Hands-on With the PSP Go 73
ANkleStrong writes "Sony Corp unveiled on Tuesday a smaller, lighter PlayStation handheld game device called the PSP Go, in a race to catch rival Nintendo in an intensely competitive mobile games arena."
E3 attendees were able to take the new Sony handheld for a test drive, and more pictures and videos are now available. It's set to be released on October 1st, and will retail for $249. A new Resident Evil game is being designed specifically for the updated hardware, and Metal Gear Peace Walker is coming as well.
$250? Owch... (Score:5, Insightful)
Once again Sony is probably overpricing the market. Sony would love to wipe the venerable DS off the face of the planet, but the DS is what, $130 or $180 for the DSi?
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re: (Score:1)
But at least those are not 250$, jebus cripes, I really dislike Sony and there constant overpricing of things.
With the title selection and price tag a DS Lite looks a lot more tempting to Americans, Especially in this economy.
There is a reason why I became and XBro, and so late to the part to PS2 also.
Re: (Score:2)
But at least those are not 250$, jebus cripes, I really dislike Sony and there constant overpricing of things.
Just got me a PSP 2000 for $120 from Dell the other day (seemed like a reasonable price to me). Showed up yesterday. But since I don't have a Memory Stick for it yet (waiting on a MicroSD->MSPro adapter from dealextreme), the only thing I can do with it is use Remote Play with my PS3. But that in itself looks like it'll b
Re: (Score:2, Informative)
Final Fantasy Tactics is probably one of my persona favorites. If you liked Syndicate, you can get it along with Mutant League Football on the EA Replay UMD.
I also liked Crisis Core, but a lot of people don't care for it.
I wasn't impressed at all by the Vallhalla Knights games.
Re: (Score:2)
Re:$250? Owch... (Score:5, Funny)
The price would be OK if it played Blu-ray Discs.
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
Is 5.50 jailbroken yet? (Score:4, Informative)
But, can it still play my rips of FF7-FF9/ANY ps1 game like my current PSP?
Is it even legal to make copies of Sony's PS1 emulator for PSP using the "Popstation" tool?
(1001 w/ 5.02 m33 firmware).
But it appears the ChickHEN jailbreak [x-fusion.co.uk] doesn't work on 5.50 that comes on new PSP-3000 series units, nor does it run PS1 games. So people who want to get into PSP homebrew might have to rely on eBay for used PSP hardware.
Re: (Score:2)
who cares? If I buy a game, it's mine
But did you buy (or otherwise legitimately acquire) the emulator to run it?
Re:Is 5.50 jailbroken yet? (Score:4, Informative)
Re: (Score:2)
POPS is built into the PSP core firmware/software package by Sony themselves.
I wasn't aware of that; thank you for clarifying how Sony does things. I thought it was like Virtual Console on the Wii, where each game has its own emulator as part of the executable. N64 piracy involves "injecting" ROMs into a Virtual Console channel.
You mean the PSP Cartman? (Score:5, Funny)
Seriously, once you notice the resemblance it's impossible to see it as anything else.
http://gizmodo.com/5273445/psp-go-a-dead-ringer-for-south-parks-eric-cartman [gizmodo.com]
Re: (Score:2)
>Seriously, once you notice the resemblance it's impossible to see it as anything else.
I was about to call you out on this, and then I clicked the link. Now, all I'm saying is: "screw you guys, I'm going home"
Intensely competitive? (Score:4, Informative)
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
Failed design is fail. (Score:5, Interesting)
The price tag is bad enough - but until I can flip a PSP closed to protect the screen and controls the way anybody can with any of the three models of the Nintendo DS, there's just no way in hell I'm going to waste my money on one of these.
I carry my DS in the hip pocket of my cargo shorts - it gets banged up, sat on, smooshed against the hull of the bus. It's spanged off of desks and doors, barstools and bannisters. And while the case is scraped and scratched (and mildly pulverized in one corner thanks to a FLYING LEAP the thing took onto pavement), the screens are still in working order and the machine continues to give me games on the go without complaint.
Sure, I could buy a screen protector or whatever for the PSP like I have for my iPod - but the only thing I've ever had to buy for my DS is games, and I prefer to keep it that way. If I'm gaming outside and it's raining, I just stick the thing in a ziplock bag.
As I see it, I'd be paying a hundred bucks more for the "privilege" of the screen getting scratched all to hell the second I stick it in the pocket with my keys... and it doesn't play any of my games. And I have a lot of DS and GBA games.
Sony may have owned the 32-bit generation of consoles, but they have yet to come up with anything compelling in the portable (or online) arena. Heck, the one friend of mine with a PSP uses it to run a Skype client. What does that say about the platform?
On a related note - when the first GBAs hit the market, they could play GB games. That was dropped with the DS, which could play GBA games. Now, finally, with the DSi, Nintendo has dropped the GBA capability (along with battery life, which is why when my DS gives out I'll be buying a DS Lite - or even another DS if I can find a new one. The DSL is a smidge too small for my hands). Nintendo has gone through several generations of handhelds and has maintained backwards compatibility with at least the first generation of each. Sony's on their second PSP and they've already dropped UMD - which screws over anyone who's paid good money for games that come on UMD media.
Clearly, they don't understand why Nintendo continues to dominate the market - only that they do. Kinda like Microsoft and Google - Sony, like Microsoft, seems to keep trying to take the lead, and every attempt is further and further proof that they just don't get it.
Re: (Score:1, Insightful)
I carry my DS in the hip pocket of my cargo shorts - it gets banged up, sat on, smooshed against the hull of the bus. It's spanged off of desks and doors, barstools and bannisters. And while the case is scraped and scratched (and mildly pulverized in one corner thanks to a FLYING LEAP the thing took onto pavement), the screens are still in working order and the machine continues to give me games on the go without complaint.
You must have one of the original fat DS's, no way in hell a DS Lite would withstand
Re: (Score:2)
Yeah, it's a DS Phat (as i've seen it spelled in some places). The Lite seems kinda dinky by comparison, honestly - though the screens are MUCH brighter and the battery life is apparently a lot longer.
My touch screen is starting to go a bit (the lower left quadrant can take multiple taps to register with a finger), and if you listen close you can hear the springs in the shoulder buttons - but otherwise, the thing functions fine. It just looks like it was dug out of a New Jersey ditch.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Actually, I believe this is their 4th version of the PSP, not their 2nd, which only goes to show that they're even further out of touch.
Re: (Score:2)
No offence, but Sony's got a much better backward-compatibility track record than Nintendo.
Arguably backward compatibility has a lot more to do with your installed consumer base than anything else. If you count the number of Gameboy games that were on the market by the time the color or advance units were released, it would have been simply foolish to lose all those titles.
Sony on the other hand is obviously selling this product to people who don't yet have a PSP and several of the originally UMD-only game
50+ Million PSPs vs Some Guy On Slashdot (Score:2, Interesting)
Over 50 million PSPs have been sold worldwide by Sony. But some guy on Slashdot says they don't know what they are doing...
Which one to believe?
Re: (Score:1, Troll)
And Nintendo has sold double that worldwide with the DS.
Re: (Score:2)
The PSP screen isn't fragile, it's tough. Some kind of weird hard plastic, rather reflective and it shows smudges easy, but it doesn't scratch easy.
Dead pixels more of a problem too (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Maybe they do understand why Nintendo continues to dominate that market. So they target a different market with a different type of gaming portable. Yeah, their target audience is smaller given the price tag, but as long as they are making a
Obviously not for kids. (Score:3, Informative)
Re: (Score:1)
Re:Obviously not for kids. (Score:5, Informative)
Re: (Score:2)
Okay, grown-up kids, then.
Re: (Score:2)
I call BS on that number.
Not once have I ever been asked who I'm purchasing a game for (my 7 year old daughter, birthday presents for cousins, friends kids, etc).
Not once have I ever been carded when buying a game or asked for my age.
Not once have I ever seen or taken a survey asking me questions along these lines.
So where are they getting their numbers from?
How many kids do you know that don't play video games?
How many pre-teens, tweens and teens do you see taking survey's?
If the survey was done online, wa
Re: (Score:1)
Wait, you think a $250 piece of electronics is a kids toy... and you call Sony out of touch? I have a PSP3000, and the screen, and everything else for that matter, is fine. I also keep it in a case when not in use (as my wife keeps her DS in a case too... which is handy when you want to play more than the one game current in the device).
As far as the "upscale male geek," maybe more hardcore gamers, because I think there are exactly zero games on the DS which interest me, but lots of money? The PSP I have
Re: (Score:2)
You are the anomaly. I RARELY see anyone take the slightest bit of care of their smaller electronics, no matter the cost. It sounds absurd, but is observably true. There's a reason there are several thousand of each current revision of portable game system that are destroyed by poor care (broken in half, smashed to bits, scratched to the point of lunacy) on eBay at any given time. Then imagine how many were under warranty and were returned.
And technology costs more the more you shrink it.
Re: (Score:1)
I RARELY see anyone take the slightest bit of care of their smaller electronics, no matter the cost. It sounds absurd, but is observably true.
Um, I really don't give a fuck what you SEE. Believe what you want, I don't care, and just because you see something different doesn't mean I'm an anomaly. It means you see what you want to see.
There's a reason there are several thousand of each current revision of portable game system that are destroyed by poor care (broken in half, smashed to bits, scratched to
Re: (Score:2)
I wasn't insulting you by saying you care for your electronics, tool. I was implying that you ARE NOT part of the unwashed masses that smash their own feces in to the keypads of the cell phones.
I'm just a computer engineer that repairs small electronics as a job, what the hell would I know? If anything, I should be mad at you for not being my customer. I guess all I can tell you is I SEE poorly cared for electronic devices ALL DAY LONG EVERY DAY, and I'm sure what passes through my hands is 0.00000000000000
Re: (Score:1)
I wasn't insulting you by saying you care for your electronics, tool. I was implying that you ARE NOT part of the unwashed masses that smash their own feces in to the keypads of the cell phones.
I wasn't insulted by your comments; I was pointing out your mistaking your experiences for reality. You still don't seem to get it; you THINK that "unwashed masses that smash their own feces in to the keypads of the cell phones," but you offer no evidence this actually is the norm. Most people I see take great care
Re: (Score:1)
Oops, I almost typed up a real response with some actual numbers before I checked your previous comments on other threads to see you're just trolling and real discussion is pointless. My bad!
Re: (Score:2)
Somehow I doubt you have any real numbers; that's always the cope out here, "oh you're a troll." Well at least your consisent; judging someone by 24 out of 5000 posts that happens to have an Excellent karma rating.
But please, if you read this post your numbers. Or for that matter, please explain to me why I should pay for someone else's healthcare. Regardless of how I worded it, that's the heart of the matter (and the wording comes from being annoyed that I'm already paying too much in taxes and people w
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
THANK YOU SONY!!!!!
I fix video games for a living, and Sony has made great plans to keep me in business. This thing looks like it could quite possibly be the most fragile system ever. Adults can't use sliders without breaking them, and Sony wants to give them to teenagers and children that will throw them in backpacks with textbooks.
Taking clamshell durability versus slider durability, then comparing to the rate of user destruction of clamshell systems would imply that without a carrying case or protective
Re: (Score:2)
The PSP isn't designed for kids, people don't buy them for kids they buy them for themselves. It's a game playing, photo viewing, music playing, video playing, remote playing, RSS reading, web browsing, skype capable, internet radio playing machine. It can also take photos itself, and serve as a GPS device as well, but those addons have not been released in the NTSC U/C territory....bastards.
The PSP may look fragile, I remember people saying how the PSP-1000 looked so fragile that they were afraid of brea
UMD copy utility and PS3 slim (Score:2)
Does anyone have any info yet about what is going to be done about buying UMD games and movies in stores and getting them onto the PSP Go?
Also there was nothing on the firmed-up rumors of an upcoming PS3 slim, does anyone have anything more concrete as well?
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
No info on that. But apparently from this point going forward, any new PSP game that's available as a UMD will also be available as a download. I'm sure a decent portion of the back catalog will get moved online also.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I think the problem with the PSP Go is that a custom firmware will suddenly make it a very useful device.
Right now, it's overpriced and useless - you'll hav
Re: (Score:2)
UMD games, they're going to let you rebuy them off their online store.
UMD movies, no one bought those so they can safely ignore that issue.
Spread too thin? (Score:2, Interesting)
Currently Sony has such a complex line of products, virtually none of them leaders of their segment, that you can't help but wonder if they have completely lost their bearings. Perhaps a re-invention of the company, a la Steve Jobs when returning to Apple, would allow them to cut the dead wood and refocus on a few areas where they can be again undisputed kings. As it is right now, however, every new launch seems like another (overpriced) dead horse.
The PSP isn't a DS competitor... (Score:1)
And there's the flaw with this comparison. Sony is not comparing the PSP Go to a DS. It's probably more in line with a ipod touch, if anything.
The DS is what you buy your kids. The PSP Go is what you buy yourself.