Sony to Release PSP-4000 in '09, PSP2 to Follow

Sony is rumored to be working on a true successor to the PSP with games already in development. Meanwhile, an upgraded PSP-4000 could release late next year.

After having released the PSP-3000 (which features a brighter, clearer screen) this year, Sony is once again preparing to refresh its portable hardware in late 2009, according to "publishing sources" cited by Eurogamer. Further details were not provided, but it seems likely that a PSP-4000 would feature a few minor improvements rather than a complete overhaul.

It should be noted that Nintendo's DSi is expected to hit North America at some point in the middle of 2009, so the timing might be right for Sony to counter the DSi with a new PSP model. Either way, Nintendo pretty much has a lock on the portable market. EEDAR analyst Jesse Divnich recently painted a fairly bleak picture for Sony's portable, saying, "I think we can all agree there is no hope for the PSP in North America at this point."

The Eurogamer report also claims that a true successor to the PSP is expected to follow the PSP-4000 and developers are already working on creating games for this PSP2. When asked by MCV recently about a PSP successor, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe president David Reeves stated that "there are currently no plans for a PSP2." He added, "I go to Tokyo quite a lot and no one has referred to it--I think they have their hands full at the moment. We just launched the PSP-3000 so we are still focused on this generation of the platform."