Looks Like The Ol' PSP Is About To Enjoy Its Last Holiday.

Except they're not really rumours anymore are they? All the information we appear to be hearing from "sources" seem to converge at a similar point - that the PSP2 is coming next holiday, is a beast in terms of power and will include a touch-screen on the reverse of the unit.

Kotaku's the latest to back-up the rumours, suggesting Sony held a private meeting around the time of the Tokyo Game Show to flaunt their new device.

Apparently that weird touchpad on the reverse of the unit is real, and is described as looking like "a big mouse trackpad". While that sounds horribly ugly, don't worry too much, if Sony do nothing else, they make their devices look pretty. What's more concerning to us is that apparently Sony hasn't specified a particular use for the touch pad, instead leaving it up to developers to do something nifty with it.

In addition, the PSP2's screen will be larger than the current PSP's by about an inch, and is apparently much sharper. In fact, it's so sharp that Sony are currently touting it as "HD". The larger screen will probably mean the device itself will be bigger than the current PSP, which is a concern to our personal preferences but won't bother a post-iPad climate.

Kotaku further that the hardware is not yet finalized. According to their sources Sony are having trouble balancing battery life, power and heat — though it's assumed that the issues are not far from being corrected. Sony aims to have the hardware locked down in time for a public announcement.

The PSP2 is set to launch in fall 2011 apparently, whether that will be worldwide or just Japan we'll have to wait and see. Expect an official announcement early next year, though.