PSP2: Some Strange New Features

The home console market may be lumbering along like a grazing pack of apatosauruses, but the handheld market is red hot right now. The iPhone is blazing, anticipation for the Nintendo 3DS is sky-high, and now we have rumors galore about Sony’s PlayStation Portable 2–or the PSP 2, if you like.

The original PSP fared decently against the Nintendo DS, but still came in a distant second. It looks like Sony is gearing up again to take another shot at Nintendo–and this time, it’ll have to contend with Apple, too. It might even have to compete against its own brand: Not much is known about the “PlayStation Phone,” except that Sony hopes its own answer to the smartphone will take a bite out of Apple (get it?). Will the PSP 2 compete directly with the Nintendo 3DS as a gaming machine, while the PlayStation Phone goes up against Apple? Or will the PSP 2 connect to a cellular network as well? And is it a good idea for Sony to split its resources?

What we do know about the PSP 2 mostly comes from developers who’ve experimented with the hardware. Shaun Himmerick of Netherrealm Studios is supposedly working on a Mortal Kombat title for the handheld, and he describes the PSP 2 as being a “pretty powerful machine.” The screen is larger than the PSP’s by about an inch, and has an HD display. No big surprise. Reports also indicate that it has a touch pad. Also not a big surprise. And the touch pad is supposedly on the back of the system.

Wait, what?

Sources close to Kotaku say that Sony is leaving the PSP 2′s rear-end touch pad to the “discretion of the developers.” That might not be the best idea. Not because developers lack the imagination to do cool stuff with a touch pad, but because it’s just good sense to demonstrate ways in which a crazy new idea might be utilized. Innovation is always necessary in the games industry, especially when every Tom, Dick, and Nobody is implementing touchscreen technology–but an innovative idea is useless unless it’s functional. Installing a toilet on the ceiling is unusual, but not practical.

If Sony can demonstrate how its backside screen is supposed to work, we’d have more incentive to celebrate the coming of the PSP 2. As things are, it’s hard to imagine how such an addition is supposed to be useful, especially considering how games already work in harmony with the touchscreen technology on the DS, 3DS, and iPhone/iPad. If Sony doesn’t find ways to encourage developers how to effectively use the touchpad, the PSP 2 will just end up being a pretty-looking handheld. That’s not a bad thing on its own, but PSP games already look very pretty next to the slower, blockier graphics on the Nintendo DS. This generation of handhelds demonstrated very clearly that people prefer neat new ideas and affordable technology over good-looking games.

Accompanying image is a mock-up, and not an actual prototype of the PSP 2. Source: Kotaku

About Nadia Oxford
Nadia is a freelance writer living in Toronto. She played her first game at four, decided games were awesome, and has maintained her position since. She writes for 1UP.com, Slide to Play, GamePro and other publications, and is About.com’s Guide to the Nintendo DS.

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