By Steven Leckart and Daniel Dumas
Your prayers have been answered. (If you're a PSP junkie.) The G-Lab crew got all up in Sony's grill today and had a nice long fondle session with the newer, lighter, more colorful PSP. (Big thanks to Patrick Seybold for letting us check it out.) Hit the jump to see the specs and find out what's different and what remains the same.
So we rocked that PSP like the proverbial hurricane. And you know what?
Not a whole lot is different from the last iteration. There are a few incremental changes, though, that make the little device worth checking out. Physically, it's 33% lighter (weighing only 189 grams) and 19%
thinner (measuring 18.6mm thick) than the O.G. PSP.
Our very first impressions? It's light. Like a lot lighter than a device like this should be. We actually thought Patrick might have inadvertently brought in a mock up instead of a functioning device.
But once we turned it on and started playing that super-fine screen, we found a few new interesting touches.
Like the new color choices: Come this fall, you can pick up a new PSP in silver. Or black. Or Sith.
Oh yeah, you've probably already seen shots of the special Star Wars PSP, slated to be released October 9th. Featuring a likeness of the once and future Anakin Skywalker, the limited edition unit will be bundled with Star Wars Battlefront. Production will be limited to an unknown number of units, but aside from the dark side paint job, there's nothing different under the hood.
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UMD loading:__ Yes, Sony still has mad love for the mighty media format that could. Popping in a disk is a bit more simple— the UMD door opens at a wider angle, making a no look load a bit easier.
Component cables: That's right kiddies, you can now hook your PSP up to a TV, and enjoy games and media in full 480p glory. No finalized price or release date for the cables yet.
Pricing will start out at $170— same price as the current model PSP.
There's more to come. We should have a working model in the Lab in a few weeks. Expect us to really put it through the, uh, motions then. Pinkies crossed for the Star Wars edition.
