AfterDawn: News

Updated PSP coming soon with significant hardware changes

According to PSLS, Sony will be releasing an updated PSP handheld before the holiday season this year, one that will add significant hardware changes.



The PSP-4000 revision, according to sources, will be announced at the upcoming E3 event.

Debunking past rumors, touchscreen will not be added but the proprietary UMD format is a thing of the past. With the removal of the disc drive, the PSP will add a solid state drive and will keep a removable flash memory port.

The site also wouldn't confirm that the PSP-4000 will have a sliding screen, but implied it. There will also not be the addition of dual analog sticks, which has been hotly anticipated in all rumors.

Perhaps even more notably is that a few blockbuster games will be coming later this year including Little Big Planet, MAG, Heavy Rain and Shadow of the Colossus.

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 23 Apr 2009 23:21

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• 30 comments

• KillerBug

  3 swings, 3 misses - Without a phone, they can't fight the apple iPhone. On top of that, the controls are much worse than the old ones. And on top of that, it is a slider...and sony is TERRIBLE at making moving parts. -3 strikes, You're out!

  23.4.2009 23:30 #1

• Morreale

  The PSP isn't competing with the iPhone and the iPhone isn't competing with the PSP. I really don't think the PSP is competing with anything, even the DS. They are both very different portable consoles.
  
  I would like to see a slider PSP, it might be more pocketable without the extra length from the buttons on the sides.
  
  Nice to see that they're adding in a solid state drive while still keeping the MSPD slot :)
  
  Glad to see the UMD gone, never used it anyways ;)
  
  Whoever believed that the newest REVISION of the PSP would have a touch screen and dual analogs is kinda stupid... It's a revision, not a completely new console...

  24.4.2009 00:36 #2

• lxhotboy

  Originally posted by KillerBug: 3 swings, 3 misses - Without a phone, they can't fight the apple iPhone. On top of that, the controls are much worse than the old ones. And on top of that, it is a slider...and sony is TERRIBLE at making moving parts. -3 strikes, You're out!Well I be dang!.....What world have i been living in? All this time i never had any idea the PSP was in competition with the iphone. Never had a clue. Uhhh.....Yeah right. Reality check please with that post.
  
  It would have been nice to see dual analog controlls but you cant make significant changes like that in the middle of a console lifespan. The devs would have a hard time with handling some of the games that may have been designed specifically for the dual analog sticks. Older gamers would not be able to play those particular games and that wouldnot be a good marketing stratedgy at this time for the PSP.
  
  Touchscreen could have been added but would have only been used for navigational purpose and not in actuall gameplay again b/c older psp wouldnot have that option in the actual gameplay. Then again not sure it that would be an expensive addition that may add to the units production cost. Does anyone have any idea how costly it is to add touchscreen to a device?? Just curious.

  24.4.2009 00:59 #3

• Footie979

  What about all those UMD games that are not on the PSN Store? How will people play them (aside from pirating them)?

  24.4.2009 01:11 #4

• pcrazy99

  I was holding out on upgrading my psp phat because of the dual analog stick rumor. Now that I know it isn't happening I won't be upgrading. I could care less about a solid state drive or a sliding screen.

  24.4.2009 01:35 #5

• KillerBug

  It's not in competition with the iPhone, and now it still will not be in competition with the iPhone...a very big market that would have been very easy to enter (sony already makes cell phones). I would have bought one if I could play games, make *and recieve* phone calls, and surf the net.
  
  I also wonder about the people who have already paid good money for UMD games & movies...will sony allow them to download these? If not, it would seem that the pirates were in the right all along.

  24.4.2009 05:04 #6

• trexxus

  Yeah I wonder if the newer games would be playable on the current version(s)of the psp because I just got mine last year and do not want to buy the upcoming version just to play a few games that I do like for the system.

  24.4.2009 06:57 #7

• bomber991

  Quote:It would have been nice to see dual analog controlls but you cant make significant changes like that in the middle of a console lifespan. The devs would have a hard time with handling some of the games that may have been designed specifically for the dual analog sticks. Older gamers would not be able to play those particular games and that wouldnot be a good marketing stratedgy at this time for the PSP.So I wonder what people are gonna do about the removal of the UMD drive. That makes this new PSP just as backwards incompatible with old games as making new games that require a second analog stick.

  24.4.2009 07:12 #8

• SDF_GR

  Till E3 i dont believe anything.
  
  For one thing i i'm sure about though, That It will be locked to hell like PS3.

  24.4.2009 10:09 #9

• mystic

  as a parent of a child with his games and movies that cost a fortune at the time of the release (as on any platform) I find the move to go with out the disk drive useless what happened to the backwards compatablity of next gen units really buy an older one off ebay and get the games dirt cheap ... guess in the future we will all just play our games on our phones and not shell out 150 for the unit and 20- 40 per game... is Sony looking to deliver their own defeat and market share to other brands that freely?

  24.4.2009 11:02 #10

• Metallian

  Call me old-fashioned, but I like the physical game, instruction booklet, and case business myself. And with no UMD, that means no instruction booklet or anything. I think UMD should have been left on the unit personally. I just wonder if the new Assassin's Creed and Motorstorm games that are supposed to be coming to PSP will be on UMD or just a download exclusive. I guess as many people that have the current PSP, they will put them on UMD.

  24.4.2009 11:19 #11

• Tecbot

  wow...will be a interesting e3 for sure. this might be a good thing for mne hopefully everything umd has a fire sale after so i can stock up

  24.4.2009 12:23 #12

• kikzm33z

  When are they going to make a completely different portable console?
  
  I think that the 2nd and 3rd PSPs are basically a slightly upgraded version of the PSP.
  In other words, useless.
  
  I'm hoping for new software and a whole new library of games.
  On top of that, I think that upgrading the hardware for better graphics would be best.
  
  I'd happily purchase one if that's the case.

  24.4.2009 13:17 #13

• handsom

  Honestly, the UMD thing surprises me.
  
  If they're not touting this as the PSP2, it seems like a terrible idea to remove the UMD slot altogether. Personally, I hated the stupid things, but not everyone has access to broadband to download the games online, and that could potentially reduce their customer base by a LOT.
  
  Not to mention, they're going to piss off retailers who've stocked tons upon tons of games.
  
  Look at it this way:
  When gamestop sells a game system, they make VERY little off that hardware, in fact they sell them pretty close to their bulk-buy rate. The real money is in games, because the profit margin is a much higher percentage, and because those games get traded in for less and re-sold.
  
  If you start selling a system that relies entirely off of games sold over the internet through your 1st party store, what motivation do the big retailers like Gamestop and Wal-Mart have to support your product? Sure, they'll carry it. But advertising, specials, and the like... THAT is what makes or breaks a system. When you open up a Best Buy ad, you see the PS3 and the XBox360 advertised almost every week. That's because if you buy the system, you're likely to buy games with it. If they can't sell you a UMD game with the system (And Sony has made no indication whatsoever that they plan to start selling the games in stores on memory sticks), then the retailers really have no reason to support the console.
  
  So, unless Sony has some unmentioned business model up their sleeves that includes software being sold through the retailers... This probably won't work.
  
  I know they're a giant of the industry, but the dismal sales comparisons between the 360, the Wii, and the PS3(Since launch) just go to show that they are losing their fanbase over the slew of mistakes they've made in the last five years.

  24.4.2009 13:23 #14

• ThePastor

  Personally, I'd like to see them work on the media player aspects of the player. Enhance media playback so that it will play many formats. Make it updatable with external codecs, put a good browser on it and make that updatable... ect.
  
  This would be a great media player if it wasn't so locked down.

  24.4.2009 15:52 #15

• bam431

  i thought they said it would be a new PSP not a PSP without UMD's

  24.4.2009 16:57 #16

• inagasake

  I am not down with this at all. You either sell the physical copies or DRM-free downloads. Once these companies go down the download-only path, we will lose our rightful ownership of what we buy. You can't sell a download second-hand like you can a physical console/handheld game. You can't let your friend borrow your downloaded game. You can't take it to a friend's house. There are so many problems with DRM downloads. Not to mention that anyone who doesn't have broadband internet and decent bandwidth allowance is screwed over by this.
  
  The thing that these companies don't get is that just because people pirate games instead of buying the physical media (UMD, DVD, CD, etc.) doesn't mean that they would prefer the download business model. Whenever I put down money on a game, I better get the physical copy or at least a DRM-free download. I bought a DRM-protected PC game download once and I regret it. It hasn't given me problems but the potential is there given my "limited ownership". Because if by chance say my hard drive crashed (the DRM in this case is the online activation limit thing), I'd have to e-mail the company to get them to free up my online activation slot and then I'd have to answer some questions to prove that I'm not a criminal. Then and only then would I have the right to access my property in that circumstance. Which is absurd.

  24.4.2009 22:09 #17

• KillerBug

  "The thing that these companies don't get is that just because people pirate games instead of buying the physical media (UMD, DVD, CD, etc.) doesn't mean that they would prefer the download business model"
  
  -Exactly, people download games illigaly for one reason: it is free! If you charge them the same ammount for a download as for a UMD, then most would rather go to the store and buy a hard copy...unless they live far from the store or don't have a car.
  
  I would not be suprised by this change, Sony has dropped backward compatability in mid-production before...the PS2 (slim) does not work with games requiring the hard drive (and there is no way to make it work with these games without soldering), and the PS3 was released with PS2 support, which was quietly removed later.
  
  I still think the controls look very uncomfortable, and based on my last Sony cell phone, the slider screen will break after about a week.

  24.4.2009 23:29 #18

• bigE

  I haven't posted in a longggg time. Here it goes though:
  
  1) No matter what they did, UMD or not, it would piss off a third of the people. The way I see it, 1/3 are for UMD, 1/3 against, and 1/3 don't care.
  
  2) I'm fairly certain they will still sell physical copies in stores. Why? Well, because they don't want to piss of retailers and secondly, and probably most important, let's remember the format here. It's SONY Pro Duo; it's not like they are giving up the UMD format to a competitor.
  
  3) I think it'll be a phone. Or at least a device CAPABLE of cell phone (for example, you buy the device and can choose a carrier later). OR now that I think of it, a carrier picks this device up, and you get it *free* with a 3 year contract. The reason I say this is: look on the right hand side. It appears to be an HTC-like cell phone speaker slot. Let's say it's not a speaker for a cell phone but a regular speaker. SO SONY has worked on keeping this BW compatible mostly (no analog, no touch) but all of a sudden throw a speaker on the front? I don't think so. How to dial, I don't know. Perhaps this is only half of what they want to show.

  25.4.2009 01:10 #19

• Jemborg

  Is that it????
  
  What a huge disappointment.

  25.4.2009 01:30 #20

• __Ronin__

  This PSP is going to be absolutely rubbish if there's no dual analogs. Also, the control scheme doesn't look too good and it seems smaller. I might as well stick with my PSP phat.

  25.4.2009 04:21 #21

• xblade132

  Could care less about dual analog sticks. I've done just fine without a 2nd analog stick since PSP launch.
  
  If its going to be a slider like pictured above, I'm all for it.

  25.4.2009 08:23 #22

• locobrown

  The presence of dual analog sticks is very imperative. If the new model doesn't not have the 2nd stick, why even bother making the PSP. Why is Sony so hard headed? The 2nd analog benefits all. Game development and user control. For example, shooter games. We need the 2nd stick, that's why I use my console instead of my PSP. I love my PSP, but not having the second stick makes game play a frustrating task instead of being a pleasant game play experience.

  25.4.2009 11:54 #23

• Morreale

  OMG Nigerians... Why?
  
  ***
  
  Thanks ddp :)

  25.4.2009 14:12 #24

• ddp

  spammer deleted

  25.4.2009 14:46 #25

• trav1085

  fake
  
  new design sucks and sony wouldn't turn their system into a shitty phone

  25.4.2009 15:14 #26

• Morreale

  Originally posted by trav1085: fake
  
  new design sucks and sony wouldn't turn their system into a shitty phoneThat "shitty" phone is what everyone wants...

  25.4.2009 17:41 #27

• varnull

  Originally posted by Morreale: OMG Nigerians... Why?
  
  ***
  
  Thanks ddp :)oh superb .. lots of laughter there.
  
  anyway.. what a pointless "upgrade" when it flops they will blame piracy.. because having a download only system will be an epic fail.. mark my words.
  

  
  
  Free open source software = made by end users who want an application to work.
  I would rather you hate me for who I am than love me for what I am not.
  Soon to be everybodys antipodean sex goddess.. actually only one persons.. but thats not the point. Move over Minogue.. midgets cant compare XD

  25.4.2009 17:51 #28

• handsom

  Heh heh. Blaming piracy does seem to be the new way of doing things. I wonder if that allows them to get some sort of write off in taxes or something.
  
  When did companies stop accepting their own failures? Seriously.
  
  Doesn't anyone remember the Nintendo Virtual Boy? Thing was a HUGE gimmick that gave a lot of people serious headaches... Nintendo accepted failure. They didn't blame other things, they stopped production, and began working more on other things.
  
  Heck, look at the Dreamcast. It really did fail because of piracy, I mean, you didn't even have to mod the system to do it. Thing was begging to be demolished in sales. But when it failed, even then, Sega admitted defeat. They didn't say "If people weren't downloading it would've worked!" or "Sales are down because people are ripping us off!" Nope. They just opted to stop making hardware, decided that it wasn't a profitable way for them to go.
  
  It seems that five or ten years ago, things shifted. Statistics have shown that since the RIAA formed, illegal downloading has decreased by a huge margin... But companies are blaming piracy for their losses more than ever. I don't condone piracy at all, but companies need to stop using it as an excuse/crutch with investors. They need to take responsibility and say "Yes, this did badly. Here are some new ideas that might fare better." Look how well something different worked for Nintendo, they're still raking it in, they didn't even need to be cutting edge, they used hardware that is basically the last generation, and their motion technology is more than a decade old, it's just something that hadn't been done in a home gaming console before. (Gameboy's aren't considered a 'home' console, they are a portable console.)
  
  I really hope things improve soon, and companies start learning real lessons about their sales.

  27.4.2009 13:43 #29

• Jemborg

  Dunno if piracy stopped sales of the Dreamcast... there were plenty of other factors imo.
  
  "Motion Control"? Wasn't that an effort to encourage people to fling their controllers at the wall in frustration? Thereby having to purchase a new one lol? ...just kidding.
  
  On a lighter note, the figurehead for Ninty in Oz is Olivia Newton-John (Xanado anyone?). Oh yeah, doing her Brain Training, steppin up on the Wii-Fit, go for it Oli, you've still got it baby! "Grease" those sales! I guess it is innovative going after the granny market rofl.
  

  Its a lot easier being righteous than right.

  27.4.2009 16:40 #30