You might think cool hardware would be enough, but, you would be wrong. Apple has cool hardware, but after playing a lot of games on a touchscreen, I didn't really care for it. I was ready to jump over to the PSPgo, which would deliver a far better gaming experience.
To be honest, I love the hardware, its cool, no worries. Smaller buttons, yeah, well, its ok. I don't mind. I have man hands and I can make it work. I really like the controls being under the screen, I don't have to hold up the PSP as high, it just "feels" better. I love the sliding mechanism. Some themes you can get make it so that when you slide it shut, a clock appears. Its really cool. Some of the controls, like the volume control, are in a truly irritating place. But its small, and portable, and sacrifices were made and I'm ok with that. I am a Sony guy, I love their stuff, and once again the Sony hardware team does not disappoint!
Problem is, when you roll a piece of hardware that has no UMD slot, you better have some awesome supporting infrastructure. And we know what cool supporting infrastructure is thanks to the iPhone and its Appstore.
There are a lot more games for the iphone than for the PSP. But the PSP is supposed to be a better, pedigreed gaming machine. We all know it. There are more Mustangs than Ferraris out there and most of us would rather have a Ferrari. And as for the gobs of games for the iphone, over 20,000 I think, how many games does one need, anyway? And most of them are junk.
So i was really excited about the PSPgo. Sony knows games and gaming systems. The PSPgo should smoke any wimpy touch screen gaming "system". And in terms of hardware, I think it does.
But the PSP go has its own issues. The bottom line is, you should buy a PSP with a UMD slot - for now.
Here are the reasons:
There are only 7 "mini" game titles in the app store at the time of this review.
There are 16 "exclusive" PSP downloadable titles.
Then there are hundreds of PSP games, but, the issue there is that many of these PSP games cost LESS on UMD than they do on the PSPgo! So not only do you lose the ability to buy a USED game, and the ability to RENT the game from gamefly, you also actualy get to pay MORE for the games in download format. Its INCREDIBLE!
Ape escape... $13.99 on Amazon.com, $19.99 via digital download on the PSP.
beaterator... $36.99 on Amazon.com, $39.99 via digital download for psp.
Other games are the SAME PRICE as getting a hard copy. Except, you don't get to sell or trade that hard copy when you are done.
The biggest software source that I have access to a huge back catalog of PSP games that are NO LONGER IN PRINT. Gee. I'm super unimpressed. We all know the only reason games go out of print is because they aren't selling anymore and you can buy a used copy at gamestop for $5.
And guess what - I could access all this software from a PSP1000, PSP2000, or PSP3000, and buy used UMDs and sell my games when I'm done.
The downloadable games should be CHEAPER than buying a hard copy. You aren't paying for extra convenience. You should be paying less because that game did not have to be pressed and distributed thousands of miles to get to you.
In addition, the Playstation store - which is your most convenient way of getting games - is very poorly set up. Forget seeing a video of the game, as you can on Amazon. None of the games for sale even have screen shots so I can't tell what the heck i'm buying. There is less information available than on the back of a UMD case in the store. Hello 1995!
There are also no customer reviews, so I can't make a judgement from that.
The free Rockband Lite took 30 minutes to download, which seemed waaay too long and a lot longer than the iPhone games I've been buying. In a world where you can download a Kindle book in 2 minutes, and a iPhone game in less than 5, without even using WIFI, a 30 minute wifi required download is going to get old in a hurry. Oh yes, I know I could tether it to a computer or PS3 with a USB cable. Hellllllo 2004. Lets not brag about that too loudly, the PSPgo is starting to be a King of Inconvenience.
The bad appstore, poor download prices, and lack of cheap, addictive games is a total deal killer for me. Yes, Sony will fix this. Over time. Not by Christmas 2009.
Buy a PSP3000 this year. And leave the PSPgo for another time, after Sony works out its growing pains...
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