Rumor: PSP2 will have touch controls on its back.

[DieH@rd]

Eurogamer is reporting that:

"Sony's current vision for the next-generation PlayStation Portable is roughly the same size as the PSP-3000 and has touch controls on the reverse of the unit.

According to three separate development sources who have seen and used the new PSP, the screen is rich and detailed but the headline feature is the way games are controlled - by a touch-sensitive area behind the screen."
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2010-08-19-new-psp-has-touch-sensitive-controls

So they still dont want to put dual analog sticks on it, but this will potentialy be a nice replacement.

 

[tongue_of_colicab]

I wonder of that will work. If I look at how I hold a handheld I don't have any fingers in a position to easily move them on the back. But I guess sony would be smart enough to first test it out. I wonder if they will also use it for movement or only buttons?

 

[patsu]

Eh... is the screen translucent ?

 

[rpg.314]

That will work nicely for me

 

[patsu]

...or the front side is reserved for the parallax barrier screen whereas the rear for touch screen ?

 

[Rolf N]

I wonder of that will work. If I look at how I hold a handheld I don't have any fingers in a position to easily move them on the back. But I guess sony would be smart enough to first test it out. I wonder if they will also use it for movement or only buttons?

It's about time we moved the middle finger back into the front row of consciousness, where it firmly belongs!
Go middle fingers! Rise up! Make us proud!

Eh... is the screen translucent ?

...or the front side is reserved for the parallax barrier screen whereas the rear for touch screen ?

Touch screen? I've read this as featuring a plain touch pad. You wouldn't need to see it.

 

[DieH@rd]

Touchpad.

 

[Crossbar]

I am flabbergasted by the disparate PSP rumours floating around.

If there really are two different PSPs in the works that will be released within the next year, it may really confuse the customers.

This latest rumour sounds like if Sony is cutting BC with previous PSP games, which is very unsony.

 

[Toaddio]

Touchpads behind a screen have been in prototype for a long time. It's (obviously) to keep the fingers from blocking a user's view of the screen.

 

[Prophecy2k]

If the supposed PSP2 has a touchpad behind the screen why does that exclude it from having the standard analogue nub(s) or 4-button layout same as PSPone?

Why are many assuming it won't also have buttons and traditional controls?

If all it has is a touch pad on the back it's still gonna need buttons right?

I just don't think we have enough info. from any of these rumours to be jumping to any conclusions

 

[patsu]

Touchpad.

No fun then.

 

[botjeter]

Eh... is the screen translucent ?

Maybe but i'd I'd imagine that's a Sony Alpha/NEX development at the mo. Very very very interesting technology if Sony have got it usable for products other than cameras. Them getting it in DSLR's at a high level is very big news in itself.

 

[obonicus]

These get crazier and crazier as time goes on.

 

[eastmen]

Are they still going to have Eddie Murphy's kid advertising for it cause Eddie Murphy was annoying 10 years ago , his kid isn't any better.

 

[patsu]

Maybe but i'd I'd imagine that's a Sony Alpha/NEX development at the mo. Very very very interesting technology if Sony have got it usable for products other than cameras. Them getting it in DSLR's at a high level is very big news in itself.

Nah... the Alpha/NEX technology is based on the Translucent Mirror tech for camera lens + view finder. For screen display, it's that transparent screen cellphone from Sony Ericsson.

 

[Lazy8s]

Motorola's already doing this on their Charm.

The track pad on the back is called the Backtrack. I've had a chance to preview the phone, and it's a solid feature though not directly touching the screen makes for an abstracted experience.

 

[DieH@rd]

Motorola's already doing this on their Charm.

The track pad on the back is called the Backtrack. I've had a chance to preview the phone, and it's a solid feature though not directly touching the screen makes for an abstracted experience.

I wonder if those 2 PSP2 touchpads will be precise enough for controlling lets say FPS game.

 

[patsu]

Can touch screen and trackpad do it ? The backtrack is a trackpad ?

It doesn't sound compelling to me at this point. Is it going to be as intuitive as a stick, the yardstick for hardcore gaming ? Got to see how they combine the whole thing together (e.g., with 3D display ?)

 

[Angelcurio]

The webpage ironstarmovement is showing what they claim is a leaked image of psp2. They mention that Sony is going to drop the name PSP on the device, and it's going to call it PlayView.

Here's a excerpt from the article:

I've been told that the prototype is currently running Android Froyo 2.2, but is said to launch with Honeycomb. The next Android update is said to be called Gingerbread, so this leads me to believe that since Honeycomb wont be released for quite some time, that the PSP2 aka PlayView is still quite a ways off from being released.

I rehosted the image in tinypic:
http://i52.tinypic.com/2m3g4et.jpg

Source: http://www.ironstarmovement.com/profiles/blogs/psp2-aka-playview-prototype?xg_source=activity

PS: I really don't know if that site is a trustful source of information.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

It's a convincing job if Photoshopped.