Sony's Denials of PSP2 Development Are Probably True

It hurts me to say this, but it appears that Sony's denials of the development of the PSP2 over the last few days are probably accurate. Sony's response to the rumors in a nutshell, in two words, according to John Koller, Sony's Director of Hardware Marketing, "Completely unfounded." My pain over this stems primarily over the fact that I am still using my first generation PSP and had hoped that I'd be able to skip over anything between it and the next generation. Silly, but true.


The rumor that a PSP2 was in the works for the near future gained credence through comments on Euro Gamer that "developers are already working on games." But games for what Euro friends? There is a new PSP in the works, the PSP 4000, but that is just the latest iteration in the current PSP hardware line, due out next year. I find it hard to believe that the 4000 series won't contain new functionality, but it almost certainly will be more than anything else an attempt by Sony to distance itself from the interlacing issue/feature that turned off many customers who purchased the PSP 3000. Another possible factor in the confusion over the PSP 4000 and a possible new PSP handheld line has to do with the direction that Sony has been moving in with the PSP. Since the beginning, the PSP's proprietary UMD media has been an issue since it can only be used in the PSP. To deal with this Sony has been working for sometime on integrating the PSP with the PlayStation Network (PSN) for game an movie downloads, which works pretty well. And specifically to the confusion, Sony has been pushing developers to develop games specifically for the PSP with an eye towards the platform's digital download future. I've a feeling that these are the games that Euro games comments really refer to.

Eventually, of course there will be a PSP2, not for a while though, and it certainly won't be the fan-created piece of fiction pictured above. This image has been making the rounds online for months and has only fanned the flames of the PSP2 rumor. You gotta admit it looks pretty sharp and couldn't help but be attractive, especially to cheapskates like myself hoping to avoid having to buy into an outdated piece of hardware.