RUMOR: SONY STOPS PSP GO PRODUCTION

A Japanese blogger working for an official Sony retail partner has reported intel from the PlayStation maker that production of its PSP Go handheld has been halted. Moreover, the Sony Style Japan online store no longer lists the portable and searching for it provides no results. You can only access its product page via a direct link, but even that shows it as out of stock. So, what has Sony got to say on the matter to allay fears that its troubled console lives on? Well, demand for "current generation PSPs" will continue to be met, apparently, and the NGP is going be really, really awesome when it launches at the end of the year. Hey, if there's zero demand for the PSP Go and you produce zero PSP Go units, then you are technically matching supply to demand.

LEAKED: SONY PSP2

There are rumors that the Sony PlayStation Portable 2 is a very real product, but now the first images of a prototype device have been leaked to the internet.

Earlier reports pegged the PSP2 as having a touch panel on the back of the device, Xbox-360-caliber graphics, no UMD and twin thumbsticks (the single analog thumbstick on the first PSP has been a common source of criticism on a portable console that seems tailor-made for 3D games).

The new leaked images seem to support most of these rumors. The PSP2 appears to be a PSP Go style slider. It still features Sony’s patented cross, square, circle, triangle button confguration, but gains twin thumbsticks, a microphone and a front-facing camera. On the back is the rear trackpad as well as a higher resolution backwards facing camera.

It looks like a heck of a prototype, but the images come with one big caveat: you’ll probably never see this PSP2, since Sony has allegedly already decided on going with a different design that eschews the PSP Go’s slider approach to compactability.

RUMOR: PSP GO PRICE DROP THIS WEEKEND

Rumor has it the PSP Go will drop in price to $199.95.  This is according to Joystiq who's source who is an employee at an Army & Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES)-based store.  Other store contacts could not or would not confirm or deny the rumor, but it is believed to be credible, especially with Sony being quiet on the matter.  [Geek]