Sony Busts Out A Gang Of Digital PSP Games For PSPgo Launch

It wasn't until my PSP-2000 vanished off the face of the Earth that I suddenly started thinking about getting a PSPgo. I mean, the old PSP's screen is bigger. It's got a drive slot, and it can still do all those digital download things that the PSPgo can, provided you're willing to spring for a big enough Memory Stick.

Oh, it's also way cheaper than the $249.99 PSPgo. If you just want a regular, non-bundled PSP-3000, that thing's only $169.99. Of course, to fully match functionality, you'd need to go out and get a 16GB Memory Stick Duo to jam into that 3000. Those seem to be running somewhere in the $50-60 range, provided you don't pay retail prices at a chain store. At least that's what Amazon is charging at the moment. You could probably find them for less if you really started digging.

The weird thing about all this is that the PSP has been coming on sort of strong lately, and it's felt like it's coming out of nowhere. Stuff like Kenka Bancho: Badass Rumble, Beaterator (quick look coming soon), Persona, the eventual localization and release of Persona 3 Portable, Gran Turismo, Half-Minute Hero, and the constant threat that the sealed copy of Monster Hunter Freedom Unite on my desk has been making for the past few months has resulted in the best stretch for Sony's handheld since the Japanese launch, where we all got enamored with Ridge Racer and Darkstalkers, even though the load times and battery life were insane.

Anyway, the point is that I've got a tough decision to make. While the right move is to go with the more versatile 3000 (especially since I'm only going to be using it as a game machine, not some portable audio/video device), the PSPgo is tempting with its newness and its promise that, even if I wanted to, I'd never have to look at or carry a UMD ever again. It's like I'm voting for an all-digital future or something, even if this shelf full of PSP games I've got at home would become almost instantly useless in the process.

Well, Sony's certainly doing its part to turn up the heat on the PSP this week. The official blog has posted a list of this week's store updates, and it's huge. As you'd imagine, it's crazy thick with PSP releases. There are also some hot price cuts on some weird little PSP-only games, in case you're not the big-budget handheld game type.

Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords PSP Temporary Price Drop (now $7.99)
Cube Temporary Sale (now $4.99)
Dead Head Fred Temporary Price Drop (now $7.99)
PQ: Practical Intelligence Quotient Temporary Sale (now $4.99)
PQ: Practical Intelligence Quotient 2 Temporary Price Drop (now $7.99)
WTF: Work Time Fun Temporary Sale (now $4.99)
Prinny: Can I Really be the Hero? Temporary Sale (now $9.99)
Holy Invasion of Privacy, Badman! Temporary Sale (now $9.99)
TV Show King Permanent Price Drop (now $7.99)

For $25 you could get Work Time Fun, Prinny, and Holy Invasion of Privacy, Badman!. You can pretty much forget that other stuff (though Dead Head Fred is not entirely without merit, in case you're wondering). I already have two copies of Work Time Fun on UMD (in case one spontaneously bursts into flames), but those other two are on my short list.

Of course, there's also a huge flood of new and old PSP stuff up today, too. Check it out.

SCEA

Gran Turismo PSP ($39.99)
God of War Chains of Olympus ($15.99)
Secret Agent Clank ($31.99)
LocoRoco 2 ($15.99)
PixelJunk Monsters Deluxe ($19.99)
Daxter ($15.99)
Resistance Retribution ($31.99)
MLB 09 The Show ($31.99)
MotorStorm Arctic Edge ($39.99)

505 Games

IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey ($29.99)

ACTIVISION

Cabela’s African Safari ($14.99)
Rapala Trophies ($14.99)
Gun Showdown ($14.99)
SWAT: Target Liberty ($19.99)
Crash Tag Team Racing ($14.99)
Cabela’s Dangerous Hunts: Ultimate Challenge ($14.99)
Crash: Mind Over Mutant ($29.99)
Crash of the Titans ($19.99)
Activision Hits Remixed ($14.99)

Aksys Games

Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus ($24.99)

Atari

Dragon Ball Z Shin Budokai ($14.99)
Dragon Ball Z Shin Budokai Another Road ($14.99)

Atlus

Shin Megami Tensei: Persona ($39.99)

Capcom

Capcom Classics Collection Reloaded ($19.99)
Monster Hunter Freedom Unite ($29.99)

Codemasters

Dirt 2 ($29.99)

Crave Entertainment

Pinball Hall of Fame ($9.99)
Puzzle Challenge: Crosswords and More! ($4.99)
Brunswick Pro Bowling ($9.99)

EA

The Sims 2 ($14.99)
The Sims 2 Castaway ($9.99)
The Sims 2 Pets ($9.99)
Need For Speed Underground Rivals ($14.99)
Need For Speed Most Wanted ($19.99)
Need for Speed SHIFT ($39.99)
Need For Speed ProStreet ($19.99)
Need for Speed Carbon ($19.99)
Medal of Honor Heroes ($19.99)
Fight Night Round 3 ($19.99)
G.I.JOE The Rise of Cobra ($39.99)
Madden NFL 10 ($39.99)
Scrabble ($19.99)
Medal of Honor Heroes 2 ($19.99)
Burnout Legends ($19.99)
Burnout Dominator ($14.99)
Lord of the Rings: Tactics ($9.99)
Def Jam Fight For New York: The Takeover ($9.99)
Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 10 ($39.99)
NCAA Football 10 ($39.99)

KOEI

Dynasty Warriors Strikeforce ($29.99)
Warriors Orochi 2 ($29.99)

LucasArts

Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings ($19.99)
LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventure ($19.99)
Thrillville: Off the Rails ($19.99)
Star Wars: Battlefront Renegade Squadron ($19.99)
Star Wars: Battlefront II ($19.99)
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed ($19.99)

Midway

Mortal Kombat: Unchained ($19.99)
Hot Brain ($14.99)

Namco Bandai

SOULCALIBUR: Broken Destiny ($39.99)

NIS America

Blade Dancer: Lineage of Light ($4.99)
Mana Khemia: Student Alliance ($14.99)
Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness ($14.99)
Disgaea 2: Dark Hero Days ($29.99)
Prinny: Can I Really be the Hero? ($9.99)
Dragoneer’s Aria ($14.99)

Playlogic

Obscure: The Aftermath ($29.99)

Rockstar Games

Beaterator ($39.99)

SEGA

Alien Syndrome ($15.99)
Super Monkey Ball Adventure ($15.99)
Crazy Taxi: Fare Wars ($15.99)
Iron Man ($19.99)
Sonic Rivals ($15.99)
Sonic Rivals 2 ($29.99)
Full Auto 2: Battlelines ($15.99)
Sega Genesis Collection ($15.99)
Crush ($15.99)

SNK PLAYMORE

The King of Fighters Collection ($19.99)
Metal Slug Anthology ($19.99)
SNK Arcade Classics Vol. 1 ($19.99)
Samurai Showdown Anthology ($19.99)

SQUARE ENIX

THEXDER NEO ($9.99)

THQ

Avatar: The Last Airbender ($19.99)
Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights ($19.99)
SpongeBob SquarePants: The Yellow Avenger ($19.99)
MX vs ATV Untamed ($19.99)
WWE SmackDown vs RAW 2009 ($19.99)

Ubisoft

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs ($29.99)
Tom Clancy’s EndWar ($29.99)
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Vegas ($19.99)
Prince of Persia Revelations ($9.99)
Prince of Persia Rival Swords ($14.99)

Warner Bros. Interactive

300: March To Glory ($14.99)
Justice League Heroes ($14.99)
Lego Batman The Video Game ($19.99)


PSP minis (also available from PS3 storefront)

Alien Havoc ($4.99)
Tetris ($9.99)
Hero of Sparta ($6.99)
Brainpipe ($4.99)
Fieldrunners ($6.99)
Sudoku ($4.99)
Funky Punch ($4.99)

So yeah, it's a pretty hefty list. Obviously, not all of them are winners, so do your research before you start going crazy. I'll probably grab Thexder Neo, since I vaguely remember enjoying the original Thexder at some point.

...of course, I still need to get a new-and-functioning PSP if I'm going to do that. Grrr. Maybe I'll just confiscate the office PSP-3000 and see how it goes.