Latest & Greatest

[#1]

Ten years ago you would have been hard-pressed to find musical artists that distributed their work digitally.  Today, digital distribution seems to be part of the norm.  Whether that change was a result of the advent of the MP3 player, file sharing services, or fee-based subscription sites is uncertain, but it most definitely means that digital distribution is here to stay.

Imagine everyone’s surprise then when Sony confirmed at this year’s E3 convention that the next generation of their handheld console would be doing away with disc-based storage media entirely.  That’s right.  Not only does the “worst kept secret of E3” eschew the UMDs of its disc-based predecessors, but all “new” titles for the PSPgo will be available for download through the PlayStation Network as well.

Now, I have to admit that this news left me a bit skeptical at first – I like having a physical copy of everything I buy, especially video games.  It made sense though when I considered the popularity of online services such as iTunes and Napster.  Add in the fact that the PSPgo is expected to feature the same PS3 compatibility and software support as earlier PSP models and you’ve got a pretty convincing alternative to the iPod Touch.  True, there’s no direct access to the iTunes app store, but the primary purpose of the PSPgo is to play games…not to use as a Rolodex or egg timer.

Both the piano black and pearl white models are available for preorder on BestBuy.com, but for more information make sure to check out the official product page:

http://www.us.playstation.com/PSP/Systems/pspgo.html

...and yes, Kaz Hirai does actually call it the "worst kept secret of E3."  Don't believe me?  Check out his segment of the press conference at 28 minutes, 45 seconds into the video!

[#2]

Here's a link to the video of Sony's E3 2009 press conference if you can't pick it out in the article:

http://g4tv.com/videos/38747/Sony-E3-2009-Press-Conference/

[#3]

This unit is going to fail like Game.com ultimately did. Not every kid has a credit card to use on the Playstation Network, and with PSN prepaid cards being hard to find, its a matter of time before this unit is a stinker.