"I think this is going to be the year for PSP, I think it's going to be a fantastic year for it. A very, very good year." That's how confident John Koller is on the fate of Sony's handheld for 2007.

And he actually has a well-founded reason for suddenly gushing like a schoolgirl. The recent implementation of the PSP price drop to US$ 169 apparently gave a whole lot of loving to Sony as PSP sales shot up to 300 percent - in just two days, at that. And all that love they'll be taking to the bank with them. Not only that, but the once-comatosed UMD scene suddenly gets a second chance at life as UMD sales also got a nice revival.

Also being held responsible for this rejuvenation of PSP sales is the new marketing scheme taken by Sony through its "Dude, Get Your Own" campaign. According to Koller, since the launch of the new campaign, they immediately saw an increase in sales. But admittedly, they also took a close, hard look at Wal-Mart experience during the last Black Friday.

But apart from all that, "Our greatest successes take place when publishers and developers recognize the value of the PSP owner as a PSP owner not repurposing a title," further explains Koller. "We've actively encouraged third parties in that direction."

To maintain the momentum of the PSP, Koller reveals that they will be having some major announcements coming this year. We expect to hear about them in the coming months, and you can bet we'l' be there to give you the heads up.