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Last week I was able to get my hands on the worst kept secret of E3, the PSP Go. While I had a brief hands-on with the system at Sony's booth in June, I remained skeptical about the price. $250 dollars seemed steep for a handheld, which I imagined SCEA would have learned after having to drop the price of the original. No dice, I am buying a “premium product,” says Sony.
About a month ago, my girlfriend expressed interest in buying a PSP, so we started to weigh our options. Used is out of the question, and brand new I am looking at $169. Throw in a decent-sized memory stick (say 16GB, the internal storage capacity of the Go: $60 on Amazon and $100 at my local Best Buy), which I will need with the older PSP, and I am going to spend anywhere from $229 to $269. In the end, I figured that I am still paying a crap-ton of money. My only question at that point was, “Pay a crap-ton of money for something I don't like all that much? Or pay a crap-ton of money for the one that I do like?” Either way, I’m forking over the money – I would just rather use it towards the cooler one.
Aesthetically, the PSP Go is 10 times the system any of the previous models were. It fits in your pocket easily and feels no different than carrying around your cell phone. Gone with the Go is the clumsy, not-so-portable form factor of its predecessors. The new handheld also ditches the UMD (Universal Media Disc) format, in favor of 16 gigs of onboard storage a-la iPhone and iPod Touch, making it more ideal for travel than the disc-based models. No more having to carry around those horrible UMDs, which seem to break if you so much as look at them.
Of course there is room for improvement. The shoulder buttons, for one, feel weak. In fact, the system as a whole feels very fragile. I am not about to test its limits after paying a “premium” cost, but I can’t help feeling that the system won’t take much of a beating.
There is also the issue of price. At $250, it’s quite an investment. Add to that the fact that the downloadable games in the PlayStation Store don’t seem to cost any less than their physical counterparts, despite the fact that Sony is cutting out the middleman and not having to pay shipping and packaging costs of the software. What gives?
Sony’s other blunder was to make the battery non-removable in an effort to “combat piracy,” or junk like that. I hate to break it to you, Sony … but pirates will always be around. Don’t be a douche about the battery because those people don’t want to pay for games, you guys are smart enough to know that they are going to figure out how to get around it anyway.
Anyone who was considering buying a PSP, and doesn’t mind a hefty price tag may seriously want to consider jumping on the wagon now. The convenience of carrying all your games within the system and being able to download while connected to any available wireless network is one of the best ways to enjoy handheld gaming, even if the price blows. However, I would never recommend the system to owners of the UMD-based system.
Those who own the previous models has a much wider selection of games to choose from, and always has the option of downloading PSP games by simply buying a memory stick. In purchasing a Go they would only be spending another $250 to own the same system with a sexy new look – and, at the time of this writing, hundreds less games to choose from.
Even with those annoyances, the benefit of carrying around a slimmed down version of Sony’s handheld without the hassle of UMDs gives me, a new user, all the reason in the world to choose it over previous models. As of right now, my girlfriend and I are enjoying the PSP Go. We never owned the older versions, and avoided them because of the UMD format and their not-so-portable design, especially when compared to other handhelds. Combined, we both play it enough to justify the price of admission. I travel most weekends for work, but I like to pack light. Like I said, either way, I’m paying my hard-earned money—I would just rather use a little more of it to get the system I like better. Sony’s worst kept secret of E3 just doesn’t feel so bad anymore, because it suits our needs.
Pros: Fits in your pocket, sexy, eliminates need to carry around a set of games, nice idea for anyone who does not currently own a PSP.
Cons: Pricey, PSP’s downloadable catalog is still limited at this point, feels very breakable, Absolutely no incentive for owners of UMD-based PSP to make the transition.
GamePro Scorecard -
Features & Functionality: 4.0
Design: 4.5
Price: 3.0
Overall: 4.0
Summary: A great handeld with lots of potential, but minor annoyances hurt more when accompanied by that $250 price tag.
