The PlayStation Portable's Successor Is Said To Have Visuals In-Line With The PS3.

The site furthers that Sony's been telling licensees that the system is "as powerful as the PlayStation 3". It adds fuel to industry whispers we've already heard, namely that the handheld would exceed the XBOX 360 in terms of graphical output. It's unlikely the system will be on par with the PS3 in terms of brute performance, but running on a smaller screen will certainly support the illusion.

According to the website, Sony is “specifically requesting richer, more in-depth content to differentiate its device from app-centric Apple and Android devices". Sounds smart to us — we've never bought into the current "iOS is the future of handheld gaming" mentality. Apparently Sony will support the device with both physical and download media, though "smaller games and apps" will be available from the PSN only.

Yesterday we reported a sequence of sources all claiming that the PSP2 would be announced in Tokyo on January 27th. MCV adds that Sony intends to release more information in February at GDC, and obviously at E3.

We're seriously hyped to learn more about the PSP2. Sony may just have solved its Western support issue by bringing the device's power in-line with the home systems. Think about it — if the device can share assets and resources with home console games, then it's easily within porting range. What's more, it guarantees quality ports of PSP staples such as FIFA, Pro Evolution Soccer and Madden. When it comes to "bigger releases", it's not difficult to imagine an extremely competent version of Call Of Duty on the system. Which would be huge.

Publishers will need to be clever about the methods they use to streamline their titles (and make them suitable to portable gameplay), but that's an easy solution when the assets and engine is already in place.

[Pic PSM3 Magazine Mockup]