14 DAY TRIAL // Rumors have been swirling for quite some time in the videogaming world about Sony's plans to abandon the PlayStation Portable for a newer, better gaming handheld. Some reported having seen the machine; some said that the Japanese company needed to make a bold move in order to counter the domination of the Nintendo DS (which is also getting an updated version in the camera wielding DSi).
Now, Sony is adding some fuel to the fire of speculation by posting an add searching for an “evaluator/assessor” who will be responsible for testing a “new game machine.” The add is at the moment only featured on the Japanese page of Sony Computer Entertainment.
The add says that the new product on which testing is needed is “part of the PlayStation or PSP series and their peripherals.” It also seems very probable that the candidates selected for the job will be residents of Japan. Their responsibilities will include working with an “advisory staff that will play PlayStation series software on this new machine and check its functionality,” while also having to “test game machines not yet released or new functionality of PS3 peripherals before they are released.”
Is this the PSP-4000 or the PSP 2? It's not clear and we'll probably not know more about the add until Sony releases official information. Last fall, the PlayStation Portable received its latest updated, in the form of the PSP-3000, which added a better battery, interlaced video output and a microphone that made the handheld usable as a Skype terminal. Shortly after release, the new hardware platform was revealed to have issues related to video quality, with horizontal lines sometimes clearly visible on the screen.
Given that hardware revisions for the PSP usually arrived at intervals of about one year, we'll probably see an announcement from Sony on the PSP-4000 or PlayStation Portable 2 sometime during summer, or maybe at E3.