ars technica Gave the Sony PSP Go a Big Thumbs Down

We have a Nintendo DS and DS Lite in my household. But, we didn’t pick up a DSi. I have the original Sony PSP (Playstation Portable) but didn’t pick up a 3000. And, I don’t plan to buy the new PSP Go. Based on this ars technica review, my plan seems like a sound one…

PSP Go review: Sony is charging you much more for much less

Here’s what soured ars technica’s Ben Kuchera on the PSP Go…

- Since Sony removed the UMD disc option, all games must be purhcased online just like the iPhone or iPod touch. This seems great on the surface. However, Ben notes that this eliminates discounted game pricing from retailer and was well as reselling games. Sony must be thrilled by this, of course. I wonder, though, if retailers have any incentive to sell the PSP Go, since customers buying it will never return to buy games?

- The Go’s screen at 3.8 inches is smaller than the 4.3 inch screen found on older PSP models.

- The close set controls are not well suited for large hands

- The game download process must be in the foreground (can’t play another game while downloading a new one)

- An interrupted game download must be restarted from the beginning

- The Go only supports the older slower 802.11b WiFi protocol.

- You can’t play your old UMD based games

- 2GB of the available 16GB storage is unavailable out of the box.

- The Go has a proprietary plug port. You cannot use standard mini-USB cables that older PSPs used.

- The setup process requires system update before you can start playing games. This process was slow and problematic.

If you have a Sony PSP Go, do you agree with Ben’s assessment? As for me, I’m happy playing casual games on an iPod touch or iPhone these days. I have zero incentive to buy a portable game console (or a non-portable one for that matter).

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