Sony PSP Go Review

Sony's PSP Go was (officially) announced at E3 in June. The PSP Go is about 52% smaller and weighs about 43% less than the PSP-3000. The screen now slides up for a TV/Movie display hiding the buttons and Bluetooth capabilities have now been introduced as well. This model however no longer supports the UMD format which means that all games and media will be placed on the system by digital download so you must have an internet connection available to get any new games.

Features

• Extremely trimmed down design weighing in at 3.8 ounces making it feel very nice to hold in your hands. It feels like it could easily be snapped in two because of its super thin and light design but is quite strong and durable. One downfall of the smaller size is that the screen has shrunk from 4.3 inches to 3.8 inches. An upside to this however is that picture quality actually increased when playing games I had for my psp-1000
• Has 16GB of internal memory so you can start piling on the digital media from the PSN Store or transferring over your MP3's and movies from your PC. Additional memory is now limited to Memory Stick Micro (M2)
• Bluetooth is now a possibility allowing you to connect to your PC or use your PS3 controllers to play games on the system. The latest firmware update allows you to tether your PSP Go to another bluetooth device such as your cell phone to establish a wireless 3G connection for online gaming or browsing.
• Video out has returned allowing you to play your games on your TV (cables sold separately)
• Comes with Media Go software allowing you to easily establish file transfers from your PC to you PSP Go (windows machines only at this time)

After considering the big aesthetic overhaul, the PSP Go doesn't really offer that much more aside from Bluetooth capabilities and the 16GB's of internal memory. I found it rather tedious to begin the entire process as well and envisioned the digital download method as more of a burden than anything. Before I could really do anything I wanted, I had to charge the battery for two hours then download the mandatory firmware update and install it. 3 hours after taking it out of the box I still needed a game to play. I logged onto the PSN Store and downloaded Final fantasy VII (1.3 GB). After another 2 hours of downloading and 30 minutes of installing I now had my first game. That means it took me about five and a half hours before I could start enjoying my new toy. I do see value in the PSP Minis for this very reason as they would provide short bursts of on-the-go entertainment that won't take up too much hard disk space and are quick to download and install.

This leads me to believe that this handheld is geared more for new comers to the PSP party then old acquaintances. If you already own a PSP, you aren't really missing out on much. If you already have a nice collection of UMD's, you won't be able to use them on this device. This means you'd essentially have to keep your older model just to play those and then download new games that you could only play on your PSP Go. That's a lot to ask of people.

Be warned that this is a niche type device to facilitate a growing trend of online consumerism. If you like how Apple is doing things with their App Store, this is essentially Sony's answer for you. You'll essentially need a wireless connection close by at all times along with a credit card to build your PSP Go games library up. If you already own a PSP I suggest waiting until the PSP 2 is released. If you are new to the PSP scene and don't mind any of the cons I just stated, you're gonna love your sexy new PSP Go. keep in mind it's price tag is about $50 US more than the PSP-3000 so that may be a determining factor in your decision to buy as well.