A puzzling play by Sony
PSP Go is good for gaming but something’s not quite right
What was Sony thinking?
That’s what I wondered while testing the new PSP Go handheld video game device from Sony Corp. Like most Sony gadgets, it’s well-engineered and attractive, but not quite right.
It’s as if the PSP Go designers read engineering journals instead of watching what actual people do; on the subway, for instance. Lots of those passengers are playing games. But a growing number aren’t using a PSP, or even rival Nintendo Inc.’s DS game machine. These days, the fastest-selling devices for handheld gaming are the iPhone and iPod Touch music device from Apple Inc.
Hardly anyone saw it coming. Only last year did Apple let outside software companies write programs for the iPhone and iPod and sell them through Apple’s online store. Almost overnight, developers unleashed hundreds of games for the gadgets. Some are free; others are cheap. Most are simple time-wasters. But now, major game developers like Electronic Arts Inc. and Ubisoft are serving up iPod editions of mainstream titles such as Madden NFL and Assassin’s Creed. Today, Apple runs TV ads selling the iPod Touch as a better way to play than anything from Sony or Nintendo.
Nearly 107 million of Nintendo’s DS game machines, in various versions, have been sold since 2004. Sony’s original PSP sold 55 million units over the same period. But Apple has sold 50 million iPhones and iPod Touches in just two years. And Apple recently cut the price on a basic iPod Touch to $200, in time for Christmas.
It’s likely that by year’s end, people will have bought more iPhones and iPod Touches than PSPs. The research firm Compete Inc. found that 79 percent of iPhone users have downloaded at least one game. Soon Apple could become the world’s number two maker of handheld game systems after Nintendo, with Sony falling to third place. Somehow, I doubt the PSP Go will arrest Sony’s slide, even though it’s an appealing gadget. Basically, the new Go is a slimmed-down version of the original. Up until now, most PSP games came on UMD disks - a miniature CD format used only by Sony. The Go abandons that system. All games are downloaded over the Internet and installed either in the Go’s 16 gigabytes of built-in memory or on a removable memory card.
Sony’s still pushing its unpopular Memory Stick technology. Nintendo’s newest, the DSi, lets you download games onto industry-standard SD memory cards. But with the Go, it’s Sony’s Memory Sticks or nothing.
Users of the old PSP obviously can’t run their game disks on the new Go. Sony had promised to offer free replacement downloads to game disk owners, but had to abandon this plan after game software companies objected. So hang on to your PSP “classic’’ if you value your old games.
Like a lot of keypad phones, the Go keeps its controls under wraps. Slide the screen up and the buttons and joystick snap out. They feel much better in the hand than the PSP’s controls. Indeed, the entire device feels pleasantly light and compact.
Sony says serious gamers will always prefer pushbutton controls to a touchscreen. I think they’re right. I played the sword-and-sorcery game Hero of Sparta on an iPhone and on the PSP Go, and it was no contest. Whether running from enemies or slaying them, it was easier and more fun on the PSP. But the PSP version cost me $6.99. The iPhone game is priced at $1.99. PSP games often cost more. The iPhone version of Madden NFL 10 costs $9.99, but the PSP version is $39.99. A Sony official said that the PSP version has a lot more features; I’ll take his word for it. Still, few consumers will long tolerate such a price gap.
Besides, the PSP Go itself is absurdly priced at $250. That’s just $50 cheaper than Sony’s high-powered PlayStation 3 living-room console. It’s $80 more than the old-style PSP, which Sony will keep making. And forget about winning over customers from rival pocket platforms. The Go is $80 more expensive than the Nintendo DSi, and $50 more than the entry-level iPod Touch.
This excessive price buys you a sleek, lightweight design - and what else? The inability to play your old PSP games and the chance to pay more for software than iPhone and iPod gamers. They’re a smart bunch at Sony; you’d think they know what they’re doing. But I suspect that when the people at Apple think of the PSP Go, they smile and wonder: What was Sony thinking?
Hiawatha Bray can be reached at bray@globe.com. 
