Official next-gen PlayStation Portable details leaked

The PlayStation Portable Go is... er... go, thanks to a leaked video in which a Sony executive provides a step-by-step guide to the PSP-3000’s successor. PSP_GO_01 Sony's new PSP Go: no more UMD First up, the technical specifications. The PSP Go has a smaller screen than the PSP-3000: 3.8in down from 4.3in, helping make …

[Sooty]

given sony's history

I'm sure they'll cock it up somehow. The original PSP didn't do anywhere near as well as it should have through some, frankly baffling, decisions by Sony.

IE It had a nearly perfect PSOne emulator built into it, but you couldn't play your PSOne games through it*?

*to use it, first you had to buy a ps3, then buy the PS1 game. Would an official converter for your old games have hurt them that much?

[Greg]

UMDs?

And what do I do with all the UMDs I've bought? There's no way in hell I'll be re-buying them all from PSN.

My original PSP is finally starting to show signs of wear after all the abuse I've given it. I guess it'll be the PSP Slim Kratos Edition, rather than this thing.

[Ash]

Pffft!

What rubbish! This is a proper handheld console!

http://www.thinkgeek.com/electronics/retro-gaming/ba65/

NES FOR THE WIN! (No Duck Hunt, i'm afraid.)

[aldude]

Launch probably not "ruined"

Launch probably not "ruined" as I suspect leaks like this are often done deliberately to increase publicity and hype before the actual official "launch".

That's one ugly piece of kit, though.

[Darren]

I'm sure it's a lovely device

...but it looks awful. Also, from various sources, no UMD, so you have to download ALL your games. This thing will hacked wide-open on release day...

(sorry If I re-iterated anything in the article, I just skimmed over it)

[Luis Ogando]

Nice

Looks nice to me. My PSP1000 is still going well, but is a little bulky, so this may be a good replacement. Shame about the UMD, though. I've got a rackload of movies for those flights to and from Germany. Suppose I'll have to dump them to Memory Stick.

“something you play for 15 minutes and then put down”. - This is a complete load of tosh! I don't think this guy knows what the hell he's on about. I put in a good hour or so in one sitting and that's nothing compared to my nephews, who have an unnerving ability to glue themselves to PSPs and DSs for bleedin' hours!

[Jules75]

UMD Games

I wonder how they will manage all the back catalogue of games? I have a quite a few UMD games for my original PSP, so if I was to buy a new PSP Go, how would I use them?

[Kaemaril]

So how do games get onto this thing?

Memory stick? USB from a PC (or Mac)? Wirelessly?

[Colin MacLean]

touch me!

WIll it have touchscreen? That's surely a must-have for a device that's going to be in circulation for years into the future...

[Marco]

Ewww

That is horrendously ugly!! Also, Does anybody else think that the analogue stick is in completely the wrong place, how are you supposed to use it!!!

[Anonymous Coward]

So no backward compatibility then...

I'm guessing the lack of a UMD slot means that Sony figure that folks are going to use the Playstation Network (/Shop) to download the content to this. So you won't be able to go to GAME/HMV/Play etc and buy something and plug it in (a la Nintendo DS). Unless, of course there's going to be an 'optional' add on that you plug in to give the UMD drive...?

Call me old-fashioned but if this is the case it strikes me as a little bit of a dead-end device. Of course it'd be nice if Sony came out with game ROMs in the Mem Stick form factor. Even better if they work with the older PSPs - I never liked the UMD's which always struck me as a little clunky when compared to Nintendo's neat little cartridges.

Don't think I'll be buying one to replace my PSP...

[Greg]

Ugly?

What, and a DS Lite is gorgeous?

[Anonymous Coward]

Design Fail

Why have they given this a slide-up design? It doesn't have a touch screen so why choose a design that leaves the screen exposed? It's like they copied that fan-made slide-up design from a year or so ago and forgot one of the main reasons for that design was to incorporate a touch screen.

Having the controls at the very bottom of the device with the L/R buttons at the top (of the back portion) seems stupid too, I could see this being very unconformable after an extended play. Then again, they did say it's only for 15 minute games...

I wouldn't be surprised if that recessed area for the Start/Select buttons wasn't originally another analogue stick and they changed their minds.

I don't like the curved edges either, it's probably supposed to be a visual call-back to the curved sides of the original PSP shape but it just looks horrid here. It should have been squared off.

[Yorkshirepudding]

@ Ash

what no duck hunt?

/smacks ash with snes super scope

are you mad man? at least they could put in an edition where you could shoot that bastard dog

[A B]

Not meant to have UMD

It is meant to be a cut down PSP, not a replacement, or so i've read.

[Cougar]

Looks familiar

Wonder where they got the design idea from...?

http://pocketables.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/04/04/sony_mylo_com2.jpg

[Dale]

Leak?

A Sony executive makes a video and you call this a leak? When are you going to wake up and call it what it really is: marketing. Come on, we're not stupid over here.

[Albert]

I like it.

I like it.

There’s no way Sony allowed all the details to be revealed before E3, so I expect the touch screen and expect the touch screen and second stick to be announced then.

If you look at it closed. The only button is the Playstation one on the left. Kind of like the single button on the iPhone, so it needs a touch screen to be useful when closed.

Second stick, just because the masses have been waiting for it. I have a PSP2000 and I haven’t missed the second stick at all.

If it can play standard DIVX files rather than very specifically encoded ones then it becomes a great PMP as well.

Also, will need some way to rip your existing UMDs to it for those upgrading.

I think Sony’s plan is that the PSP Go is for portable media/gaming what the PS3 is for at home media/gaming.

[L]

Um...

This device has a smaller screen and a more awkward layout. The only thing it has over the old ones is bluetooth. How is this progression?

I really like being able to link my psp/ps3 and remote play, but find the discrepancy between the buttons annoying. While trying not to over crowd the thing, they should definitely have a second analogue stick, and L/R2 buttons, just for consistency, and backward compatibility with all games up from ps2.

The psp should be able to double as a standard controller for play on a PS3 (albeit not as honed as the dualshock). Then it'll live up to the potential of being able to have auxiliary information spewing onto your fingers (most likely unnecessary - but given the opportunities I'm sure it would have great application and execution )

It should be a fully fledged mix between dualshock3, a touch screen and a media player(w/ DLNA). To be any less is a step in the wrong direction.

If they get this one wrong, the PSP brand is dead in the water, customers will realise and Sony will not fulfill its potential

[Anonymous Coward]

Fake "PopStation" anyone.

Ive seen the postations that look better than this.

Who the hell designed it?

[Tony Flaherty]

how do you hold it

it looks uncomfortable and top heavy to me. my existing mk1 PSP with a battery grip still makes my hands go numb after 20 minutes or so.

[Andy Bright]

Existing UMD

Either don't get a new one, or buy one of the newer PSPs that are being now.

But really? Are there that many existing PSP games that are worth keeping? I struggled to find a single game I actually liked enough to play longer than 10 minutes, let alone 15.

I know that FIFA and maybe Ace Combat will see new versions that will probably be better than the existing ones. I also know that from my experience with Playstation 1, 2 and 3 that the desire to play old generation games disappears rapidly when you see the new versions of the games you actually like. Doesn't matter if the graphics and so forth aren't going to be better, usually it's the gameplay updates that make the new versions desirable.

The real loss from losing UMD are the movies. These were excellent value if you bothered to shop around. As a portable entertainment device while traveling, the PSP is better than anything out there. The quality of the screen and sound is superb, and most decent movies can be bought online for around $5-$10.

Hopefully they'll do a much better job of providing downloadable movies, but the cost will nearly double if what Apple has done is anything to go by.

The only advantage I can see to ditching UMD is the battery life will be extended. But the thinner models start off with less battery life anyway, but most planes come with power charging sockets on trips that take longer than 5-6 hours. They provide them for people who bring laptops.

The 24 UMD movies I own cost me less than $200 and I know I won't be replacing my existing PSP just for the convenience of flash ram. I might get both, but I'll be keeping my existing model just for the movies.

[Law]

Shame...

... if only they'd added another analogue stick and made it less annoying than the first, I'd have gone out and bought it launch day like the first.... I ended up selling mine quite quickly because of annoying camera angles that were stupid to control... add the second analogue stick, release some decent fps's, Tekken/Burnout with proper online gaming, hell, add REAL multiplayer support via PSN over Wifi, and maybe, just maybe, I will buy one again.

Mines the one with the iPhone so I can get my Peggle fix on the go... ah, there it is! :D

[Ry]

UMD Goodbye!

An obvious marketing leak by Sony, lets see what news they will bring us this evening at the Sony Conference.

I think the plan for old UMD's will be easy to solve.

Create a PSN ID or use your existing one.

Go to Gamestation etc... and sign in to your account using a hub.

Place each game into the hub which reads the title of the game.

Sell your games as pre owned to the store your in.

Your given a reference code to redeem on the PSN

Download the titles to a PS3 or PC - then transfer the data as and when to the PSP - EASY.

[Law]

@ Ry

"I think the plan for old UMD's will be easy to solve."

Perhaps you are unaware, but Sony manufacture PSP's... as such, nothing is allowed to be simple, or just work seamlessly... no need to apologise, it's an easy mistake to make, most other companies don't actually torture their customers with these sorts of mind tricks, here's a link for your education though:

http://www.theonion.com/content/video/sony_releases_new_stupid_piece_of

[Anonymous Coward]

@Law

"http://www.theonion.com/content/video/sony_releases_new_stupid_piece_of"

this made me laugh you obviously bat for microsoft

[Christopher Rogers]

Sony Always miss a trick

Sony have some nice MP3 players out and a superb range of phones with Ericsson. They should bring their gaming platform in line with these devices, they could put together a device to rival the itouch, based on their previous experience in the other mobile devices field.

Instead they have run out of imagination. The device looks more of a handfull and won't attract a new user base. With dropping the UMD they isolate the die hard fans and will probably fuel the second hand market more than sell new devices (which really isn't a great idea for a firm faultering the way they are).

Can they not see that Apple and Nintendo are going to ensure this device goes nowhere? (yes i'm suggesting the iphone/itouch is going to be a strong contender in the mobile gaming world. It hurts me to say it too.)