Pictures of Sony's new technicolor PSPs, and Monster Hunter 3 Special Edition preview

Nothing spices up waning interest in an aging console like a special edition, and while one could say that announcing three special editions is something of a stretch for the word "special," these certainly are some... vibrant color schemes. At its press event yesterday, Sony announced a couple of new, pupil-assaulting two-tone color schemes for the PSP, along with a Monster Hunter edition that left many an otaku fainting in the aisles thanks to its gold highlights and redesigned analog nub. Read on for our impressions of all three noble beasts.

Sony's PSP special editions

So the two-toned PSPs are really nothing more than that: PSP-3000 models that have lifted liberally from the parts bins. In a sort of "You got your white PSP in my blue PSP" vs. "You got your blue PSP in my white PSP" battle, we have two new designs that are combinations of existing colors: red/black and blue/white. They're really quite unattractive if you ask us, but don't let our conservative color preferences rain on your technicolor parades. They'll be sold exclusively in Japan as "value packs" with a case and 2GB Memory Stick for 17,800 yen -- about $210.

Rather more interesting is the Monster Hunter 3 Portable PSP. This one sports some decals (yawn), gold highlights (hrm), a 2200mAh battery (ooh), and, the biggest change, a redesigned analog thumb nub. It's not a shocking difference, basically boiling down to this edition having an innie while the current PSP-3000 has an outie. A minor change, but the concave shape definitely felt more comfortable to our delicate digits -- the current PSPs start to feel like 24 grit sandpaper after a few minutes banking in Ace Combat: Joint Assault. This will definitely be far more comfortable if you're the sort who subscribes to the "gotta kill 'em all" camp.

Is it worth replacing your already fully functional PSP-3000? Nah, probably not -- unless you're a serious fan of the Monster Hunter franchise. Which, based on the length of the lines of people waiting to get their hands on this thing, is certainly a lot of people. Oh, and no, no word on whether future revisions of the PSP-3000 will be similarly concave. We can hope, though. Until then, this special edition will release in Japan on December 1 for 19,800 yen -- $230ish.