Sony says 'no' to the PSP2

We took a look at the likely rumour that Sony has gone into partnership with English IC manufacturer, Imagination, to provide a graphics processor for a successor to the PSP a couple of weeks back, but Sony's just gone on the record to say it has no plans for a PSP2 in the near future.

SCEE president David Reeves told trade publication MVC:

"No, there are currently no plans for a PSP2. I go to Tokyo quite a lot and no one has referred to it – I think they have their hands full at the moment."

He took the opportunity to assure gamers that Sony is concentrating on improving the current system with hardware upgrades.

"We just launched the PSP 3000 so we are still focused on this generation of the platform. The PSP is as successful in numbers as PS2 – it tracks its numbers in a cumulative basis."

Although the maths to back up the comparison between PS2 and PSP sales figures weren't presented (torture numbers long enough and they'll confess to anything is the philosophy there, we think) the PSP 3000 did indeed spur a renewed interest in Sony's handheld console. But as Reeves points out, hardware without software is no use to anyone:

"Its weakness, however, is its software. And that's because developers, when it comes to placing their bets, have to choose PS3 and 360, then Wii, then DS, maybe even PS2 before PSP. It's the same at our internal studios, where the focus has been on PS3. So PSP games will come – they just take a while longer."

So there we have it – it's the game developers that have held back the PSP in recent months and years. This also sounds a lot like Sony attempting to avoid the Osborne Effect, which suggests that the announcement of a new, improved product causes people to hold off on their current purchases.

The real news? Sony agrees that the PSP needs games badly. But that's hardly news, now is it?