Rumor: Sony Gearing Up for PSP2 Launch

[Tom Goldman]

Rumor: Sony Gearing Up for PSP2 Launch

Sony may finally be preparing to launch its successor to the PSP.

NetherRealm Studios is apparently not the only company currently working with a PSP2 [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/103543-Mortal-Kombat-Dev-Reveals-Existence-of-PSP-2]. Sony may have sent out PSP2 development kits "across the industry" according to sources at Develop.

While a developer or two working with the PSP2 to get a handle on it isn't necessarily that big of a deal, the entire industry working with it means that an announcement or launch is getting closer. Though the digital-download only PSPgo was released in late 2009, few would say it was a true successor to the original PSP launched in Japan in late 2004.

Develop sources are saying that Sony is preparing a "significant launch window line-up" by spreading the PSP2 love to developers across the world both third-party and first-party. Sony evidently wants to make a "big impact" when the new handheld is eventually released.

Sadly, mum's still the word on the new capabilities of the PSP2. All we have to go on are rumors of a won't use 3D [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/92954-Rumored-PSP2-Will-Boast-Powerful-Quad-Core-GPU].

3D nixing aside, the two rumors of the handheld's possible capabilities are very enticing, with NetherRealm also saying it is "pretty powerful." If Sony is going the power route for the PSP2 as it did with the PSP, which was compared to a handheld PS2 at launch, six years later it should end up with a very powerful machine indeed. Now that we know the PSP2 is real and in many developers' hands, it's only a matter of time before Sony pulls the trigger and actually tells us about it.

Source: Develop [http://www.develop-online.net/news/35969/Sony-sends-PSP2-dev-kits-across-the-industry]


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[Jared]

Fantastic! Cant wiat to get a shot at it myself - From all the news about it certainly impressive

 

[Daystar Clarion]

No second analog stick, no dice. Either have 2 sticks or none at all.

 

[Terramax]

Good call on the 2 analog thing. Playing 1st person shooters is a nightmare with just 1 analog and seeing as that is THE genre these days, it's quite a handicap.

I still think they're going to need some useless gimmick to compete with Nintendo's useless gimmick 3D thing.

 

[Celtic_Kerr]

As mentioned above, I don't like the idea of no second snalog stick. You're just so used to it on the PS2 and PS3, they tease you with it

 

[VanityGirl]

I just don't want it to be small and clunky like the PSPgo. I had the opportunity to play with a PSPgo and it cramped my hand to bad that I didn't even want to play anymore.

The PSP was also a bit uncomfortable, but not nearly as bad as the PSPgo.

 

[Beyond D espair]

Hopefully the biggest "innovation" Sony makes about the PSP2 is a second analog stick. Like everyone else, I'm kind of tired of using the d-pad or the face buttons to rotate my view or aim. I agree first person shooters on the system is a nightmare.

(I fight bosses in MGS Peace walker with my index finger over the d-pad and my thumb on the analog stick. Not a comfortable position.)

 

[Fruitloops89]

Can't wait to see all the new capabilities.

 

[mjc0961]

No second analog stick, no dice. Either have 2 sticks or none at all.

Agreed. It's already enough that they can't fit the two pairs of shoulder buttons on there, but to take out the second analog stick and then trying to make tons of PS1 and PS2 style games for the system? You just have a bunch of games with awkward control schemes that end up not being as fun to play as their console-based brethren.

 

[Daemascus]

Wow... Sony's gonna try again with the handheld market. While the PSP wasnt a failure, it wasnt exactly a success either. It had the same problem as the PS3, all that power but no games. It says their are going to have a large lanuch title pool for the PSP2 but i'll belive it when I see it.

 

[Pingieking]

No second analog stick, no dice. Either have 2 sticks or none at all.

This. Except that having none is just as bad as having only one.
Also, try to make it into some kind of non-hand-hurting shape. Touch capabilities on the back sounds interesting, lets see what the devs can do with it.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

"PSP2?" Is that the best name they could come up with for it? I think they need to fire their marketing department.

 

[airwolfe591]

What I'm hoping for, if they don't include a second analog stick, is that they use the touch pad on the back to handle the camera controls. That would be easier than using the d-pad.

 

[Tom Phoenix]

Wow... Sony's gonna try again with the handheld market. While the PSP wasnt a failure, it wasnt exactly a success either. It had the same problem as the PS3, all that power but no games. It says their are going to have a large lanuch title pool for the PSP2 but i'll belive it when I see it.

While the PSP is undoubtedly the most successful non-Nintendo handheld of all time, that isn't really saying much. Overall, it can be compared in many ways to the Sega Game Gear....a moderate success, but which still makes it a distant second to the market leader. Even with the great momentum the PSP has gained in recent times, the DS still has it outsold by more than a 2:1 ratio. Worse still, due to the release of Pokémon Black/White, that momentum has (at least temporarily) reversed in Japan and it is the DSi (XL/LL) that is selling more units.

It's funny, really. Prior to the release of the current generation of handhelds, analysts and game journalists were predicting the PSP would singlehandedly dethrone Nintendo as the market leader. Now, however, it is questionable whether or not Sony will even last in the market for any significant amount of time.

This isn't to say that Sony can't make a comeback. But in order for that to happen, they needed to have spent these last few years reasssessing their values and planning a different approach to the market. The fact is, simply upping the graphics isn't going to cut it anymore. The 3DS is already in a nice sweet spot in terms of graphical prowess and anything more would just end up overshooting the market...something that Sony already did on the console market with the PS3. Simply put, the PSP2 needs to establish a different value by which handhelds are measured if Sony hopes to have any chance of staying in the competition.

One thing is certain. If they just keep going down the road they have been going these past few years, the PSP2 will end up being the same thing for Sony as the Nomad was for Sega....a one-way ticket out of the market.

 

[JUMBO PALACE]

Anyone excited about this? Anyone? Didn't think so.