PSP Go and buy all-new accessories

by Randy Nelson { Jun 6th 2009 at 1:00AM }

click to enlarge

Sony had a spot in its press-only booth area reserved for showing off the various accessories that will be available for PSP Go when it hits US shelves on October 1. There were cases, wrist straps, Sony-branded screen protectors ... and wait, what was that? Since the handheld doesn't have a standard mini USB port like the PSP-3000, we'll have to buy all new accessories? Sad, but true.

The PSP Go has a new multifunction port on its base (check out the video!) that is used for everything from data transfer to charging to video output. While asking owners of the older model to change a USB cable is not really a big deal, the fact that more expensive existing accessories -- such as component A/V cables, voice headsets and pretty much anything made to work with the 3000 -- are completely incompatible is cringe-worthy. That's not even taking into account third-party add-ons, or things like Sony's own GPS module.

We know Sony is planning a trade-in program for UMD games; somehow we think the company won't be extending the same offer to include cables, peripherals and other accessories.

Tags: accessories, e3-2009, psp, psp-go, sony

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)

Sam @ Jun 6th 2009 1:06AM

So the non standard usb cable would piss me off. I have so many of the mini b's laying around I just use whats near.

Bagels: Commander in Chief of the lolcat sarcasm alert force. @ Jun 6th 2009 1:40AM

This is a step backwards from all cell companies switching over to mini-USB universally.

Ezio Auditore de Firenze [PSN SniperChameleon] @ Jun 6th 2009 2:04AM

yeah, that's my problem with my sony ericsson phone. the proprietary cables are used for everything. and i have like 5 mini usb to usb cables so why change?

dgknight500 @ Jun 6th 2009 4:02AM

Totally agree! I have so many damn mini-b cables from my PS3 and camera and whatnot... now I gotta spent $10 for a stupid proprietary one and then look for it every time I need to use it -__-

I also take it that none of the PSP accessories will work with the go either (GPS, Camera, etc).

tobz1000 @ Jun 6th 2009 7:20AM

dgknight: I didn't even think about the accessories... which ironically use the word 'go' in their names.

Frank @ Jun 6th 2009 11:04AM

The heck is up with all these proprietary cables anyway? Maybe they were scared the regular ones promoted piracy somehow.

Lord_von_Punx @ Jun 6th 2009 1:09AM

is hdmi with 720 output soo much to ask?

Rich @ Jun 6th 2009 1:34AM

what do you think..

Lord_von_Punx @ Jun 6th 2009 1:10AM

they don't need a real full hdmi port on the psp my samsung camera has a mini hdmi

connector with a full hdmi to the tv really sony is it that hard to do?

hurricane @ Jun 6th 2009 2:12AM

It's harder to do than your mom (which I guess isn't really saying a whole lot).

Rich @ Jun 6th 2009 3:25AM

what you want the price to be ps$300

Levi @ Jun 6th 2009 10:06AM

Go look up the resolution of the PSP. HDMI would me nothing more than a small convenience due to less cables. It would increase the price of the PSP Go with next to no added value.

Think before you bitch, and please stop talking to Sony as if they read your posts.

sc00by_y00 @ Jun 6th 2009 10:53AM

Levi - Increase the price, by adding HDMI ?

Dude the pspgo is $250 and the hardware inside is the same shit as the original psp1000 five yr old tech that costs them next to nothing to produce. In fact strictly speaking your getting a terrible deal.

http://www.pspgoconsole.co.uk/sony-psp-go-console-technical-specifications/
Look at the specs for your self.

The psp-go probably costs a whole of $5 to produce considering the tech inside it is very old.. And they want $250

Its over priced, its old technology and it provides nothing new.. The screen isnt even touch screen and its smaller how can it warrant the $250 price tag ?

They could have in all wiseness upgraded the hardware, made it 3x the power it currently has and still kept binary compatibility so that the older games still worked.. It has a shitty 333MHz processor and we are in 2009 ? Come on, talk about flogging a dead donkey..

I just think this is the stupidest move Sony could have made (considering the price tag they want to attach to it), it usually is a company that innovates and brings in best of line technology, this is a budget shit piece of kit at a very expensive price and it looks crap to boot. The addition of a HDMI port would have been the bare minimum.

Mr Khan @ Jun 6th 2009 11:46AM

$5 to produce? Let's not get delusional

Sony is a loss-leader type, after all. If anything, the Go! probably costs more than its selling for, at least for now

sc00by_y00 @ Jun 6th 2009 2:01PM

Khan,

So explain to me how a new product that is using 5 yr old technology will cost more to produce ?

Sony has only been a loss leader in terms of the PS3...

Look at the link and look at the specs.. Im telling you right now each go costs no more than $5 to produce. There is no R&D in tech or design for that matter. Its a mylo2 that now houses the psp innards..

http://www.gadgettastic.com/images/Sony_Mylo_2_1.jpg

Thats a pic of the mylo2..

Kenny Powers Fastball (PSN johnnynumber5) @ Jun 6th 2009 2:18PM

Scooby

You are being completely illogical here with your claims. Of course there was R&D because it's a new form factor. You also aren't factoring in the development of anti piracy measures in this iteration. Saying it only cost $5 to produce is one of the dumbest thing's I've ever heard (no offense). The form factor is completely new which means most if not all of the internal components are all redesigned and manufactured to a new specification. Let's not even get into all the prototypes they inevitably went through before deciding on this design. I would imagine just for the raw materials to make the packaging and print the manuals cost more than $5 on each unit. We are talking a new manufacturing line for the components, internal storage, ink, paper and other things we probably aren't privy to like liscensing fees for certain technologies in place. Even the nearly 10 year old PS2's manufacturing costs don't begin to approach that kind of return. I've read that Sony only makes about $8 on each PS2 to the very bottom line after everything has been paid out and the Wii is similar. You are saying that SONY essentially makes over $200 profit on each PSP Go sold and I tell you thats impossible and is just plain silly.

sc00by_y00 @ Jun 6th 2009 7:02PM

Fun fact for you, how much do you think the core2duo or core2quad costs intel to roll out ? 50 cents, thats the actual physical cost. Millions goes into R&D and development of the new chips but they only cost 50 cents to manufacture.. (Dont ask me how I know, but I know and I am not shitting you)

You have to remember its 5 yr old tech, the iphone has better spec hardware in it.. (I shit you not again) So they can really very easily scale down everything, also dont forget it might be smaller but it also has no UMD drive, so no guesses in why they can make it smaller.. Look at the size of your psp right now, now measure the size of the umd drive, now discount that from the size of your psp, you get the size of the psp go roughly.. Didnt even need to shrink the silicone to achieve the size difference..

http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/12/new-iphone-specs-leaked-600mhz-cpu-32gb-3-2mp-cam/ -- it also lists the current iphone spec..

The actual layout is the mylo2.. So no guesses as to to where they got the design from..

They would still be making a good profit if they were selling this thing at $100, even $150 is reasonable, $250 is nothing more than extortion, in a bad economy its a terrible move..

The original PSP was ahead of its time, I first saw it and thought wow, thats a wicked piece of kit. It even had built in wifi, which was amazing then.

The new go still uses 80211.b now that is a freaking joke.. It _was_ one of the coolest looking gadgets around.

I know why Sony did it, they are really suffering, due to the bad economy, but to tarnish your brand by making it cheap aint the way..

How many honestly think the new design is awesome ?

WFOphill @ Jun 6th 2009 7:25PM

I would bet that one of the only reasons this system is costing more than anyone anticipated, would be because of the loss they are taking with the ps3. Taking a chance selling it at such a high cost, but depending on the demand, or lack ther of....will drop the price by XmaS.

modified @ Jun 6th 2009 11:19PM

Sony hates any kind of industry standard they didn't help create.

Dartmerc @ Jun 10th 2009 12:54AM

I think the new design is awesome. Smaller, lighter and with 16gb internal - this really is a gadget I want.
It costs what it costs; I'm happy to pay their asking price, and if I wasn't, I wouldn't.

Rob Accomando @ Jun 6th 2009 1:12AM

For the completist, PSP Go = $350

glitched @ Jun 6th 2009 1:47AM

The PSP go will be a cash cow for Sony in order to afford dropping the price of the PS3 around the same time...

Ridgecity @ Jun 6th 2009 1:48AM

But you'll be the first kid that can't borrow other people's games! that's the perfect excuse that kid that never shares anything!

"I can't lend it to you, it's inside the machine and can't take it out... yes, this is a PSP also, but this is the new one that does that..." then everyone hates him thanks to Sony.

Ezio Auditore de Firenze [PSN SniperChameleon] @ Jun 6th 2009 1:15AM

good thing i held out on buying component cables...

and am i the only one that thinks privacy film is awesome?

Ezio Auditore de Firenze [PSN SniperChameleon] @ Jun 6th 2009 1:15AM

oh, and is the white go gonna be released at launch? because it looks good.

InFaMoUs1- @ Jun 6th 2009 1:20AM

yea white is going to be launched along with the black unit. I'm going to stick with my PSP 2001 though.

Ezio Auditore de Firenze [PSN SniperChameleon] @ Jun 6th 2009 1:52AM

thanks for the info.

Ezio Auditore de Firenze [PSN SniperChameleon] @ Jun 6th 2009 1:53AM

and i'll actually have my PSP-2000 and the go. i'll use my hacked 2000 for old PS1 games and homebrew games, and use the Go for psp games and videos and music. i'll just choose which one to take with me when i go out, and take both when i go on trips.

InFaMoUs1- @ Jun 6th 2009 3:43AM

I had a hacked PSP 2000 sold it bough a iPod Touch.. hated it and bought another PSP 2000 just because I was bored.

krysnsummer @ Jun 6th 2009 3:06PM

This is a dang shame. Why do they continue to shoot themselves in the foot? All new peripherals? Proprietary USB cables? (If anything, they should be working to getting a USB 3.0 compatible port. Not a completely different one) A new flash memory port (Memory Stick Micros instead of Memory Stick Pro Duos)? It's like.... come on. There will be people who want this that have a PSP (1/2/3)000. Why not make it $200 max and give us the same parts?

The_Game21x @ Jun 6th 2009 1:27AM

They already lost my business the moment they priced it at $250, this is just icing on the cake.

Rob Accomando @ Jun 6th 2009 1:32AM

I agree. But for some reason, 90% of the people on Joystiq think it's an awesome price.

I can't figure that out.

Slaziman @ Jun 6th 2009 1:34AM

i dont think its a good price, but for them to price it like that the internal storage must be really expensive or they have to be really massive evil dicks

Ridgecity @ Jun 6th 2009 1:51AM

The PSP sells really well in Japan, and Sony is having their second year of loses, They already said they were going to raise the prices of their tvs, so I'm sure a ton of their gadgets will also be expected to turn profits really fast, and this is their actual goldmine.

Michelobius @ Jun 6th 2009 2:07AM

I'm not that into the handheld scene, but what's so bad about the $250 price? The PSP is $200, and they said they released that for $250 originally as well...

What would be a fair price to you, I guess is what I'm asking.

V1L3 @ Jun 6th 2009 3:50AM

You must be using some kind of "bizzaro-Joystiq." Count the number of posts on this page defending the $250 price tag.

That's a grand total of one, given you can count mine. As a current non-PSP owner, I think $250 is a fair price (considering how over-priced I consider the DSi and iPod Touch to be).

Non-standard USB cables is a huge disappointment. But then again, a single proprietory cable isn't too bad, given that if you want component cables for the Wii or a VGA cable for the 360, you have to get THEIR proprietory cables.

Doombot (zuburi) @ Jun 6th 2009 4:18AM

"What would be a fair price to you, I guess is what I'm asking."

$99.

$99 or do something radically different that the PSP can't do already - in essence, something that would make it middleware between the PSP and PSP2.

Kenny Powers Fastball (PSN johnnynumber5) @ Jun 6th 2009 1:06PM

You guys are all living in fantasy land. I think the price point is perfectly reasonable for the tech you are getting. If the price is such an issue buy an older model PSP or even a 3000 when the Go drops because it's sure to drop in price as well. I'm not saying $250 is a great price or anything but it seems perfectly expected considering the price of a new UMD based 3000 without any internal storage is $170 and the bundles with games and a small amount of memory are usually $200. You can't even get an original 1000 model for under $100 MSRP at retail.

http://www.gamestop.com/Browse/Search.aspx?N=136+196

John @ Jun 6th 2009 4:41PM

I just bought a brand new 2000 for $118 at best buy less than a month ago because I lost mine on the plane.

Don't listen to Johnny, he just loves the gargle on Sony's balls.

Shagittarius @ Jun 6th 2009 1:31AM

Is that an external UMD drive I see in the picture? =P

Drew @ Jun 6th 2009 1:58AM

No.

Slaziman @ Jun 6th 2009 1:33AM

what prevents anyone from making a mini usb to whatever port is on there now adapator?

CH3BURASHKA @ Jun 6th 2009 1:54AM

Sony is crazy. Did they not pay attention to the reception of the thing? I thought that every company had some people hired that read blogs for a living to understand the communitay, but apparently I was wrong.

EliteKilla01 @ Jun 6th 2009 1:57AM

I love how the sign for Composite Cables is knocked down.

The_Game21x @ Jun 6th 2009 1:58AM

Well, I know Sony wants to see the PSP Go bring in some profit for them but, as evidenced by the mass outcry against the $250 price tag, these things aren't exactly priced to move.

If I was in the market for a new PSP (I'm not, my PSP 1000 is just fine for now), I'd just pick up a PSP 2000 or 3000 and snag a 8 GB Memory stick off of Ebay and would still be paying far less than $250 for a system that does everything the PSP Go can do except pair with my bluetooth headset and I'm sure there are a large number of potential customers who share my feelings.

Perhaps I'm just wrong (hey, I'm no industry analyst) and Sony will strike big with the PSP Go. I just don't see it happening.