Sony recruiting handheld team for PSP projects

Japanese giant Sony is seeking people with handheld development experience to work in production roles on titles for the PlayStation Portable, as third party studios prepare to receive the first batch of PSP dev kits.

The company's online recruitment page is openly advertising a number of positions for candidates who have worked on handheld projects, principally software producers and production assistants.

The move comes as SCE prepares to ship out the first batch of PSP development kits to development studios, with several preferred UK studios expected to be among the early recipients of the kits.

Although some news sources have been getting excited about the arrival of the kits, it's unlikely that they'll bring any surprises. The full specification of the PSP device is already public information, and only the actual design of the unit remains to be seen - and that's likely to remain a closely guarded secret until the unveiling of the system at E3 next year.

We do know, however, that the PSP will retain the PlayStation series' Dual Shock control layout, with the famous triangle, square, circle and cross buttons still solidly a part of the design. Analogue controls will also form a part of the PSP, making it into one of the first handheld devices to offer a proper control mechanism for 3D games.