Report: PSP2 ready to roll, has no optical drive

David Perry, developer of MDK and Earthwork Jim, says that Sony’s PSP2 is ready and that it lacks the useless UMD optical disk drive that makes the original so cumbersome. From his twitter:

I hear Sony FINALLY has the PSP 2. And thank goodness, they’ve removed the stupid battery-sucking UMD disc drive. I’m excited!

I just hope that it’s as sleek and small as this mockup, from Engadget.

Tweet [dperry at Twitter via Joystiq via Engadget]

1. [Inverse Square]

   Eh, that’d be a cool mockup except for the joysticks. The PSP2 will have two if the makers have any sense, but they’ll be _proper_ joysticks.

   And extending the psp thing, maybe this will be able to emulate the PS2… ohhh lordy.

2. [guy_jin]

   @1: I think you mean thumbsticks. “proper joysticks” would mean that it isn’t terribly portable.

3. [Trent Hawkins]

   no UMD drive? Great! where the hell am I going to store spare memory sticks now?

4. [muteboy]

   Does that mockup have shoulder buttons?

5. [RedShirt77]

   if this version has retro titles, shoulder buttons, and cheap games on cards then It only has one problem. It has a hinge, so it will break in a year.

   I will probably buy one anyways.

6. [Anonymous]

   EarthworK Jim…?

7. [Locobox]

   Looks more like a media player to me, seems a bit fragile too!!!