Rumor: New PSP uses touch-sensitive controls on the back

Sony fans have been anxiously awaiting word on the company's next handheld -- one which might serve as an answer back to the Nintendo 3DS. Earlier today, Eurogamer cited a number of unnamed sources who gave a few hints as to what the next PSP might look like. Or, rather, what it will feel like, as the device's most notable reported feature is a touch-sensitive area on the back of the unit.

Sony Computer Entertainment CEO Kaz Hirai also gave a hint about the handheld's next iteration in an interview with MCV. Though Hirai insisted the slow-selling PSP Go has been a success, he confirmed future iterations of the handheld won't be download-only. He explained, "there's always going to be requirement for a business with the size and scope of our magnitude to have a physical medium. Whether it a portable device or a home-based console." Eurogamer's sources mentioned the device is roughly the size of the PSP-3000, hypothetically leaving plenty of room for the return of a physical media slot.

These tipsters reported the device is still a long, long way from seeing the light of day, but that an unfinished version is currently being shopped around to developers. Even though the handheld is still just a faint, distant rumor, we still feel compelled to get in on the ground floor for coming up with a nickname, just in case it all pans out. How about this: The Backrub™. That sounds inviting, doesn't it?