Less battery life for PSP-3000, says Sony

Sony US marketeer John Koller has said the PSP-3000 will use up energy faster than the existing handheld model.

"Battery life will decrease by a small amount; it's material, but it's about 20 minutes, maybe 30 minutes. And that's because there's a little bit of a larger power draw with the brighter screen," Koller told GameSpot.

"That's going to be offset because we're going to have the extended life battery that's still available for consumers, so we're still going to get the eight-to-ten hours out of that battery. The battery that comes with the PSP will now be right around three-and-a-half to four hours."

The PSP-3000, which was unveiled at the Leipzig Games Convention last month, has five-times more screen contrast to play with as well as a wider array of colours. Koller said the screen is central to the PSP experience.

The PSP-3000 has a built-in microphone too, something prompted by the success of SOCOM multiplayer games and Skype in the US.

Koller went on to say that while there may be some compatibility issues with the AC adapter, all other existing PSP accessories should work just fine. For three-and-a-half to four hours, cough.

Manufacture of the existing PSP will cease some time this month, we're told, with the first of the PSP-3000 bundles - Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters, silver PSP-3000 - due in Europe on 15th October.

Following this will be a black PSP-3000 and 4GB memory entertainment pack bundle in "early November". Both bundles cost EUR 199.