E3 2017: 7 Reasons Sony Must Release A New PSP

7. Mobile Gaming Has Changed The Marketplace

There's no denying mobile gaming has changed. Phone handsets now have specifications that easy outclass most portable games systems and begin to rival PCs (albeit at a very basic level).

Aside from the ubiquitous Candy Crushes and Mobile Strikes, (which have fairly simplified graphics), gaming on mobile devices has seen some quite graphically intensive titles climb the charts. Injustice 2, Bullet Force, Micro Machines and many other racing titles besides have demonstrated HD, console-like graphical performance.

There's no stopping Sony from producing a new PSP featuring a touch screen and allows for cross-platform play with an Xperia phone. Sony did try to bridge the gap with the Xperia Play: a hybrid of phone and PSP, released in 2011. But it didn't really catch on, partly due to the constant rate of development of the Android OS and the fact the PlayStation Vita was their focus at the time.

The latest smartphone model from Sony, the Xperia X, has eschewed the slide-out PlayStation pad despite being massively powerful. A new PSP could unify the way mobile and PSP-exclusive games are sold.