There's no amount of hate for the PSPGo, and some of the arguments against purchasing one are hard to counter. That said, I purchased one anyway, and I couldn't be happier with it.
First, I'll admit to having owned a PSP-2000 a few years ago. I eventually rid myself of it, mainly because I was doing the vast majority of my gaming at home, and there weren't many games out for the system that really held my interest. With more RPGs out for it now such as Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions and Dissidia, I was all prepared to bite the bullet a 3000, but the notion of carrying around a number of UMDs around with me stopped me. I commute every day and so whatever I bring with me for entertainment needs to be as compact and integrated as possible. There's just no good way to transport UMDs short of buying a carrying case, and throwing one of those into my bag with my laptop, phone, notebooks, MP3 player and associated peripherals was definitely a step beyond my comfort level. Enter the PSPGo.
Integrated 16 GB flash memory, negating the need for both UMDs and memory cards? Check. Smaller size, allowing one to pocket the device without exposing half of it to the elements? Yeah, buddy. Incredibly crisp screen resolution? Also present. Considering I'd sold my PSP games along with my unit, yes, I needed to build a library again. That was solved with a simple $50 Playstation Network Card, which gave me enough to buy a whopping seven PSOne games from my earlier years. I was in gaming heaven. I really can't stress how amazing it is to be able to play those games again, and whenever I want, no less.
The unit itself really is great. I have fairly large hands and fingers, and I have had no trouble holding and operating the device comfortably and accurately. The sliding mechanism is much like what you'd find in many cell phones nowadays, and it feels sturdy and will likely not break easily. I've always been a fan of Sony's XCrossMediaBar, the operating system of sorts for the PSP and PS3, and navigating it is intuitive and simple.
To address a few common complaints about it:
First, yes, it's true. The PSPGo only supports wireless-b, which is pretty frustrating if you like to keep your personal wi-fi network up to date. I'm not sure if Sony has any plan to rectify this considering the most obvious work around to this is to download whatever you need onto your PC and then transfer it to the PSP, but it's my major complaint about the product.
Second, I've had no problem playing a number of different games on the unit, including classic PSOne RPGs. I can read all text without straining my eyes. I'll state here that I don't wear corrective lenses of any kind, so this experience may be different if you do; my advice is to try it out as much as you can before you purchase it. Simple.
Third, some claims regarding the battery life seem to be exaggerated. I charged mine to full capacity right out of the box (which, I expect, some do not do with most new electronic devices despite it being the very first step in any Quick Start Guide) then proceeded to play with it for nearly five hours straight without needed to plug it in. If you turn off redundant, nonessential and unused features (Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, anyone?), the unit will go for a very respectable amount of time.
Finally, the biggest complaint of all: Sony doesn't seem too eager to make their entire UMD library available for digital purchase, apparently. Really? Bear in mind that this technology launched just over a month ago, and that all sorts of negotiations need to be made with developers to make their software available in Sony's Playstation Network Store. All of this takes time. Sure, the argument could be made that Sony could've had the wheels in motion much earlier, but given the sheer number of games out for the original PSP system, are you really going to fault them for having only a limited number of titles available after the launch? Remember that Nintendo only had a handful of games up for purchase and download when the Wii was released. Give it time, people. Sony may be trying their hand in the casual gamer market, but they're not stupid. They know where their real consumer base is: dedicated gamers who won't run out and buy their newest incarnation unless they have a lot to offer. This includes the PSP library.
That said, considering I was most attracted to the portability of the PSPGo combined with the availability of classic PSOne games and the fact that I did not currently have a PSP or any games, this was a great purchase. I couldn't be happier with it.
This product is available as Renewed.
PSPgo - Piano Black (Renewed) $209.95 + $3.99
shipping
(4)
Works and looks like new and backed by the Amazon Renewed Guarantee
(4)
Works and looks like new and backed by the Amazon Renewed Guarantee
Add a debit or credit card to save time when you check out
Convenient and secure with 2 clicks. Add your card
Customers also search
Page 1 of 1Page 1 of 1
Reviews with images
Portable and great to play emulators
Came in great condition! Really loving this device, has Bluetooth capabilities too! I connected my wireless earbuds to it. And you can mod it and get psp games for free. I mainly got it to play Gameboy advance games and some psp games too! I love the portability of this device a lot, it’s really tiny so great to take anywhere. Hard to find an SD card for it since the SD for this device is an old one lol luckily it already has built in storage which is definitely enough to have quite of few games, shows and music on here! If you’re wondering where I got the custom decal for it, I got it from a website called “decalgirl.”
Top reviews from the United States
There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.
Top reviews from other countries
Grosshaft
Livraison parfaite
Reviewed in Canada on March 12, 2019Color: Pearl WhiteVerified Purchase
cg8053
Practically defective. Disappointing quality of purchase.
Reviewed in Canada on April 29, 2021Color: Pearl WhiteVerified Purchase
cg8053
Reviewed in Canada on April 29, 2021
On further testing, the games and playability are there. The audio on the system managed to come back more often, but still faces the issues. But the aforementioned problems with a poor screen can get in the way of what should have been a pretty standard portable experience.
Currently, I don't recommend getting this from the seller.
Images in this review
