Despite Rumours, Sony Has No Plans for PSP2

Recently, rumours have surfaced of a PSP2, or PSP-4000. However, Sony has announced that they have no plans to develop a new portable console. This may be due to lack of support by consumers and developers.

Although the PSP offers MP3 support, has PS2-like graphics, can browse the internet, and can do even more with hacked firmware, the UMD format has never caught on. At the release of the original PSP, there were plenty of UMD format movies available. However, due to lack of demand, the number of UMD movies available has diminished.

Even with the release of the PSP-2000 last year, the PSP’s sales were still behind those of the DS, and the release of the PSP-3000 was quite a failure, with its new LCD screen causing scan lines to become even more visible. But, even with these flaws, the PSP-3000 is selling, and so Sony feels no need for an upgrade.

David Reeves, President and Chief Executive Officer of SCEE, even admits that the problem really isn’t with the hardware, but more with the software. He states that this is due to the fact that developers would rather develop games for the PS3 and 360, then Wii, then DS, then maybe even the PS2, before the PSP. This may be, again, due to the fact that the PSP uses the UMD format.

Although the PSP is a great console with great capabilities, it is unlikely that the PSP will overtake the DSL and Sony appears to be just fine with that; atleast for now, anyway.