Nintendo has a stranglehold on handheld gaming and Apple dominates mobile phone games, but Sony is fighting back hard on both fronts, releasing a flurry of pint-sized gaming announcements Thursday.

The gaming giant unveiled a store for Android games and will stop releasing incremental PSP upgrades in order to unleash a sexy beast codenamed the NGP.

The device will feature two analog sticks, connect to a 3G network (in some versions of the device), boast a touchscreen on its backside and do away entirely with the old UMD discs PSP games ran on. Instead, gamers will download or buy memory sticks that include new games. Sony didn’t announce a price or release date, but spitballed that the NGP will come out during the holiday season.

The PlayStation Suite, which will hock touchscreen-modified games from the original PlayStation, will run on phones that support Android 2.3 or higher. There was still no announcement about the rumored PSP Phone, but that could come as early as next month.

What do you think about the company’s new direction?

The Complete Guide To Sony’s Next, Big Portable PlayStation [Kotaku]

Sony reveals PlayStation Suite framework, store for Android gaming [Engadget]

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