The handheld's frequent updates have always been as much about locking-out pirates as they have been about adding new features, but the will take the battle to the next level - using the console's hardware.

According to reports, the PSP Go's battery will be inaccessible, preventing pirates from using a 'Pandora Battery' in order to gain control of the device.

"You won't be able to rip your games and play them on the system, the firmware precludes that," Sonys told PlayStation Insider. "There's no external battery, so there's a number of protections put into place on the system."

The PSP's battery was previously a way to get inside the console, but the internalisation of the battery will make this much harder. It sounds like the pirates are going to have to try something different.

By Luke Guttridge