PSP 2 WILL FEATURE THREE SCREENS
Douglas Havermore, Games Correspondent
Feb 13 2008
Tokyo, Japan – Sony has done a remarkable job since entering the handheld market. There are those detractors who claim that because they sitting at about half the sales of the Nintendo DS, the PSP has to be considered a failure. Considering the history of handhelds that have gone up against Nintendo – Atari Lynx, Turbo Express, Game Gear, and others – Sony has performed extraordinarily well for their first crack at the marketplace.
The PSP sits at approximately 30% of the handheld market, at least in terms of hardware sales. Before their entry into the business, Nintendo held about 99%, literally. The only other platform in play was the Japan only Wonderswan.
Second place in a two player race though isn’t good enough, or at least not good enough for Sony. The Japanese mega corp is not known for taking losing lying down, and as such has an ace up their sleeve when it comes to the next iteration of the PSP.
Tentatively titled the PSP 2, the new machine will sport many features from the current iteration of the system. Built in Wi-Fi and video output will stay. Added will be touch screens. Yes screens.
In direct competition with the two screens of the DS, the PSP will feature three screens.
“Three screens allow us a great deal of versatility in respect to gameplay,” said the company. “It will also allow players to say play a game, watch a movie, and surf the internet all at the same time. This new version of the PSP will become the centre of people’s handheld gaming experience with its ability to do everything you could possibly want to do.”
Though only in prototype form as yet, the new machine will combat Nintendo on its own turf, seeking to dethrone them and take over the handheld market for good.
The new version of the system will also feature a slot for a more compact memory stick, and mini-UMD cartridges. The system is scheduled to ship sometime in 2010.
