Remember the buzz around the rumored UMD-less version of the Sony PlayStation Portable, the PSP Go! (again, their exclamation mark, not mine)?  And the supposedly leaked blurry photos of a smaller PlayStation 3?  Ars Technica has it on good authority that both of those products are real, although you'll hear about one before you hear about the other.

Not only is the PSP Go real, but we'll be seeing a slimmed-down PS3 in August or September. However, this news likely won't be announced during E3. Allow us to explain. There are plenty of PS3 systems sitting on store shelves right now, and Sony is planning on sitting back and allowing the supply of those units to dry up over the summer. We shouldn't expect a price cut, but the possibility is certainly there. After retailers are ready for new stock, Sony will begin releasing the slimmer units to retail, although what features have been taken away or added is still anyone's guess.

When will we know for sure? The PSP-Go will likely be announced at E3, so that rumor will be confirmed very soon. As for the slimmer PS3, that will be kept quiet for quite a while. Why tell customers that new hardware is coming when you're trying to clear the retail channel of your older models? The mole did say the hardware could be shown to select partners at E3, behind very tightly closed doors, so more leaks may provide extra evidence of the system's existence.

It makes sense for Sony not to show its cards on a new version of the PS3 if the company wants to clear the supply of existing consols before introducing a "better" model, but it seems counterproductive to hide the slim PS3 at E3.  At this point it seems to be one of the worst kept secrets in the gaming industry.  They may as well at least tease it at E3 rather than do a poor job of denying its existence while the select partners embark on a three-month game of "I know something you don't know".  As for the PSP Go, I'm interested in seeing just what it has to offer (or not offer, e.g. UMDs), but I'm also glad that the current model of PSP will remain an option for a while more.  Without some kind of economical upgrade program for my existing UMD library, I'm not so eager to lose the disc drive.

(via Kotaku)