PSP Rumors Are A GO!

Following up from the multitude of rumors pinging about like pinballs 1UP have “confirmed” certain rumors via an unnamed source. They blurted out a multitude of details on their ‘at 1UP’ podcast which was quickly taken down, edited and replaced, PSP free. They have since then posted the full details regarding the handheld device, all strictly labeled as rumors.

It’s all interesting stuff that I will handily present in portable bite-sized chunks.

- New hardware named as the PSP GO!

- No UMD drive

- The Device will have a sliding screen that conceals the game controls when closed

- Two SKUs including either an 8 or 16GB solid state drive

- The PSP Store is set to have over a hundred ‘classic’ and new PSP games at launch ready for download

- Gran Turismo Portable is said to be one of the launch titles along side Tekken 6 and Soul Calibur: Broken Destiny

- No second analogue nub

- Speculation of a touch screen and camera borrowing from Sony’s Mylo 2

- Set for September release in Japan and November in the U.S.

- Expect the grand unveiling at E3 2009

Phew.  I’ll just give you a minute to process all that…..  Ok, done? Right, well it looks like bad news for all the portable FPS fans out there but great news for late adopters to Sony’s handheld side of things.  No word on what we’re supposed to do with those old UMDs though and if Sony don’t come up with some kind of proof of purchase download coupon thingy I foresee an angry mob gathering outside Sony HQ, pitch forks and all.

Better have that contingency plan ready Sony.