You've got the whole world in your hands

Sony spent a while discussing the PSP at this year's E3 press conference. A lot of it was news about the PSP Go! - the upcoming UMD-less version of their portable Playstation - but there were some game announcements in there as well. The revelation of a new Metal Gear is pretty cool, and I'm sure I'll end up playing it, but more exciting (in my opinion) is the news that do-it-yourself platformer LittleBigPlanet will also be making it's way to the shiny, black handheld.

Okay, I know that technically this was already announced, back at Destination Playstation 09, but that was nothing more than a brief mention. E3, on the other hand, gave them a chance to fully show off their portable plans. From the looks of it, LittleBigPlanet PSP (hopefully just a working title), will capture all the thrills of the full console version, but in a form that can be enjoyed wherever you happen to be. Joystiq had a hands-on with the game, and seemed to be rather impressed with how it's turning out.

In case you're completely unaware, the original LittleBigPlanet released on PS3 last year, and was critically acclaimed for it's highly customizable level creation system. Using simple controls, players could design and edit their very own play areas, making them complex, familiar, or just plain rude! Although many people never spent enough time fully exploring the possibilities of this feature, those who did found it to be a fun and unique experience, and certainly different from anything else on the market.

But will the PSP be able to handle the game as well as it's bigger brother? We already know that the controls will have to be simplified, but what about online play? Getting together with friends to design levels sounded like the best feature of the PS3 version, so I hope this gets properly integrated into the handheld as well. Oh, and that's with voice chat, you hear? Playing online in silence is completely pointless; if I'm not chatting to my pals, I might as well just be playing on my own (you listening, Nintendo?). I also hope that the system for sharing levels is simple, as I can't wait to see what LBP veterans can do with the portable version.

That's about all we know at the moment, but I'll be sure to post any more interesting details as we get closer to LBP's fall release. For now, here's a trailer, giving us a taste of what's to come: