Kazuo Hirai, Sony’s gaming chief spilled some beans about the next version of Sony’s Playstation Portable while chatting with The New York Times. He gave some indications that support the rumors of a Playstation Phone hitting the stores by April. Also when asked about competitors like iOS and Android, he said that they are targeting a completely different player segment and that they are not worried.
The mobile gaming scene is changing fast with the Unreal Development Kit for iOS that came out in September and the first Unreal Engine game, Infinity Blade, moving things in iPhone’s favor. There are other pretty engaging games like ID Software’s Rage HD, and the downloadable Angry Bird (more than 50 million hits).
Hirai spoke to times about the difficulty that touchscreen poses to gaming. Some games can be played well but impressive games are definitely better with pads and buttons. He also spoke about the possibility of games using a combination of both, touchscreen and buttons. This gives credlbility to the leaked photos of Playstation Phone. Sources are speculating the release of this kind of a Sony Ericsson phone between February and April, 2011. Also there is a chance that the device may be rolled out at the World Mobile Congress in February.
There is a feeling that the phone may run on Android and may have device-specific games and also a network of Playstation stores. Hirai also feels that the strength of the Playstation brand has to be kept intact. He said, “We have to come up with a message that users will understand. It would have to be a product that keeps the PlayStation’s strengths intact.”
That the new PSP stands for Playstation Portable or Playstation Phone, only time will tell, but if the new Playstation is an integrated smartphone device then it will be the hottest thing in this space.