Sony's PSP go Leaked

Introducing: The Sony PSP go

Someone's gonna get fired for this one...

It seems the June edition of PS3's online magazine, QORE, was released ball-bustingly early today [link]. Official press pics were found soon after [link].

The nitty gritty:

• The new system replaces Sony's defunct UMD drive with 16GBs on-board flash
• Storage is expandable via Memory Stick Micro (as opposed to PSP 1000-3000's Memory Stick Duo)
• It's 43% lighter than the PSP 3000 at 3.8 ounces
• Slide-out controls make for a compact form factor
• The screen is 3.8 inches (For reference, the older PSP models have 4.3" screens, the iPhone has a 3.5")
• Sony's adding bluetooth connectivity and the ability to "tether it to your cell phone"
• Games announced (which I assume will be compatible with older models) are Gran Turismo, LittleBigPlanet, Jak & Daxter and Metal Gear Solid
  

The expected, but not necessarily confirmed:

• The PlayStation Store will be optimized for the PSP even further to include video downloads
• The PlayStation Store will introduce music downloads

So there we have it. It's a bit on the butt-ugly side, but the concept is sexy. The one visual I aboslutely miss is the ring on the back of the system. The analog nub (aagh, where's my analog stick? On that note, where's my second analog stick?) looks uncomfortably placed. The form itself reminds me of the horrors of Nintendonitis from the GBA SP.

From the press shots, it looks like they canned the multi-use port for the remote and composite cables. A very upsetting omission to me. Unfortunately, it's really a deal breaker for me. I was also kinda hoping for a touch screen to fly through the XMB without buttons.. but that was a long shot.

All in all, though? It's a sexy device and I want. I rag on it, but really, it's just the back that looks fugly. But I want, I want, I want.

Expect more news on Tuesday when Sony holds their E3 Press Conference, 10am PST, 11 Mountain.