[digimon]

Righto, the burning question is should I or should I not go the for GO. I have 2 boys' one is 12 the other 9. Both have DSs, one has broken. For Christmas i am going to replace both with PSPs, do i get the 3000 Lite or the GO. Is it correct that when you get an account with Sony you can have up to 5 PSPs attached, therefore game sharing is possible, I don't want to be buying the same game twice! Are there plenty of suitable games for the GO yet? Is the GO really worth the extra £50? If i go for the 3000 Lite, how long will it be before Sony discontinue the UMD games/films? Can you download your own streamed movies onto a UMD? Ummm, any pointers would be gratefully received, i am very confused. Thanks.

[Kube]

They wont discontinue the UMDs as its still the main income stream. Not all games are being released as digital downloads as its down to the publisher. My advice? DO NOT GO NEAR THE GO! Get a 2000 or 3000 unit.

[digimon]

Thanks, i appreciate your thoughts.

[clonmult]

Originally Posted by Kube

They wont discontinue the UMDs as its still the main income stream. Not all games are being released as digital downloads as its down to the publisher. My advice? DO NOT GO NEAR THE GO! Get a 2000 or 3000 unit.

Or even the original 1000 if their hands are big enough.

Either way, the GO is almost a complete and utter waste of time. It brings nothing new or truly useful, and costs way too much.

[kBm]

^^ What they said!

The word on the street is a PSP4000 maybe making an apperance sometime next year, which may see the return of the UMD.

Also, the used UMD market is great as you can pick up some real bargins - ie games for a couple of ££!

[clonmult]

Originally Posted by kBm

Also, the used UMD market is great as you can pick up some real bargins - ie games for a couple of ££!

Either nip into Game or your local CEX and just browse - many decent games for under a tenner.

And at least if you buy on UMD playing on another PSP is just a matter of just putting the disk in the slot ....

I'm absolutely loving GT on the PSP now - definitely preferring it to GT5P. Virtually stuck on doing everything possible with an AE86 Corolla, car control is way better than anything on GT5P, on which virtually every car understeers and then snaps off into violent/uncontrollable oversteer.

[Tonks01]

I would say get the Go! That way you have future proofed yourself as well as you can. The PSP 2 will no doubt be not too far down the road and there is absolutely zero chance it will support all the UMD games/movies you have bought, so once you loose a PSP capable of playing UMDs the format is dead. If youre buying for kids the UMD cases that the disc sits in is fairly fragile and I had to take superglue to them once or twice in the past.

A digital format on the other hand will most likely be able to be downloaded to Sonys future handheld devices. You cannot convince me to buy a single UMD because it's dead.

I'm more than pleased with mine, if you can get it in your hands you'll see what a nice little device is really is (unlike the original I consider this one to actually be 'portable) Added to that you can pair PS3 controllers (not something present on older PSPs) and hook it up to your TV its a portable home console.

The only reason I can see why people put it down is because of price, it excels over its predecessors in every other category.

[McCol]

I dont think it's purely down to price, at least not in my case.

I was in the market for a PSP last month and decided to plump for the PSP3000.

Main reason being that the price of the games on PSN is way too high and the choice is also quite limited. Also after trying the Go, I found that for my big hands the button and nub layout were not as good as the older models.

I wouldn't say that UMD was quite dead yet either, most if not all new games are still being released on disc and as a far as Sony have said will continue to do so. If there are any games that are only available on PSN these can be bought and downloaded to the PSP3000.

[clonmult]

Originally Posted by Tonks01

I would say get the Go! That way you have future proofed yourself as well as you can. The PSP 2 will no doubt be not too far down the road and there is absolutely zero chance it will support all the UMD games/movies you have bought, so once you loose a PSP capable of playing UMDs the format is dead. If youre buying for kids the UMD cases that the disc sits in is fairly fragile and I had to take superglue to them once or twice in the past.

A digital format on the other hand will most likely be able to be downloaded to Sonys future handheld devices. You cannot convince me to buy a single UMD because it's dead.

I'm more than pleased with mine, if you can get it in your hands you'll see what a nice little device is really is (unlike the original I consider this one to actually be 'portable) Added to that you can pair PS3 controllers (not something present on older PSPs) and hook it up to your TV its a portable home console.

The only reason I can see why people put it down is because of price, it excels over its predecessors in every other category.

The GO doesn't give you any form of future proofing whatsoever - the only real hardware difference between the 1000/2000/3000 and the GO is the addition of bluetooth and the internal memory. Everything else that counts is the same. The 3K has TV out, and most people won't even bother with that - they'll probably have a PS3/360 which will look considerably better.

There are plenty of games available on UMD for next to nothing, and to be honest its a tad stupid (or you're rolling in cash) to get a PSP Go and have to pay more for some of the older (and still extremely good) games, not all of which are available on download.

[clonmult]

Originally Posted by McCol

I dont think it's purely down to price, at least not in my case.

I was in the market for a PSP last month and decided to plump for the PSP3000.

Main reason being that the price of the games on PSN is way too high and the choice is also quite limited. Also after trying the Go, I found that for my big hands the button and nub layout were not as good as the older models.

I wouldn't say that UMD was quite dead yet either, most if not all new games are still being released on disc and as a far as Sony have said will continue to do so. If there are any games that are only available on PSN these can be bought and downloaded to the PSP3000.

You can download the games on the PSP1000 as well ....

Sony had years to work on the Go, and to be honest its a little underwhelming - no useful hardware improvements, like improved CPU or graphics was quite bizarre.

[digimon]

Thanks for all your posts. I've been onto PSN and found that the games are pretty limited - at the moment and with the added cost, I think it will be the PSP 3000 for my boys this year. Who knows by the time i trade it up to the GO, Sony might have a fix to transfer UMD games to it.

[FKA]

just to let you know i have 4 gos in my house, me, the wife, and 2 kids. You can share the games easily on up to 5 psps so for example, Little Big Planet will be out tomorrow for £30 so between 4 psp gos thats only £7.60 per machine in my house, for your boys it would be like buying it on launch day for £15 per psp!! if you get 2 gos where are you gonna get new release games and old release games cheaper than DD between 2 psp gos? Wipeout Pulse is £14.99 so that would be £7.50 each for you, where you gonna get it at that price new or even second hand? another example GTA chinatown £30 on the store so £15 each, again you wont get it for £15 on UMD (and yes youre kids can play against each other with the same shared copy!!). 45 seconds to load gta vice city stories on UMD or 10 seconds on memory stick!!

The media go software will convert your movies to the correct psp format (warning, can take up to an hour per movie to convert if its not already in the correct format.) With the video rental store and psp compatible versions being preloaded on blurays you need to look to the future, your gonna be filling some memory up!! also you cant lose Digital downloads unlike UMDs etc.

If you do go for the gos or get the 3000s and want to use digital games then youll wanna get some 16gb mem sticks (mem stick duo for psp 3000 or m2s for the psp go, they are £14 in CEX.co.uk, i think you can get 32gb sticks for the 3000 but they are costly) to give you an idea i got 35 games on my PSP gos internal memory (25 full Retail like GTA Chinatown, Gran Turismo, Motorstorm etc, 5 ps1 games including FFVII and 5 psp mini games (minis only take up to 100 meg each) i have no room left for anything else like music/videos/pictures so i got a 16gb m2 for everything else so basically a psp go with 32gb memory in total can work out about the same or cheaper than a psp3000 and 32gb memory (the psp 3000 with 1 32gb mem stick, you could get 2 16gb cards for the psp 3000 but then things become losable if you swapping cards around etc), also dont forget that comics will be on the store this christmas so if your kids are into them they can be downloadable. There is plenty on the store if you ask me, i got 35 games all very good in the last 6 weeks!! Some games are digital exclusive aswell like patapon 2 and a few others. ( i think if you buy patapon 2 in the shop theres a download voucher in the box and not a umd)

Thers also runours os psp game rentals via digital distribution

Dam i should be a psp go salesman!!
good luck with your choice, maybe ive changed your mind, maybe i havent!! but i think the GO is more futureproof if your just getting into the sony handheld market.

Edit: one more thing, think about the benefits of the psp go over the psp 1k-3k series ie if you get the av cable and a dualshock 3 for each psp go assuming your kids have a tv each in their room they can hook thier psp gos to the tvs and use a dual shock 3 via bluetooth to play the games on the tele or us a dualshock 3 via bluetooth as a remote for playing music/video/remote play/internet/ etc, i use this all the time with the megadrive collection/ps1 games/playtv/video streaming in my bedroom (ps3s are in the lounges) etc

[Tonks01]

FKA, you can get your games even cheaper! Head over to zavvi where they do £20 PSN vouchers for £15! so that takes the price down even further!

Need to get a couple more people to split the costs of games between, be sorted

Didnt think about the advantages of almost no load times, that's very welcome indeed! Apparently GT is quiet slow to load on the bigger machines.

[Kube]

All the benefits listed above are benefits of Digital downloads, these are available for all PSPs from the 1000 through to the GO. The PSP GO has the added benefit of 16gb internal memory and bluetooth, nothing else. Digital downloads are for any PSP, PSN cards are for any PSP, and downloaded games can be shared among any type of PSP. TV out is also available on the both 2000 and 3000. The way the above posts were worded would make you think that 1000-3000 units can only use UMDs, not true.

The benefit older units have over the GO is the fact they have the best of both worlds in my opinion. The can use both UMD and downloads. Plus add CFW and a larger screen to that.

[mattrixdesign2]

[QUOTE=kBm;10848206The word on the street is a PSP4000 maybe making an apperance sometime next year, which may see the return of the UMD.
[/QUOTE]

Any links...

Sony are totally confusing me, they release the Go, which is a nice size, stupid price... it doesn't add much new to the PSP, the don't even bother to add accepted interfaces like touch screen/camera etc!!! The downloading of game is a nice idea, but they forget to give you masses of memory or decent prices.

...they continue promoting the PSP Lite, with new packaging and advertising right now!

Which product do they want to go with, both the same (smiliar) in terms of spec? I would be very surprised to see a PSP4000, if they release such a device they have truly gone with the fairy's

SORT IT OUT SONY.

[Tigerblade]

Originally Posted by clonmult

Sony had years to work on the Go, and to be honest its a little underwhelming - no useful hardware improvements, like improved CPU or graphics was quite bizarre.

That would be utter madness unless the GO was actually called the PSP2. Lets imagine for a second that the PS3 slim was released with CELL clocked twice as high, double the memory and double the gpu oomph....how do you think phat owners would have reacted? It's exactly the same situation here, all the GO is is the same but in a smaller package.....

Now if we are talking PSP2 I'd say keep the GO design, add another analogue stick, add touch screen and phone capabilities and it will be the ultimate handheld.

I can dream can't I?

[coliel]

I am intrested in a hand held for my children. Due to some great advice on here I was all set to buy a DS - How ever My boys best friends are all getting PSP s so now Im still confused! - After reading all the messages on this thread the psp sounds the best. Please can you simplify some answers to my questions?

Can 2 people actualy play one game on their psp s against each other with only one game?

Could say My eldist boy play against his friend who lives a couple of miles away using just 1 game? - could this be done using wireless broadband? or would we need some thing more?

Can you actualy down load music straight on to a psp using broadband or do you have to use our lap top?

I am realy pleased with the idea of using the psp on the actual telly - could you conect 2 psp s and play against each other?

Which PSP would I need to buy to do all this - the cheapist the better!!

Thank you all once again,
Jess

[Norlo]

@OP and for any other members looking to buy a PSP this xmas for themselves or loved ones. Obviously, many regulars on here will already know this, but equally, at this time of year less savvy gamers may be looking to buy, and i really feel that advise based on facts, rather than a 'love of a new bit of cool kit', needs to be given to those people.

As other have said, please do be aware that the PSP 3000 benefits from the online games via PSN and everything else that is being used to promote the Go.

• You can download games to a PSP 3000 from PSN.

• You can buy the cheap PSN cards at Zavvi and use them with a PSP 3000.

• You can download PSP Minis on a PSP 3000.

• Should Sony ever decide to sell a PSP game via PSN only (i.e. no UMD version), then you’ll be able to buy, download and play that on your PSP 3000.

However, these are some of negative aspects of the PSP Go, these are things which you will be loosing if you buy a PSP Go rather than a 3000

• You won’t be able to pick up some of the great PSP games from the last couple of years on UMD (for next to nothing pre-owned) due to lack of UMD drive, and many are not available on PSN

• PSN games tend to be fixed at the retail price, meaning you loose the ability to shop around the e-tailers for good bargains.

• Any kind of in store sale on PSP games (which we always get after Xmas) will be no use to you, because you can only buy games from PSN.

• There is no requirement for a publisher to release both a UMD and PSN version of the game. So you could see a situation where a game is unavailable to a PSP Go owner due to lack of PSN version.

• The release date of the PSN version does not need to be the same day/date as the UMD . So if you have a GO, and a game is released on UMD, you need to wait (and hope) the publisher also puts it up on PSN.

• Any new deals on new releases of PSP games will be unavailable to the PSP Go owner. It may be in Asda for 20 quid, but you’ll need to wait for the PSN release, which 9 times out of 10, will be at the full retial price. You cannot shop around with a PSP GO, you are tied to Sony at all times.

• If you get bored with a game or have just finished it (as can happen with the smaller gaming experiences you get on a handheld), with PSN download games, you have no resale value, you are stuck with it. With the UMD, get bored? Trade it in or Fleebay it, and put the cash toward another game.

And the best bit? The PSP Go costs £90 more than a PSP 3000! WHAT

Bottomline. Unless you as a user require Bluetooth (which the Go has, and the 300 does not), then I just can’t see what a Go should enter into your thoughts. Unless you just like having less choice, less functionality and less flexibility.

Don't get me wrong, i am not bashing the PSP here. i have had a PSP1000 since day one of JP release and have never even considered selling it. As a handheld gaming experience, the PSP is getting better. It's simply that the PSP Go is over priced, and that price increase comes with less function!

PSP Go is a very nice looking bit of kit and i think that has really sucked some people in. Problem is, in just about every other way, save being 'cool', the Go is a classic Sony FUBAR

[Kube]

I agree. I bought one, i sold it. Rebought a PSP2000 from Ebay.

[Tonks01]

Personally couldn't go back to the larger PSPs after having a Go in my hands, anyone who is swinging either way - at least try to get your hands on one.

Makes for a much more pleasurable multimedia device, when watching a movie I can comfortably cradle it in one hand and once its playing MP3s & closed it slips in my back pocket no bigger than my iPod Classic.

If youre buying 2 PSP Go's for christmas you will receive a total of 8 free games from Sony, which both your boys will be able to play on their respective systems.

The playstation headset syncs easily which is nice and often find myself using it for skype.

[Nuggsy]

Personally I think the only negative of the Go is PSN game pricing/availability.

As a business traveller the regular PSP is a bit too big to slip into my pocket & combine it with a few UMD's & you have no chance.
The Go on the other hand is very pocketable so when on the plane or negotiating the airport it's no hassle to have it on your person.

People are bashing the Go due to the price. At the end of the day you get a smaller device with added Bluetooth functions & 16GB of space. In my opinion this justifies the additional cost over PSP3000.

Digital distirubution is the way forward - people don't critisize PSN / XBox Live for having online only games so the whole UMD arguement is to some extent invalid.

It's choice at the end of the day & my choice would be GO every time!

[rexel1]

Originally Posted by Nuggsy

Personally I think the only negative of the Go is PSN game pricing/availability.

As a business traveller the regular PSP is a bit too big to slip into my pocket & combine it with a few UMD's & you have no chance.
The Go on the other hand is very pocketable so when on the plane or negotiating the airport it's no hassle to have it on your person.

People are bashing the Go due to the price. At the end of the day you get a smaller device with added Bluetooth functions & 16GB of space. In my opinion this justifies the additional cost over PSP3000.

Digital distirubution is the way forward - people don't critisize PSN / XBox Live for having online only games so the whole UMD arguement is to some extent invalid.


It's choice at the end of the day & my choice would be GO every time!

The other big negative is not being able to ever sell on your games.

[rexel1]

I have a Go, am in the process of selling it however.

Firstly, I don't use it enough to warrant having one. So not the machines fault!

Secondly, it is much cheaper to buy older games for the 1000/2000/3000 machines (even with the download psn zavvi vouchers).

Thirdly, there are a lot of older games not available, many more of which are on the US's PSN.

Lastly, even now, there are plenty of new games not being released (as of yet) on the PSN. Formula 1 anyone?

I'm treating myself to a cheap 3000 model (when I find one) and a ton of old games.

[mattrixdesign2]

Is it just me, but does Sony seemd to only be really pushing the PSP3000, loads of TV ads for the 3000, hardly seen any for the Go

[FKA]

Originally Posted by mattrixdesign2

Is it just me, but does Sony seemd to only be really pushing the PSP3000, loads of TV ads for the 3000, hardly seen any for the Go

Thats probably because the 3000 is at the majorities price point, the go is a premium handheld for those that need its extra features. I think they will make the psp go a better price once/if 32gb/64gb versions come out.

[FKA]

Originally Posted by Norlo

@OP and for any other members looking to buy a PSP this xmas for themselves or loved ones. Obviously, many regulars on here will already know this, but equally, at this time of year less savvy gamers may be looking to buy, and i really feel that advise based on facts, rather than a 'love of a new bit of cool kit', needs to be given to those people.

As other have said, please do be aware that the PSP 3000 benefits from the online games via PSN and everything else that is being used to promote the Go.

• 
  You can download games to a PSP 3000 from PSN.

• You can buy the cheap PSN cards at Zavvi and use them with a PSP 3000.

• You can download PSP Minis on a PSP 3000.

• Should Sony ever decide to sell a PSP game via PSN only (i.e. no UMD version), then you’ll be able to buy, download and play that on your PSP 3000.

However, these are some of negative aspects of the PSP Go, these are things which you will be loosing if you buy a PSP Go rather than a 3000

• 
  You won’t be able to pick up some of the great PSP games from the last couple of years on UMD (for next to nothing pre-owned) due to lack of UMD drive, and many are not available on PSN

• PSN games tend to be fixed at the retail price, meaning you loose the ability to shop around the e-tailers for good bargains.

• Any kind of in store sale on PSP games (which we always get after Xmas) will be no use to you, because you can only buy games from PSN.

• There is no requirement for a publisher to release both a UMD and PSN version of the game. So you could see a situation where a game is unavailable to a PSP Go owner due to lack of PSN version.

• The release date of the PSN version does not need to be the same day/date as the UMD . So if you have a GO, and a game is released on UMD, you need to wait (and hope) the publisher also puts it up on PSN.

• Any new deals on new releases of PSP games will be unavailable to the PSP Go owner. It may be in Asda for 20 quid, but you’ll need to wait for the PSN release, which 9 times out of 10, will be at the full retial price. You cannot shop around with a PSP GO, you are tied to Sony at all times.

• If you get bored with a game or have just finished it (as can happen with the smaller gaming experiences you get on a handheld), with PSN download games, you have no resale value, you are stuck with it. With the UMD, get bored? Trade it in or Fleebay it, and put the cash toward another game.

And the best bit? The PSP Go costs £90 more than a PSP 3000! WHAT

Bottomline. Unless you as a user require Bluetooth (which the Go has, and the 300 does not), then I just can’t see what a Go should enter into your thoughts. Unless you just like having less choice, less functionality and less flexibility.

Don't get me wrong, i am not bashing the PSP here. i have had a PSP1000 since day one of JP release and have never even considered selling it. As a handheld gaming experience, the PSP is getting better. It's simply that the PSP Go is over priced, and that price increase comes with less function!

PSP Go is a very nice looking bit of kit and i think that has really sucked some people in. Problem is, in just about every other way, save being 'cool', the Go is a classic Sony FUBAR

your post is a little biased towards the psp 3000 me thinks!! For a start the £90 price difference is true but tack on a 16gb mem stick duo thats the same read/write speed as the Gos internal memory and that price gap closes significantly.

IMO the Go has More Features: Dualshock 3 Support for when your using your psp go as a home console on the tv for remote play/streaming games/movies/music/vidzone/bbciplayer to another rooms tv.
Pause Game Feature (which official firmware 3000s dont have)

16gb as well as expandable memory

Way more portable

Superior Screen quality/hardware

Online gaming/game/comic book/movie rental purchases anywhere if you have a mobile with unlimited data plan (with the 3000 youd need a laptop or an unsecured wifi/mifi hotspot) Perfect for me the other day on the train and did some motorstorm online and downloaded the transformers comic!!

a couple of other very minor features like the clock and calender etc.

People considering using the psp as a home/portable media center/device ie renting movies at 2 gb a pop, this brings the price closer between the 2 models as stated earlier when buying massive mem cards. eg at retailt the pspgo +16gb m2 is roughly the same price as a 3000 with a 32gb mem stick duo (assuming you like me and dont want the hassle of carrying/worrying about losing/swapping mem cards all the time)

[SeedyR]

Just a quick question guys.

If I'm borrowing a UMD game off my mate, say Little Big Planet, then I decide to download it via the PSN store. Does my existing game save still work or do I have to start all over again?

[danwalton]

Originally Posted by SeedyR

Just a quick question guys.

If I'm borrowing a UMD game off my mate, say Little Big Planet, then I decide to download it via the PSN store. Does my existing game save still work or do I have to start all over again?

Works no problem

[Stu8866]

I bought a Go last weekend and so far it is sweeet. Perfect for my needs as it is small, light, no faffing with discs, awesome. I need all this because i travel with work nearly every week; the older models would be slightly too chunky and the need to carry discs is a big no no for me.

It is quite pricey at 200 squid, but this a really, really good looking piece of kit.

I see a lot of negative comments about the download only aspect, but this really is down to personal needs. I never really have much time to go to the shops and so downloads only suits me gr8 - and faffing with selling old psp games back to the shop for 2.99 - I think I'll survive without that

S

[Kube]

Just goes to show you how different folk have different needs. Personally i want access to the full back catolgue but obviously others dont find this an issue.