A blurry shot of the new PSP hardware.
In the video, Qore host Veronica Belmont speaks with what appears to be Sony marketing chief John Koller, who starts off talking about some of the games that will be available for the new PSP Go download service, name-checking franchises like Gran Turismo, Jak & Daxter, and Metal Gear Solid, as well as the already-announced LittleBigPlanet PSP game. He goes on to briefly talk about plans to roll out movie rental and purchase and TV show purchasing on the PSP Go, and it kind of sounds like there might be some portability between video purchases made on the PS3 and the PSP.
The hardware is shown briefly, and while it appears to retain the same number of buttons as its predecessor, it also looks to feature a screen that will slide down over the controls, something that was key to all the PSP Go rumors up to now, and will apparently make the PSP Go smaller than the current PSP 3000 hardware. Surprisingly, Koller says that the PSP Go will not be a replacement for the PSP 3000, which Sony will continue to sell.
Aside from the sliding screen and the smaller form-factor, the PSP Go will also feature 16GB of internal flash memory to support the whole download-only format, as well as Bluetooth for tethering to the PS3 as well as cell phones, though no specifics are given as to what kind of functionality this will provide.
Sony has still given no official confirmation about this, and I suspect we still won't hear a peep from them, despite how convincing this evidence is. Here's the YouTube video that started all this fun, though I suspect it won't take long for Sony to have this pulled.
UPDATE: Eurogamer has also unearthed a gallery of clean, high-res images of the hardware. As they say, "Somebody's PSP Go-ing to get fired."
Personally, I simply cannot see who Sony intends to market this to. What does it have for 100% new users? It’s a little more compact, but if people were not compelled to buy a PSP before, is that enough to entice them now? On the other hand, there’s the existing install base, and things look slightly worse for them. Their existing UMD library is rendered unplayable, the screen size is smaller and even the design may have sacrificed some comfort in order to become that much more compact.
Even as a mere test for digital distribution handhelds, it strikes me as 100% unnecessary as Sony could simply and efficiently test that by pushing the actual service more. Release more games, advertise the service, add $5-10 discounts compared to the store-bought copies, see the percentage of users that end up biting and gauge how it can be applied to the future handheld models. A new PSP SKU was simply not needed as the current PSP models are perfectly capable of downloading games and most every user must have a memory stick by now, thanks to the already available digital content.I’m certainly very curious about the marketing’s direction and the resulting sales. Surprise me, Sony!All anyone asks for from the next generation is duel sticks.
Haven't had a hand held since the Game Boy Advance
:D
Sony Exec: "Nah. Who wants that? I've never heard of anyone wanting more then one."
Sony epic fail.