With the release of the PSP 3.90 firmware, Sony officially supports Skype, but only on the PSP-2000 series. Come again? Yes, those of you with a PSP-1000 (the original, non-slim version of the PSP) are left in the cold when it comes to using Skype.

QJ.net recently explained (or speculated)

“Although PSP-1000 and PSP-2000 are identical in basic functions, there are differences in hardware specifications to some extent and, for that reason, PSP-2000 may differ in features from PSP-1000. We had studied the possibility of supporting Skype with PSP-1000 but had to give it up because of the smaller size of main memory on PSP-1000 series.”

I guess I really did not pay too much attention to what was going on behind closed doors. After all, last fall I came close to preordering a new PSP (wanted that Star Wars version), but decided that the smaller footprint, video out, and faster load times were not worth the upgrade.

I guess the memory upgrade (64MB vs. 32MB) was the hallmark feature of the PSP-2000. Now the cows are out of the barn. What other future features will be excluded from PSP-1000 owners? Last night I wrote about PS3 SKU confusion, and now we get this beauty.

In the interest of disclosure, I do not use Skype, but that is irrelevant. Sony is going to isolate and piss off their core fan base, myself included. I have owned a PSP (original, fat, phat, PSP-1000, etc) since its launch, and I am rewarded by Sony deciding that my PSP is no longer in its future. I never realized that the leap from the PSP-1000 to the PSP-2000 was akin to a hardware leap. I thought this was more along the lines of Nintendo’s typical strategy of releasing a GameBoy Advance, followed by a GameBoy Advance SP, followed by a GameBoy SP Super Special Limited Edition (or whatever).

I am all for progress, but I would rather Sony come clean and say that those of you with a PSP-1000 are about to be left in the dust.