Most PSP Go units were bolted down like no one’s business at E3. Us crazy game writers and developers might swipe that shit (people were taking the Rock Band Beatles drum sticks). I got to play around a bit both with a tied down unit and one freed from its shackles. If it was $250, I’d buy one.

The PSP Go is damn sexy, even more so than what can be shown in video. It’s small, insanely light, and very sleek. The screen is great and you don’t feel like you’re playing on a smaller device compared to the current PSP, even though you are. The button placement is what grabbed my attention right away. Everything is recessed back in the slide-out portion of the device, but the layout and shape of the PSP Go make it much more comfortable in your hands than the current setup. After playing for a while on the analog nub on the current PSP, my hands start to cramp up. Everything felt much more natural in my hands with the PSP Go, which is a huge deal for portable gaming.

The Go doesn’t need to be open all the time, as music and movies can have the slider closed for a more compact experience. Games like LocoRoco can be played closed as well, since you only need the shoulder buttons. It’s a cool feature and I hope a couple more games can take advantage.

A few things disappoint me about the PSP Go. First, the add-on memory is now Memory Stick Micro, meaning all those Memory Stick Pro Duo you may have won’t work. Second, the PSP Go uses a different charger than the current PSP, meaning if you have both, that’s two charging cables you’ll need. Third, and most importantly, it’s damn expensive at $249.99. If it were $50 cheaper, I’d be all over it at launch. As it is, I’m not sure it’s really worth the upgrade. As a Sony rep told me, “there’s nothing the PSP Go does, other than Bluetooth, that the current PSP can’t do.” That says a lot.