PSP Go or DSi...Which one is a worthy upgrade?

I was talking with my best bud about the Go and the DSi and the approach both Nintendo and Sony have taken towards these two "upgraded" versions of their current handhelds. Just to state, he is the electronics dept manager (day shift) for a Target store in Folsom CA.

He was telling me about how the Go was doing, sales wise, at his store. We both agreed that at the current time it isn't worth it and I think I hit a nerve when I said that the DSi was worth the price of the upgrade as opposed to the go. Let me explain.

Making that statement you need to look at what these units were upgraded from. We will look at the DSi as compared to the lite. There were several improvements Nintendo made and really only 1 they took away. The changes were: faster cpu, bigger screens, increased memory, internal storage, SD card support, dual cameras, web browser and dsiware store. What they took away was the GBA slot.

Now some may say the loss of the GBA is a big thing, but taking a page from Sony...if you have gba games then it is most likely you have a "GBA". Sort of like Sony's approach to BC in the ps3. Maybe not in so many words Sony simply stated, if you have PS2 games you want to play, chances are you have a PS2.

Anyway, back to the DSi. Sure the loss of GBA is crushing to some. The true ability of the DSi is still realized in the fact you can play 99% of the DS games released or to be released. Not to mention you can download games to the internal storage as well as SD card (they have yet to make SD game launching). This is something you CAN'T do on the DS lite. The web browser is also a nice touch yet even the original DS had support for a web browser via a special DS card and GBA memory cartridge. That combination in now way as optimized like the browser of the dsi. This is thanks to more internal RAM and speedier cpu.

Now on to the PSP Go. A great little unit with lots of potential. Potential that practically any other PSP can accomplish with a little extra effort. The selling points of the Go are simple. 16gb internal storage, bluetooth, smaller design, better battery life thanks in part to the loss of the UMD drive. That last part is the sore thumb for the Go but in reality there is more to it.

For less than $100 I can take even an old psp 1001 and make it do 'most' of the Go's abilities. All I need to do is add in a big mem stick (8gb is a nice size). I cant make the old psp have bluetooth but...oh well. All Go related content is playable on ANY psp. Mini's, full umd digital games, psn games, ps1 games, movies etc...

Not only can a regular PSP do what the Go can do, it can do what the Go CAN'T do. Play real UMD games and movies. I was actually surprised Sony didn't take the opportunity to improve on a few of the PSP downfalls. Namely, memory, speed and software support. When they released the 2000 series it marked a change to the internal workings of the psp. It doubled the memory from a paltry 32mb to 64mb. Still paltry by today standards but it just would have made sense to double the memory again to 128mb. Sony could have sped up the cpu and improved the software to allow support for newer flash sites. I can understand their reason in wanting to keep it the same though. Those changes are likely to take place in the PSP2 (or whatever it will be called).

So from a technical view the Go is the same as a PSP 1000/2000/3000. It has the same cpu/gpu and same amount of memory (with the exception being the original psp 1001). Built in Wi-fi, web browser, PSN store access, memory stick support (although the Go uses M2 instead of MSProDuo).

I will say though that the improvements the Go has are really just the bluetooth and internal storage. Scratch that, just the bluetooth. You can adapt a regular psp to have increased storage for all the digital download stuff and make it just as convenient as the go. It wont have the cool smaller/slide screen but will be just as functional.

From a new buyer perspective, the Go is a real convenience but lacks the current catalog available to existing PSP owners. This will change but it does make you think that perhaps there will be games NOT released in digital form. The choice to do so is up to the game developers and Sony. I recall Sony stating they would have the majority of their catalog available at some point to the Go.

Cost wise, there is roughly an $80 difference between the PSP (MSRP $169.99) and the Go (MSRP $249.99). The cost difference between the DS Lite (MSRP $129.99) and the DSi (MSRP $169.99) is only $40. It is only obvious that the Go offers more convenience and with convenience comes a higher price. DSi offers improvements that can't be achieved on the Lite. You really can't say the same for the Go. From this perspective, the DSi looks to be the better value for the upgraded cost.

After explaining this to my friend I then realized something. The target demographic this unit was aimed at was not what I was thinking it to be. It dawned on my that obviously Sony wasn't looking to existing PSP owners to buy it. They were looking at those with a sense of convenience. Those who didn't want to lug around a carry case filled with UMD's. They were going after the truly "on the GO" crowd. So just like I said above, if you have UMD's you want to play, chances are you have a PSP to play them.

Someone had mentioned about the GBA loss on the DSi and it should be pointed out. Officially there are 3 games that have a GBA accessory requirement. Those being the Guitar hero games and the fret attachment. Other than that there were only 2 more official products released that had GBA cart accessories. One was the web browser/memory cartridge. The other was a rumble pack that worked with games like metroid pinball, hunters and magnetica. It was not a requirement to play those games like the guitar hero.

In the end, value is subjective. Both are worthy alternatives to their originals. It really depends on which you prefer convenience/compatibility.

Hope you enjoyed this (long) read. It is my first blog EVER. Please let me know what you think, disagree/agree with, etc...