Golf games, Sony confirmed that signature series like Killzone, Wipeout, Resistance, and Little Big Planet would also be coming to the new platform. Sony also confirmed a few original properties for NGP, including Little Deviants, which leans heavily on the system's touch screen and rear touch pad.

Unfortunately, much of the software news came in the form of tantalizing teases that weren't paired with actual game announcements. For example, Hideo Kojima showed off a Metal Gear Solid clip with models from his PlayStation 3 blockbuster Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots running on the NGP. However, he specifically said he wasn't announcing the game. Instead, he was using the clip to show off the NGP's potential--but he did say he had something planned for the portable he would show off at E3.

Earlier in the event, Capcom's Jun Takeuchi and Sega's Toshihiro Nagoshi respectively showed off their latest Lost Planet and Yakuza games running on the NGP. But similar to Kojima, both noted that the demos were thrown together quickly to show the ability to port PS3 titles to the NGP.

One big franchise definitely headed to the NGP is Activision's Call of Duty. The revelation that the blockbuster first-person shooter franchise would be appearing on Sony's new handheld served as the capper to the Sony press conference, with Activision Call of Duty executive vice president Phillip Earl promising that it will set the bar for portable gaming.

Franchises confirmed or shown on NGP

Broken--Sony
Call of Duty--Activision
Dungeon Defenders--Epic Games
Dynasty Warriors--Koei
Gravity Daze--Sony
Hot Shots Golf--Sony
Hustle Kings--Sony
Killzone--Sony
Little Big Planet--Sony
Little Deviants--Sony
Lost Planet--Capcom
Metal Gear Solid--Konami
Monster Hunter 3rd--Capcom
Reality Fighters--Sony
Resistance--Sony
Smart As--Sony
Uncharted--Sony
Wipeout--Sony
Yakuza--Sega