
Sony have a real problem when it comes to keeping things under wraps at their games console division. The demand is there of course: this stuff wouldn’t be leaked if no one wanted to see it. But even a questionable render of a product with a relevant logo design is considered ‘news’ for the kinds of blogs and websites that Sony fans frequent. It’s honestly rather ridiculous, and I suspect Sony feels the same way. With thousands and millions of devices being manufactured at factories throughout Asia, it seems inevitable that the existence of devices will be exposed far ahead of time, especially with western websites willing to pay quite generously for such photos. In May 2009, the internet was abuzz with the news that a slimline PS3 was on the way. Sony publicly denied that they were planning such a model, but the official boxart and plastic shell said otherwise. The PSP Go, a media-less version of the Playstation Portable, was ‘announced’ in similar fashion.
But Sony still can’t control the leaks, and the latest one comes from photos carrying the PSP logo on them. Gaming aficionados have been expecting a second Playstation Portable for several years, after the original lost market momentum and Nintendo announced its upcoming 3DS console. But the rise of the iPhone (and more recently, Android) has been a game changer for the portable gaming market, and Sony cannot afford to ignore the appeal of convergence. The logical step has seemed for some time to be a Playstation Phone, especially as Sony are in the unique position of having big brands in both phones and gaming.
It has now been about half a year since the first indicative proof of the Playstation Phone leaked out. They’ll finally announce it at the end of January. However, the leaks could even be a sign that the departments - gaming and mobile - simply aren’t getting on like they’re supposed to. Sporting the custom logo design of the Sony Ericsson ‘Xperia’ range, it’s supposedly been discovered that it won’t interface with the existing PSP go store. Instead, it will be a device for playing legacy Playstation One games. All that waiting doesn’t seem like it came with much of a reward, hmm?.
Tags: games consoles, leaks, PSP phone, technology