PSP Around For Seven More Years In A "Continued Lifecycle"

See Full Image

Anybody who dismissed the PSP when it was lagging far behind the DS in early 2007 made a mistake. That much is very clear nowadays, what with sales of Sony's handheld way up, the new PSP-2000 model (slimmer, lighter!) is a wicked hot item. Of course, it helps that March has seen the two biggest releases to date with the likes of God of War: Chains of Olympus and Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII.

But it won't end there. Remember when Sony claimed the PSP would be a "10-year product?" Well, they really weren't kidding around, although that statement could probably use a little clarification. Enter IGN's interview with the PSP's Senior Marketing Manager, John Koller, right in time for the handheld's three-year anniversary. Here's what he had to say about the "continued lifecycle" of the PSP:

“We’ve talked about the PSP being a 10 year product, but a 10 year product in the continued… how can I put this… in the continued lifecycle, so we obviously had the 1000, we have the 2000, so the PSP as it was first launched in March 2005 isn’t going to the be the PSP that it ends up as in 10 years, but it will still be a very strong portable gaming device that is centered in gaming and has a lot of multi-functional features.”

Essentially, he said we can expect the PSP to be in full production for the next seven years or so. However, we'll see continually updated versions and models, much like we saw with the transition from the PSP-1000 to the PSP Slim (PSP-2000). And what with all the new features headed our way, it seems the future of the handheld is very, very bright. Now, maybe we could get some of those very pretty designer colors Japan has...?

3/27/2008 Ben Dutka