Comments on: New PSP to take on iPhone this Christmas?

More rumors surface on the new PSP, with tantalizing details of a sliding touch screen, dual-analog thumbsticks, and an official unveiling in June at E3. Pocket Gamer is already calling it an "iPhone beater." We're not so sure.

[-Xalor-]

If Sony, forgoes the UMD I will kill them, jokingly of course but seriously I own a PSP 3000, and with the slim pickings that we have, at least at local stores, since I hate buying online, parents' hate the internet business sites o.O the old PSP will have nothing new coming, and the internet speeds over wifi are horredisly slow, lack of any video support, and I doubt Sony will really make the PSP a PSP, maybe an upgrade on the MyLo end, but overall it still needs UMD for the older consoles, and I just got it too, I was thinking all these rumors were totally junk

[C433Z]

Ooh, me likey! I've been waiting for this. I hope it's as they describe, cause i'd definitely get it.

[Jayemmbee]

yeaaaaaah riiiight as if this thing is gonna dethrone the DS and Nintendo, 20 years strong as the King of hand held and numerous challengers

and for the love of god can we stop calling the iphone/itouch a gaming hand held, because its not, both the DS and PSP blow it out of the water, gaming is just secondary function on it and it will never be considered or ever touch the realm Nintendo and Sony are in

[madonna915]

simple just add an app store for the psp and let the OS be open source like android
then that will stir up sales for the psp...

[xSIC]

Seems good news for PSP.

Why many reviews are based in apple's device?? make it like if it was the best of his kind product?
there are many devices much much better than this one. Take a peak of sony ericsson xperia for an instance.... ahh pure marketing. apple's has the first touchscreen??? well Nokia created the first mobile phone and no one said......Skype offering a "Nokia beater" service. Ridiculuos right? well it sound the same comparing the PSP as an "apple beater"

apple device has to prove a lot more in mobile phones in order to compete with big guys like Nokia and Ericsson.

[Tal_tos]

Lets hope that not only will the hardware be as groundbreaking as we need but the software support will be lined up to immediately push this beast to the top of the chart.
Having bought one of the original PSP's I am stuck with a device that is heavy, unwieldy with poor controls for FPS (my fav) but with some real gems - eg Ratchett and Clank / Daxter.

Will hold off on buying an iPhone now just in case, but I hope I am not disappointed by a device and software that falls just shy of the hype once more.

[boy444]

I hope it looks like that. I already have a DSi, so I'm good for now. So it will have phone tlike the n-gage did? Cool!

[NocturnalCT]

Looks promising! I've been considering a PSP as a mini entertainment system for long flights. Just a combination music/movie player and game box. I could care less about phone or internet capability. I'll use a phone and laptop for that. Not everything has to be a mega swiss army knife. I'd hate to have to lug around my PSP (or iphone or crackberry) everywhere when all I want is to make an occasional call.

Agreed on the proprietary storage media. I suppose it's good Sony is doing away with UMD although I can see the problem for folks who might consider upgrading. Someone's gotta shake some sense into these guys and make them drop the memory stick in favor of SD or microSD. This device is an opportunity to provide a multi-slot.

[Cyrn]

ummm... is that a iPhone competitor or a iPod-Touch competitor? Seems to me it's the latter.

[cpopken]

I have had the original Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, 2 GBA SP's, a DS, and the original PSP-1000 and a PSP-2000. I also have used my son's ipod touch. The games on the touch that I have played in no way compare to Sony's or Nintendo's games. I would think that you should be comparing the future PSP2 to the DSi more so that the iphone or touch. I found the input controls on the touch annoying, i would much rather have dedicated buttons so that I could feel if I pressed them or not.

I think it would be in Sony's best interest to lose the UMD. I am really not a hater of UMD. I did buy a couple of movies on the format when they were on clearance, but I think it would help battery life and load times to go with flash memory. It needs to have a min. of 32GB flash memory and a memory stick slot. If Sony wants to sell the PSP2 as a do anything device, they would need to add a music jukebox that could sort music better, what they have now is a joke. They also need to expand video and audio formats. They also need to get a better web browser, Team up with Mozilla and create a better browser with better flash support. Open the OS up and let third party companies create apps for it, you need to keep the individual happy with your product and allow them to customize the experience they have with it. If Sony would do these things and make the consumer happy they could probably get some of the marketshare that Apple enjoys now, most people are not loyal to one brand and will switch if they think something is a better value.

It would also be nice if they could use some kind of 3g network to use where there is no wifi access. If they would team up with a wireless provider and could offer a LOW COST subscription to those who wanted it, I am thinking $5-10 a month, It could open up a low of possibilities for them. It could be included in some kind of premium package for the PSN. Sony needs to learn from some of their past mistakes and not cripple the hardware.

[PKGEEZER]

First up, to all you people whinging about the new PSP not having UMD..so what?? UMD was crap and everyone knew it. Who cares if you have UMDs and 'what am i going to do with them?"
oohh nooo..what shall we do..oooohh...i tell you what..throw em thats what. AND GET A GRIP! everything in technology moves on, its just the way it is, so stop moaning about UMD...are you telling me you still own a VHS and have kept all your old VHS tapes? of course you havent so shut up..give everyone a break...you know...i know..that when the new PSP comes out you will buy one.

Secondly, no the PSP shouldnt have a phone built in..its a friggin games console, not a phone. if i want a phone i'll buy a phone. Much in the same way that if i own an iPhone and i want to buy games, then i buy a DSi or a PSP. We all know the iPhone, as good as it is...is a crap piece of gaming kit. having to touch the screen to move left or right or applied speed, its simply not designed to be a games system, really we all know that Apple, as good as they are, are just cramming the gaming side of things into the phone, i challenge anyone whos bought a game from the App store, to show me they are still playing it 2 weeks later. fact is, they dont. The iPhone is a crap gaming system and the PSP shouldnt try to emulate it as its a far superior games system than the iPhone, likewise it shouldnt try to be a phone as the iPhone is a better phone.
Just let them be what they are.

[cpopken]

I still have a VCR and tapes. Although most of them are home movies I haven't got around to transferring to DVD yet.

[grnmnm23]

I think the comparison is pretty sketchy between the PSP and the iPhone. I would never buy a PSP because I have my iPhone which does games pretty well for what it is and that's all I really need. Now if you want to seriously game on a portable device then of course the PSP would be better. I hate filling my pockets with devices which is one of the biggest reasons why I bought my iPhone. The games keep me busy for the few minutes that I actually have time to play a game when I'm not at home, but if I want to play a real game I'll just load up either my 360, PS3, or PC. Neither is really a killer because they're not really going for the same market. People looking for a multi-purpose device (aka small computer) should get the iPhone, and those looking for a serious handheld gaming machine should get the PSP. If they wanted to compete then the PSP should add cell phone capabilities. And last I checked, Skype is cool but not a substitute for a cellphone.

And Tarkona, all those things you suggest people to buy to get their PSP to do what an iPhone does costs more money. I could get a lot of things to do what an iPhone does if I want to buy a ton of peripherals for it.

[Tod Smith]

It won't have ANY PSP compatiblity. It will keep the titile.

[cnorrid]

For everyone complaining about the possible loss of a UMD drive, get over it! I remember clearly when the format was first announced that everyone and their mom hated Sony for doing the same thing to game media that they had already done to memory sticks. They recently took the backwards compatibility for PS2 games out of the PS3 much like Nintendo just did for GBA games with the DSi, so this step wouldn't be without precedent. If Sony finally takes a step towards non proprietary media, I am all for it. As for the games? If the new ones will be downloadable so will the old ones. If not, then hang on to the psp you already have!

[frodo8723]

Anyone else think that mock-up looks pretty uncomfortable to hold? and how would you play it... a touch screen...two analog sticks and buttons. hmmm? also what about original PSP games?

[Renegade Knight]

No cartridge (UMD, or anything else) that lets me sell games I'm done with, No interest.

[thegreatcomputernoob]

I love the design!!! The only thing I'd add would be a QWERTY keyboard though. Maybe put it where the blue screen is.

[laaack]

agreed, the PSP needs a LOT more internal memory, like 32gb especially if they are going online for games

sucks to spend $100+ on memory cards

[laaack]

you did that twice

[laaack]

amen