After an E3 event in which Nintendo literally stole the show with its new 3DS handheld hardware, Sony may be re-thinking its plans to reveal a second generation PSP 2 device any time soon. Rumors about that the company held back an announcement after it caught wind of Nintendo’s cool new gadget, possibly to allow time for a re-design of the hardware. Leaks from software developers leading up to E3 suggested that the PSP 2 would come equipped with a touch screen and more powerful hardware, but no additional innovations like motion sensors or 3D display.

Since the 3DS contains both forward looking cameras for face recognition, a suite of motion sensing gyroscopes and a vibrant 3D stereoscopic display, Sony may be feeling outclassed by the new Nintendo hardware. The company’s PR department isn’t treating it as a defeat just yet, however. Sony Computer Entertainment CEO Kaz Hirai told journalists at E3 that the company doesn’t consider 3D to be a practical technology for the handheld market, saying:

“Based off internally conducted research, naked-eye 3D for portables does not have high precision, and at present there are limitations.”

However, independent impressions gathered from hand-on time with the 3DS prototype at E3 suggest that Sony is mistaken. The naked eye 3D effect does work convincingly well, and presents some considerable new opportunities for innovation and graphical fidelity in a small, portable package. While it’s true that minimal deviations from direct line of sight do interrupt the stereoscopic effect, most players look directly at their handhelds anyway.

It seems bizarre for Sony to tout its own 3D plans for the living room, while in the same breath denigrating Nintendo’s innovation in the handheld market. Clearly, if Sony wants to project a coherent future vision to the consumer, incorporating 3D into both its handheld and console lineup makes sense. We may yet see the company go back to the drawing board and come back later with its own 3D-capable PSP.

Source:http://www.pspworld.com/sony-psp/news/does-sony-need-to-come-back-with-3d-psp-012544.php

Our very own Twiggy was debating the future of the PlayStation Portable this morning, suggesting that Sony need to get their act together with regards to the PSP… And fast. Alas, an interview with SCEA’s John Koller seems to suggest disagreement on the manufacturer’s part – noting that Sony are still on a 10-year life-cycle with the PSP.

Speaking with Joystiq, Koller noted that the handheld sector is important for the PlayStation business, and will remain for as long as its parent exists.

“There is absolutely a 10-year life cycle for PSP, and probably more,” he said [thanks a ton, VG247]. “We’ve talked about ‘We’ll be in the PSP business as long as we’re in the PlayStation business’, because we absolutely believe in handheld.

“Unequivocally we think it’s a fantastic place to be, and I can tell you that I think my group particularly – the hardware group – fully believes in handheld because there’s different demographics that you can touch and bring in to the PlayStation world through it that you may not always be able to do through other avenues.

“You can touch older females, older males, younger children, you can kind of piece all of these different target audiences and demographics under a handheld umbrella much more seamlessly.

“I think it’s a long term opportunity and we will stay in it. Now in terms of where we are in the current life cycle, I think we’re just kind of hitting our stride. We just announced that we hit 60 million units worldwide, which is a very good number for PSP, we’ve got a lot of good development support.

“We always say a platform will turn off when the development spicket turns off. We’ve got 70 games coming this year, we’ve got 70-80 coming next year – it’s just a very healthy platform.

“I don’t think we’d be spending investment to the tune that we are without full belief that this is a go-forward platform.”

This isn’t the first time Sony has practically shot-down the PSP2, but speculation from the development side continues to suggest that the PSP2 is in the wilderness. We’ll just have to wait and see if it ever makes an appearance. It looks less and less likely as time goes by, however.

Still, despite the majority of the games media overlooking it, there’s actually a ton of great content coming to the PSP this year, and we’ll have you covered for all of it.

Source:http://www.pushsquare.com/15766/sony-reiterate-the-10-year-life-cycle-of-the-psp/