Updated:An upgrade deal, but is it selling your soul?
The PSPgo is Sony's answer to the touch-sensitive iPod and iPhone ranges, as well as hopefully reinvigorating their games department in the face of booming Nintendo DS sales.
The strange feature about the console is that it doesn't have the UMD disc drive that the standard PSP models have, relying instead on 16GB of built-in flash (expandable with memory cards) and a direct-download game store.
A problem lies in the motivation to upgrade to the PSPgo for owners of the current PSP - any games currently owned are unplayable on the PSPgo, and the most popular choice when upgrading is to turn in the older model for a discount on the newer one.
What Sony has done to combat this move is strangely to bribe the upgraders into purchasing the PSPgo without trading in their old console, perhaps to keep them with both consoles and tempt them into purchasing physical UMD games as well as downloadable content.
Tom's Guide have got the process summarised thusly:
(1) Purchase a new PSPgo and connect it to the PlayStation Network(2) Load up a UMD in the older PSP unit and then connect it to the PSN as well, registering the UMD(3) Download a new PSPgo theme and wait for the UMD voucher offering 3 free games.
So sure you get three free-ish games, but it also means that you're stuck with two handheld consoles with the list of free games limited to sixteen titles that are now quite ancient.
The PSPgo has a lot to prove with its online store, but restricting current owners of games to move to the new console seems slightly backwards.
Update: It seems that one of the biggest gaming retailers in the country, EB Games, is not going to stock the PSPgo at all - which makes plenty of sense considering once they've sold you the console they can't sell any games to you. However, JBHIFI and GAME will be stocking the console.
Issue: 107 | December, 2009