Successor to Sony's PlayStation Portable machine coming soon

The popularity of smart phones including the iPhone is a potential threat to game machine makers as more people play games, watch video, send e-mail and chat on cell phones. People are also using other portable devices such as Apple's iPod and iPad to play games.

Sony's new machine, successor to its PlayStation Portable machine known as NGP for short, comes packed with motion sensor and GPS location technology so that gamers can tilt and sway the machine to play golf games, kill monsters and experience other "virtual realities," said Kazuo Hirai, who heads Sony Corp.'s gaming section.

It has a touch panel in the front and touch pads in the back to allow players to tap on the machine to move images, in addition to the usual buttons and switches.

Also provided is a third-generation wireless connection plus the already available WiFi, allowing for more social networking and downloads. Its five-inch screen is OLED — a different technology from liquid-crystal display — for good color and image quality about four times better than the current PSP.