Every day there seems to be a new facet to the rumors about a new PSP model, but what is it that gamers really want in a PSP2? Here are ten features--actually 9 features to include and 1 feature to leave out--that would take the already pretty amazing PSP and make it even better. Some of these features are ones that just about every gamer can agree on, while others have both vocal supportors and vocal detractors. Once you've read what I have to say, you'll have a chance to voice your own opinion on the matter.
1. Dual Analog Sticks
Absolutely the most asked-for feature in a redesigned PSP is dual analog sticks. The controls of the PSP are already so similar to those of the full-size PlayStation line that one wonders why the PSP only included a single analog nub in the first place. Sure, you can argue that is would be hard to fit another stick on the small console, but plenty of modders have done it. The single biggest advantage of two analog nubs, aisde from more flexible control schemes for any games made after they were added, is that it would open up a huge library of PS1 and PS2 games for porting to the PSP. The PSP already has the power to run those games, and a second analog nub would simplify the porting process--no more re-mapping of controls.
2. Longer Battery Life
There's only so much juice you can squeeze out of a battery, it's true, and the PSP's bright screen and powerful innards demand a lot of juice. But the more I read about the history of handheld game consoles, the more I'm convinced that one of the main reasons that Nintendo won so big with the Game Boy was battery life. The Game Boy was far from the most capable handheld of its time, but it still beat out the others. So a longer-lasting battery would be a big boost for Sony's handheld. In fact, an extended battery already exists--it was discontinued from individual sale (and requires a new compartment cover because it's larger than the standard PSP battery), but it will be included in the Monster Hunter Portable 3 limited edition PSP.
3. Hard Drive
Most PSP models have only enough onboard memory to store the firmware, so all games have to be on UMDs or memory sticks. The PSPgo has 16GB of onboard memory, which fills up pretty fast if you have a lot of downloaded games, which means you also need a PC and Sony's Media Go software in order to have more than 16 GB worth of games for your PSPgo (and a Mac won't do, because Media Go is PC-only), or else you need a whole legion of memory stick micros. A built-in hard drive (or larger capactiy in the case of the PSPgo) would not only allow for more game downloads without a lot of memory sticks, but optional full or partial game installs would reduce or even eliminate the notoriously long load times that hobble many PSP games.
4. More Flexible Firmware
It's understandable why Sony would want to keep a tight control over the PSP's firmware--after all, piracy really is a big problem for the system and its games. On the other hand, a firmware that would allow user-created content to run would virtually eliminate the demand for homebrew PSP-hacking custom firmwares. Sony's taken a nice step with the PSP Minis line--it does make it easier for indy developers to make games for the PSP, but that doesn't help with non-game content. Wouldn't it be cool if you could have a to-do list on your PSP? Or an alarm clock? Or one of a zillion other things that homebrewers tinker with? The real piracy problem isn't with user-created content, it's with hack that run game ISOs.
5. More PSOne Games (and PS2 Games)
This isn't so much an improvement to the PSP itself, but a call for more content on the PlayStation Store. I think the PSOne Classics line was a brillaint move on Sony's part, but they need to ramp it up. The PSP is powerful enough to run original PlayStation games as well as PS2 games. Of course, porting those games is up to the original publishers, but Sony could certainly do quite bit to encourage publishers to port older games to PSP. Gamers want to be able to play their old games, and if the PS3 isn't going to return to backwards compatibilty, then the PSP is the ideal platform. Adding a second analog nub (see item 1) would make it that much easier to port games designed for the DualShock controller.
6. Built-In Camera(s)
The PSP did have a camera peripheral, but it was only released in a some territories. And there will be a new camera peripheral designed to work with games like Eye Pets PSP (but using one on the PSPgo will require an additional adapter), but if the demand for a camera is there, and it's going to be used in games, why not build it right in? A camera on the back would fill most camera functions admirably, but a second camera on the front would open up even more possibilities (like video chat using Skype, or does no one use Skype any more?). A while back, I wrote an article suggesting that a camera on the PSP wasn't really a great idea, but with enough games supporting it, it could actually be a great idea.
7. Touch Screen
This is probably the most debated feature rumored for the PSP2. Some argue that a touch screen would create all kinds of new possibilities for gameplay and allow the PSP to better compete with the iPhone and Nintedo DS. Others argue that a touch screen would simply encourage gimmicks and would thus lead to a decline in game quality rather than fostering innovation. Still others point out that if a touch screen was included in addition to traditional controls it could mean alternate ways of controlling the same game, allowing gamers to choose what worked best for their own style of play. Then, of course, is the question of where touch controls would go. On the main screen? Separate sensors?
8. Better Speakers
The PSP doesn't have the best speakers in the world, but then as a portable device, Sony probably assumes that most people will be using headphones. Still, because the PSP is marketed as a multimedia device, it would be nice to have some really good sound coming out of the little built-in speakers when you curl up in bed to watch a movie, for example. And, if they really expect everyone to use headphones, Sony ought to start including headphones in the box with the PSP, like they did when the PSP-1000 model first came out.
9. More Comfortable Shape
Though the lightness and smaller form factor of the PSP-2000/3000 over the PSP-1000 is generally a good thing, it can be harder on gamers with big hands. A long play session can lead to serious hand-cramp even for people with smaller hands. I don't think a massive re-design of the PSP's shape is really necessary, but a few things to make the PSP easier to hold--a little more bulge on the back at the sides, perhaps--and a few tweaks in control placement--moving the analog nub a little higher up, say--would really help make the device more comfortable for serious gaming.
10. No Phone
Just as dual analog sticks are the most-wanted feature for a new PSP, the least-wanted is a phone. Though every new PSP Phone rumor has a few people eager to run out and buy it, most gamers would like to keep their phone and their game systems separate. Perhaps they have flashbacks to Nokia's N-Gage phone/gaming handheld and the weird way you had to hold it to talk on the phone (which made you look really stupid). The N-Gage wasn't very good either as a game system or as a phone, and it's perhaps that fear that keeps PSP gamers wanting to keep the devices separate.
