More PSP Go dribble.

It is a slow gaming news day, so I went hunting for PSP Go news. I am still very much on the fence about getting one of these systems, but I am getting ahead of myself.

Last week RPGamer posted some E3 hands-on impressions of the Go. Not a lot of new nuggets here, but the article is worth a read if you are pressed for PSP Go news.

The battery life on the Go is a bit of a disappointment. Many people, including myself, thought that with the exclusion of the UMD drive, the battery life on the Go would be much longer than the current PSP’s 3-6 hours for games and 3-5 hours for video playback. Unfortunately, the PSP Go has nearly the exact same battery life as previous PSP models. This is a concession to the Go’s smaller form factor. It uses a smaller battery at 960mAH while the previous PSP-3000 used a 1200mAH battery. Technically, the PSP Go is far more energy efficient because even though it has a smaller battery it can achieve the same battery life as previous models. To be honest, that is a very small concession since functionally, nothing has changed.

I still do not understand how Sony failed to address battery life; 10 hours should be the minimum that engineers should strive for with a portable gaming system. At least with my current PSP-1000 brick, I do have two batteries, so I can always keep one changed. If the PSP Go has an internal battery, we are all F’ed if we expect to take this thing on a long flight.

Still not convinced that you need to spend your hard earned duckets on a PSP Go? Neither is TheSixthAxis, but they tried to come up with some reason to go with a PSP Go.

Let’s face it, many people who buy a PSPgo will likely be buying it simply because it is new. With the technology and gadget loving crowd if they are not considering buying it because they themselves always like to have the newest gadget they may be considering it just for the cachet that comes from showing their peers that they have bought the latest technological bling.

So this is what happens on a slow news day. You have to read me droning on and on “will he or won’t he” style about the PSP Go. Part of me wants one – my PSP 1000 is a brick and if I get a PSP Go, I can turn my PSP 1000 into a homebrew system.

I keep saying, “screw it, I am heading to Amazon to preorder” then at the last minute I cannot justify $250 for this minor PSP upgrade. Besides, I cannot make up my mind on the Black or White decision. If I can find $175 worth of crap to throw up on eBay this afternoon, I think I will take the plunge. Stay tuned.