New PSP mock-up (credit: 1UP.com)
If reports are to be believed, a new version of Sony’s PlayStation Portable (PSP) will ditch the handheld games console’s UMD disc drive in favor of 8GB or 16GB of internal storage. Games would then need to be purchased as downloads rather than housed on physical media, likely locking the PSP’s future software eco-system to Sony’s equivalent of Apple’s iPhone App Store.
… since the UMD is going away, Sony will have over 100 classic and new PSP titles available for download at launch (Gran Turismo Mobile is said to be one of the premier launch titles). As for the hardware itself, the redesign will include a d-pad, analog nub, and face buttons as part of a sliding unit sticking out below the screen (as seen in our mockup above).
Furthermore, 1UP speculates that the new PSP could build on features found in Sony’s Mylo 2 Internet device, a product that hasn’t exactly set the world on fire. “This could provide an 800×480 pixel touch screen for the system, as well as a camera on the system’s backside”, suggest the site.
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