[Pai Pai Master]

Introducing PSP Go.

- 110g (43% lighter than PSP-3000)
- 3.8" screen
-No UMD slot; all titles are downloadable.
- 16 GB Flash Memory
- + Memory Stick Micro slot
- Bluetooth
-LittleBigPlanet, Gran Turismo Portable, Jak & Daxter: The Lost Frontier and Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops 2 are launch window titles.
-This isn't a new PSP console; they don't want to split the userbase. Won't have fancy new features like a touch screen, motion control or (boo) a second analog nub. No exclusive games with exclusive features.






-PlayStation Store for PSP will be expanded to include music and movie downloads.
-Will be pushed as the slightly more premium PSP model; so expect a price drop for the 3000, which is not being discontinued.






-It's small!





Look for it at E3.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

They are splitting the userbase, though. Sure, it gets around the issues of piracy - which is its only real function - but what retailer is going to stock something they would never make a profit from? They make no money on handhelds of consoles unless they're used.

Given how Sony, Nintendo and MS handle downloadable content right now - which is to say, like a gimmick - I forsee getting nickel and dimed out games instead of something like, say, the Persona remake the day the Persona remake is released.

Removing the UMD slot for PSP is actually worse than DSi removing the GBA slot. Instead of behing able to play games now, I have to wait for SCEA to deem the games worthy of a download

[Pai Pai Master]

Here comes the negativity train.

PSP hardware hasn't been sold at a loss for years. And take a look at how Sony is currently selling downloadable games (i.e. full retail games, not dlc titles) before you try knocking it. I just bought Patapon 2 for $15 on the PlayStation store. $5 less than the original game.

[Raydeus]

I'll just call it PSP Portable.

I'm surprised they aren't pushing for it to have cellphone functionality, but guess they'll just add Skype support instead. Either way I'm wondering how well it will do as the countermeasure to gamers turning to the iPhone for portable gaming that it seems to be.



Edit PS > Oh! And I definitely see the PSP-4000 using the same format to add a keyboard functionality in the future (and a touch screen.) Gotta love Technology.

[Pai Pai Master]

PSP already has Skype support.

The smaller screen is the only nag I have, but I'll have to see it for myself before I make judgments. My launch PSP has finally stopped reading UMDs, either due to me dropping it far too many times or it already sensing the demise of the format so I'm ready to go digital.

[Raydeus]

Originally Posted by Pai Pai Master

PSP already has Skype support.

Yep, that's why I'm saying the new PSP Portable will probably have it too. But still, I would've expected them to go Sony-Ericsson on that one. o_O

Originally Posted by Pai Pai Master

The smaller screen is the only nag I have, but I'll have to see it for myself before I make judgments. My launch PSP has finally stopped reading UMDs, either due to me dropping it far too many times or it already sensing the demise of the format so I'm ready to go digital.

I think it's meant to be a direct competition to the iPhone, so it would depend on how big the new PSP's screen is compared to that.

Also, I just hope Sony releases a legal way to back up your UMD games (maybe requiring online registration and stuff Steam style) so I can keep using my PSP after the UMD dies. Plus UMD can be kinda noisy (and slow without instalation) some times.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Originally Posted by Pai Pai Master

Here comes the negativity train.

Then enlighten me, where's the silver lining in any of this? Sony just said "fuck you" to retailers and some of their core third parties. Sony is going to have to prove at E3 that PSN releases will be at the same rate as ALL UMD ones or I think a lot of people and some key developers aren't going to bite.

PSP hardware hasn't been sold at a loss for years. And take a look at how Sony is currently selling downloadable games (i.e. full retail games, not dlc titles) before you try knocking it. I just bought Patapon 2 for $15 on the PlayStation store. $5 less than the original game.

No, that's because PSP's software has been the least profitable thing for Sony in years.

I'm not talking about the hardware being a loss for Sony - I don't care about Sony's profits - I'm talking about it not being a profit for retailers. Selling new hardware never been a profitable venture for them, from any company, period. Only the games make them some money and even then its usually used games that are the real profit for them. Take that away and you're not making many retailer buddies.

Also, the design is pretty horrible. Clamshell would protect the screen at least. The way you have to arch your fingers behind the screen doesn't look that comfortable, either.

I was on the fence about getting a PSP-3000, looks like that's just what I'll be getting now unless Sony proves stuff like Dissidia and Persona will be there on Day One.

[Pai Pai Master]

Every game they've released both retail and DD have been day-and-date releases so far, or have seen the download version appear a few days before the retail version.

PSP-3000 is still gonna be around so you have the option of both retail and download games if you want. I'm ready to jump off UMD though so this is the perfect choice for those who want a smaller and more efficient system, even if there is the tradeoff of a more limited library around launch. There's already a pretty big library of DD titles available for PSP now between full retail games, PSN games and PS1 catalog titles though, so I don't think it'll be a problem at all when it becomes a focus for first and third party. Capcom has over 40 titles alone to announce for PSN next week. It's doubtful that other publishers will be far behind when Sony has clearly been working closely with them in the last few months.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Well, the only developers I actually care about for PSP are SE and Altus. SE moves like a lumbering behemoth and while Atlus does its best to please fans, they can prove to be very shrwed at times.

For example, the original Shin Megami Tensei for Super Famicom is on Wii's VC... in Japan.

Atlus USA will not localize it. They've stated such several times because they don't think it will be profitable for them.

See, here's the thing about Digitial Distribution - its not instant gratification like retail is. Retail buys the games and the companies make their profits right there off the retailers and retailers make their money back on the customer end.

Digital Distribution - while its sounds good on paper for the end user - is not instant gratification for the developer. Its eventual. Not everyone is going to spend the manhours on translation or development for the eventual pot of gold that might not happen.

[Pai Pai Master]

Originally Posted by Raydeus

Also, I just hope Sony releases a legal way to back up your UMD games (maybe requiring online registration and stuff Steam style) so I can keep using my PSP after the UMD dies. Plus UMD can be kinda noisy (and slow without instalation) some times.

1up and a few other journalists have mentioned some sort of kiosk service where you can connect your PSP Go and insert a UMD to have the game downloaded on to your memory stick or something like that. I'm not sure how reliable it was (it was mentioned along with other things that have been proven correct so far) but Sony didn't comment on it at all in the leaked QORE video. We'll have to wait and see but my PSP UMD library isn't so huge that I'll be devastated to see it go. I've already started to buy quite a few of my games on PSN.

I'm a little miffed that I was in the middle of Crisis Core when I killed my PSP-1000's UMD drive though.

[TheGrandMom]

I'll get one because I buy every damn system but I probably won't use it much. The smaller screen is a HUGE disappointment to me. I use my PSP for watching tv shows and movies a lot, especially when I go in for treatments that last 6 hours. (My hospitals cable sucks balls. I can watch talk shows or soap operas OR the hospital info channel. Oooo I could learn how to use a walker or the effects of general anesthesia.) So my larger screen PSP is very enjoyable and this smaller screen isn't very welcome. (And yes even that slight of a change does make a big difference in videos....especially when your old and your eyes aren't as good as when you are young.)

Also I'm not one for pockets. I don't put my PSP or DSi in my pockets so their actual size really doesn't effect me much. They'd have to make them pretty darn small to fit in my jean pockets anyways. (Seriously, what is up with that? Why are women's pockets so damn small? They serve absolutely no purpose.)

Now the weight issue, yes I think the PSP is a bit on the heavy side. Though I did use one as a weapon once and it worked very well..........ok not too well for the PSP or the guy's jaw!

Bluetooth, OH HELL YES!! Being able to use my bluetooth headset will be awesome for listening to my music and watching videos....oh wait...smaller screen...nix the video watching...now I'm 1/2 as excited about it.

No UMD, I could care less. I rarely use UMD's anyways and I don't see the big deal. Most people are into electronics that buy PSP's so they usually have a PC. You don't need a PS3 to access the Playstation Store. D/ling games is the wave of the future so get used to it. I personally prefer to have a physical game to hold in my hand but that could be going the way of the dinosaur regardless of how I feel.

[Pai Pai Master]

I felt the same way a little while ago but nowadays I'm far more supportive of DD. Understandably I don't wanna be downloading 20-40GB PS3 games every other day but as far as handhelds, PC and smaller PSN games I'm more than happy to buy DD. Hopefully by next generation this'll be an option available for all games and all consoles.

This thing is around the same size, and lighter than an iPhone so I think the smaller screen might end up being a worthwhile tradeoff for me. Still bigger than my iPhone screen and I'm fine watching videos on that. This will probably mean more video watching on PSP for me than normally as well, since the full PSN will be accessible on it.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

I will admit there are some games I'm happy with downloading, but the big three also have to have some receipt system in place so players can re-download corrupted or lost games. Its not industry standard and that's kind of a problem.

I know Nintendo DSi's store links to a My Nintendo account and when I go on the DSiWare store I can see what I've downloaded marked as "downloaded" so that's kind of a receipt, but I know if your 360 dies and your HDD there croaks, you're up Shit Creek without a paddle and likely would have to rebuy any game you downloaded.

Gamers are going to want to have a backup copy, even a non-physical back-up. I do know Wii and DSi allow for this, but it only goes so far. I can back up my games to an SD card, but the software and back-up are married to that DSi and can't be used anywhere else. If that's Sony's process, too, good for them.

I probably overreacted a little at first, I'm just wary because its Sony doing Digital Distribution on such a larger scale than before. I just forsee SCEA opreating the same ass-backward way no matter how much technology changes.

Getting rid of UMD will do wonder's for PSP Go's battery life alone, not to mention loading times. I suppose I can hold off on PSP a big longer if this change proves to be good - but the library needs to be respectable at launch.

[Pai Pai Master]

I will admit there are some games I'm happy with downloading, but the big three also have to have some receipt system in place so players can re-download corrupted or lost games. Its not industry standard and that's kind of a problem.

:/

It's pretty easy to get in contact with customer support and regain access to your downloads if your hardware fails.

Hell, you don't even have to do that with PSN. Just link your PS3 user to your PSN account and you can redownload anything you've already purchased instantly. If this happens more than the 5 times it's allowed, that's your own damn problem.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Originally Posted by Pai Pai Master

It's pretty easy to get in contact with customer support and regain access to your downloads if your hardware fails.

That shouldn't have to be necessary, though. If you have an account linked to PSN that says you paid for these games and you register new hardware, that should be all it takes to get to download them again. Hell, if they want to charge me $1 to redownload them, fine, whatever. So long as I don't have to repay the full price or deal with being placed on hold to infinty and beyond.

Customer Support services have proven time and again they don't want to deal with customers, make it so the feeling is mutual.

Hell, you don't even have to do that with PSN. Just link your PS3 user to your PSN account and you can redownload anything you've already purchased instantly. If this happens more than the 5 times it's allowed, that's your own damn problem.

Well, why didn't you just say so and correct me in the first place?