I was sitting at my desk working on a paper for class the other day and decided it was far to quiet in my house. I wanted to play some music but came to a problem. My laptop's speakers are terrible and I did not have my Ipod on me (and also didn't want to use headphones). At this point I would consider hooking my Ipod up to my sound system and stream something from either the ipod or pandora.com. If it is not clear right now, I am lazy. I also did not want to put such a pause on my writing (this was a 5 page paper and I was really on a roll). Looking around my immediate area I saw my PS3 controller and instantly felt like an idiot. Turning on my PS3 I quickly got onto pandora.com (via the web browser, although an app would be nice *hint hint sony*). and was blasting music in no time. I did not interrupt my work for more than a few seconds and finish the paper with ease.
 
This got me thinking, I did several things with a gaming console I would not have been able to do in previous generations. (Don't even bring up the whole PC gaming could do this for years, I am explicitly talking about consoles here) What are these tiny (essentially non gaming) additions to this current generation of consoles? Which ones matter? To this effect I have created a list of my favorite little "conveniences" 
 
*Please note that I place no honor or praise to any company about these things. I don't care if it was Sony or Microsoft or whoever came up with the idea, I just like it*
 

1. Turning on the system with the controller. I know this may seem like a simple thing, you probably do it every day and if you are as lazy as me you turn your system on exclusively with this feature. Gone are the days of striding over to the old NES and switching on the power, then going back and sitting down. Of course you could not sit too far away, no you were tethered to that system in an almost umbilical sense. That of course leads me to the next feature...
2. Wireless controllers. Of course previous generations (generally 3rd party developers) attempted this and some of them worked (in my own experience would be the Gamecube, I believe Pelican brand, wireless controller). This generation however completely embraces this concept and vastly improved upon anything before it. The ability to no longer be stuck at a specific length from my gaming system was of huge importance to me as I enjoy having a neat looking setup. If I had to drag my PS3 out into the middle of the room in order to sit on my couch (I tend to be farther back from my TV than most, atleast I would assume) I would just be annoyed.
3. Operating Systems. Whether it is the 360 Dashboard (blades, avatars whatever) the XMB or the Nintendos... box thingy, operating systems on consoles just makes me smile. This opens up for so many options and thankfully developers are embracing these. One such feature is digital content, which of course brings me to my next point...
4. Digital content, and intrinsic to that in system storage. I love being able to play a game that is fully installed on my console. I can finally keep that movie in the disc tray (I swear I will watch it one of these days) and then load up a game. Of course this feature is not incredible exploited as there are only a handful of fully digital games, with the PSPgo release and all this talk about cloud processing I imagine this feature will see great growth. 

So there you have it. Those are just a few I could come up with and of course each of those points could be detailed more. Obvious to all of that is the fact that each one of these features is something the PC has had for a long time. While that is all well and fine, sometimes it is nice to just plop down on the couch, instead of sitting at my desk. So, with that, what things do you like about this generation of gaming? did I miss something really cool about one of the features I said or miss one altogether?

Uncharted 2 is the only one I feel is a "must-own". Assasins Creed 2 looks really good and the improvements from the first are promising. However I still feel it would be a rental. There are others I want, but none (other then UC2) that I feel are "must-own".

     ... and now you may be regretting it? Reading all the negative comments/blogs/posts about the systems lack of a UMD drive? Ignore them. Honestly. If you purchased the system for the express purpose of playing your back catalog of UMD games, that was a mistake. This system is designed for a specific audience in mind and with an understanding of the future of portable gaming.  For me, the PSPgo offers everything I want in a portable gaming system.   
     First off, the size. This thing is perfect in size. It is light weight and quite truthfully not much bigger then my Ipod Touch. This is a key factor for me as I plan on replacing my Ipod Touch with this (as far as an MP3 player goes). This allows me to drop the system in my pocket or a small pocket in my backpack. I can pop my psp out and play for a few minutes in between classes and work (being on campus at my college for about 10 hours a day between work and classes it is nice to take a breather every once in a while). Now of course I could do this with the old psp, as long as I had 5-10 minutes to waste getting ready to play a game. That is no exaggeration, I would have to shuffle through my library of UMDs until I find the one I want to play and then load it in the system and finally boot it up. Now while it can be argued that I would still have to look through a list of games on the XMB, it is much easier to scroll through them then dig around in some carrying case (which I would have to put the UMD in as I would not want to destroy my precise game).  
     As I said this system was designed for a specific group of people. This is not a replacement for the old PSP, this is just another option. This option is expensive though, I am fully understanding of that. However as Sony has said, you pay a premium for this system. The $250 tag comes with some great bullet points:

• Size, it is a great form factor, designed explicitly for my (and others) personal life style.
• No need for UMD. With the PSN being updated with PSP games all the time, why need it? Again, if you have a PSP currently... why did you buy a go?
• Pause. Yes, this is HUGE. The fact that I can play a game, then pause it, load up some music and walk across campus, then (upon getting to class far to early) resume the game is a huge bonus and just sings to the portability the system was made for.
• 16 gigs of internal memory. Yes this may sound like just a standard feature but honestly this is crucial. I can load up quite a few PSone games and PSP games on just the internal memory alone. The bonus is then expanding that via a card. Of course you can buy a card for your original PSP and enjoy some of the same benefits, however with the built in 16 I can buy another 16 and have 32gb, instead of being forced to buy a 32gb.

     All of these points do nothing to justify buying the system if you have a ton of UMD games and a regular PSP and I would never attempt such a thing. This is a device that is embracing the current generation of "on demand" gamers, and allowing them to be "on demand" on the go. I do not care about sales figures or if the PSPgo is a success or failure. Sony will continue to release PSP and PSone games on the PSN and I will continue to load them up on my PSPgo. Honestly though, isn't playing Resident Evil or Final Fantasy 7 in a large lecture room while your professor drones on about the neo-classical ideals of Shakespeare what gaming is all about?