Like the PSP Go, the Micro was also a smaller version of the handheld that lost features and generally wasn't 'too' well-received.  Like the Go, it featured a smaller screen than its predecessor.  It also lost the ability to play Game Boy Color and original Game Boy games, and had no multiplayer capabilities thanks to the lack of a slot for the link cable.  I'd say those losses are pretty comparable to the 3000's loss of the ability to play any physical games at all.

Sony will still make money on Go; their price point was chosen with this in mind.  By spring 2010 they'll drop the price. 

Still, I don't get why they didn't price the Go LESS than the 3000.  They should encourage people to migrate to Go where they must PURCHASE their games rather than pirate them.  Leave the 3000 out there as a more expensive option, make people pay for the privilege of pirating (still release firmware updates to mess up pirates at every turn, of course).  With the Go, let people feel like they are getting a good deal and they'll start buying downloadable games happily.

I would have to agree with you on that.  Then add to the fact that you can get a PSP-3000 with a 4GB Pro Duo card, a game, and a movie for $200 and you can have the best of both worlds!  All you need to be able to use the digital downloads is a Pro Duo memory card.....

I have trouble understanding the "I have so many UMDs, I can't afford to upgrade!" complaint.

If you hold onto/collect UMDs, you're better off selling them *right now* on eBay, and using the money to purchase digital copies which you can then burn onto DVD/BD and save for all eternity, without risk of the disc getting scratched, or your UMD drive busting -- the two most probable causes of eventual "I can't play that game anymore".

In 20 years, when all PSPs only run while plugged in (because no batteries will be available, and the existing ones will all be dead), the chances of you being able to find/use a M2 memory stick, vs a Memory stick Duo are way in favor of the M2, so pretty much the PSP Go will be the only option for collectors. Also, the UMD drives, when broken, will be *unrepairable* in that time, unless you can fabricate parts yourself. It will be a dead format, for over a decade.

If you collect games, and that's your reason for having a UMD horde, you should definately sell your UMDs and upgrade. You're throwing your collection away if you don't, really. I sincerely doubt there will ever be another console that reads UMD discs. There may be plenty more that play digital PSP games that were once on UMD, however.

If you don't collect UMDs, because you like to play them, and turn them over as you complete them -- *that* is a good reason, for some folks, to not purchase a PSP Go, and stick with a PSP-3000 instead. Completely the opposite of what most people are stating ("I have so many UMDs, I cannot upgrade!").

Like I said... the logic presented here... isn't logical.  Is it just some fear of digital media, manifesting itself as this kind of illogical complaint?  I can see being upset that UMD is going away... just like some folks are upset that HD-DVD is out of the picture.  Lots of HD-DVD movies out there... and when the players are dead, they're useless.  That fear is totally valid... but complaining about the new format, and using that fear as some sort of reasoning... isn't really.  ...its just angry venting.

^But there is a large amount of older PSP releases that cannot be downloaded.... so converting your library would not be easy and that would literally cost you so much money. On eBay for a used PSP game you could get maybe $5-15 each depending on the game and age. I can guarantee you the online download price will be the highest suggested retail price, which is probably around $15-20 for older games and $30-50 for newer ones.

Sony said there would be some 700 PSP games available by November.  There are about 300 right now, as I recall.

I have actually made money on selling games on eBay, which are already available on the store.  I intend to keep my PSP-2000 around, mostly because I have some import UMDs that I don't think will show up in the store (at least not the US one), but the amount of money I will lose from selling UMDs on eBay will be next to nothing.  Thus far, I've actually made a profit, since many of the games I sold are no longer available or hard to find at retail, and thus are selling for higher prices on eBay than in the digital store.

You might say "you're lucky" or "you must be a better auctioneer than most" or whatever, but I think that's kinda a lame excuse.  Most collectors, in my experience, collect RPGs primarily -- and these are exactly the kinds of games that are both hurt the most by used resales, and that become hard to find at retail, and thus expensive on eBay.

Ironically, the genres that are hurt the most by used sales (single player, story-intensive games, like RPGs), are the ones that people are probably claiming as their reason to not get a PSP Go for.  Yet, by sustaining the used market for these games, they are dooming their favorite genre to be low-budget by nature.. because the publishers and devs can't justify spending more, thanks to their low sell-through numbers, and high used copy turnover.

The Go is actually pretty dangerous for Sony:

 - retailers will order smaller software shipments from now on

 - it gives retailers less reason to stock older PSP hardware, which then applies to software

 - it generally confuses the consumer  (newer product, more pricey ... less features)

 - lots of bad press

The main danger is that the Go can kill/badly damage the existing PSP market. If revenues/shipments drop 20-30%, is that made up by Go online sales - and the increased margin from a smaller number of Go hardware sales?

Its a pity - the PSP was finally doing really well for them, especially in Japan. Anything that upsets that isn't great.

If the PSP Go doesn't improve overall PSP sales, then what? Then you're left with two devices that are selling worse than the single device you were selling before. That's a real possibility at this time.

Let me pose this question:

If the next Nintendo handheld played digital DS games for backwards compatibility, but did not have a cart slot... would you buy it?

Do you guys realize that DSiWare is, effectively, the first step towards that?

The PSP Go has more quality titles readily available than any other handheld, as far as the average joe, who does not like to visit the local GameStop, and paw through the used DS pile, is concerned.  By November a huge portion of all PSP games ever made will be available in the store.

For a new consumer... that's a pretty sweet deal, I think.  I doubt the PSP Go will flop, for that reason alone.  People thought the iPhone was dumb and overpriced too.  Having all those titles available, and in your pocket thanks to the large internal storage capacity... is a pretty powerful thing.

Well how many users are on VGCHartz? From what I can tell, about 80% of the users here would buy a turd with SONY stamped into it (sort of a metaphor here), so you can start with those sales. It's gotta be a couple thousand.