In April 2009, the PSP Go was leaked to the press. It was then finally (officially) unveiled at Sony’s E3 2009 press conference. The PSP Go is an improvement on the original PSP-3000 in many ways, and it retails for $250. It has a slider screen, a 16GB SSD hard drive, and it has no UMD drive (the media used for PSP games and movies). This makes the unit lighter and somewhat smaller. The PSP Go also has some interesting features being added to it that make it seem like an iPod Touch killer. In some arguments, the PSP Go could even be said to simply be a clone of the iPod Touch. Does the new portable gaming system bring more to the table in the area of video gaming, or does it simply stand to try and steal a portion of the iPod Touch audience?
One of the most notable similarities between the two devices is the support for applications. The iPhone and iPod Touch devices have both been substantially devoted to apps. In fact, many users of either device use it for nothing but applications. Apps with capabilities from anything such as maps, weather, email, instant messaging, news, RSS, blogging, notes, etc. have taken the two devices by storm. They are almost a must have feature for the iPhone or iPod Touch. The PSP Go application support feature is vague as of yet, but from what Sony has discussed, it is seemingly the same as the iPod Touch and iPhone and offers basically the same types of apps that those two devices currently do. This kind of support for apps is undoubtedly a strategy used by Sony in an attempt to use the PSP Go to try and reach that audience that does find apps for their portable device a necessity.
Another similarity between the two devices is media downloads. The PSP from the start has had video and music playback. It even offers UMD movies for consumers to buy and play movies on their PSP. Sony has also had the Playstation Store Network, or PSN, ever since the launch of the Playstation 3 gaming system, which is similar to Apple’s iTunes store, allowing movie and TV show rentals and purchases and game downloads (full games and add-ons). Aside from the option for PSP-3000 owners to be able to download movies and put them on their PSPs, the PSP Go features download support, as the unit has no UMD drive. This is similar to the iPhone and iPod Touch in that the devices only feature download or transfer of movies, music, or games. Sony possibly made this decision to cut production costs, make the device smaller and more portable, or because they saw how well it worked for the iPhone and iPod Touch. No matter the reason, the PSP Go’s download and transfer exclusive support is a move that could easily have been based upon the iPhone/iPod Touch’s capabilities.
A third similarity is gaming support for the PSP Go. The PSP has always been a gaming system primarily, and a media player secondly. The iPhone and iPod Touch have also been very active in the area of gaming since summer 2008. Hit franchises such as Metal Gear Solid, Assassin’s Creed, and Need For Speed have all had one or more iPhone/iPod Touch exclusive debuts made only for the device. It is no question that the Apple devices are becoming more of an entertainment platform rather than just a media platform (or phone in the iPhone’s case). An example of this is EA and Ubisoft’s showings at E3 2009, where both major companies showed off a large selection of upcoming “hardcore” iPhone/iPod Touch games. However, it is not the gaming support that is the PSP Go’s similarity to the Apple devices. It is the PSP Go’s method of getting the games to the device. As mentioned above, the PSP Go only features download and transfer support for PSP games for the PSP Go. This method, again, was no doubt partially inspired by the iPhone and iPod Touch’s download format for games.
There are two other similarities between the two platforms. The iPhone/iPod Touch both use an internal hard drive for storage (as Apple’s iPod line has always used). The PSP has always traditionally used removable storage cards for storage, while the PSP Go now boasts a 16GB SSD hard drive for storage. The other similarity is the less focus on gaming. The PSP Go is better suited to use for PSN movie and TV show downloads or rentals. The PSP Go seems as if it is making a move in the other direction regarding the gaming feature. For example, the unit retails for $249.99, which is $30 less than the current 16GB iPod Touch, while the PSP-300 is only $169.99. The PSP Go does not support all of the PSP games released by download, so why will consumers buy the PSP Go for the gaming, strictly? The main reason for purchase of the PSP Go is for the other features it has for things like music and video, as it handles these better than the PSP-3000 by a landslide.
The PSP Go is not a complete iPhone/iPod Touch clone; it definitely has features inspired by the Apple device, though. Whether it is the PSP Go’s app support, media playback, downloadable-only content, or internal storage, Sony noticeably took a look at what Apple was doing with the iPhone and iPod Touch and followed suit. It is not a bad move on Sony’s part, however; after all, Apple is very successful with its iPhone and iPod Touch devices not to mention the iTunes store. It would not be surprising for the other two major hardware developers to jump onboard the portable media device train.
