Hmmmmm I think people want media functions, but they don't want to pay for all in one devices. I think Sony should learn from their mistakes with PS3/PSP and make PSP2 affordable and easy to use. If they made the PSP2 compatible with iTunes, it might also do better. (people might buy a cheaper device that also doubles as a game player instead of buying an iPod, and they can keep using iTunes, an online store they trust)

Ultimate Question: What format will Sony use?!!

*Plays dramatic music*

Well, it's a portable, so unless they think "Hey, Walkman made us rich, no one will mind using DVD's" it'll be UMD or if flash memory continues to get cheaper, catridges like the ds. UMD's didn't work for movies, but they seem okay for games.

And most people do use their PSP as a Ipod video/mp3 player, cept it's supposed to be a gaming device. For the mediocrity in sales, the system itself has been fantastic, over it's 2 year lifespan, however the sales of games? Much more mediocre to bad. Which is very weird, for a gaming device.

From a profit standpoint, low software sales is very bad. Software is where most of the profit comes from. Pokemon DP will probably make as much profit as all the PSP software put together.

Hus said: Zuhyc said: My guess is Sony will try to be ahead of the next Nintendo handheld (like Microsoft did with the 360), but I hope they won't rush things. Sadly enough, they won't be able to hype the PSP2 as they did with the PSP. So dev recourses will go more to the next 'DS'. But, Sony will have more experience in the handheld market, so no one knows what will happen. Look at sales and think about what 3rd party devs will do. Higest selling handheld 3rd party game is on the PSP not the DS.

 Look at sales and think about what 3rd party devs will do.

Highest selling handheld is the DS not the PSP. Highest third party software sales are on the DS, not the PSP. Third party developers are making out like bandits on the DS, not the PSP. Capcom, the maker of Monster Hunter has stated they are dissapointed with the PSP's lost promise and will be dedicating most of their future development towards the Wii and DS, this already disproves your presumptuous assertion that their smash hit PSP game series makes the handheld anymore appealing to them much ales other developers.

All these ideas of the next PSP are great, i'm getting hard off of these :)

All I want on the PSP2 is the two analogs thats it. Anything else is extra.

mitsuhide said: PSP2 Release Date:November09 Price:$200-300 Launch Titles:20(one being a Killzone,one being a GranTurismo,one being a Locoroco and one a LittleBigPlanet) Weight:300grams Size:Same as PSP BatteryLife:10-20hours HDD:10-20GB's Competition:None until November2010 with the DS2(Sony forces Nintendo to release it early) Features:Full Backwards compatability,Movie playback,SonyStore(movies,tv shows,music etc),PSstore,Music playback,Remote play with PS3 and PS4,whatever the PSP can do just better,HDMI out,Bluetooth,UMD2,Full downloadable games,PSN,ability to copy PS1 and PS2 games to its interegrated HDD(PS3/4 compressors them so they dont take up loads of room),2 analogs,Sixaxis function,mic and anything else Sony can come up with in the next 2years.

 

If Sony does something like that and it has PS2 level graphics and is $200 it would sell really well I think.

Could Sony relase crippled hardware (similar to 360 core) for $120 that has no media functions and can only play games? If they did that, Sony would be able to compete with both apple and nintendo next gen. 

You're describing the PSP! Only more expensive, and with a hard drive.

Re: the PSP's power, the tech writeups I've seen say it's slightly less powerful than the PS2, but because it doesn't have to display the same resolution, they're pretty much balanced. With the recent uncapping of its processor, the PSP might now have the edge. It's really an impressive little machine.

So a successor in 2-3 years with PS2-level graphics would obviously be a bit pointless, if not a step backwards. If you ask me, Sony would be making a mistake to put out a PSP2 at all so early. By all indications, handheld gamers don't look to graphics as a major selling point, and as a result, (successful) handhelds tend to have longer lifespans than home consoles. What's far more important is price. People make a lot of ridiculous statements like "the PSP is a failure" when in fact it's just now beginning to get a respectable install base, and Sony could ride it for another 5 years. They need to get the price down to $99 and really support it, rather than dump it and bring in a poorly conceived successor.

So whenever it does come out, what will the PSP2 be like? It has to look like a worthwhile upgrade, so graphics somewhere approaching PS3/360 levels. Or, if they've been paying attention, they'll come up with a gimmick that can compete more directly with the DS, in which case graphical power only 5 or 10 times the PS2 might be enough. It won't have a hard drive, because hard drives are on the brink of obsolescence already. Since we're probably looking at 2010 or later, it'll instead have high-density flash memory, maybe 20-50+ gigs. And motion controls sound like a really bad idea in a handheld (how do you see what you're doing?) but it's not out of the question. Maybe it could even work as that gimmick I was talking about -- what about games that rotate the image on the screen to stay level as you rotate the handheld?

As for the storage medium? I'd say Mini BluRay is a pretty safe bet. These ones support 16.5 gigs per layer. 8 cm is a tiny bit large though, so for a handheld Sony might come up with a 6 cm variety.

IMO, medialess is the way to go for the next generation portable. By eliminating media, you can make a more compact, reliable unit with longer battery life. Keep the retailer in the loop by selling game cards for individual games.

Of course Sony is in a worse position to go medialess since their design philosophy doesn't revolve around using less memory.