pspgo

PSPgo to follow price drop of PSP-3000 and be available for $149.99

by Alexis M. on March 4, 2011

in Sony Playstation Portable (PSP) News Bits

Sony’s official PlayStation website has listed the price of the PSPgo for $149.99 MSRP (see here at us.playstation.com/psp). Retailers are currently not showing the $149.99 price, but the adjustment could be coming soon, starting Sunday or soon after. The PSPgo is currently listed for $199.99 MSRP online.

The price drop will place the PSPgo at $100 less than the original $249.99 cost when it launched in October 2009. Watch for the new prices here. Despite the PSPgo’s criticisms, it is the sleekest and most compact version of the PSP family and among my favorite portable gaming system. At $149.99, it is difficult to argue the price anymore. For what you get in comparison to other current gaming portables, it offers plenty of value. Keep in mind that Sony’s “Next Generation Portable” (NGP) will be arriving at the end of the year. The price of the NGP is still unknown, but hopefully Sony will learn from its experience with the PSPgo launch price.

Sony’s other PlayStation Portable (PSP-3000) dropped to $129.99 MSRP last weekend for the core system, as well as PSP Entertainment bundles for $159.99 (such as this PSP Limited Edition Invizimals Entertainment Pack).

UPDATE: Sony’s US PlayStation website has been updated with a $199.99 MSRP for the PSPgo. Below is a screen capture showing the original $149.99 MSRP on the website. It is still possible that a price cut on the PSPgo could be coming soon and the official US PlayStation website jumped the gun on the listing. Sony Computer Entertainment America has not made an announcement of the price change of the PSPgo.

UPDATE 2: Here is another Sony PSP deal worth noting. The PSP Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker Entertainment Pack is available here from GameStop.com for $149.99 ($50 off and no longer being shipped). Well worth it!

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PlayStation Portable System Update 6.35 available; prepares Qriocity music service

by Alexis M. on November 24, 2010

in Sony Playstation Portable (PSP) News Bits

Sony Computer Entertainment has released a new System Update 6.35 (aka firmware update) for the PlayStation Portable. PSP owners can now run the System Update from the “Settings” XMB menu option. What’s new in this little update for the PSP? It “prepares your PSP system for the upcoming launch of “Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity” – a new, cloud-based, digital music service from Sony,” according to SCEA. The cloud-based music service will be available soon (see more details on it here). Media Go also gets an update, providing an improved interface and advanced photo editing tools on the PC.

Source – US PlayStation Blog

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Invizimals brings augmented reality gaming to PSP systems with PSP Camera

by Alexis M. on October 13, 2010

in Sony Playstation Portable (PSP) News Bits

Sony Computer Entertainment America has released the first augmented reality game for the PlayStation Portable with Invizimals. This is also the first time the PSP Camera is released in North America. The PSP Camera is included with the $39.99 Invizimals game (available here) and in the Limited Edition PSP-3000 Invizimals bundle (available here). EyePet will be coming to the PSP as well, so the PSP Camera can be used in that game.

Unfortunately, PSP enthusiasts that have a PSPgo system won’t be able to play the game since the PSPgo does not accomodate the PSP Camera. Few retailers note this, including on the front box shots itself. It’s not clear if some kind of adapter will be available in the future, although it has been mentioned as a possibility from SCEE previously. The press release (via the link below) clearly states “Invizimals is not compatible with the PSPgo system.”

Here are more details on Invizimals from SCEA:
“Available only on the PSP -1000, -2000 and -3000 systems, Invizimals includes over 120 creatures to hunt down and capture by pointing the camera for the PSP system, listening to the Invizimals detector when the creatures are nearby, and laying down a magical trap (rectangular shaped card included with the game). Creatures are spawned based on environmental conditions determined by colors of surfaces and time of day. Invisible monsters are lurking around every corner and players interact and capture these creatures by grabbing, tickling and luring them into their collection and battling.”

Invizimals is targeted towards younger players, with it’s catch ‘em, trade ‘em and battle gameplay. Visit the official website of Invizmals at invizimals.com for more details. Watch a trailer below for a sample of how gameplay works.

Source – SCEA press release

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Rumor: Next PSP to feature touch controls in place of UMD door

by Alexis M. on August 19, 2010

in Sony Playstation Portable (PSP) News Bits

PSP UMD

A rumor on some of the possible functionality on Sony’s next PlayStation Portable has surfaced. The next PSP in development is said to be making its way around developers and incorporates touch control features. What is unexpected is where Sony is placing it.

Here is what the rumor on eurogamer.net said:
“According to three separate development sources who have seen and used the new PSP, the screen is rich and detailed but the headline feature is the way games are controlled – by a touch-sensitive area on the back of the unit behind the screen.”

Touch controls on the back will mean no more annoying screen smudges, but how it differs from a trackpad remains to be seen (or felt). The rumored PSP will not use UMD physical media and go the route of the PSPgo’s internal flash memory. Also rumored is that this new PSP is about the size of the PSP-3000 unit and is still over a year from release.

Source: eurogamer.net

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Happy 5th year anniversary PSP; top 5 systems and top 5 games

by GamingBits on March 24, 2010

in Sony Playstation Portable (PSP) News Bits

Happy birthday, PSP! Today marks the fifth year anniversary for the Sony PlayStation Portable system. Since Sony’s portable gaming system launched in March 2005, the PSP has evolved through many colors, bundles, and a few form factors (see Sony’s "Celebrating 5 Years of PSP" here). Here are just five PSP North America systems and bundles worth noting:

PlayStation Portable Core (PSP 1000) – Also known as the "PSP Fat," this is the system that launched Sony into portable gaming. See it here.

PSP God of War Entertainment Pack - The fire red PSP-2000 system with Kratos emblazoned on the back. Finding this limited run bundle may be tough to find new, but you may be able to get a used one at a decent price via Amazon.com.

Star Wars Battlefront Renegade Squadron Entertainment Pack – A white PSP-2000 system with Darth Vader on the back. ‘Nuff said! You may be able to find it used here.

PSPgo – If you’re looking for the most portable and sleekest version, the PSPgo is for you. At the time of this writing, Amazon.com is offering the PSPgo Piano Black for $209.

PSP Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker Bundle – Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker is one of this year’s most anticipated PSP games. You can get it in a nice Spirited Green PSP-3000 bundle. Pre-order it here (you can bet this one will go up in value too, if you can resist cracking it open).

Here are the top 5 PSP games I strongly recommend checking out:
God of War: Chains of Olympus
LittleBigPlanet PSP
Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII
LocoRoco 2
Tekken – Dark Resurrection

The games each offer something different, along with graphics and gameplay that you really cannot get on another portable gaming system. If you’ve overlooked the PSP so far, now would be a great time to catch up on the rollout of features of the years, including Remote Play connectivity with the PS3 (including AdHoc gameplay online), Digital Comics, and the many downloadable games and movies from the PlayStation Store.

For a look at our photo and feature comparisons between all of the PSP systems released to date, see the following links:
PSP-1000 vs. PSP- 2000
PSP-2000 vs. PSP-3000
PSP-3000 vs. PSPgo
(PSP-N1000)

[click to continue…]

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