Next Gen UMD Less PSP Go! to Launch at E3: Rumor Check

There’s been a lot of speculation and rumors lately for the Sony’s Playstation Portable next generation model which is expected to ditch the Sony’s proprietary battery sucking UMD format, instead the new PSP Go will feature inbuilt 8GB or 16GB memory and games can be downloaded via PlayStation Network. The latest rumor for the media distribution is that the retail games will be available on high speed Memory Stick HG-Micro cards. They are all rumors for now and you have to wait for E3 where Sony will announce exact details about PSP Go.

Current Rumors for next gen PSP:

Name: PSP Go or PSP Flip or PSP Slide

• Storage: 8Gb or 16 GB
• Camera: 1.3 or 2 Megapixel
• Another Analog Hub
• Games: Digital Distribution via PlayStation Network and Games on HG Micro Cards
• UMD Will be gone forever for good, more battery life
• Design: There is a artistic impression of PSP Go doing rounds on the Internet, you can see the image above.

Our Take:

The new PSP is inevitable as iPod Touch/iPhone are also marketed as gaming devices and are much better in terms of hardware and software and pose serious threat to Sony’s PSP . What I believe is, the new PSP Go will be a similar to current model but without UMD means it will be slimmer. The current design and button placement of Sony is everyone’s favorite and plausibility of the PSP with slide out pad is very low. Also Sony cannot change the hardware and screen much as there will compatibility issues with previously released games on UMD(these will be made available as digital downloads). But they can for sure add inbuilt storage and Camera to the bundle and fans will love it.