Just as the portable gaming world is getting ready for the release of the Nintendo DSi, word on the street is that Sony's followup to the PSP may not be far off--at least according to a bigwig at Acclaim.

David Perry, the company's chief creative officer told Kotaku yesterday, "I spoke to a developer who is working on it right now. I know this developer is already working on it, so that means they have a prototype. That would sound like a fall release to me."

According to Perry, Sony will be dropping the UMD movie player from the next generation of the PSP. The hope, he said, is that the device will go entirely digital--if not in the second generation, then in some version in the near future--gaining Sony a piece of the direct sales market and doing away with used game sales.