PSP (Good to) Go?

This past week, at the E3 electronics expo, Sony announced their latest portable platform, the PSP Go, the most portable PSP ever.

The PSP Go features an clearly update design, ditching the candybar form factor for a conceivably thicker slider form. The PSP Go, also feature a slightly smaller display; 3.8" LCD on the PSP Go, as opposed to 4.3" LCD on the PSP-3000. Behind the slide-up screen, the controls are laid in a slightly different way; the analog stick is now right of the D-Pad, while the start/select buttons are on top of each other, left of the action buttons. There are some other minor design changes, but these are the really noticable ones.

The PSP Go no longer supports UMD formatted content. Sony probably listened to all the complaints PSP users had of having to use a format less standard. Instead, the "Go" has an internal 16GB solid state drive. By doing so, it makes you purchase content from the Playstation Store. Also, you can use your own content, as long as it's downloaded onto a Memory Stick Micro (M2), like you keep in an SE phone. You can access and purchase downloadable content, either through your Playstation 3, or through over WiFi and the Playstation Store on your "Go." It also offers bluetooth support with pairing, so you can use a bluetooth headset and access Skype to talk to your friends.

Sony's tagline for the PSP Go is "Go bigger. Go smaller. Go digital. Go versatile. Go Anywhere." They really emphasize the portability factor, eh? Also, the accessories that will be available for the PSP Go are almost identical to those you can get for the older generations of the PSP. Lastly, the PSP Go will sell for $249 in Fall 2009.

Given that the PSP Go has 16GB of flash memory, sells for $249, features downloadable content from the Playstation Store, and will be released this Fall, it is definitely aimed to take on the iPod touch. Only time will tell how well the PSP Go will do in the eyes of the consumer, and Apple will definitely base the next-gen iPod touch around the PSP Go. And with WWDC coming up next week, this year will either be Apple's or Sony's...