PSP GO! - the New PSP Rumour

Yet another rumour regarding a PSP redesign has sprung up, with this one suggesting that a new, revamped model will be announced at E3 in time for an Autumn release.

1up claims it learned this from "sources directly involved with the new system". The new hardware will reportedly have no UMD drive and a sliding screen, as previous rumours have suggested. Because it will no longer support UMD, the system will be available with either 8GB or 16GB of internal flash memory. The controls will be largely the same, with no second analogue stick as some reports have suggested.

To further deal with the lack of UMD, Sony will apparently be making over 100 games available for download at launch, including the MIA Gran Turismo Mobile.

The handheld will supposedly not have a number after it (PSP2, PSP 4000) but will instead carry a suffix. PSP GO! has been floated as a strong possibility, although the names PSP Slide and PSP Flip have also been mentioned.

The bad news is that, while a September release for Japan and October/November US release have been mentioned, there's no word on Europe. That's not to say, of course, that there won't be more information at E3, should this prove to be true.

Rumours about a new PSP have seemingly been non-stop of late. Perhaps most notably, Acclaim's Dave Perry got into an altercation with Sony's director of hardware marketing, John Koller, after asserting UMD is a goner.

While the rumours remain just that, Sony's ramping up of downloads for the PSP (including on the retro side of things) seems to put a bit of weight behind them.

SPOnG has contacted Sony and is patiently waiting for the company to not comment on rumour and speculation.

Update! As predicted, Sony has told SPOnG. with regard to the PSP Go!, "We do not comment on rumour or speculation."

^{Source: 1up}