Игры для приставок

Upsides: The PSP Go is 16% lighter and 35% smaller than the PSP-3000, shares every feature with the latter save its screechy UMD drive, puts the thumb-nub in a much smarter position relative to your grip, adds Bluetooth support (rumored to exist in older model PSPs, but disabled), and packs 16GB of internal flash memory out of the box.

Downsides: The PSP Go's 480x272 LCD is 3.8" (compared to the PSP-3000's 480x272 4.3" screen), which means a 12% reduction in the legibility of already smallish fonts (especially text in emulator-interpolated PS1 games). Mini-USB cables no longer work with the system (you're stuck with a proprietary one). The absent UMD drive, which was supposed to be a boon, may turn out to be a boondoggle, with Sony backing away from suggestions it might provide a mechanism for carrying players' existing UMD libraries over. In short, the PSP Go seems to be orienting itself at the wrong ends of either spectrum.

To be fair, the $170 DSi costs $40 more than the DS Lite, but it comes with supplementary features, e.g. So-called "casual" gamers who the PSP Go seems labeled and styled to attract may balk at the $250 price tag and opt instead for Nintendo's 32% cheaper, family-friendlier DSi. And then there's the system's price tag: $250, when the regular PSP-3000 with a UMD drive costs just $170 (possibly dropping soon).

I can live with the smaller screen and work around its vulnerability with the usual protective "socks." The proprietary cable's no big thing as long as it's included. Enthusiasts who already own one of the earlier PSPs and who might still be inclined to drop $250 on a gee-whiz upgrade face the prospect of repurchasing games they already own in UMD-format. The screen-slide mechanism protects the wrong features (the d-pad, thumb-nub, and action buttons, as opposed to the screen itself, which remains fully exposed, iPhone -like). two 640 x 480 0.3 megapixel cameras, instead of subtracting major ones. My lineup of UMD games changes frequently, but I'm usually packing a half dozen, minimum. But the UMD library conversion issue and the steep price point leave Sony in an unenviable position. That translates to $180 and $240 in library-replacement costs, if I have to purchase them (as downloads) a second time.