After a year's worth of rumour and speculation, Sony finally unveiled the long-awaited successor to the PSP at a press event in Tokyo overnight. Branded the Next Generation Portable (NGP), the console will feature a 5-inch OLED screen, dual thumbsticks, 3G support, and new flash-based storage media. The publisher wasted no time showing off a number of titles already in development for the NGP, including Naughty Dog's Uncharted, Metal Gear Solid 4, Activision's Call of Duty, Sony's Killzone and Resistance titles, LittleBigPlanet, Capcom's Lost Planet, and Sega's Yakuza.

　　The NGP has a 5-inch OLED screen, dual thumbsticks, and new flash-based storage media.

　　In addition, Sony announced it has already signed up 82 third-party publishers from across Japan, the United States, Europe, and Australia to contribute titles to the NGP. Australian studio Firemint (Flight Control, Real Racing) and New Zealand studio Sidhe (Rugby League 3 for the Wii, Shatter, GripShift).

　　Although neither Firemint or Sidhe are quite yet ready to make an official announcement regarding their plans for Sony's NGP, both expressed their excitement at being asked to contribute.

　　"Right now all we can say is that yes, we're very happy to be involved with the NGP. Unfortunately, we're not ready to reveal any details just yet," Firemint told GameSpot AU.

　　Sidhe followed suit: "We have multiple titles in development for the platform, but unfortunately, we have no guidance for when we will be able to talk more about them."

　　Firemint recently announced it has acquired fellow Aussie studio Infinite Interactive (Warlords, Puzzle Quest), telling GameSpot AU that the two studios will now work as one on future titles. Firemint was founded by Rob Murray in 1999, starting out as a work-for-hire mobile games studio before developing the hit iPhone title Flight Control, followed by Real Racing in 2009. The studio has since expanded to work on platforms, including Nintendo's DSiWare, Sony's PlayStation Network, and Steam (PC and Mac). The developer now works exclusively on original IP.

　　Sidhe is a well-known developer of sporting titles, including Rugby League, Rugby League 2, and Rugby League 2: World Cup Edition. According to Sidhe’s managing director Mario Wynands, the studio’s rugby league titles have had strong sales success in Australasia. Rugby League even set a games industry world record for preorders in a single store at an EB Games location in Sydney with 1,169 copies, only to be broken later with preorders on Rugby League 2. The studio's next title, Rugby Challenge, will be released in the third quarter of 2011 on the PC and consoles. Sidhe has previously worked on Rugby League 3 for the Wii, as well as Shatter and GripShift for Xbox Live Arcade and the PlayStation Network.