Sony Sidesteps PSP2 Rumours
Company refuses to get involved in talk that there's a successor on the way.
As the PSP matures, we're starting to see more unique games showing up on the system, rather than merely the PlayStation 2-to-PSP ports that so plagued the system's early days. But if word on the street is to be believed, Sony is already hard at work on a successor to the handheld.
The so-called PSP2 will drop the troubled UMD format and go all-digital by incorporating a hard drive into the new design. This is according to game site Shacknews, which got a tip off from what they call a reliable source.
There has been talk that Sony is redesigning the PSP, but Shacknews could not confirm whether this latest rumour refers to the same system or if Sony is planning both a redesign and a successor.
The article suggests that Sony's dropping the UMD format rules out backward compatibility with PSP games. While it would be physically impossible were the PSP2 to do away with UMD support, it's feasible that Sony would sell PSP games through its new PlayStation Network Platform, which will deliver games and more for the PlayStation 3.
Even if the rumours, which Sony has, predictably, refused to comment on, turn out to be true, there's little urgency - the source told Shacknews that the jump to the next generation PSP would happen by 2009.
Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo Games
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