Sep 29, 2010 08:16 GMT  ·  By

It is rumored that the PlayStation Portable 2, a new handheld device from Sony, is now in the hands of a big number of video game developers, with the hardware manufacturer and publisher hoping to persuade as many of them as possible to create video games for the new device that will support it on the official launch date.

A report in the Develop magazine talks about Sony aiming for a “significant launch window line-up” and says that a lot of developers, both those who only work on Sony hardware and independent ones, have mentioned the new console but have decline to offer any clear information on its specifications or on possible launch dates.

The most outspoken has been Shaun Himmerick from Netherrealm Studios, the developer working on the Mortal Kombat series, who said his team “has a PSP2 in the house and we’re looking at the engine, like what can it support. Always a big thing for us is the performance. We’re running at 60 fps, what can we do and do we have to build all the art assets over.”

It Sony really is pushing the PSP 2 hard it might mean that it is close to making an official announcement about the hardware platform, which has long been rumored to be in development.

Initial reports claimed that it could be a download only device as the PSP Go but the failure of that initiative and recent comments from top Sony executives suggest that the device would still have a physical disk drive.

Analyst Michael Pachter recently suggested that Sony should just copy what Nintendo is doing with the 3DS, the handheld that will deliver three dimensional gaming without the need for any specialized glasses.

The 3DS is set to arrive before the end of the year on the Japanese market with North America and Europe set to get it in late spring 2011.