This post has not been edited by the GamesBeat staff. Opinions by GamesBeat community writers do not necessarily reflect those of the staff.
With everybody in a tizzy over the 3DS and its line-up, the Internet seems to be forgetting the important industry milestone that occurred one year ago on October 1: the launch of the PSP Go. Uh…yeah.
Around that time, I wrote about both why I thought the system was right for someone like me and later, my initial outings with the system. Back then, the system — along with Sony's digital distribution initiative — was still fairly young, so it was difficult to assess where the store would be going and how their digital promise would hold up.
So, a year later, as someone who's essentially tethered to Sony's online store, I'm finding myself in an odd place. The biggest thing currently haunting me is that not only is the 3DS going to stomp its portable competitors into the ground as soon as Nintendo releases it — and my wallet, too — but if statements from developers are any indication, Sony's also getting ready to jump into the next-gen portable fray. Meanwhile, I'm part of the forgotten market — the woebegone offspring Sony doesn't think it has to pay child support to.
I knew that my love affair the Go was going to be short-lived, even as I walked in the store and payed for it. In the back of my mind, I was somewhat aware that, whether for a PSP-3000 (if I hated the Go) or for a PSP2 (if Sony announced it in 2010), I would be coming back to that GameStop sooner than later. The Go's days were numbered even as it launched. Man, this is starting to sound like a eulogy.
All cynicism and market speculation aside, how has the Go treated me, the consumer? After thinking it over some, my verdict is not too bad. Compared to the DS this year, the Go hasn't exactly trailed behind as much as the PSP in general usually does. For the most part, I've had a steady stream of games to play on the thing. I've toned down my portable gaming across the board, though, so it's possible that I've always had something to play because I haven't spent too much time with either it or my DS recently.
Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker has been my big PSP experience this year. After Portable Ops thoroughly disappointed me, Peace Walker ended up being a much better game, even if its bosses did err on the side of obtuseness. That was the period of time when I had the Go wherever I went, and would play it whenever I had time.
Since then, a smattering of smaller games have hit the store's digital shelves, including Fat Princess, Tetris, and Mega Man Maverick Hunter X. I haven't been able to dive into too many games since then, most notably Persona 3 Portable since my brother has been hunched over the ttitle between raids on Icecrown Citadel. With Valkyria Chronicles 2, Ys Seven, and the eventual PSP port of Knights in the Nightmare still to play, I'm going to be using the Go for a while.
But much of the hate people directed against the Go focused on what it doesn't have. I'd really like to see Lumines on the PSN store in some capacity, as well as a couple of other games, but for the most part, companies have been pretty good about putting their games up on the store. I always sigh whenever a publisher decides not to put their game out digitally, but so far, I don't feel like I've missed out on anything too major — at least not anything I want.
That doesn't mean Sony's off scot-free, though. I still think it's their responsibility to make sure that every game out there is up on that store. Even if it isn't that big of a deal for me, hearing that Square Enix won't be putting out Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep digitally makes me feel like a second-class customer — something that shouldn't happen to someone who's supported your attempt to try something different.
So in the end, yeah, maybe the Go wasn't the best idea in the world. But I can still respect Sony's digital-only attempt, as floundering as it was. And aside from the fact that I could be playing Lumines, I don't regret having gone with the Go; I wouldn't have used the UMD drive on a 3000 that much, anyway, and I would've had worry about which memory stick had what on it. Though I'm currently concerned about whether my digital PSP games will carry over to Sony's new hardware, I'm still going to enjoy my time with the device, however short it's going to be. And seriously, that “Pause Game” feature is a lifesaver.
