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>> Jeff Bakalar: Hey, what's going on everyone. I'm Jeff Bakalar for CNET.com, and today, we are checking out the brand-new PSP Go. Now, the PSP Go is the fourth iteration of Sony's multi-media playing handheld video game console, and the Go represents a complete PSP redesign as almost every single aspect of the device has been slimmed down, ultimately making it even more affordable than ever. The PSP Go is actually the first PSP that will comfortably fit in your pocket. The biggest change in the PSP Go is, obviously, the omission of the UMD drive and the addition of the 16 gigabyte internal hard drive. Also, they've added Bluetooth capability as well. Sony is marketing the Go as a digital downloads-only device, meaning you can only get games and video onto the Go by downloading them from the Playstation store. Of course, you can use the included media Go software to encode your own videos for viewing on the device, but all of the premium games, videos, and TV shows must first be transferred from either your computer or your Playstation 3. Now, the Go has also changed the memory card slot. Instead of that old Pro Duo card, you're going to now have to buy a M2 micromemory card for use with the Go. We really like the overall look and feel of the PSP Go, but the sliding screen is noticeably smaller. You're still getting that 480 by 272 resolution so you're not actually missing out any of the picture. Now, the D-pad and the action buttons have a much tighter, more tactile operation to them, and the LNR shoulder buttons are much more prominent. We actually like these LNR buttons better than the ones on the older PSP's. Unfortunately, though, the analog stick has been moved to an awkward location. Right now, it's just to the right of the D-Pad. The software on the PSP Go is a little different than what we saw on the PSP 3000. One example is that when the sliding screen is shut, you're going to get a nice little calendar here on the display. Now, we couldn't find any differences in performance when we played games on the PSP 3000 and the Go, and the battery life is just as long as it was on the 3000. You're going to get about five hours of play time total. Unfortunately, though, you cannot remove the battery like you could on the 3000, and Sony did this to sort of combat the piracy that has been pretty popular with the PSP. Sony plans to release bite-sized games with the platform's launch called PSP minis. Now, these are going to be games that are much less expensive and also going to require less storage space. And we really like the idea of not having to carry around a bunch of UMD discs everywhere with us, but the fact that not all of the PSP games in the library won't be available on the store right away is a little upsetting. This, however, may change in the future, but Sony hasn't told us which games are going to be added. As it stands right now, some of the best games on the system are not available for download on the Playstation store. Overall, the PSP Go is definitely a very sleek and sexy portable gaming device, but its $250.00 price tag is way too much money to spend considering that none of the old PSP accessories will work on it, and not all of the PSP games from the library are able to be played on it since you cannot download all of them from the online store. Because of this, we're not recommending this new PSP Go for new PSP customers. Instead, we recommend you checking out the $170 PSP 3000. I'm Jeff Bakalar, and this has been the PSP Go.
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