Keeping a secret in the gaming industry is a lost art – you want to keep something juicy under wraps, you better have bombs implanted in your employees’s skulls – the ultimate NDA.  Sony does not have a “boom goes the dynamite” policy apparently, as word has leaked out just before their E3 press conference that the PSP Go is real and it’s fantastic. The rumors about the system have been mostly true – the PSP Go packs a sliding screen that hides the buttons and no UMD drive. There is no second analog stick, but the system packs 16GB of internal memory along with a Memory Stick Micro slot. Wait, 16GB? That’s just sexy. Also, there’s now Bluetooth (we assume Bluetooth A2DP support to support stereo headphones) as well. It’ll be interesting to see how Sony handles releases for the PSP from now on – will all titles be digitally distributed, or will PSP Go owners miss out on some of them (I imagine not, losing a part of your audience due to being UMD-only is a great way to spur on digital distribution)? This could be a big move for Sony, giving the PSP (a system that’s pretty much still king of the handheld jungle in terms of power despite its relative age) a kick in the pants in the fight against the DS and iPhone juggernauts.

That wasn’t the end of the fun for the PSP Go, either, as there’s a new Metal Gear game coming for the PSP Go as well. Let me take the time to say, “Woo! Metal Gear!” and also to warn Kojima that hour-long cutscenes don’t really play on handhelds. Find an editor, and keep at it a reasonable length, son. And somehow, that mythical Gran Turismo for PSP that I’m pretty sure was announced back in the Old Testament? Still in development, and coming out for PSP Go. Exciting times for the PSP indeed. Peep the leaked Qore episode below (and laugh as Sony’s security measures have failed miserably) and just imagine – somewhere, a Sony exec is kicking themselves wondering what they did to deserve this leak. They better have a big surprise planned for E3, and we’re not talking about a PS3 Slim either.