PSP World

Sony Preparing New PSP With Bigger, Touch Screen?

Could yet more PSP hardware be on the way sooner than we think? Some intriguing new PSP game listings with the ESRB suggest that a touch screen feature might be added to the handheld in the near future. Some of the games appear to enable more than one player to manipulate action on the screen at once, which might require additional screen real estate to accomodate all of those fingers.

For example, a PSP Minis game called One Two Boat Racing might use finger input to control the action. The ESRB entry describes it as "a racing game in which players paddle a boat to reach a finish line. Players must evade obstacles as they alternate between paddling left and right to gain maximum speed." Of course, this could be done with traditional controls, but something about the description tells us there is more going on here than just mashing buttons. We can't think of a worse gameplay idea than asking players to press the left and right trigger buttons as quickly as possible. But including touch controls would add an element of challenge to an otherwise boring exercise.

Another game called Homerun Hitters is listed as "a sports game in which players can compete in games of tabletop baseball. Players pitch and hit the ball, causing it to land in various openings on the board that represent singles, home runs, and outs." If you've ever seen a game of tabletop baseball, you'll understand why touch screen input would be perfect for such a game. There needs to be a way to measure the velocity of the swipe to calculate where the ball will end up. Yes this could be done with the analog nub but it would be awkward and imprecise.

A tabletop baseball game.

Finally, a title called Finger Connection is "is a multiplayer party game in which players spin a wheel that tells them to place their fingers on colored spots on a board. Players lose if their hands become too twisted to place their finger on the chosen spot."

Including a touch screen in the next PSP model would be a natural progression for Sony, since competitors Apple and Nintendo already offer touch screens on their handheld devices. However, the release of a current generation PSP capable of registering touch input would be a surprise, as this technology is expected to make it into an eventual successor still several years out.

We await Sony's keynote at E3 this year for more news regarding a possible touch-enabled PSP.