PSP2's Touching News

Still my favorite mockup... I hope the PSP2 looks like this.

More information on the PSP2 is leaking out from Sony, as the release date gets closer. Now Kaz Hirai is talking about touch screens and how they are pretty spiffy as an interface for playing games, and having one would be really useful in competing with Apple. But standard game controllers are useful, too, he hastens to point out.

Reading between the lines, it's pretty clear we should expect a touchscreen to be part of the PSP2, as well as the usual controllers. I'm guessing they're going to include dual analog controllers, as an inexpensive way to add a useful gaming feature not shared by the competition. Certainly the PSP2 is going to need all the nifty features it can get in order to compete with the 3DS and the smartphones.

Sony is playing it cagy with release dates and other information, but I expect we'll be hearing a lot more about the PSP2 in the next few months... especially as Nintendo ramps up its PR blitz for the 3DS. Sony will naturally want to piggyback on Nintendo's publicity, and maybe get some people to hold off spending their money on the 3DS by touting the PSP2's features. I don't really think that will work unless the PSP2 release date is fairly close to the 3DS, which seems unlikely for a piece of hardware that hasn't been officially unveiled. I expect we'll see the PSP2 in detail at E3, with a summer or fall release date.

And don't forget Sony's PSP phone that is supposedly coming out from Sony Ericsson... though I'm not sure if this is a coherent strategy or just another example of Sony's divisions running amok. Rumors continue to leak out that Howard Stringer's days are numbered as Sony CEO, and they may be ready to go with Kaz Hirai. The PSP phone will purportedly run Android 3.0, and feature PS One level games and perhaps some existing PSP titles... it just leaves me wondering how this would get in the way of the PSP2 launch. Is Sony just going to throw everything against the wall and see what sticks?

Usually that just makes a mess.