Today, I was invited to Sony Computer Entertainment’s Japanese headquarters for a series of press sessions, but before I went upstairs, something in the lobby of the building that caught my attention: the brand-new PS Vita model first announced last week

The new PS Vita model, sitting in the lobby of Sony Computer Entertainment's Tokyo headquarters.

The old Vita is on top; the new Vita is on the bottom.

The new PS Vita model will launch in six different colors in Japan.

The new PS Vita model in white.

Original impressions of the new PS Vita garnered from random photographs surfacing from Japan seemed to indicate that the new Vita, although lighter and thinner, was somehow wider. This isn’t the case. When I held my “standard” Vita alongside the new model, they seemed quite similar to one another end-to-end. Much was also said about the quality of the old Vita's OLED screen versus the new model's LCD screen, but because of the glare on the unit in the lobby, and because we can't cross-compare specific games on the fly, we'll reserve judgment on this front until we import our own unit in October.There are real differences between the old and new Vita, though. For starters, the new Vita certainly feels lighter, but not quite the 15 percent lighter it actually is. Then again, the Vita was tethered to the wall, and so it’s hard to get a real feel of its new weight (another Vita alongside it wasn’t as tightly tethered, but it was extremely light, likely lacking its innards).The edges of the new Vita are far more beveled than the original, giving it an even sleeker and thinner feel. It’s noticeably thinner than the old Vita, not only when you look at it, but when you hold it. The new Vita is 20 percent thinner than the original, but it actually feels and looks thinner than that. People that have owned a Vita for a long time are going to immediately notice this significant change in the Vita’s form factor, and it’s going to require you to hold the Vita slightly differently (although not uncomfortably).Interestingly, the analog sticks appear identical in both versions of the Vita, though I felt like, due to the new dimensions of the Vita, that I had to hold my thumbs in a slightly different way to use them comfortably. The face buttons also appear the same, as does the directional pad. The start and select buttons are now circular, and appear more prominent. I suspect that major differences will be seen and felt only when we begin deep-diving into games on the new hardware.The new PS Vita does away with the “mystery port” atop the old hardware (we still don’t know precisely what it was for), allowing the slot for the Vita card slot to be centered. The slot’s cover is far wider and more noticeable than it is on the old Vita. The PS Button on the bottom left of the hardware is now circular instead of ovular, and the speakers are in the same place, though in a slightly different shape.On the bottom of the Vita, you’ll find the memory card slot and headphone jack in familiar places, but the power outlet on the Vita is much smaller than it is in the original, signaling that the old Vita and new Vita will be using different charging cables.The new PS Vita comes out in Japan on October 10th for ¥18,980 (or about $190). As Sony told us last week , Sony doesn’t yet have set plans to release the new PS Vita model outside of Japan, although I suspect it will be available eventually. Either way, we'll be importing the new Vita this October, so keep an eye out for our full impressions and side-by-side comparisons.

Colin Moriarty is IGN’s Senior Editor. You can follow him on Twitter and IGN and learn just how sad the life of a New York Islanders and New York Jets fan can be.