Up close with the games on the Sony NGP portable gaming device

Sony showed off some of the cool new games it has developed for the NGP, the next-generation portable gaming device that will grab center stage at the E3 trade show in Los Angeles next week.

We’ve already described the Uncharted: Golden Abyss and Sound Shapes games in detail. But here’s a look at some of the other games on the platform. Sony has been working on these titles for as long as a couple of years. Some of them look polished and others look like some of the typical titles you would expect to see at the launch of a new system. The system isn’t expected to come out until the late fall at the earliest and will more likely debut next year. There’s a lot of time to improve games in the meantime. But here are some of my first impressions of what Sony has wrought.

Wipeout (SCEE Liverpool Studios) is a very fast game that shows off the graphics of the NGP and the speed with which you can move within a virtual 3D environment. The early level that I saw made use of tilting and the shoulder buttons. But mostly it was an exercise in trying to keep your ship on track. This is one of those mindless games you play when you’ve got a short time for a gaming snack. Up to eight players can play at once.

The Hustle Kings (VooFoo Studios) pool game was ultra-realistic. You can see from the reflections on the balls that the art work is phenomenal. It took me a while to figure out how to shoot straight with the cue stick. There are lots of different views you can take or visual aids you can tap. This title shows that you can do pretty good simulations on the NGP.

Little Deviants (BigBig Studios) is an action game where you have little devilish characters that you control by tilting the motion controls back and forth.

Reality Fighters (Novarama) is a new breed of game where augmented reality meets street fighting. You can take a picture of yourself and create your own character. Then you can use real life backdrops as your settings. This is one of those embarrassing games you don’t want to play on the bus, since you’re constantly moving around and trying to get a better position in the fight.

Super StarDust Delta (Housemarque) is a pretty cool sci-fi arcade shooting game where you have to use the touch controls to do things like freeze time, unleash missiles, create black holes and crush everything on the screen. The title has some very pretty graphics. It’s a little difficult to control at first, but it’s fun and addictive once you get used to it.

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