First thing first: the PSP.

I'll follow rumours that were posted on this site today: a PSP"4000" will be available later this year with a brand new design, two sticks, but it will still have the UMD reader. It will be available for 149€/$ and the old series (1000, 2000 and 3000) will be dismissed. This will allow the handheld to live for two more years. The true PSP2 will be available in 2012. Devs will come back for the handhelds and sony will support it much more, we will get crazy games like agitoXIII, PEthe third birthday, KH, gran turismo portable, motorstorm portable, lbp portable. I expect capcom to make a big come back and to develop a DMC and RE portable. The PSP will end its life with more than 70M units sold.

Then the PS3: No price cut before october/november this year. The price cut won't be huge, probably 50€. But you can expect nice bundle like PS3+Infamous+KZ2+2DS3 for 400€. I also think that they're gonna dismiss the 40Go HD for a 80 HD. PSN cards will be available this year in europe, around october/november. Sony will strike back during the new fiscal year, that begins april 2010. Expect another price cut to begin this fiscal year, probably 50$ once again. The slim PS3 will be availble for holidays 2010. I also think that the console won't be dismissed before 2015 (I don't think the 10 years plan will be supported).

And finally the PS4: Expect the PS4 to be released around 2012-2013 for 300-350€/$. It will still have a blu-ray drive, improved graphics (bigger improvement that gamecube-wii to compare). It won't be called Playstation 4 but "Playstation ......" (Playstation Omega, Playstation Future, well Playstation+something (not a number)). Expect full connectivity with the PSP2. Still free online. Gran turismo 6, killzone 3 and a sony japan rpg will be available at launch. Games will be cheaper, around 50-55 $. It won't be a "casual" console. It will be more "new gamers" friendly, but not as much as the wii.

So what do you think about it?

I will only say one thing, nothing ever seems to go as planned....

I can't see PSP making any sort of comeback. People just don't buy software for it and another analog stick won't change that.

Also GT5 will likely be out 2010 and you're expecting GT6 two years later? GT6P maybe. Even Killzone 3 is pushing it considering development cycles this gen.

Otherwise - it could happen that way, sure.

they wont release another PSP with two sticks, imo they should just kill it now and start with the PSP2, cause software for it just doesnt sell

and i wouldn go making any predictions based on nothing, except that i do beleive it will be called PS4

It wont sound right not calling the next system Playstation 4. I bet cause of the Playstation 3 microsoft would refer to the next future Xbox's in numbers form starting with Xbox 3. Two sticks on a handheld is just insane. You will never see a handheld with two sticks and a d-pad cause thats too much space taking up the area around the screen. Two sticks and a d-pad will only work on a controller cause the controller doesnt have a screen.

It's possible to add another stick if it's a slide-screen.

I'm not entirely sure of the direction sony would take with it's next handheld but your ps4 predictions seem right. Since the ps3 didn't do well sony probably won't want to use the name "ps4" since it would be a sequel to something that wasn't very popular.

I think "ps4" would probably be almost exactly the ps3 with an easier architecture, more ram and a slimmer design. It may even launch for $300 or $250. I'm not sure what year is likely though

Yeah and well, PS4 is a little too much! What's next? Playstation 17? They need to find another name for the console but they also need to keep the "playstation" somewhere.

So I'm pretty sure the next console will be "Playstation ......."

I hope you are right... though it is still only a hope

I agree that Sony should launch PSP 2 and PS4 (note it will be PlayStation 4!) around the same time, but I would put the PSP 2 a year before, otherwise I won't be able to buy both at launch!

I think Sony needs to acquire or tie down the following studios:
Insomniac (just keep whatever deal they have going)
Sucker Punch
Media Molecule
Quantic Dream
Level 5 (give us some PSP RPGs!)
High Impact Entertainment
Ready at Dawn (these last 2 for PSP development)

They need to have HIE, RaD, Sony Bend and BigBig all making PSP games to ensure they have a quality game flow

They need to reform their first party studios more IMO. An expansion of ND so they can make yearly games would be great, and teams like Santa Monica Studios, Incognito, Team Ico, Polyphony, Guerilla all need to increase the speed of their game production, they could all learn something from Insomniac

@Munkeh111: I fully agree, if sony wants to stay in the vg business, they have to buy more studios. Look at nintendo and MS, they don't have enough of them and there is a lack of exclusive games for this year!

Insomniac is a must buy, just imagine the PS3 without ratchet and resistance franchise ... Ouch. Media molecule as well. That's a small studio, it must be pretty "cheap".

Quantic dream: no. Their games don't have enough success.

Would be nice if they could buy ready at dawn and level 5 but they develop for other consoles so ... it will be hard!

Insomniac and MM first! And investing in ND too, you're right!