Eurogamer have been lucky enough to get hold of the new PSP-3000 (PSP Brite) – or PSP Slim and Lite as it will still be officially called, and have got a write up of the experience.

So, we’ve been playing with the PSP-3000 since it turned up on Saturday morning, and apart from a red bar mentioning the “enhanced screen and built-in microphone” and a discreet “PSP-3003 PB” designation in the bottom-right corner, the box doesn’t make much of a song and dance about its brand new occupant.

Nor, initially, does the unit itself. The old “Home” button has been replaced with a brand-unifying PS-logo button, and the tiny microphone hole is located between the volume controls and the PSP logo itself on the front of the unit at the bottom. The promised curvier edges are so similar that we honestly forgot about them until most of this feature was written and we noticed some shadow gradient on a photograph, and went back and checked.

Ok, so its not going to make your mates go oooh and aaahhh when they clock it, but what about the screen? After all, the main reason to get the new PSP-3000 is the new brighter screen, which will hopefully allow the Sony handheld to be used outdoors when the sun is shining -

As to whether it’s easier to play games outdoors, we recommend not going outdoors because it’s cold and miserable. We leaned out of a few windows and sat on a windy station platform for half an hour at the weekend in thoroughly bleak conditions and neither PSP really struggled to cope with the light from overhead. Presumably when (if) the sun shines again, we’ll get a better sense of the PSP-3000’s anti-glare abilities, but for now we’ll have to give them the benefit of the doubt.

Ah, so we are just going to have to wait and see whether the promise of more outdoor play with the PSP remains a pipe dream or not. I can’t wait to get my hands on one and try it out for myself.