Sony shoots down PSP redesign reports
"We currently have no plans to release another version of the PSP." That's what a faceless Sony spokesperson predictably told Gameindustry.biz after having his inbox flooded with reports of a redesigned PSP arriving as early as March 2007. Understandably, Sony is far more interested in highlighting their handheld's new peripherals, namely a 1.3 Megapixel camera and GPS add-on. Both devices, along with a games lineup powered by Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops, are set to be given obscenely bright spotlights and elaborate displays at the upcoming Tokyo Game Show. Is that it for the unborn PSPetite? Hardly. There's more than one way to interpret Sony's tactic of dismissal:
This one's the least interesting -- there is no redesign in the works, leaving the PSP as the sole train departing the portable gaming ghetto.
The folks at Sony do have plans to release a new PSP but realize that announcing an improved model, mere months before Christmas, probably isn't the greatest idea they've ever come up with (it would rank just slightly above the PSX).
Amusingly, said plans may actually be unveiled tomorrow. Who could forget Nintendo's David Yarnton debunking a DS redesign? He was quoted as saying "That's been rumoured, I don't know for how long, but we haven't got any plans at the moment. Nothing I know of." The DS Lite was announced the very next day.
With the PSP consistently snagging second spot in the Japanese hardware charts and the DS Lite steamrolling its way across the Earth, there's little evidence to suggest that Sony wouldn't reap the rewards of a redesigned handheld. After all, it's sure to include new firmware.
