It was rumored for weeks, and leaked images of the handheld made its way onto the Web this weekend, but Sony finally owned up to the PSP Go at the big show out west. In the same way that the Nintendo DS Lite was a slim and trim version of the original DS, the PSP Go is a more compact version of the PSP with one instantly, noticeable difference: no UMD slot. It’s all about the downloadable content, baby – - physical media is for suckers (or, that’s what some would have you believe).

The form factor should be familiar to gadget nerds – - it looks like a Sony Mylo with the keyboard replaced with a D-pad and a number of buttons.  I’m not certain if my strong (yet delicate) hands would be comfortable holding it for hours on end while playing Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles, but I’m a trooper. Here are some of the deets:

• 3.8-inch display (down from 4.3 inches on the standard PSP models)
• 16GB of storage
• No UMD slot
• 43% lighter than the PSP
• Bluetooth and Wi-Fi
• Movie and TV show rentals/purchases courtesy of PSN
• Memory card slot
• eMusic partnership to deliver DRM-free music

And here’s the most important spec: A $249 price tag. Ouch.  That’s the prick of the DSi’s and PSP’s $170 MSRPs stinging you. Expect it to hit store shelves on October 1st in North America.

Jeffrey L. Wilson  (703 Posts)

Founder and Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey L. Wilson’s love of all things shiny/digital has lead to jobs penning gadget- and video game-related nerd-copy for E-Gear, Laptop, LifeStyler, Parenting, PC Magazine, Sync, Wise Bread, and WWE. Besides overseeing the editorial content at 2D-X.com, the Brooklyn College grad hosts New York City’s monthly Bits and Bytes video game media and public relations meetup. You can find him at a bar sampling foreign beers, or on Twitter doing twittery things.