We already knew that a new PSP was rumoured to be in development, and now we have some official looking shots and leaked interview footage that pretty much confirms the speculation. Coming just two days before E3 is due to kick off all these leaks may have just ruined Sony’s big surprise, but if that’s the only big thing Sony was planning for their E3 press conference then it would have been extremely boring to sit through.

The buttons in the image above are said to slide back in under the screen when not in use, leading to a much smaller and lighter design. The biggest change though, although it has really been a long time coming, is the absence of a UMD drive. Games will be provided through digital downloads, which can be saved to memory sticks or the handheld consoles 16GB of flash memory. While it is apparently not intended to replace the PSP-3000 (much like the DSi and the DS) it is pretty much the last nail in the coffin for the UMD format.

Other little tid-bits include the ability to rent videos through PSN - just like the PS3 - and has new games such as Gran Turismo, LittleBigPlanet, Jak & Daxter and Metal Gear Solid lined up for it. It will also apparently arrive by Autumn, but we don’t know if that means a worldwide release or not.

The age of the Internet means it’s pretty much impossible to stop any secrets being released before they were intended. Even with all this information in hand it will still be interesting to see Sony demonstrating it at E3. Plus we will also get official confirmation on what’s true and what’s not; although due to it being so close to E3 I’d be greatly surprised if any of the information turns out to be false.

If you’re interested in seeing how the PSP Go’s size compares to the other big handheld players on the market then Kotaku has some interesting size comparisons.