PSPgo - Piano Black

There's no amount of hate for the PSPGo, and some of the arguments against purchasing one are hard to counter. That said, I purchased one anyway, and I couldn't be happier with it. First, I'll admit to having owned a PSP-2000 a few years ago. I eventually rid myself of it, mainly because I was doing the vast majority of my gaming at home, and there weren't many games out for the system that really held my interest. With more RPGs out for it now such as Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions and Dissidia, I was all prepared to bite the bullet a 3000, but the notion of carrying around a number of UMDs around with me stopped me. I commute every day and so whatever I bring with me for entertainment needs to be as compact and integrated as possible. There's just no good way to transport UMDs short of buying a carrying case, and throwing one of those into my bag with my laptop, phone, notebooks, MP3 player and associated peripherals was definitely a step beyond my comfort level. Enter the PSPGo. Integrated 16 GB flash memory, negating the need for both UMDs and memory cards? Check. Smaller size, allowing one to pocket the device without exposing half of it to the elements? Yeah, buddy. Incredibly crisp screen resolution? Also present. Considering I'd sold my PSP games along with my unit, yes, I needed to build a library again. That was solved with a simple $50 Playstation Network Card, which gave me enough to buy a whopping seven PSOne games from my earlier years. I was in gaming heaven. I really can't stress how amazing it is to be able to play those games again, and whenever I want, no less. The unit itself really is great. I have fairly large hands and fingers, and I have had no trouble holding and operating the device comfortably and accurately. The sliding mechanism is much like what you'd find in many cell phones nowadays, and it feels sturdy and will likely not break easily. I've always been a fan of Sony's XCrossMediaBar, the operating system of sorts for the PSP and PS3, and navigating it is intuitive and simple. To address a few common complaints about it: First, yes, it's true. The PSPGo only supports wireless-b, which is pretty frustrating if you like to keep your personal wi-fi network up to date. I'm not sure if Sony has any plan to rectify this considering the most obvious work around to this is to download whatever you need onto your PC and then transfer it to the PSP, but it's my major complaint about the product. Second, I've had no problem playing a number of different games on the unit, including classic PSOne RPGs. I can read all text without straining my eyes. I'll state here that I don't wear corrective lenses of any kind, so this experience may be different if you do; my advice is to try it out as much as you can before you purchase it. Simple. Third, some claims regarding the battery life seem to be exaggerated. I charged mine to full capacity right out of the box (which, I expect, some do not do with most new electronic devices despite it being the very first step in any Quick Start Guide) then proceeded to play with it for nearly five hours straight without needed to plug it in. If you turn off redundant, nonessential and unused features (Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, anyone?), the unit will go for a very respectable amount of time. Finally, the biggest complaint of all: Sony doesn't seem too eager to make their entire UMD library available for digital purchase, apparently. Really? Bear in mind that this technology launched just over a month ago, and that all sorts of negotiations need to be made with developers to make their software available in Sony's Playstation Network Store. All of this takes time. Sure, the argument could be made that Sony could've had the wheels in motion much earlier, but given the sheer number of games out for the original PSP system, are you really going to fault them for having only a limited number of titles available after the launch? Remember that Nintendo only had a handful of games up for purchase and download when the Wii was released. Give it time, people. Sony may be trying their hand in the casual gamer market, but they're not stupid. They know where their real consumer base is: dedicated gamers who won't run out and buy their newest incarnation unless they have a lot to offer. This includes the PSP library. That said, considering I was most attracted to the portability of the PSPGo combined with the availability of classic PSOne games and the fact that I did not currently have a PSP or any games, this was a great purchase. I couldn't be happier with it.

The PSPgo is an interesting device. It would appear to many that this hardware revision seems to have taken one step forward (sleeker design, bluetooth capability, built-in memory) and two steps back (no UMD drive, price, purchases tied to the PSN Store). I'm here to say: I love my PSPgo. First, a little bit of my background: I was an original adopter of the PSP-1000 system. I love the PSP platform and feel as though the hardware itself as well as many of the platform's games are severely unappreciated. I want to provide some commentary for what kind of customers might be looking into purchasing a PSPgo: 1) The Gadget Geek It's obvious, even from the customer images and official product images, that the PSPgo is one slimmed-down, sexy device. If you're into gadgets, the PSPgo will not disappoint: this is a much more portable, sleeker device than the PSP 1000 / 3000 systems. This handheld will fit where the old PSPs won't, that's for sure. The sliding-open of the controls is addicting; it mimics many of the cell phones that have this kind of mechanism. 2) Someone who is looking into purchasing their first PSP system It's a tough call to truly recommend the PSPgo for those who are looking into purchasing this as their first PSP system. Personally, I would. Many probably wouldn't. As of right now, the PSN Store does not have all of the best PSP games available to download. However, they do have a fantastic current selection that includes Monster Hunter Freedom Unite, Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee 2, LocoRoco 2 and more. As of today, they do not have several fantastic games on the PSN Store (Dissidia and Crisis Core, to name a couple). I can only assume, in time, these will be available. The other consideration is buying used games at stores such as Gamestop. As a new PSP owner, you probably want to buy a lot of older games that you have yet to enjoy. These probably come in at fairly cheap used game prices at stores. If you have a PSPgo system, some of these prices are comparable; some are not. If a first-time PSP owner does decide to purchase a PSPgo system, they don't want to worry about purchasing additional memory right out of the game, which is a nice little bonus. 3) Someone who currently owns a PSP 1000 / 3000 If you have the financial means, I think purchasing a PSPgo to compliment your PSP 1000 / 3000 system is a great idea. This is the kind of customer I am. I was able to use Amazon's video game trade-in program to knock the price down for the PSPgo system. I still have my PSP 1000 system around in case I want to play any of the games I have on UMD. And, not surprisingly (or maybe surprisingly for some), I have yet to have a hankering to go back and play any of the UMD games I own since owning a PSPgo. And I have some fantastic games on UMD that are not offered as a digital download currently on the PSN Store! And I think this is where the PSPgo system gets a LOT of hate: the whole discussion about not being able to play any UMD games you may currently own. My thought on that is this: I think before owning a PSPgo, this might be a concern. But when you have one, you don't have a drive to play any of your UMD games. I have plenty to play in terms of PSX / PSP games I've already downloaded and have downloaded since owning the system. I don't know, maybe I'm just a special case or something. Conclusion I absolutely love my PSPgo: it's sexy, it's incredibly portable and I love having a whole smattering of games available right there on my system. The price may be a tad bit high, but if you can swing it, you'll love the PSPgo system. Since owning my PSPgo, I have not wanted to play any of my current UMD games on my old PSP system. There's a lot of currently released titles on the PSN Store to satisfy my needs.

Finally bought a PSP Go after a huge price drop on a Black Friday special. Glad I waited for the price drop instead of buying the Go when it first came out. I also have bought an 8 GB memory stick micro, but with downloading more and more games, music, videos and photos used it up pretty quickly and just today went back to purchase my second 8 GB memory stick micro, expanding my Go to 32 GB now. I didn't want to have to carry UMDs around with me and needed something smaller. Great little portable, able to connect to the internet wirelessly and then you can use Remote Play to connect and play on your PS3 ! It's got Skype, Internet radio, coming soon Qriocity (sort of like ITunes). I bought a convertor from Japan that allows the PSP camera to be connected to my Go and it works perfectly. Not only all this, but until some time in 2011 (think it's spring), you can also get a code from Sony to download 3 free games Little Big Planet, Rachet and Clank; Size matters and Socom Fireteam Bravo 3 which would normally cost you $80 ! You just have to sign onto the Playstation Network with your PSP and Sony will email you the code to redeem the games. I received mine in 3 days after signing in. Some people say there aren't many downloadable games for the PSP, but after looking online, I see many games that are downloadable and Sony are still putting more up for download every month. In my opinion a great device and now at a more affordable price.

This was everything I was hoping for and more, thanks to the seller!

The PSP Go is Sony's newest iteration of the Playstation Portable hardware. Smaller and lighter than the newest PSP (PSP-3000), the system is the same but removes the UMD drive and puts in a 16 GB hard drive. The games are now downloaded digitally, either through your PC, PSP Go through WI-FI or through a Playstation 3. Gaems are bought through the Playstation Network store and already boasts over 200 PSP game for download, plus 84 PSone classics. Like the older PSPs, the Go lets you also play music, watch movies and store pictures on you system. The PSP Go even includes a copy of Media Go, Sony's PC software that lets you convert DRM-free movies and music to play on you PSP. The software also acts as a link to the Playstation Store for when you download games. With the download-only format, you have to have a way to access the internet to download you games. Game cards are sold at stores buy give you a code to redeem for a download or you can buy them through the Playstation Store. The 16 GB hard drive is adequate, but with games beng up to 1.6 GB each, it cam fill up fast. Memory can ge expanded through memory stick micros, with are availible up to 8 GB so far. Games can be saved to the memory stick and stored if required. The games can be saved to a computer (for storage purposes) but, while Sony's PSP Media Manager had an option to do a backup of your downloaded games, Media Go does not. Another problem I have with the Go is the switch in memory stick formats. The older PSP used a Pro Duo stick, which was available with up to 16 GB of memory. The switch of formats meant one would have to by all new memory sticks if they wanted more memory. The downloading of games can be problematic. To download on the computer of PSP, you cannot pause the download. The PSP Go had to be plugged in and connected wirelessly to complete the download. If you have a PS3, you can download the games through that, and even stop it and restart later. The games themselves has DRM protection and only work for the person who's PSN account downloaded the game. While up to 5 PSP can be registered per account, if you and another household member want to play the same downloaded game and have seperate accounts, you'll have to buy it twice. The PSN movie service, which is available in the States and in some European markets, is not available in Canada at this time. This includes any store bought movie that has a digital copy for the PSP. It won't work. All and all, this is a neat alternative the the normal PSP. This is not a replacement for the UMD PSP. All downloaded PSP gaems work on either system. While it is a bit pricey, it is definately a good system.

I expected better from a $200 purchase of a PSPGO. Upon seeing it for the first time, a significant scratch lining the screen, making games and navigation annoying. The unit also had a faulty sound and I received almost no audio when volume was at max and the right settings were made. When sliding the system, it sleeps as it's supposed to. But it fails to wake up and respond often when opened. The only bright side is that seller delivered on the right product with it's colour and earlier than expected date. On further testing, the games and playability are there. The audio on the system managed to come back more often, but still faces the issues. But the aforementioned problems with a poor screen can get in the way of what should have been a pretty standard portable experience. Currently, I don't recommend getting this from the seller.

I bought it used from a seller on Amazon fullfilled by amazon. As a game collector, I love it. Thankfully I didn't buy this to give to my son right away. Why you ask? Well the person who previously owned it and sent it in to Amazon (I'll withhold their name as it was on the PSP) left a lot of "Adult Content" if you catch my drift on it. Otherwise it's great.