PSP redesign confirmed?

via gamespot

Source: A GamesIndustry.Biz report of a Sony UK event to launch the PSP in Education initiative.

The official story: See below.

What we heard: Much like the rumors of a bigger Xbox 360 hard drive, speculation about a redesigned PlayStation Portable simply refuses to go away. Yesterday they resurfaced as a GamesIndustry.biz article reported that Sony Computer Entertainment UK managing director Ray Maguire finally confirmed the new PSP's existence at a PSP in Education event to promote the system's use in the classroom.

According to the article, Maguire called the current PSP the "first iteration" of the hardware, and that a "smaller, lighter" version would be released in the future. When asked how that would affect the screen size, Maguire reportedly said the PSP's screen dimensions would be preserved despite any changes to the hardware.

When asked about Maguire's comments, Sony Computer Entertainment of America corporate communications director Dave Karraker told GameSpot that "Ray's comments regarding decreasing the size of the PSP were made in the general context that almost all consumer electronics shrink over time as advances are made in the technology to shrink the components used in manufacture. We have not, however, made any announcement regarding any new PSP hardware changes."

While the "we haven't made any announcement line" is an old standby for publishers wanting to make a splash with news that was assumed to be coming anyway, even the GamesIndustry.biz story includes mention of the less-than-concrete nature of Maguire's comments.

"In the longest term, of course we are always looking at ways to continue our platform development, and this normal business practice is what Ray was referring to," the article quotes a Sony representative as saying.

It looks like this one can join the Gears of War sequels and the bigger Xbox 360 hard drive in the file of sure things just waiting to become official.

Bogus or not bogus?: Bogus that it's confirmed, not bogus that it'll happen.

Woot!

look great, this is one of my most-have games :)

YES!
but its gonna come with like firmware 4.0 so i hope homebrew will be able to crack into it

sounds good!!

anyone else starting to think these psp2 rumors are getting ridiculous?

I mean, in the past 4 days we have had 4 diofferent confirmed/non confirmed stories from various places and its just blah.

If they do fine, if they dont whatever.

I just cant understand why it has to be brought up so many times in so many diferent ways in just a few days

^^^

True its because the suposed PSP2 is very big and alot of people will want it only for the new features that it may bring.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by crypysmoker

anyone else starting to think these psp2 rumors are getting ridiculous?

I mean, in the past 4 days we have had 4 diofferent confirmed/non confirmed stories from various places and its just blah.

If they do fine, if they dont whatever.

I just cant understand why it has to be brought up so many times in so many diferent ways in just a few days

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It's all about marketing. Think about it, if they say, here's the psp2. Some will say yay cool! Not much to talk about really. BUT if they play this confirm/deny game, it gets much more attention. Seeing how "good" PS3 sales are going, they need all the attention they can get.

To be honest the denials are par for the course really. Any official confirmation of a PSP redesign could potentially harm sales of the existing PSP model. Any consumers on the fence about buying a PSP would simply put their wallet away and wait for the new PSP model.

If the rumours are true then I'd imagine that an official confirmation of the redesign will be announced closer to the release date. Presumbably to counter-act any negative impact on sales of the exisiting PSP's out there; of course, a price cut will be inevitable to shift older models if and when the new model comes out.

Nintendo did more or less the same thing with their handhelds, from memory I remember them keeping a tight lid on the redesign of the gba and launched the new design a few months after christmas. A little cheeky and devious, but thats business for you.

I can't remember if they did the exact same thing for the DS Lite. I can't remember when that was launched.

the only thing that is tingling me is the size it will be and how thin it will be he he he... im so happy if it comes out like i said XD

Let's hope that it will be a change worth while! (IE 40 GB intrnal flash

nope, that wont exist at all
probably the internal memory probably will be 128MB in order to add more features on the XMB system

If it's just a DS Lite type redesign and not a full on PS2P new console then great but if they are going to build a completely new console and shift development to it then I'd be pissed because they havent supported the current PSP long enough.