Apparently word is slowly trickling through Sony that
its brand new handheld is actually called PSPgo (at least according to the second of two pieces of PR we've seen on the thing). We're guessing a similar word of mouth pace will operate in the inverse to communicate to top Sony brass that most folks think $250 for years-old gaming handheld hardware is a little steep these days. Of course, sequestered in our Engadget HQ and flush with cash from a hefty hit and run settlement a couple years back, we're more curious as to what
you think about the price and feature set here. Don't be shy, just let it all out.
Is Sony's PSPgo just what you needed, or an overpriced rehash?| Don't own a gaming handheld, and this won't win me over. | 12871 (31.7%) |
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| Sorry, too busy feeding Nintendogs on my DS to care. | 4259 (10.5%) |
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| My current PSP is treating me just fine, thanks. | 9312 (22.9%) |
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| I want one, but it's too expensive. Maybe after a price drop. | 9578 (23.6%) |
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| I want one, but don't want to leave my UMDs behind. Sad face. | 1557 (3.8%) |
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| This IS just what I needed. | 3040 (7.5%) |
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posted June 2nd 2009 6:20PM
@pakk
You might want to check that, when was the last time you checked, they changed it last week so that 2 is now after 3, so 200s are after 300s now... Sorry!
There are three things wrong with the PSP No!
1. Price- $250 LOL
2. Look- It's ugly
3. Functionality- For $250 Sony needs to add accelerometers and a touchscreen. Then maybe I would shell out 250 bucks but even then I would wait until the price dropped.
Looks like Sony didn't learn anything from Nintendo after all. Nintendo added a few things to DSi. Sony made a sexy system into a beast.
It's an overpriced hash. I'm sticking with my PSP 3000.
Once I can put Custom Firmware on it, if ever, I'll pick one up. 'Till then, I'll stick with my PSP-2000. Playing SNES and GBA games on this thing would be the shit.
NEEDS DUAL ANALOG
"Because iphone games aren't real games. This is coming from a guy who has developed a game for the iphone. It's a complete joke to work with."
You might want to check out 2XL's Supercross sometime. If nothing else, that game proves that if you can't develop a "good" game within the constraints of the iPhone, you're probably doing it wrong.
In the meanwhile, I don't quite understand the point of the PSPgo. Is Sony expecting current PSP owners to simply trash their collection of UMDs and games in favor of the PSPgo, or is the PSPgo intended for those who weren't interested in the PSP before now?
What is the incentive to buy one in either case? Will Sony somehow give users who bought games and movies on UMDs the option to send their UMD content in for vouchers to download digital only versions, or are these users just going to have to eat the cost a second time around to get the convenience promised in exchange for the $250 price tag?
I don't have but maybe 4 UMd games and NO movies. Most of my games are d'loaded. I don't know if I'm in the minority or not, but moving away from UMD is fine with me. I'll sell back my UMDs to GameStop and move on.
P.S. you want to buy any cassette tapes?
Looks like they fixed the Mylo. No more no less. If you are in the market for a portable games/media device, it would be hard to do better than this. Sometimes it would be nice to have a focused device and not a phone that tries to do other things. Touchscreen? I can't imagine how a serious gaming device could offer any sort of good experience with a touchscreen.
ill stick with my silver psp 2000 thank you! im actualy looking foward to get rockband unplugged for it which is saying a lot since i dont buy many psp games, mostly ds
Boy, what a letdown. I was brimming with excitement and anticipation up until the actual reveal of this thing, and now... ugh. Where are the truly worthwhile changes? The innovation? Upgraded specs at the very least?
I mean, I thought the rumored possible addition of a touch screen was a stretch, but it would have been *something*. At the very least, throw an OLED screen in there for the price they're charging. Heck, BOTH of those features are included in their latest Walkman players. Yeah, it might have driven up the price further, but at least then it would be a worthwhile addition to the market instead of this tripe. What gives, Sony?
I'll stick with my PSP-2000 running homebrew for now, I suppose. I should have learned not to expect much when they mucked up the PSP-3000's screen with all of those interlacing issues.
Tremendous, tremendous disappointment.
THESE POLL OPTIONS FUCKING SUCK.
HONESTLY.
Agreed. The poll might as well have two options reading "Yes," "Yes!!!" and "Banana".
Er. Three options.
I agree with a few people on here concerning the hackability of the device. I was never really interested in the PSP and the only reason I got one was after hearing of all the great things I can get going on it with custom firmware. Afterwards, the UMD slot of my PSP became useless and everything was just ran off of memory cards. Unfortunately, even the slim PSP was a bit of a brick in overall size, so I can't help but feel like this device was made for me since I never used UMDs and have a more "digital lifestyle" (albeit the darkside of the lifestyle).
I hope it gets cracked good and well.
I don't understand why anyone would want a PSP anymore if they aren't playing PSP games.
If you want a small form factor, there's a GP2X Wiz. Gameboy Micro sized with OLED touchscreen.
If you want sheer capability at the expense of size, there's (almost) a Pandora. DS Fat sized with touchscreen, bluetooth, real Wifi, up to 64GB of storage, full desktop eviroment (Firefox, OpenOffice), real keyboard, dual analogs etc. etc.
Both are open platforms.
I just can't figure out what the fascintation is with breaking into devices. When you had no choice because there wasn't a suitable alternative, I could see that. Now a days, it just seems like a hassle unless you get you're thrills from the act of doing something that you aren't supposed to be able to do. Maybe you can shed some light on this for me.
As one of the very first owners of the original PSP-1000, I had great hopes for this platform. Initial prototypes looked great, optional GPS, camera, keyboard (does anyone even remember? Sony certainly forgot to release it!), etc. Heck, I had it in my hands so fast after air shipment from Japan, I even got interviewed on NPR and said outright that the combination of multimedia features, gaming, and future of the platform was rosy next to the iPod.
Well, little did I know that instead of pushing out awesome titles one-after-another, and releasing the accessories and software that would expand this system, Sony did.... nothing. Even Metal Gear was a joke, IMO, on the PSP - a 'card' game?!? OMG, just shoot me!! It was annoying enough to have to learn all of these cards, but it was simply something to fill up the time in between where solid A+ titles were far and very few in-between. Even today, I can't count more than a few A+ titles I'd even recommend to friends and fellow gamers.
A year passed, and still nothing - no GPS, no keyboard, what was going on with Sony?!?
Luckily, the custom firmwares hit the scene, and at least I was able to play Sonic the Hedgehog once again! And the Atari 2600!! Why on earth Sony didn't just open up the platform is beyond me, but most platform developers are just.... dumb. The PC is the world's most flexible and used platform simply because it is open and user programmable.
Whatever... any initial Wow! factor the PSP had dropped dead like GM dealerships once the DS Lite and Nintendogs hit the scene. Completely, totally wiped PSP's you know what off the scene for months, if not a few years. Add to the hurt - the DS Lite even has a brighter!!! LCD screen than the PSP's on max brightness (and I'm talking about having even the brighter Japanese Sharp LCD screen here! - vs. the USA screens which suck! Honestly! I've compared my PSP-1000 screen to every generation straight to the PSP-3000 and it's still as brighter. Of course, USA owners getting the non-Sharp screen are gonna get a darker screen, just like the USA PSP-1000 I had for a few days and returned.). Sony has never recovered from this - no cute dog sim, and darker screen through three generations (yep, even the PSP-3000 screen is darker than my PSP-1000 screen on max brightness). You'd think they'd have made it daylight readable (like good cellphones) by now!
Okay, so year pass, and what??? Sony's only concerned about adding Internet Radio and PS3 remote play?!? What about Skype, IM clients, a Better web browser, true YouTube support etc? Nope. Even their Mylo 1 & 2 got more support on these features and for a long time, seemed like Sony just abandoned their PSP.
In the meantime, the R4DS hit the Nintendo scene (with 3000+ titles today), multimedia support, etc., the DS Lite simple gobbled up the PSP share like a rabid dog and spit out the remains. When you're a kid/teen and only have money for one platform, you'd naturally pick Mario over Metal Gear. And add to that the cheap access using the R4DS to multimedia, ebook, and mp3 support at dollars less than a PSP, why not?
Custom Firmware on the PSP lagged now and then in the meantime - Sony was more concerned with locking down the system rather than pushing new titles, features, etc. that would entice new gamers to adopt the system. And WHO on EARTH forgot to put in dual L/R pads and analog sticks designing the PSP must have dug himself his own grave the moment Sony tried to expand the PSP titles with Pops and PS1 title support. So pointless when you're missing three critical control pads/stick. Any remote control software for the TV? Nope, Sony didn't remember they had a huge share of the TV market with their TVs, DVDs, etc. How about a keyboard like the one displayed in prototype so we could get some basic email done right? Nope. Some streaming service for the videos? Nope - they did have a basic download service for anime, shows, etc, in Japan, but that died quite quickly even though it had potential and handfuls of decent titles. How about a web browser that actually worked? You'd think with more CPU horsepower than a cell phone, Sony would get Opera or a better Netfront working! Nope (in fact, it wasn't until this year when the Custom Firmware scene got Java + Opera Mini running on the PSP did it FINALLY get decent web browsing).
Little things did come out. Some Talkman microphone (but so limited w/o Skype, IM Chat, etc. support). Camera (but so low in MP it wasn't worth bothering with - and you'd think SONY of all companies, with their entire Cybershot line of cameras, would at least drop in a 5MP camera! Nope!!) GPS (but only Japan map UMDs and support for a long time, and what's up with such poor sensitivity??? MapThis on the custom firmware side was more exciting than most GPS Japanese titles for years). etc.
But much of what was expected - better web browser, built in YouTube, streaming flash, better speakers, dual analog+shoulder buttons, etc. never did arrive. And even custom firmware could keep things going for only so long -- quick introduction of True 480x272 MP4 video playback (Yeah!! Why Sony locked users into 320x240 video officially for the longest time was the Dumbest move on a PMP device!!), old school game emulators, book readers, etc. - since there really haven't been more than a few A+ titles - look, even Gamespot can't name much 90+ out of 100 point rated PSP titles! At the same time, Nintendo quickly pushed out 3000+ titles (all countries, repeated translated titles included) of all sorts, some of them quite innovative, and got me online faster than the PSP (using the Nintendo Japanese web browser package). Really disappointing when the slower Nintendo could get me email faster!
And in between, the iPhone came out and blew the PSP out of the water. Mario alone can keep legions on the Nintendo, but PSP? Nothing. Cheaper at $199, it quickly became one of the most popular game platforms out there for casual gamers. While screens on the iPhone are large, DSi's larger than before, the new PSP Go does what!?? Shrink down to a chicklet?? What on earth is Sony thinking!?! (Makes me really, really want to sell my PSP and get a Chuwi M70 7" PMP right now!) The reason power-users/gamers got into the PSP in the first place is that Sony PS1/2/3/etc. has always been about more power, features, etc, than the competition. We don't want a puny DS sized screen - no we want OLED screens, ultra high resolutions and something bigger than a post-it note! (Otherwise, we'd just buy the DSi or iPhone instead....)
where's the cool prototypes like we saw?? http://www.concept-phones.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/psp2.jpg
And speakers? Do I see larger, louder speakers in the PSP Go? Too late! Four generations later and I still can't boom out sounds as loud and rich as a basic Nokia 6233?!? (A pretty loud cell phone BTW with stereo speakers I've compared the PSP to. Even a Samsung D600 does better, IMO....) Why am I forced to use my Logitech PSP speakers just to get some decent sound out of the PSP?? Does the company that invented Walkman not know anything about music & speakers???
And at $249 for the PSP Go, you're pretty much in the range for a nice modern multimedia phone - iPhone, Nokia 5800, etc. - that can do multimedia better, and have more features and power.
On the power-user end, there's the Chuwi M70 7" PMP, the Viliv X70 UMPC 7" (http://jkontherun.com/2009/06/02/mobile-tech-minutes-first-look-at-the-viliv-x70-umpc/), the Viliv S5, UMID M1 and Raon Everun Note mini-notebooks for just a little more running XP with larger HD storage and touch-screens. (And the Raon can even play Call of Duty 4 for the PC!)
Sigh..... PSP Go is definitely a thumbs down at $249!
I just want to say that I bought one of the first 200k PSPs, physically in-store, on Sunday, Dec. 12th 2004.
Also I was at Tokyo Game Show 2004 to play the PSPs on display.
I have NEVER seen any improvement or difference in screen quality from the early PSP models. Not in brightness levels, response time, or viewing angle.
I have my launch PSP1000, and a PSP1000 that I bought in the USA, right in front of me. Tell me the difference in screen quality that I'm supposed to see here. I'm tired of seeing this myth propogated just because the English-speaking masses can't challenge it.
Hand consoles are for kids. Games will have to be limited to 16gigs, so what if there's external mem, it's still something I'll have to carry. Here's an idea PSP-walkman/PSP-phone. Something that u can put music on, Sony endorsed/produced games, wifi, PS3 intergration...
The change in design certainly makes the PSP more interesting. One of the fundamental problems with the original PSP is that it is so big, particularly when compared to competitors. The new design makes a lot of sense and the whole unit is now much more portable.
I'll wait for the touchscreen one...
Im giving it to my 80 year old crazy mother and telling her its a 50 inch HDTV.
in all honesty, Sony, your concept art was much better looking than this piece of #@$@. It would have won you a heck lot more consumers.
Okay, lets compare.
Current PSP:
-PSP-slim GoW Edition
-32 GB internal memory using PhotoFast's adapter + 2xmicroSDHC 16GB
-Post Custom Firmware (UMD-Less)
-Plays Homebrew
-Already Paid for, works fine
PSP Go:
-Funky form factor, perhaps weakness with the slide screen hinges, perhaps doesn't fit my hands quite right
-16GB + max of 16GB with a NEW MEMORY CARD FORMAT (would have to buy in addition, just to keep the same specs)
-New DRM with mainboard (a while for homebrew)
-Digital downloads only (no more "hey, can I borrow your Crisis Core?")
-$249 + cost of new 16GB mem card
Further on the memory card. Sony Ericsson just dropped the memory card micro format, so this is probably just Sony trying to salvage their format. It would be so much easier if they would just let us use MicroSD with the current memory format. I get twice as much space for games WITHOUT internal memory. Hell, why put internal memory in it at all, ship it with a 4GB Stick that always stays in. That way, you could UPGRADE if you want as technology gets better.
Don't get me wrong, I like Sony, but as it's been said in previous comments, their ideas really miss the mark a lot of the time. I'll stick with my current gen.
*It would have been so much better if they used that rendering with the larger screen and dual sticks. Bring true shooters (with two sticks) to the platform, and we would all be better off. Oh, and quit it with the anti-homebrew attitude.
Smaller isn't always good. I used to have a PSP-1000 (sold it because it was sucking up time from hacking), and I thought it was a perfect size. It fit in my pocket, and the controls were well-placed. This thing looks like the controls are crammed too close together. (Admittedly, I have largish hands; maybe other people won't mind.) The right design would've been to make it as wide as the original, just thinner.
As for the lack of UMD—it sounds like a great idea, but it means that current owners with large UMD libraries won't be upgrading unless Sony gives them something to copy their UMDs onto Memory Sticks. This seems pretty unlikely, though, since then they'd be worrying about piracy. Maybe some sort of in-store kiosk that reads the UMD, writes it to the Memory Stick with copy protection, and then destroys the UMD. (Just turn up the laser, from "eyeball surgery" to "vaporize bulldozer".)
Nice idea but-
- too pricey
- iPhone owner
- too many games already
It duplicates too many of the iPhone features. There ar emuch better games but frankly i'd rather have a game machine i can get play all my games on. Now if i could mail my old games then download them once i'd sent them back for a small charge, lets say £5 we'd be talking...
I dont like it....... Its a half and half of what it shouldve been. Maybe gen 2 (since this is still technically a psp1 system) will have the necessary components.
Downloaded media has absolutely no resale value whatsoever. At least with UMD's, you can trade/sell old or bad games in for new ones. I think this whole DL crap is a scam to keep us paying up. The price is too much just for a slide PSP. So 16gb HD = 80$ these days?
I wonder how this is going to work in terms of sharing or selling games.
Are games going to come on a write protected PSP stick that you can sell or share?
Or are we going to the online purchase model where any content you buy is permanently attached to your user account and can't be sold or shared?
If the later, forget it. I don't see the point in investing lots of money into the Sony Empire for something that only has the appeal of a smaller size for me.
OTOH, If it turns out that this thing gets hacked open and homebrew becomes rampant, I'll reconsider.
I like the design, but for $250, no thanks!
Id love to have it to replace my old broken original psp, but then the old games are useless...so ill just get a umd psp on the cheap
So how much is PSP v2 going to be? $650.
They had a chance to really steal the "game" here. But with no touch screen, rather small internal memory (the technology exists to have at least a 128GB, why not? they will do it anyway), and no info on increased web capabilities (the easiest thing would be to incorporate a phone/data plan with the system or even a way to link into your cell phone's data plan). They will continue to suffer, it's not time to put a band-aid on situation that requires a tourniquet. I think they'll do okay through the holiday but will drop-off considerably within the second quarter of 2010.
Regarding the UMDs that most of us spent a good deal of money on. If we register the games and supply them with valid serial numbers for the games that we do have, we should be able to download them for free.
Lastly, if they do actually have a MicroSD slot, the firmware should not have a limitation on size.
I am, and have been a Sony customer for many years. I have a Cybershot 8MP Camera, PSP, PS2, PS3, Bravia TV and Surround Sound so I am pushing for them to do well. This is a mediocre product that had the possibility to be something great. Hopefully for their gaming sector it's not to late.
We only have limited information on this product so hopefully their are other things we don't know about yet, Best of Luck Sony!
Isn't an overpiced rehash what Sony does best?
The smart thing for Sony would have been to:
1) Drop de UMD and go for the more available online service [check]
2) Put another analogue stick [nope]
3) Pop in more RAM and a more powerful processor [half check]
4) Create a PS2 emulator and place the whole PS2 catalogue in the PSN store for PS3 and PSP downloads [nope]
5) Distribute an SDK and open part of the PSP for rogue developers in the "scene" to legalize their creations [nope]
6) Sit back and watch the money roll in [doubt it]
Once again Sony does a half assed attempt at thinking about their customers.
We exist you know!
http://av.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/series/rt/20090604_212396.html
Read up on the interview with Sony's top dog re: the design thinking behind the PSP Go.
As we can all see, they didn't even bother to meet =customer= wishes. Instead, he even says because he's focused on some silly =consistency= thing (depsite 4th generation release - 4th generation of anything from any other company and we'd be seeing... well, that's called a DSi....), the idea of a 2nd analog controller was dropped. DuH!!!!!!
How is the meeting customer needs at all?!? Sony's so out-of-touch with the consumer that it's completely silly.
And note that they gone to say that the development package for software developers is now cheaper, so hopefully, more will develop for the PSP. Er? What about simply opening up the firmware and voila! Everyone's developing software.... er, just like on Custom Firmware free!
Wow. brilliant idea, duh. Instead, they go round and round, releasing the PSP-3000 that's more locked down, the PSP Go probably even more so, all for what? ( Scary when even their Java Sony Ericsson phones have more user-programmabililty out of the box! Quick, someone tell SE to lock down their phones, too! =P Real people don't write their own software! ha ha lol =P )
---
re: prior notes:
16GB is dirt-cheap. Look at the wholesale costs of flash RAM to manufacturers, and you'd be hard pressed to find it going for $$$$ at all.
We're talking
I love gaming handhelds but I'll never buy one. Because I expect more from them. For example if this handheld was could also be like an iphone, how cool would that be?