PSP NoGo

Reviews are in.

From the day of its announcement, I knew Sony had its work cut out for them to make something like this sell. Much like the Game Boy Micro when it was released, its a new release of an older handheld with fewer functions, sleeker style, and a premium price point (See, I do have a precedent and not just bashing Sony due to some supposed bias). There are just too many compromises made for this system.

First, the UMD drive is gone. Okay, many people (including myself) didn't like the optical disc format in the first place, so it would make sense if Sony were listening to its customers to do something like this. But here's the thing: the reasons the UMD drive wasn't popular was because lugging around those games were tedious and unportable as they were, plus it drained the battery like crazy to have an optical drive on a handheld. Their solution with the Go does address the lack of portability, but not the battery life; it comes with a smaller battery, so it lasts as long as the old model does. Many gamers kept spare batteries with them when the PSP ran out of juice, as it happened frequently. But the Go makes this problem worse, as the battery isn't replaceable. Deal broken here.

Second, the current accessories no longer work, and new ones are proprietary. This one is for current owners mostly, and not too big a deal otherwise. The new memory sticks are pretty expensive, though.

Third, the download-only Go has the same old wireless 802.11b. Have fun not playing your games when you buy them, instead waiting for the download to finish. Sure, some games might not take too long, but many are more than 1GB, with no chance of resuming if your connection is interrupted (on wireless, that could be all the time). Plus, with the safety measures in place, no game or system update (required to play any game at all) will install without a full battery charge, meaning you can't get a new game when you're out (hehe, on the Go). Which brings me to the next part...

Service. All purchases are on the PlayStation Network, which is fine, but the PSN doesn't have all the PSP games. Furthermore, even if you did get all of them, you're not given ownership of your game; you get to download it up to five times. All at a price of MSRP. Speaking of price...

The Go itself is highway robbery at $250. Considering the PSP at 200, DSi at 170, and the DS at 130, you can do much better for your money.