According to Smack Down Productions' CEO Laurent Benadiba, Sony needs a better business model for its handheld multimedia device, the PlayStation Portable.

Sony's PlayStation Portable is probably the least heralded game console currently in the industry, however, surprisingly enough, outsold the PlayStation 3 in December 2008, selling 1,020,000 units compared to the PS3's 726,000 units. But despite its numbers, critics believe that the PSP system is on the way out, offering lackluster titles and seemingly no support from Sony.

To Sony's defense, it's hard to conjure up names of AAA PSP titles equally as impressive as New Super Mario Bros on the Nintendo DS or the PlayStation 3's LittleBigPlanet. In fact, Sony just enabled the PSP the ability to load up the PlayStation Store (previously limited to the PlayStation 3), providing access to demos, videos, themes and even PlayStation One classics to purchase and download. But with the device now available for over two years and currently in its third incarnation (PSP-3000), is it a little too late to ramp up support? Did Sony not put enough "push" into its PSP platform to begin with?

"I think that's what's happened with the PSP - Sony released the product, but they never put enough of a push behind it," Smack Down Productions CEO Laurent Benadiba told Gamesindustry.biz, referring to European support. "Games, ads, better shelf placement - trying to make an effort. I think it was also released at a time when they were still very focused on the PlayStation 3, trying to get it out of the door, that they slightly forgot about it."

Benadiba said that he worked with the PSP for two years, believing that the device had potential during that time. Smack Down Productions was also in talks with a publisher to create a "top five" IP racing title for the platform, however, according to Benadiba, there was no "viable business model to even allow the project to break even." To this day, he believes that the PSP platform still has potential, but somehow it's become a self-confidence issue. "If you trust yourself, maybe others will trust you. If you don't trust yourself, nobody will trust you."

He goes on to brag about the platform's hardware, comparing it to Apple's iPhone, but said Sony expected the device to sell itself. Indeed, Sony originally promoted the PSP as a multimedia device, hoping consumers would catch on to its music and video playback features. UMD movies filled retail racks from one end to another, however the consumer base never caught on to the new format, thus most retail stores discontinued the movies. The PSP also boasts the ability to surf the Internet, however websites had to fit a certain format, and many times, the device's limited memory made surfing more of a chore than a benefit.

Benadiba also compared the PSP to Nintendo's DS, and how the latter unit soars in sales figures, pointing to the numerous AAA titles currently available on Nintendo's portable gaming platform. Therein, he believes, lays the problem: that the PSP lacks platform-specific ground-breaking games. He also blames piracy, and that it discourages publishers from making PSP games.

Despite the lackluster support from both fronts (Sony, publishers), rumors of a PSP 2 device (or PSP-4000) keep resurfacing, reporting that an improved successor will debut this year. The rumors claim that the new revision will feature a widescreen multi-touch interface similar to the iPhone for both in-game control and menu navigation. Naturally, Sony denies everything (like an arm of the government), or at least, so says a source close to Sony as reported by MCV, calling the rumors "nonsense."

“Clearly, being a quiet time of year, many, what we thought to be credible websites, are making up stories about PSP2, and how it allows you to teleport across the globe, travel through time, and will be powered by the horns of baby rhinoceroses," said the unspecified source. “Hopefully, you can sense a mild tone of sarcasm, which should hopefully indicate how ‘on the money’ IGN are. Needless to say, we don't comment on rumour or speculation, but this is nonsense.”

Recently Sony announced four new (if not blinding) "Carnival" colors, showing that the company is still trying to resurrect the platform's market. While the PlayStation Portable is not completely dead, December's numbers show that there is still interest in the device. Perhaps Sony can reinvigorate the software sales with AAA console-specific titles as well as re-invest promotional campaigns that show the device as a comparable Internet, video and audio device.