PSP Go

A few months ago I broke my PSP in a rather sad fashion, may I say. I was playing PaRapper . The Rapper and I got up to check something down the hall . When I came back I had forgot ten I placed my beloved PSP1000 in my back pocket and I had indeed cracked the screen upon sitting down…the sound was working…which was the “err-err” from failing a songon Parapper...I imagine a sad face was making that sound.

I decided that I would get a new PSP but (and here’s where it gets shady) would I update to a PSP Go or to a PSP3000? I decided to wait on it (…I was broke) . I waited almost six months (I was really broke) . Finally , after I had totally cleansed my system of PSP goodness , I decided to pick up a brand new PSP (I finally got a raise!). But I did do some research. Basically hard facts down, the PSP has a slightly smaller screen but that does result in a very clear picture. Also, the 16 GB of internal memory is a bit small considering the size of game varies between .5 and 1 GB of space. But the biggest thing is the swapping out of the Memory Stick Pro Duo for the M2, which is pretty big because M2 cards cast more via the lack of interest outside of PSP . Go users.

The biggest elephant in the room was the fact the UMD drive is gone. Now I 'm sick of hearing that. Every blog, video, article , everything on the PSP, somewhere it says “lacks the UMD drive”. Sony tried to get a “swap” service for PSP Go users but video game companies said “nay-nay” and that was the end of that . That singlehandidly almost killed the Go. But wait!!!! It’s not dead yet! (more on that later)


But all the talk on "lack" made me think back when the PSP was first introduced. The lack of the UMD drive on the new PSP Go is the same problem that the PSP1000 had with having a UMD drive! See , the UMD drive was hated on because of lack of space on a UMD disk (just under 2 GB). So after seeing “no UMD drive” on everything I said “Wait! I haven’t played my damn PSP in months! What do I care if I can't play the games I haven't played anyways ? ” So I decided to give in and move forward and get a PSP Go!

Now for a review.

1.) I like the fact it’s all digital, no need for UMDs in you pocket or taking up space and falling out of you car when you open you trunk (yes, I had a lot of ‘em).

2.) The analog stick has great placement ; it wasn’t until I had played it for a few hours that I noticed my thumb wasn’t cramping and in red hot pain. (No one has ever noticed that!!!! I AM THE FIRST GEEK TO THANK SONY FOR MOVING IT!!!!!)

3.) It’s pretty . I’m not a whole fashion kind of guy but I love the fact I mistake it for my phone.

4.) It’s small . The PSP was plagued with the fact it wouldn’t fit in a pocket. Now that you can, I take it everywhere like intended.

5.) Works flawlessly with the PS3 and PCs. Only bad note on that I wish you could download games to the PSP via Remote Play; you can download them but you can’t copy them to the PSP without a USB connection (but another note, you can play classic PS1 games with it, just don’t lose your connection).

Now the bad

1.) M2 memory card is new and pricey. Maybe in the future this won’t be a problem but as of right now this is the first and big problem. 16 GB isn’t a whole lot , but I understand to keep the price down on the PSP Go they needed to make the hard drive smaller.

2.) The price of games. Now you can complain that this is my way of saying “no UMD” but hear me out. I can go the Gamestop and pick up, let's say, Ridge Racer (new) for less then $10 but if I download it it’s gonna cost me $20. So something 's not right. But!!! Sony has a solution.


This is the soul reason I decided to move to the PSP Go. Sony is expected to announce a rental service on games. Now no word on price or limitations, but the idea alone makes me gitty. Yes, gitty. The fact Sony has said “fine, we can’t let our users update from UMD to digital, okay we’ll do something different” - which means UMDs are going to die. Sorry UMDs.

The only other thing I don’t like about the PSP Go (but it’s the same on the PSP so I didn’t number this with the other two) is the fact games aren’t separated like they are on the PS3. So you want to play a Final Fantasy (on the PS3 it would be under games under a folder named PS1) well just go to your games listing then go to the folder. Then find it with the other games you have. I hate that. I want a separation, just so it looks clean. My Rockband tracks are even in that folder!! WTF! But that's an update that's rather a simple fix.


So that’s it. PSP Go 9/10 (soon to be 10/10)

-Brandon Dyer