Note: I originally wrote this last October, then emailed it to myself and forgot all about it. While playing Fat Princess: A Fistful of Cake for most of the evening, I unexpectedly rediscovered the consumerism-pangs for the PSP Go and remembered I wrote this silly little article. It’s out of place and damn late, but still valid in terms of how my brain wants something I absolutely do not need.
I have no idea why I want a PSP Go. It’s over priced by a good hundred dollars, it’s essentially gimped by a lack of complete 3rd party publisher support, and, perhaps most pertinent, I already have PSP-2000. Not only would that render all of my current collection of UMD’s useless, but I already have a device that does almost everything that device does. On top of that, I can’t remember the last time I played my PSP for fun. Sure, I’ve reviewed some real gems over the last year (Chinatown Wars and Half Minute Hero come to mind), but I haven’t voluntarily touched the thing since Crisis Core dropped in early 2008. Yet, I still endure a daily struggle to keep myself from buying one. I can’t escape the appeal of its aesthetic.
Part of this has to relate to my history with consoles; I’ve acquired just about everything from the last few console generations. I have a Virtual Boy I’ve played less than once, a 32X/Sega CD, two Saturns, a Master System, and what used to be a functioning 3DO. I don’t know why (probably American consumerism or poor decision making, which are arguably the same thing). All of us here at Digital Chumps unabashedly love videogames, but I haven’t even played half the shit I’ve bought for these consoles. Cosmic Carnage? Touring Car Championship? Ghost House? I have no idea why I have any of those games.* But, well, I have the console just in case I want to play them.
But I already have a PSP. I don’t want to Go because it has the option to send video to my TV and allow me to use a Dual Shock 3(which seems backwards on a level I am not comfortable with). I think I actually want it because I want to play Final Fantasy VII again, and playing it on the Go (lolpun) seems to be the best environment imaginable for that task. It’s ultra portable and not awkward in my pocket like the current PSP, which might encourage me to take it everywhere and actually commit to finishing it. But then what the hell am I supposed to do with it after that? I love the feel of the thing, my E3 impressions were great, but when am I practically going to use it?
It seems like a test bed for PSP 2, a giant market research device to see how the public responds to paying a premium price for digital, on-the-go content. That would be extremely cool if the thing wasn’t at a premium price, but there is no way in perfect hell than anyone with a rational amount of sense should pick up a PSP Go.
Which is precisely why I am going to buy one.
* This isn’t true. I have Cosmic Carnage because I heard there was a nude code for the characters (I was also 12), I have Touring Car because I loved Sega Rally, and I received Ghost House for my Master System because, somehow, it was supposed to be 3D.
