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Details are scarce about the PSP 2 console, although just about everybody from industry analysts, to developers, to journalists believe that it is on the horizon. Some sources are even suggesting that the device will be formally introduced at this year’s E3 event, and may actually go on sale before Christmas 2009! In order to shed some light on these rumors and keep the discussion as grounded as possible, we are here to slice through the hype with our most realistic assessment of what a potential PSP successor will look like.

The first thing that we need to do is decide whether we are talking about a simple update like a PSP-4000 or an all new design that breaks with the current generation (in other words a PSP 2). Since a simple hardware upgrade to the PSP-4000 would be mainly banal, for the sake of this post we will be talking about a completely new successor to the current device, the PSP 2. This new handheld would bear the Sony name but would break completely with the current lineup of games and would be designed to replace the current hardware rather than update it.

Press outlets and inside sources are claiming all sorts of wild and contradictory things about what features will be included on the PSP 2. Everything from sliding screens, full keyboards, and even built-in cameras have been suggested as possibilities. Let’s take a look at some of these claims to decide which are most likely fact and which are fiction.

Fiction: Release before Christmas 2009

Sorry David Perry, but this is simply not going to happen. Sony has announced a lineup of major releases on the PSP for 2009, with many more announcements still to come at E3. There is no way they would scuttle their own hardware (which is still selling well) by releasing its successor in such a short timeframe. Try Christmas 2010.

Fiction: Internal hard drive

A holdover from last generation, many gamers still believe that Sony might include a large-capacity hard drive in future iterations of the PSP. This is highly unlikely considering that flash memory has declined dramatically in price and is more energy efficient than a spinning drive. No 60GB PSP 2, sorry pack rats.

Fiction: Sliding Screen

Where this rumor originated, we have no idea (PLAY Magazine actually). If Sony wanted to take gaming back a generation to 2005, then a ghetto, Sidekick-inspired sliding screen would be a perfectly logical choice. But we are in 2009 where touch input and voice chat have replaced clunky QWERTY keyboards (Also unlikely to appear anywhere on the PSP 2).

Just think about this for a moment.

Fiction: Phone included

The other persistent rumor that just won’t die is that Sony is planning to integrate PSP gaming functionality with its Ericsson line of mobile phones. This seems logical enough, given the corporate structure of Sony and the convenience of the Sony-Ericsson partnership. The problem is that Sony games division and Ericsson haven’t been getting along recently, with both sides claiming that such a Frankenstein device would have to make too many compromises. Do we really want to play our PSP games on a crappy little cramped mobile screen? Just look at how it turned out for Nokia.

Fact: UMD is dead

Enough independent sources have confirmed this to make it believable. Furthermore, the industry as a whole is moving towards the digital distribution model, particularly for smaller handheld game releases. If the iPhone can be a serious contender in the gaming space without a solid media of any kind, so can the PSP 2. We can therefore confidently predict that there will be no spinning UMD drive on the next Sony handheld.

Fact: Touch Screen

When we examine the facts, it is hard to deny that the whole handheld game industry is moving in the direction of touch input. Sales of the Nintendo DS (which broke the 100 million mark this year) have cemented this form of input as industry-standard from now on. The disruptive iPhone has also been able to make waves in the video game market, despite the device not having any traditional buttons! Odds are that Sony will include a state-of-the-art touch functionality in its new device, hoping to lure third party publishers towards the Sony handheld. Multiplatform handheld game releases anyone?

Fact: Monstrous hardware specs

If there is one thing Sony does well, it is to produce high-quality cutting edge hardware. For example has anyone seen those new Vaio mini-laptops? All signs suggest that the PSP 2 will continue with the same formula that helped Sony gain marketshare this generation: combining a highly-desirable design with the beefy gaming specs to support jaw-dropping game experiences. One thing that we know already is that the graphics processor likely to be included in the PSP 2 will be capable of many fancy new shader techniques not available in the current device.

Undecided: PSP 4000

The existence of the rumored PSP 4000 itself may be fictional, owing to the strong sales and bullet proof security of the PSP 3000. As long as sales are strong and hackers are unable to get homebrew running on the PSP 3000, we don’t see the need for a replacement. Sure, an even better screen would be nice, but it’s not like Sony can do much more with the PSP design (like add dual analogs) without breaking backwards compatibility this generation.

This fan-made mock up of the PSP 2 is fictional, but many of its features could find their way into the real thing.

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