Topic: What is the use of the PSP Go?

Well said.

To have another crappy game system to laugh at.

To make Corbie look better (like he needed any help)

To relieve stress .

To make yourself feel like you have friends.

Wow, this thread makes me think that members here could team up and make a Nintendo Defense Force, similar to the Sony Defense Force

I wanted a Go but $250 is too expensive when i could get a Dsi and some RPGs or a Ipod touch and some games and music.

Well, to be fair, Sony fans tend to talk like this even moreso, but that's because they already have PSPs and don't want to part with their UMDs. I'm surprised at all the criticism here, though maybe I shouldn't be.

HA!

Man, so many jokes, so little time....

EDIT: btw, i looked at that Sony Defense Force Website and this is my take on the details of the PSP Go (comments in brackets):

"Below are all the details you need on the new PSP Go:

Key Features:

• 16GB built-in memory. [Ok... That's good.]
• Bluetooth support. [Interesting, to say the least]
• Slide out control design. [Many cell phones have this, why is this so special?]
• Ultra-portable entertainment. [That doesn't even make any sense!]
• All digital content – no UMD disks required. [Utter bull, unless this is your first PSP]
• Download games and movies directly from the PlayStation Network. [Already started before this was released.]
• Ultra-crisp 3.8″ LCD screen. [That's pretty good for a portable system.]
• Built-in microphone for Skype communication. [This should have been included with the old PSPs.]
• Memory Stick Micro support for added memory. [Unbelievably proprietary and not needed nor wanted.]"

Good: 3 details.
Bad: 5 details.

But this is just my opinion. I'm don't HATE Sony, they're a good company. I just think this was sort of a step backwards for them.

It's good to leave there and collect dust, try to get a high score!

Hey, my post got deleted? Ok, I'll rewrite it so it isnt insulting.

Im my opinion, the PSP Go! is nothing but a worthless piece of metal. If you can only buy games from the Sony Marketplace or whatever it is called, that votes out many of the games that use UMDs, and the games that you cannot download onto the system. Dont get me wrong, Sony is ok at times (like Ratchet and Clank) but the PSP Go! isnt exactly what I would call a success in the gaming market.

Whew! That was a mouthful!

Its price does not justify the PSP Go.

The original PSP can do everything a PSP go can do aswell as UMD games to choose from(i actually don't take my handhelds outside...i play them for the games:See the DS.....i love the games on DS and play them in bed lol)

SilverBlacktail,

"Ultra-portable entertainment. [That doesn't even make any sense!]" Yes, it does. It's extra small, and you don't have to carry your games with you. That makes it significantly easier to carry around with you.
"All digital content – no UMD disks required. [Utter bull, unless this is your first PSP]" Doesn't matter if it's your first PSP or not -- you can't use UMDs. How could UMDs be required to use the Go if you had a previous PSP?

Tallying up points based on a random website's bulleted list is not really a great way to figure out a product's worth in the first place. First, it assumes that each point should be weighted equally. Furthermore, it assumes that these are the only advantages to the system (though maybe they are). Not to mention this is the worst site possible to go to for real information. They don't distinguish each point particularly well.

Once again, just my opinion. As for the quotes, I kinda meant the ultra-portable gaming thing didn't make sense to ME. Thanks for explaining it. And the other one about UMDs, I think it would be better for first-time PSP users because they would just pick the games off of the Playstation Store, not really caring if their favorite game wasn't on there because they don't HAVE a favorite game yet. And the thing about tallying was just because I felt like it.

I already explained this - the PSPGo is an experiment by Sony - and it's quite obviously just that.

Everyone's acting like it was a failed console, that somehow it was meant to have mainstream appeal. Well, no, it wasn't. Companies do this kind of thing to test the water when they see a market trend emerging.

"Market trend" you ask? Yes, digital distribution of games. It's pretty clear that is the direction that consoles are heading, and two or three generations down the track, it's entirely possible that consoles won't accept physical media at all. At this stage it's an early adopter technology, and that's where the PSPGo is targeted - at the early adopter. The market response will inform how Sony develops future products down the line.

No one but early adopters were ever going to buy this thing - and I doubt Sony care. The losses they make on the PSPGo will be made up in future consoles, which Sony has now set itself up well to develop. If you think of the PSPGo as more a piece of R & D the company made available to the general public for testing, rather than a serious attempt at a mass-market console, it actually makes a lot of sense.

As fun as it is to rag on Sony - it's a big, successful company, with lots of money to experiment on new technologies, and lots of clever businesspeople. If I had the resources that Sony does, this would be the exact same way I would prepare myself, as a gaming console vendor, for the advent of digital-download game consoles.

As a side note - reactive approaches to business are rarely successful - look at the Dreamcast and Gamecube. Companies NEED to look at what will happen 10 years down the track, and prepare accordingly. You guys should think more about the thought processes behind this kind of development before dismissing it as a mere 'failure', when it's quite clearly not.

Great take on this situation as a whole, WaltzElf. There is only one thing I don't particuarly agree with:

While it is true that it "is entirely possible that consoles won't accept physical media at all," I think I speak for a vast majority of gamers when I say that the sense of pride we get from having a great game in our collection is too great for this to happen and become 100% mainstream. Why do classic games go for so much on ebay and other places? Because they were fantastic and the fact that they were physical copies wouldn't translate so well over to the digital world. There are plenty of places to get digital gaming content for free (even if most of it is illegal.) The rate for games of rarity and quality would decline unbelievably if digital-only gaming were to become the only way to play. PERSONAL verdict: Digital out, physical in.

While it is true that it "is entirely possible that consoles won't accept physical media at all," I think I speak for a vast majority of gamers when I say that the sense of pride we get from having a great game in our collection is too great for this to happen and become 100% mainstream. Why do classic games go for so much on ebay and other places? Because they were fantastic and the fact that they were physical copies wouldn't translate so well over to the digital world. There are plenty of places to get digital gaming content for free (even if most of it is illegal.) The rate for games of rarity and quality would decline unbelievably if digital-only gaming were to become the only way to play. PERSONAL verdict: Digital out, physical in.

It's more an issue of market viability. I like owning physical copies of games as well (although I also like digital downloads), but there is a great deal of cost involved in producing a retail game - materials cost, production costs etc etc - and these costs are utterly slashed for digital downloads. And, from the publisher's point of view, digital download games cannot be resold - and when you consider that the resale of the game essentially cuts that game's sale in half (the publisher gets nothing from a resold game) - its a less attractive proposition for them.

While there's no doubt there will be a market for retail games, and there will always be an audience for those games, they will be phased out over time. There's also the OnLive cloud-based console, Steam, and the PSPGo pointing in that direction.

Remember, people say they like CDs, but the CD section of music shops is shrinking, and downloads of MP3s is increasing.

So yes, it is a personal verdict you're making there, and not at all reflective of the trends I see happening in the market over the next 10 years. I don't see retail games surviving long term, and I do see the PSPGo as a very rough and early demonstration of the kinds of consoles we'll be playing in the future.

Very good points. I feel like I'm on a debate team.... I withdraw my argument for the time being, but I will strike back. **evil laugh**