For the umpteenth time this month, there are more rumors surrounding a new iteration of the PSP. This time, Eurogamer has a source close to Sony, and is stating that the PSP-4000, not the PSP 2, is due out later this year. It is to feature several of the rumored features that have popped up in the past few weeks, namely the sliding screen and lack of UMD. In fact, there is very to differentiate this rumor from the others, save for a few small details.

The source seems to have been specific when mentioning the fact that it's the PlayStation Portable 3000, not the PSP2. This would mean a number of things - mainly that it has essentially the same hardware. They also went on to explain that the screen, when down, would still allow for a small number of titles to be played on the system, but it appears only ones that don't need the buttons would apply. The sliding screen would be essentially the same as the current version's, save for, of course, the fact that it slides.

I'm not sure how necessary it is to modify the original PSP with a sliding screen or lack of UMD drive. If Sony really wants to push the thing forward it might be time to start anew, because they're making even Nintendo's incremental upgrades seem massive in comparison.

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