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TechJunkeez Gear | October 2009
The PSP Go is the first complete design overhaul the PSP ever had.
Previous successors of the original PSP just brought slimmer, lighter bodies and
better screens but the PSP Go is aiming higher than that. Sony decided to go all
digital this time, in other words, all your PSP games will be downloaded from
the internet instead of getting them on UMD discs. From the looks of it, the PSP
Go has something going for it, but will it be enough to make a previous PSP
owner dump their old system for this new sleeker one?
The main interesting aspect of the PSP Go is the new design, it
looks good and can actually fit in your pocket, which is something the older
PSPs had some trouble with. The new body is 43% lighter and 56% smaller than the
old PSP, that’s like breaking an old PSP in half and still have all the
features, hmm… What Sony did to achieve this is make the screen slide open to
show the controls, that restricts the controls from occupying more space and
makes the Playstation Portable a little more portable.
Fits
perfectly in one hand when the screen is not slid out
Still, the new form factor isn’t all sunshine and butterflies, it
has some pretty steep downsides. Making the controls all mashed up in a very
small area makes the PSP Go hard to get used to. The analog stick is next to the
directional buttons opposed to being below it in predecessors, this leads to
having your thumb go a bit further to reach it which is a bit uncomfortable for
someone used to the old control layout. The L and R shoulder buttons are also
hard to use since their position is behind the screen while it is slid out,
which makes resting your index fingers on them quite a challenge.
Analog
stick position is hard to get familiar with if you are used to the older PSP, L and R
shoulder buttons are behind the screen
Another problem is the PSP Go’s dimensions. The device is so slim
and small that it’s hard to get a comfortable gaming grip on the whole thing, so
if your hands are quite large you might want to try one out before buying it.
One last complaint is the system’s plastic finish, it’s the same
finish the Playstation 3 had, and all PS3 owners know how that thing keeps
looking dirty every few minutes after cleaning. The glossy finish makes dust
particles and smudges stand out very clearly which makes your expensive PSP Go
look like a cheap dirty device after using it for a while. You just can’t make
the PSP Go look clean if you are going to actually use it, it’s just not
possible.
PSP Go
from all sides
On the top of the device you’ll find the volume controls, on the
left side you have the WLAN switch and the memory stick slot which can increase
your storage of media by 16GB. On the right side there is the on/off,
hold, sleep slider and at the bottom you have a 3.5mm headphone jack and a
universal port which you can connect several things to your PSP through. You can
charge your PSP from it, connect it to a PC or use the TV-out feature. I also
should mention that the PSP Go has Bluetooth which makes connecting Bluetooth
headsets possible this time around. Something that is obviously missing is the
UMD drive, which is dumped since all the games are downloaded on the device
through the Sony’s internet store.
Back side
has rubber parts to help you grip the device
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