Sony Went Wrong With the PSP Go
It’s two days before Sony’s official press conference at E3 and it seems like we’ve already got their best news (and really, it’s not all that good). Their new handheld, the PSP Go, is bouncing around the intarwebz through leaked pics and video. I’ve weeded through the spec list and have to say, I’m completely unimpressed.
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- smaller than the psp 3000 (43% lighter)
- 16GB of built-in flash storage with memory stick micro slot
- no UMD drive
- 3.8in widescreen
- single analog stick
- wi-fi support
- bluetooth support
- PS3 integration
- multimedia support
So there you have it – an incredibly lackluster list of features for Sony’s big E3 announcement. Did it surprise you as much as it did me? There have been plenty of devices that missed my expectations, but not always in a bad way. Sometimes they even made sense. The PSP Go, however, falls short on almost every count, size being the one exception so I suppose we can start there.
The size, when the device is closed, looks to be about perfect. Small enough for a pocket. Thin and extremely light. That’s just what I want. Open it up, though, and suddenly my hands are in the very wrong place for working a d-pad (I have fairly big hands) and you can forget about that analog stick. I have the same problem with Jessica Alba – there’s only one and she’s way out of reach.
Storage doesn’t seem bad, but if they want to get serious about downloadable content, 16GB is probably a bit small. Until Memory Stick Micro is equivalent to microSD in price, I’m going to be pretty grouchy if forced to buy one.
No UMD is so dumb I hardly need to say it. People will be pissed they can’t play their old PSP games. Really, really pissed.
The one change I can get a little excited about is the bluetooth tethering mentioned in the Qore video. By tethering the Go to a 3G phone you could theoretically access online games and your PS3 content from afar, even when you aren’t getting wi-fi. Neat, huh?
Sure, but it’s not enough. I think everyone can see us hurtling toward the megadevice – the ultimate smartphone/camera/gamer/gps/everything device we’d never leave home without. So why is Sony so convinced it needs a dedicated handheld gamer with some multimedia features as an afterthought? Why not open their handheld to developers? Why not see the success of the Apple App Store and Android and make PSP development as much a culture as PSP gaming? I can think of 40 million people who would be much happier if they did.
Posted in: Gaming
Tags: handheld gaming, new psp, playstation, psp 3000, psp go, sony, sony gaming, sony handheld, sony psp, sony psp go
I don’t think Sony cares that much about backwards compatibility, in this case. UMDs were a bad idea to begin with, and would be ridiculous to bring back for round two.
Consider how MiniDisk players were annihilated by MP3 players. The benefit of using solid state memory instead of moving mechanical parts in a mobile device are huge. Downloadable content is king, and for the sake of reducing weight and size I think not having a UMD drive makes a lot of sense.
I’m also quite certain they worked hard on getting the ergonomics right. Either you have truly freakish hands or they really messed up. I’m counting on the former. Have you actually tried it, or are you just theorycrafting?
Aside from that I see nothing to complain about. It is a good looking hand-held, and a massive improvement over the original.
I understand the reasoning behind removing the UMD drive, but like you say, it’s Sony that doesn’t care about backwards compatability – consumers do. With 40 million PSPs already sold, I think backwards compat makes more sense than going solid state, unless you want to give people some way to transfer their UMD games to software only.
And I am theorycrafting here (I don’t know of anyone who’s actually played one of these yet) but they didn’t get the ergonomics right on the dual shock (original or 2) for the thumbstick and it just looks too wrong to be right on this thing.
We can definitely agree on the last point. It looks good, and is a huge improvement. I guess I thought 5 years would be enough time for Sony to make improvements that would have me consider the device over an old PSP.
dude, in my opinion, seriosly the PSP Go!
need anyway 2 analogs sticks, because if u think… the ps3 has two analogs, and there are a lot of games in playstation store of ps1, and if u see, 90% of them are disable to play with two analogs, and 50% are not in analogs, only in arrows.
Ok.
if u think loud, if they put on ps3 games that do not use the analog, why they cannot do the same with psp go ?
put 2 analogs and the next game that will be released, will use 2 analogs, and the old games, will continue using only 1 analog, like the classic psp 1000, and from now on, they can make games for the using of two analogs, and the old games will continue using only one.
Think if my opnion is not correct ?
If they made it with ps3 with downloadable ps1 games, why not with psp ??
Will be a revolution to the psp and then of course will be more smilar with ps3… Dont ya think ??.. sorry man
Anyway, two analogs sticks would make the difference, for shooting games and games like GTA, RPG and many others.
It’s necessary, will help a lot one more analog, every body knows that, would you like to be controled by a automatical camera ??
Of course not !!
I prefer two analogs, Dont you ??
yeah i agree with ya, sony went real wrong with that thing. if someone gave it to me for free, i would sell it ASAP just to get the best market value for that hunk of junk.
you can do the same thing on a regular psp sony made a piece of junk thats not worth 250 dollars.
My opinion is this: The whole digital distribution idea isnt my favorite. You lost your Psp Go, uh oh there goes your games! But I also agree with Elff Craz because sony has to open their minds. Two analog sticks would have just destroyed all other sales! Sure games would either have to be formatted or played the normal way or maybe even create new games that use the second stick! HEy and what about adding an r2 and l2 buttons? Huh? This way the psp can be more diverse about what games it plays and maybe even be able to support downloaded classic ps1, ps2 or maybe even ps3 games. Sony, this is an idea, im helping you.
In my opinion, the PSP Go is just handy (for Sony at least) filler until they can gain more money. I mean, if you think about it, most accesories & services for the PSP Go are required to come from Sony (and not by a 3rd party), thus, most of the money spent on the PSP Go goes to Sony, & both the video game suppliers & gamers lose out. Other than a sleeker design & Bluetooth support, every other feature is a retroactive step back, many of which are already available on the PSP 1000, 2000, & 3000 (I own a PSP 2000, & by comparing it to a PSP Go @ a pawn shop, I would definetely keep my PSP 2000).
psp 3000 is way better cause they replaced memory stick duo,UMD,and GO!cam,for stupid bluetooth