14 DAY TRIAL // Kaz Hirai, the boss of Sony's PlayStation division, recently talked about portable gaming, and took the chance to drop some heavy hints at the much rumored PSP2, the next generation handheld being developed by the Japanese company.
The current PSP, both in the PSP-3000 and the PSP Go variants, is getting really old, and seeing as how Nintendo will release its 3DS platform next year, Sony is banking big on a brand new handheld, the PSP2.
Speaking about mobile gaming in general, Hirai took the chance to hint at the control interface of his company's next device.
He went on to say that games made for portable devices could be played in a variety of ways and with multiple types of control interfaces.
"Depending on the game, there are ones where you can play perfectly well with a touch panel," he said, adding, "But you can definitely play immersive games better with physical buttons and pads.
"I think there could be games where you're able to use both in combination."
Hirai, while acknowledging the success that Apple and Android mobile phones have brought to mobile gaming, said that his own company aimed at a much more quality-oriented experience.
"The games being played on Android and Apple platforms are fundamentally different from the world of immersive games that Sony Computer Entertainment, and PlayStation, aims for."
The PSP2 has been intensely rumored in the last few weeks, with speculation saying that it will sport a rear touch panel, as well as regular "PlayStation" controls, but with two analog nubs.
A new report also said that while the PSP2's hardware was half as powerful as the PlayStation 3 home console, its graphics quality was almost the same as the high definition device, largely because it rendered the details on a smaller screen.
As of right now, Sony hasn't acknowledged its existence, but it is expected to announce it officially around the middle of next year, and launch it on the market at the end of 2011.