October 01, 2009, 8:13 AM — The Sony PSPGo launches today. I snarked about the high price and the lack of a 'good will' program earlier this week, so let's set those two issues aside for now. We've got both new firmware and new content to play with today. I do so love being a geek!
With the launch comes a new firmware revision for all PSPs, firmware 6.10. This firmware adds bluetooth tethering for PSPGo users, letting you tether the Go to a bluetooth and internet enabled phone for 'net access without Wi-Fi. Again, this feature is only for the PSPGo (the PSP-3000 doesn't support bluetooth). All PSP owners can benefit from the other new feature in 6.10: SensMe, a new music program (which must be downloaded separately from the update) that will sort the tracks on your PSP based on mood. (I'll embed a video of Sony's Eric Lempel demoing SensMe at the end of this post.) MediaGo, the free PC software used to managed content on your PSP, is supposed to get an update today (to 1.2) as well. MediaGo 1.2 has a new look and allows exporting playlists to the PSP.
And finally, the games. Gran Turismo PSP is the flagship title launching today, at $39.99; the same price you'd pay for a UMD version of a new top-tier game at retail. I'd wait for a sale, and speaking of sales: in celebration of the PSPGo launch, the Playstation Store has a bunch of titles temporarily discounted. Also, the first 7 PSP Minis are available, including classics like Tetris & Soduko. The Minis are priced from $4.99 - $9.99. Tetris is $9.99, which seems a bit steep to me. A $4.99 Soduko game seems more reasonable, assuming its a full-featured Soduko game. The Playstation blog has a full list of titles, but read carefully because it jumps from PSP software to PS3 software and then back again. The bulk of the PSP info is towards the bottom of the list.
I still think the PSPGo is over-priced (although if someone were to give me one I wouldn't turn it down) but it's nice to see the PSP line reinvigorated like this. There are 80+ retail-sized games, priced from $9.99 - $39.99, available on the Playstation Store today, plus the Minis. Most of these games aren't new and were formally available (though often hard to find) in the UMD format at retail, but it's still nice to have this huge selection of games available for immediate download.
I'm already a PSP owner, so this is all great news for me. But what about you? Are you tempted to buy your first PSP now? And if so, which model? Or is this new online service not enough to get you to change your mind? As always, please leave a comment with your thoughts!
Here's the video explaining SensMe:
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