While Sony remains tight-lipped on its next-generation portable plans, trade site Develop has it on good authority that PSP2 dev kits have been sent to “numerous” development studios – both third-party and in-house.

Reportedly, Sony is gearing up to make a “big impact” at launch, one supplemented with a wide array of launch titles. Earlier this month, Mortal Kombat’s executive producer Shaun Himmerick lauded the yet-to-be-announced handheld as a “pretty powerful machine.”

As you may recall, one of the chief complaints with the original PSP was the lack of software available at launch. Apart from a few standouts, pickings were slim up until the second year of its debut. Additionally, a constant stream of PS2 to PSP (as well as PSP to PS2) converts early on hardly helped fill the drought.

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Read more: Mortal Kombat Producer Calls PSP2 A “Pretty Powerful Machine”,  Source: Sony Preps PSP2 Unveil for January 27,  Rumor: PSP2 Nixes UMD, Has 1GB RAM,  PSP2 ‘As Powerful As’ PS3, Set for Q4 Launch,  Rumor: PSP2 Devkit Spy Shots Emerge