Gaming Signal: PSP2 to drop UMD?

PSP2 to drop UMD?

The net is abuzz with rumors that the next generation handheld from Sony will eschew the UMD media and in fact come without any external media at all. Instead, all content will be purchased online from the Sony HUB and stored on the the build-in drive (and further speculation here has the internal space being either a 4GB or 8GB of flash memory or an internal 20GB hard disk.) No specs are of course available and this is likely all speculation, but it would certainly demonstrate the next move towards a robust digital distribution mechanism for games.

Contrasting this is another rumor that Sony will create UMD-RW's and drives - and build this into the PSP2. I'd love to see this, but it would be in extreme contrast to the closed-system approach Sony has today with the PSP and UMDs. Being able to create your own UMDs would allow homebrew on the PSP and Sony has certainly not been interested in that.

Personally, I don't see either one of these rumors holding water in the long run. If there's a PSP2 it will have to come with some significantly new hardware too - especially faster processor and improved graphics engine. I also doubt most folks are ready to move entirely to digital distribution instead of buying games in the store.

Further credit to the 1up podcast for its tip on a UMD-less PSP potentially in the works.