I think there will be a PSP-4000 before there is a PSP2.

And yes, I think PSP sales will pick up this year in America -- DS/DSLite owners are eyeing it as an upgrade, instead of the DSi I think.

Remember that when the PSP-2000 was released, Sony effectively increased the speed of the PSP processor to 333 MHz, by removing the firmware cap on it (it had been capped to 222 MHz for the first couple years, and 277 MHz only after the release of Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters, as I recall -- battery reasons).  The 333 MHz "upgrade" effectively coincided with the release of God of War on the PSP -- and I think the reason is obvious.  

This "bonus" speed increase would have had an influence on game performance in the past year, but will start to have an effect, from a PSP game design perspective, starting this year (since games releasing now were very early in development when they got news of this speed increase, and could be adjusted to benefit from it). The PSP games coming out this year are thus, a little more ambitious, and it'll probably show in terms of quality.

The current PSP models are damn near as fast as a PS2 -- faster in some ways -- and they have 64 MB of memory to boot.  I would not at all be surprised to see a PSP2, in ~3 years, that sported a 848x480 LCD (the PSP1 is 480x272), and perhaps even had the ability to play downloadable PS2 titles from the PSN, as well as PS1 and PSP1 games.  It could have the horsepower of a Wii, easily.

... wow I never thought I'd ever see that... an upgrade that doesn't play any of your old games brilliant... DS is an upgrade of a GBA, PSP is a solid stand alone and has a different variety of games for it, very good games but very different for the demographics. 

Also with Sony's finanacial troubles new PSP development would probably be put on hold since PSP is profitable and developing, plus with the idea you have would probably mean Sony would sell the PSP2 at a loss like they did with PSP1 and they can't do that right now...

OT: PSP will have a great year I think there will be more sales this year over last, and as long as they have amazing bundles like the R&C bundle with the 3000 series that comes with everything you need to play right out of the box even a memory card then they'll get great sales.

I know a downright huge number od DS owners who are looking for something "new", and they already own a DS/DSLite.  A good portion of them have gone out and purchased a PSP (go figure).  With such a small number of handheld gaming options out there, I think this makes a lot of sense.  The PSP provides gaming variety that merely upgrading your DS to a DSi cannot provide.  Both handhelds are aging, and this is exactly the phase of a console generation where the number of multiple console owners *really* starts to rise.

The PSP is the perfect (and only, really) candidate for DS owners to purchase, if they're looking for something new and fresh (from their DS).  I think the PSP, in a sense, fits into the "next gen DS" category, after this extended time of both handhelds' existance -- nothing wrong with the DS, except yeah, its market saturation is WAY higher, and there's already a clear "upgrade" in existance (the PSP).  Simple "out with the old, in with the new".  The DSi doesn't cut it, thus the PSP will pick up (some).  It will NOT do so in some huge manner, but it will pick up this year, I feel certain.  Lots of good titles coming, etc.  The PSP has proven itself a viable alternative to the DS (like no other handheld has done vs Nintendo), and Nintendo has just plain not upped the bar at this late stage (instead they removed BC with the GBA, and reduced battery life... wierd).

Merely by releasing the DSi in America, Nintendo has effectively stated "Guess what?  No new Nintendo handheld anytime soon".  Which is a darn good reason to buy a PSP, if you're looking for a change/serious upgrade at this stage in the handheld gaming arena.  Unlike the home console market, the handheld market is still thriving largely on technological improvements, and catering to the gamer demographic, rather than the blue ocean.

The Japanese trend wasn't all Monster Hunter, IMO.  They get tired of "the old" faster than the West does.  I think the same thing will happen in the US this year, as in Japan last year (although I don't think the PSP will outsell the DS for a while, like it did in Japan).

Wait... *tilts head* didn't Sony just release PSP 3000, which would in fact mean the same thing from Sony... so technically it could work vice versa where PSP only owners just upgrade to a DS... >_>

I think most would agree that the PSP is way ahead of the DS, in terms of power, and impressive technology. That's what I'm getting at. It seems like a big tech upgrade from the DS -- it has that going for it.

As I said, I think a large portion of the extra sales in Japan were due to this fact (in addition to great titles like Monster Hunter) -- the Japanese love new tech more than the West does IMO, but that doesn't mean it won't have an effect in the West as well at some point.

"Wait... *tilts head* didn't Sony just release PSP 3000, which would in fact mean the same thing from Sony... so technically it could work vice versa where PSP only owners just upgrade to a DS... >_>"

I think that will certainly be true in a few cases, but the DS is probably a lot closer to market saturation than the PSP is, and I think the PSP stands to benefit a lot more from this effect.

Sales of PS2 vs GC, DS vs PSP, Wii vs PS3, PS1 vs N64 do not reflect that opinion at all...

Umm okay Maxwell.  Don't worry, you can choose to not believe that the PSP can make a comeback due to the simple fact that it is effectively a technological generation ahead of the DS, and made a comeback in Japan last year "for some mysterious reason".  Don't let me stop ya.

I'm not suggesting that the PSP will like, sell 40 million units in 2009.  I'm merely suggesting that the DS's titanic marketshare lead may fall back some, and the PSP's jump forward a bit.  Like 70/30 now... maybe 65/35, tops, by years end.  More likely something inbetween.

People get tired of old hardware, and what it can do.  The DS is definately "older" hardware, than the PSP, on the order of a couple years, in terms of technology, even though they released much closer than that.  It'll have an effect.  It had one in Japan last year, and I believe it will spread to the West this year (although not to as great an extent).

But... you said the Japanese love new tech more then the west... yet I give proof of the opposite and somehow it's me claiming the PSP can't make a comeback... I never said that once :P  in fact even said they'll have a great year, but I was posing a logical argument against what you were saying and pointing out a few holes in that logic...

DS is reaching the Japan Market saturation point (much like PS2) which was the reason for a new model, that way they can continue Japanese sales as well as worldwide sales since they slowed down in Japan as they reached that saturation point but a new model always helps break that.

I also find it funny that I was making comment about "Japanese loving new tech" yet it turns into "oh well you cannot believe PSP will make a comeback" when it's totally unrelated... kinda making a strawman there...

Your basic premise is right.  The Japanese love new technology.

However, the new technology in this case is a touch screen.  And for the Wii, it's motion controls.

Will some people opt for more powerful hardware?  Certainly.  I often go that route myself.  However, far more people will just wait for a DS2 that'll have a touch screen, more advanced hardware, plus some other goodies that we probably haven't even thought of.

The comparison you made in your reotort were not similar to the PSP/DS disparity, with regards to tech.  The PS1/N64 and the PS2/GC are much much more similar that they are different -- at best, the higher tech machine is about 2x as powerful as the weakest... i.e. not enough to encompass the gap between console generations.  The gap with the DS/PSP is much larger -- on the order of 5x.  

That's enough to bridge a generation, and that's my point.  You comment didn't make sense to me, in that regard -- I hope you can understand why.