For nearly four years, we suffered through rumours of what the PSP's true successor would actually look like. Now that it's finally here, let's revisit those rumours, see how right we (and others) were!
First things first: In October of last year, we heard a bunch of stuff from developers and other closely-linked sources. That stuff included:
- The PSP2 has dual analog sticks
- It features a touch-sensitive panel on the rear of the device (something Eurogamer was also told)
- It has a larger screen than the current PSP
- That the new handheld would not ship with a UMD drive
- And that in many ways its power rivalled that of current home consoles.
Today, we find that the PSP2 has dual analog sticks, it has a touch-sensitive panel on the rear of the device, it has a larger screen (5 inches vs the PSP's 4.2 and the PSPgo's 3.8) and in some cases (albeit with demos) looked almost as good as a PS3.
Earlier this week, Japanese business publication Nikkei claimed the following:
- The PSP2 has a fancy big OLED screen
- It features 3G connectivity, allowing it to connect to cellular data networks
Both of those? Right on the money.
In November 2010, gaming site VG247 posted pictures of what it claimed were of a PSP2 handheld. While the handheld shown off today looks nothing like the device in those pictures, bear in mind we were also told that there were two models of the PSP2 in development, one with a sliding case, one without. It seems the "without" model won the day, but this could easily have been a shot of the unsuccessful "sliding" version.
A little more recent, earlier this week the Japanese internet got all excited about a supposed "leaked" image of the PSP2. Turns out it was a complete fake!
Finally, in 2007 we were told a ton of stuff by a source close to Sony. While they were right about the touch-screen input and screen improvements, claiming it was due for a reveal at E3 2007 was waaaaaaaaaaay off.