PSP World

PSP 2 Rumor: No UMD Drive?

A fairly credible source has leaked that Sony is already hard at work developing the PSP2, and has claimed that the new handheld will have no optical disk drive of any kind. Lead developer at Acclaim announced on Twitter: “I hear Sony FINALLY has the PSP 2. And thank goodness, they've removed the stupid battery-sucking UMD disc drive. I'm excited!" Besides raising the temperature or PSP fans, Perry has also confirmed the status of Twitter as the new ground zero for corporate leaks. Earlier last month, other game publications reported that the PSP 2 would come equipped with a hard drive, multi-touch screen and built in GPS. We also reported that Sony is in negotiations with a British hardware manufacturer to design the graphics chip for the new PSP.

As more and more third party developers are apprised of the new hardware and given development kits, we expect that Sony will have a difficult time keeping a lid on this new hardware.

If the decision to drop the UMD drive turns out to be true, it will free Sony from the problems associated with spinning disks: slow load times and short battery life. However, it will also present new problems for the company. How would someone that doesn’t have a broadband connection purchase a 700 MB game and install it on the device? In Japan, they have wireless stations in some places that gamers can use to grab new titles, but this system is far from having caught on in the West. On the other hand, the Apple iPhone has no optical drive, and users seem to have no difficulty downloading and using programs from the App Store. Perhaps by the time the PSP 2 is ready in 2010 or 2011, the idea of downloading a 700 MB file wirelessly will seem as natural as buying a packaged game from the shop.