PSP Go is 43% Lighter, No UMD
Source: Tom's Guide US | Keywords: PSP, Go, Sony, Handheld | Themes: Digital Entertainment
Sony's much-rumored PSP Go finally made an appearance in the latest edition of Sony's Qore series, sporting a sliding top and a lighter design.
Sony's much-rumored PSP Go finally made its grand appearance over the weekend, highlighting the latest edition of Sony's Qore video series, and looking rather slick and compact with a sliding top and an obviously lighter design. The video, along with a group of product shots acquired by Eurogamer, verifies most of the speculation tossed around in the gaming industry within the last few months. The video also confirms that Sony ultimately decided to ditch the flailing UMD format altogether in favor of electronic media distribution.
The new hardware isn't expected to replace the current PSP-3000 model, but rather share the same shelf space with its bulky cousin. The new version is not only slimmer, but supposedly weighs 43-percent lighter than the current model. The screen itself measures 3.8-inches, covering the standard PSP controls--the D-Pad, thumb stick, classic buttons--under the sliding top. The unit also features 16 GB of internal memory, and offers an additional memory card slot for storing games, music, and whatever else gamers can purchase from the PlayStation Network Store. Bluetooth support is also included with the PSP Go, however it's unknown if the console's screen provides the rumored touch technology.
According to the video, the PSP Go will hit the market this fall, however for the moment, the final price tag is unknown; expect this revelation sometime this week. As for games, Gran Turismo PSP and Jak and Daxter are in the works along with a new Metal Gear Solid title. The only drawback to this new model is that gamers who want to "upgrade" to the new model won't be able to play existing UMD disks on the new device; they will need to keep the original hardware much like DSi gamers still need a Game Boy Advance to play pre-DS games. It's probably safe to bet that all PSP games will eventually revert to a digital format to purchase and download at a later date.
Look for an official announcement from Sony this week at E3. In the meantime, you can check out the PSP Go over on YouTube, although Sony keeps shooting these links down.
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I remember the PSP was all the rage back in ninth grade, but I'm now about to start my sophomore year in college. I'm sorry but the PSP seems ancient to me now, I sold mine a long time ago. I just don't feel any enthusiasm to nothing short of just a refresh to this old platform.
That picture looks absolutely retarded.
Unless Sony creates a PSP with all the functionality of the Dualshock 3 (sans vibration) I'm not interested in a new model.
This is just Sony pulling a DSi, it's just gimmicky added features, expect it plays the same games, but loses features.
make the screen a bit bigger and turn it into a cell phone and I'll get excited.
Device sucks, needs more gimmicks.
They need to double the machine graphics power.
Its graphics were great...2 years ago.
Now they seem very standard even for a mobile device
I just bought the PSP3000 last week....
Gran Turismo PSP...didn't they announce this sucker before the psp was ever released? And this does kinda make the psp's existing situation even worse, it still lacks a decent number of quality games, and this thing won't even play the decent ones that are already out..
I guess this would translate into better battery life however, that's something at least
I bought a PSP for Gran Tourismo. I sold it in about 3 months after I learned it was just a rumor. Unless it's comfortable, has a better thumbstick, has GTPSP and costs less than $150 I surely won't be buying one. Especially since I felt screwed by Sony when they didn't realease GTPSP.
I may actually buy one just because of the 16gb space and what new things the homebrew creators could do with this thing (if its internal is way better than the PSP-3000).
Of course my wallet would say otherwise.
I held off on getting a PSP till they did a refresh. I told that to my bro in law and he said I was stupid cause they wouldn't do a refresh... well, look who's laughing now
If they fixed the screen, and have decent battery life, then I would buy this. I would use it for a portable media device/homebrew (whenever the guys crack it). If the thing was even $200, that's still less than a 8GB iPod Touch, but this has 16GB storage. Plus, no crappy fry-tunes, and more diverse formats are supported by the PSP.
"bought a PSP for Gran Tourismo. I sold it in about 3 months after I learned it was just a rumor. Unless it's comfortable, has a better thumbstick, has GTPSP and costs less than $150 I surely won't be buying one. Especially since I felt screwed by Sony when they didn't realease GTPSP."
Seriously? You are made a Sony because you fell for a rumor.. Wait till a game has actually been announced if you are that concerned with one game.
@ dsf
It had been announced. I had it on pre-order. It was pictured on the PSP box for crying out loud!
no umd is bad.
Additional memory card slot is what doomed the original PSP.
"weighs 43-percent lighter"????
Less not lighter. For Christ sake people, proof read! My 6 year old can speak better than that.
So the new PSP can't play any of the dozen (dozens?) of games already released for the PSP on UMD? You have to download any game you want to play? That defeats the whole damn point of a portable video game system. This isn't a competitor to the DS or even the original PSP, its a freaking competitor to the iPod touch!
Why is everyone trying to compete with Apple? That just validates the myth that Apple is relevant.
It needs a bigger screen.
Why not go with a 4.3" screen? New hardware would be nice too.
Until a psp is released with the same processing power as the Xbox1, I won't feel the desire to get one.
wow, you all just bitch and whine
It looks like if a home has 2 PSP (e.g one for each kid), people want to play a game in either of the PSP would need to buy the same game twice. Also in some rural area where internet still relies on dial-up, those people would also be out of luck.
So the new PSP can't play any of the dozen (dozens?) of games already released for the PSP on UMD?
Are you kidding? List alphabetically at Metacritic. More than 500 games. You can argue there is a lot of crap there, but so there is in the DS list. Many games are worthy, though. I've finished more than a dozen and my wish list has at least three times as much games (already released).
Get your facts straight, please. ;-)
@4c1dr41n4: yes I was kidding about there being only a dozen games. The fact that there are 500 would seem to make it even more worthless that the new PSP can't play any of them.