At E3, we had a chance to talk to SCEA Senior Vice President Philip Rosenberg and John Koller, Senior Marketing Manager of the PSP. We talked to these two Sony executives to find out more about Home, possible PSP integration with Home, the redesign, and more.

The press conference was narrated through Home. Why does Sony believe Home is such an important part of the PlayStation family?

Phil: That's a great question. Home for us is a way to engage all of our users in real community, but in a real 3D manner that gives them a place to meet and to share their successes or their failures and then jump into gameplay. It creates an opportunity for us to help engage them even more in our platforms. I think when you look at the interface -- like how a PSP pops up in Home -- our whole proposition is around the ecosystem of PlayStation. It's not just about one platform. If you're in the house, or away from the house -- no matter where you are, you can stay connected with your peers.

The redesigned PSP makes games load faster. But, how? In a private demonstration with Joystiq, John Koller explained that the new PSP includes more than just good looks. The redesigned system also includes more RAM, which is used to increase the load speed of upcoming PSP titles. In addition, the system has much more efficient battery life. Koller promised between 8 to 10 hours of battery life in the new system, a seeming impossibility when remembering the original design.

See also:
Joystiq hands-on with the new PSP

Sony -- the PSP included -- has taken some flak lately with their image and presence in the gaming industry. Some of it seems to be warranted, but the majority can basically be narrowed down to outright fanboyism. I sat down with John Koller, senior product manager for Sony's PSP, to discuss just how successful the PSP really has been and what we can expect in the future for Sony's first real venture into the handheld gaming business.

Tell me about the latest firmware update coming to the PSP?

What this latest version [2.80 out this Thursday] is going to include is video RSS so you can save video channels to your Memory Stick and also there is going to be an available download of World Tour Soccer. And, of course, we've got the usual security patches included.