The PSP (PlayStation Portable) may have been overshadowed by the sheer volume of hype surrounding the iPhone, but Sony's latest portable gaming goodie, the PSP Go, could see that trend reversed.
The PSP Go is significantly smaller and noticeably lighter than its PSP predecessors, and won't result in you hearing the sound of tearing fabric when you slide it into a pocket.
Downsizing, however, doesn't mean diminished gaming, as the PSP Go's 9.6cm TFT LCD screen slides up to reveal all the usual in-game PSP controls.
Sony's decision to ditch the optical UMD drive has resulted in lightening the PSP Go's load by approximately 40%.
Where PSP games were initially sold on petite and proprietary UMD discs, the PSP Go has 16GB of built-in flash memory (which can be bolstered by a Memory Stick Micro) slot for storing games and other media.
In addition to helping the PSP Go with its Jenny Craig weight-loss feat, dumping the UMD should improve battery life too.
About the only downside is that UMD titles you already own are destined to gather dust for the rest of their lives.
The overall control layout on the PSP Go has changed little from the original PSP 1000, with a four-way directional pad available on the left and the usual Sony control buttons (triangle, circle square and cross) on the right.
Rounding things out are the select/start buttons in the centre, and an analogue control which is near the centre bottom of the PSP Go's screen.
From a gaming perspective, the Go feels very much like a fully-fledged PS3 controller, making prolonged bouts of gaming a significantly more comfortable proposition.
Wi-Fi support is also present, and allows for multiplayer mayhem, web surfing or connecting to the Sony online store to purchase and download games.
New to the PSP Go is Bluetooth which allows gamers to pair up stereo Bluetooth headsets with the PSP Go.
This also allows the Go to perform several other nifty tricks, such as pairing up with a PS3 controller.
In terms of game titles, Sony has confirmed PSP Go versions of its big hitters (many of which were pre-installed as demos on the review PSP Go I was sent).
The big launch title, however, is expected to be the PSP version of car racer PlayStation mega hit, Gran Turismo.
If pre-release screen shots of in-game car renders are anything to go by, involuntary trouser accidents from petrol heads are highly probable.
While Sony is expected to develop a stronger focus on downloadable titles, it's also said that new PSP games will continue to be made available on UMD.
How long this will last (especially as Sony appears to be moving to a more environmentally friendly digital-only games distribution model) is hard to say.
Is this a biggie? Nope.
Old-school UMD packing PSPs can also download and play download-only titles.
Boasting the same support for music, video, and photo files as with earlier PSPs, The formats supported by the Go read like a who's who of digital media formats (MPEG-4, H.264, AAC, AVI, Motion JPEG, ATRAC, MP3, .
Wav, WMA, JPEG, TIFF, BMP, GIF and last but by no means least PNG).
Another killer PSP feature also present in the Go is PS3 integration.
All existing interoperability between the PS3 and the PSP range is still supported which means that Remote Play can be used to access audio video and some game content from my PS3 wirelessly. - Pat Pilcher.
