The Flawed, Beautiful New Playstation: PSP Go Tech Test

• Sony
• PSP
• PlayStation
• gaming
• reviews
• Tech Test

The Promise

Death to the UMD! The Universal Media Disc, Sony's long-reviled mobile media format, finally calls it quits with the latest PSP Go. Instead, Sony relies on download and MemoryStick-only gaming. To accommodate this, the system now has 16 GB of built-in memory. The result: a thinner, more pocket-friendly system.

In Practice

The biggest problem with previous PSPs was their size. It was often hard to justify carrying one around when a phone could handle stripped down games in a pinch. Fortunately, the new system is by far the smallest PSP yet. This is the result of two key design changes over previous PSPs. First, no more bulky UMD disc drive (if you happen to have accumulated a respectable collection of UMD movies, you'll have to watch them elsewhere). Second, the control keys now slide out from beneath the screen. The system should fit nicely into parka pockets, making it a likely companion for the upcoming winter.

Overall, the system is beautifully constructed and extremely shiny. Carrying it on a train or plane will likely draw stares (at least until people get used to its sight).

Other than the lack of UMD and addition of 16 GB of built-in memory, there aren't many differences in terms of actual gaming. There's a much-appreciated "Pause Game" feature that lets you quickly exit to the main menu and then pick up where you left off, and the new system switches its card slot from the MemoryStick Duo to the MemoryStick Micro (of course, we wish they'd just go to SD, but that's another discussion).

It would be hard to think that the lack of UMD is anything negative—as long as Sony makes it easy to transfer or download already owned UMD games to the new system. Sadly, they do neither. As of now, UMD discs are essentially useless on the new system. Despite reports that Sony was working on allowing gratis digital downloads of already owned UMD games, no such program is currently running in the States.

Bottom Line

The PSP Go is elegant, feels great and has enviable form factor, along with plenty of power under the hood. But it's still a device that is haunted by the shadows of what it could have been.

This is the system that had the potential to be a carry-anywhere platform that would possess both the power needed to play high-powered, graphically intense blockbuster games, and the download-readiness to handle quick and cheap casual timekillers. Of course, the iPhone and iPod Touch proved there's a huge market for these games, as long as they cost just a few dollars and can be considered easy indulgences. To compete, Sony is releasing a series of "Minis"—smaller titles that cost $5 to $10. But there's a problem: Identical titles that are available for download from the Apple App store are showing up for slightly more on the PSP store. Even worse: Full-size downloaded PSP games are currently slated to cost more than their UMD counterparts. Isn't one of the points of digital media that you cut out the expense of producing physical discs?

Sony has made leaps and bounds in recent years towards being a more open and consumer-friendly company—we remember days when their digital music players wouldn't even play MP3s, due to supposed piracy concerns. Still, the system's high price, bizarre pricing scheme and inability to download or copy existing UMD games will likely keep it from toppling the iPod Touch and iPhone as the current kings of the cheap-and-easy portable download gaming world. Of course, this is unfortunate, since when it comes to gaming, the PSP Go's key layout is vastly superior to the iPhone's button-less design,

But the biggest downside is the price—$250 ($50 more than the larger, UMD-equipped version of the PSP) is still just too much.

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