There was a lot of excitement over a "leak" from Sony UK Managing Director Ray Maguire, who mentioned that the PSP may be going small. During Sony’s PSP in Education meeting, he said that the PSP was the "first iteration" of the unit and as it was with other Sony game machines, a "smaller, lighter" version would be coming.
When GameIndustry.biz heard about the potential of a remodeled PSP, Maguire was tracked down and asked what he meant. Maguire responded that the screen size of the PSP would not change, although cosmetic changes or other hardware differences might be made.
But before anyone could say "spin control," the chief spin doctor at Sony, David Karraker, immediately dismissed Maguire’s comments and told Gamasutra that Maguire meant something else by his comments. Karraker remarked, "Ray’s comments regarding decreasing the size of the PSP, were made in the general context that almost all consumer electronics shrink over time as advances are made in the technology to shrink the components used in manufacture."
But one has to ask; if Maguire meant that, why didn’t he say it in the first place? But we digress.
Regardless of what Maguire said or didn’t say, this isn’t the first time that he has gotten himself into trouble over his words. Last year, when the price point of the PS3 was announced in the UK, he stated, "I think actually, it’s probably a cheap machine… the point is that most people don’t realize what they’re actually getting with PlayStation 3…there’s a big story to tell people and a lot of information to be taken on board." It was hard to for many people to understand how $900 for a PS3 could be considered cheap.
So is there or isn’t there a new PSP design coming? Let’s put it this way. Sony denied that it was having problems with developing the PS3. (It did.) It denied that the PS3 launch would be delayed. (It was.) It said that it did not have manufacturing problems in getting enough units out. (There was.) It said that there were no unsold PS3s on store shelves. (There were.) Sony said that the PS3 really wasn’t that expensive. (It is.)
If Sony is denying a new PSP design, and based on its record for being upfront with the public, odds are that it is coming.
