During the E3 09 unveil of the PSP Go, the devices were basically locked down on the show floor, which meant heavy weighted and slider locked in the open position. At GamesCom 09 however, the Sony booth had tons of PSP Gos lying around – they were still tethered, but the slider was now unlocked. So, I sat down and played through a level of LitleBigPlanet just to get a feel of the device now as it should be.

Feel: The PSP Go is perfect for the hands. Truly, Sony finally realized that every other portable gaming device has certain dimension limits that make them portable in the first place. While the PSP may be slim and light, it’s certainly still long. Now, everything feels close by, easily accessible and you don’t get tired of holding it because you’re not supporting the device by gripping its sides like the PSP, you’re practically cradling it in your palms.

By moving the controls below a slider panel, Sony has made the Go pocket friendly as well. But, how does it actually play? Smooth. I loved the buttons and the D-pad, holding the Go being very similar to the size of the PS3 controller. The buttons didn’t chafe my thumbs as well – though I can’t really confirm that until I get down to seriously play some fighters. LBP isn’t exactly a thumb exercise. What I’m still on the line about though is the analog nub. Oh, it’s quite accurate and responsive, but maybe it could have been a little bigger, just a little. There were a couple of times my Sackboy missed a jump because he accidentally strafed in/out of his path. The shoulder buttons are nice and springy, but because of the open slider, they’re a lot thinner as well, and the trick seemed to be to press them at an angle instead of from the top like usual.

Build: As I mentioned, the PSP Go was still tethered to their posts, but Sony didn’t seem to weigh them down anymore, and they actually feel really really light. The PSP Go’s supposed to be around 40% lighter than the PSP-3000, and it certainly feels that way. The build quality is what you’d probably expect from a mobile phone today. I won’t actually say it’s flimsy since pictures don’t seem to do the Go any justice. They do seem to be quite solidly built. No squeaky parts and the slider moves like a dream, though it’s very easily ‘flicked’ upwards with a finger. Some people might not like the lack of tension, but I guess that’s up to individual preferences.

Experience: One of the main things people seem to complain about is the screen size. But, honestly speaking, once you start gaming, you don’t really notice. In fact, when you look at the specs, it’s still bigger than the iPhone’s screen size. In regards to LBP, my only complaint was that I couldn’t really see my Sackboy’s face that well. It’s emotions are what made LBP so damned great in the first place. With the PSP Go, depending on how you skin your Sackboy, sometimes you can’t really see his face at all.

So, the PSP Go is now, slimmer, lighter, smaller than everything out there. After being able to really give the Go a go, I’d say it’s something I’m definitely going to get when it comes out. The only other factor remaining for me is its price. Considering that they’ve goten rid of the whole UMD setup and gone with ‘cheap’ flash memory, the Go better be cheaper than the PSP.