An original report on Beyond3D has revealed that the PlayStation Portable's newly unlocked 333Mhz processor speed, which is being utilized in the upcoming God of War: Chains of Olympus, actually comes with some restrictions.

Although PSP firmware version 3.50 introduced a new clock control function, Beyond3D discovered that the portable's full clock speed is only available with Wi-Fi disabled, meaning that during network play the CPU clock is limited to 222MHz.

GameDaily BIZ checked in with Sony Computer Entertainment America, and Dave Karraker, Sr. Director, Corporate Communications did indeed confirm the report.

"The recent firmware upgrade (3.50) that removed the restriction on the PSP's CPU speed enables developers to utilize speeds either lower or higher than the default 222MHz, up to the full 333MHz clock speed. The article is correct that increased CPU speed cannot be used with the PSP's wireless feature," Karraker said. "SCEA is working closely with the development community to take full advantage of this new functionality where appropriate for their titles."

As Beyond3D points out, this limitation has some implications for PSP developers: "Game titles with network play could effectively be either limited to using 222MHz only during single player mode, or to using a downgraded engine and assets for multiplayer mode, which could complicate the development process."

It's not clear why this limitation is in place � speculation suggests that it's an effort to conserve battery life, which is already affected when Wi-Fi is on � but SCEA (Sony Computer Entertainment America) told us they would check in with SCE in Japan. We'll let you know what we hear.