PSP2 rumours: everything you need to know

Note that this page will be constantly updated as new information comes to light.

UPDATE: The PSP2 is real

In September, a developer working on the upcoming Mortal Kombat remake let slip that he has used a PSP2, calling it a "powerful machine".

"We have a PSP2 in the house and we're looking at the engine, like what can it support," he added.

As of 28 September, reports surfaced that Sony is sending out PSP2 developer kits to a number of game devs. Develop magazine claims that both Sony's in-house studios and a number of major third-party studios have received the kits.

PSP2 rumours

Industry rumours about a PSP2 have been doing the rounds for years, with rumours of a touchscreen handheld certainly dating back to at least 2006.

These rumours have been circulating for almost as long as the original console itself has been around. Sony originally launched the handheld at E3 back in 2004, after making the announcement of its portable gaming plans the year before that in 2003.

Indeed, Sony was still denying plans for a touchscreen-version of the PSP back in early 2009, when it was (as we now know with the power of hindsight) still finalising plans for the release of the UMD-free, download-only PSPgo. It now seems highly likely that the PSPgo is the final iteration on Sony's original PSP form factor. And, by extension, the PSP2 will be arriving very soon.

PSP2 release date

There was speculation that we might see the PSP2 at E3 June 2010, or at one of the following games industry events.

"It *might* be at E3 in one form or another – especially if Sony's hand is forced by the 'leak' – but I suspect Sony would rather save the announcement for Gamescom/TGS in August/September," PSM3 magazine's Editor, Dan Dawkins told TechRadar.in May 2010.

CVG Editor Tim Ingham agreed with Dawkin's speculation as to when the announcement (and following retail launch) for PSP2 will occur, telling TechRadar (also in May 2010):

"If you look at the past few years, Sony has tended to use Gamescom in August as a good place to make hardware-related announcements, because they don't get as lost in the noise as they would do at E3 earlier in the summer."

But there was no sign of the PSP2 in LA in June or Cologne in August and, wherever the original announcement is made, the retail release looks will be "most likely in early 2011," said the PSM3 Editor at the time.

Late 2011 is also a possible release date - which would make the handheld a big deal for Xmas 2011 and give Sony a chance to add better (and more affordable) 3D capable screens.

PSP2 games - how to combat rampant piracy

Sony is going to have to mobilise all of its games marketing might, in order to re-establish the forthcoming PSP2 as a games console, first and foremost.

Much of the criticisms directed at the original PSP focused on the fact that Sony was trying to make a device that was a little too 'all things for all people' – offering web, music, video and multimedia capabilities – at the expense of focusing on what gamers want. Which is massive, exclusive blockbuster titles.

On that front, Konami's recent Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker could not have been released at a better time for Sony, reminding the hardcore PSP gaming fans why they originally fell in love with the PSP.

In addition to more big-name blockbuster titles and franchises such as Metal Gear and Grant Theft Auto, there is also a clear trend to shorter, punchier (and cheaper) downloadable games – following the runaway success of the iPhone and Apple's App Store model. So what of the PSPgo? Why has it failed?

"[PSP2] is above all, a tacit admission that PSPgo has, unsurprisingly, flopped, and was – surely – just an attempt to make a pirate proof iteration of PSP that, ironically-ish, ended up drying up the flow of original games, since gamers, and in turn developers, lost interest," notes PSM3's Dan Dawkins.

So PSP2 will have to develop the piracy-protected distribution model Sony has already introduced with PSP go (which means that download-only seems likely) as well as making the hardware – and, crucially, the supporting online shop and download service – "irresistible to developers and gamers alike."

PSP2 price – a must-have PS3 accessory?

If PSP2 can promise near-PS3 quality visuals, with much-improved PS3 integration as well as those "iPhone-style downloadable apps and inventive mini games, we'll all want one, for sure," says the PSM3 Editor.

But what price will we be prepared to pay for the PSP2?

Don't forget that Sony ran into considerable pricing issues with the last iteration of the PSP, with PSPgo costing £225 in the UK around the time of its September 2009 launch. (Retailers were quick to knock it down to a sub-£200 price point within weeks of the launch).

Then of course you have the fact that Nintendo is sure to price its forthcoming 3D handheld as competitively as it possibly can. One reason that the DS continues to sell so well is down to its sub-£100 price point.

With all of that in mind, it's hard to see how Sony could justify a PSP2 that was priced at OVER the £200 mark, even if they do what all the hardcore PS3 faithful really want and provide them with a dual analogue stick handheld console which they can control very much in the same was as they are used to controlling their PS3 games via a DualShock 3.

PSP2 specs – a four-core CPU?

The 'leaked' tech specs that are doing the rounds online right now suggest that Sony's PSP2 will boast an array of new features to help to differentiate it from (and make it more appealing than) Nintendo's new ('code-named') 3DS, which we already know for sure is going to be announced at E3 in June.

PSM3 expects to see a number of new features such as that long-mooted touchscreen, in addition to two cameras, possible 3G-connectivity (as opposed to PSPGo's Wi-Fi only), and – "as hard to believe as it would be welcome" – a four core Cell CPU (the PS3 uses eight).

There are no reasons to believe why all of these new tech specs could not make up Sony's PSP2, putting it on a more-than-equal footing with that other handheld gaming device that has gained a lot of attention from consumers in the last two years – the Apple iPhone.

The only real question that hardware specialists would ask would be about the possibility of that four-core processor, which PSM3's Editor admits, "sounds energy intensive, drawing practical considerations for battery life."

PSP2 console – publishers plans

Trade magazine MCV is also certain that publishers are already ramping up their own plans for an imminent launch of the PSP 2

MCV has recently reported on a"significant increase in [PSP] marketing spend at two key publishers for Q4 2010, at a time when the PSP is languishing in Western markets – and its most recent iteration, the PSPgo, is falling flat."

Yet another publisher told them that they are awaiting "a specific announcement" from Sony before revealing its future plans for the PSP platform. All of which strongly suggests that a consumer announcement of the PSP2 console is close by.

So while much of the pre-E3 hardware hype is still focused on Sony's Move and Microsoft's Natal motion-sensing controller tech - in addition to Nintendo's handheld plans for a 3D-ready successor to the hugely-successful DS - the official news about Sony's own release and tech plans for the true to successor to the PSP is clearly coming very soon.

Will Sony have finally learned a number of important lessons about effective download-only game development, pricing and marketing from Apple and Nintendo? We certainly hope so.