I'm the Idiot Who Bought a PSP Go.

Against all common sense, warnings, cynicism, and even my own advice, I bought a PSP Go. I don't believe I have to defend my decision to buy a PSP; the stack of games I've wanted for the system has grown large enough to merit the purchase. The point of contention is why I chose the Go over the more versatile 3000 model.

The Go presents itself as a "premium" version of the system. It's more expensive, looks sleeker, and stands firmly on the platform of being an iPhone competitor. I won't go into a comparison between the two here, though suffice it to say the Go lacks the function of being a phone and an internet connection outside of hotspots. With that in mind, the assumption that most people come to is that it's in an overpriced piece of plastic that does nothing but reinforce brand loyalty.

So why buy the Go? Well, first of all, the 250 price point is less inflated than you might think. Right now, a PSP-3000/16GB Memory stick is around $230, so the Go and its internal 16 gigs are actually only 20 dollars more than the alternative. It's not exactly a fair comparison, though, since the Go is more likely to use up that memory than the 3000.

The most divisive facet of the Go is, of course, that fact that it lacks a UMD drive, which means that any games that someone looking to upgrade to the newest version of the system might have would be useless. It's possible that most of the ire directed at the Go comes from PSP owners who feel maligned and abandoned by the company they've been supporting, and that's a natural reaction to have, really. If, say, the DSi went digital-only, I'd be peeved about having to re-buy all of the games I have.

But from the perspective of a new buyer, it's extremely tempting to start fresh. UMD's, like most physical formats, are cumbersome to carry around, which is especially important with a portable device. Your options are limited by what's on the store (I, for example, am still waiting to play Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops), but those are the sort of growing pains that come with the territory.

Price comes into play as well; The one store you can buy from doesn't have to compete with anything else (or at least, anything that's legal), so there's little chance we'll see bargains or deals unless they're from the publishers/developers themselves.

The upside to this, though, is that I won't have to worry about whether or not the money I put down will go to the developer. Used copies are pure profit for retail and retail alone, so I suppose what I'm saying is that I'm willing to take the price hike in exchange for supporting the people who made the game. I don't have any more or less money than anyone else, so it may mean I'll end up buying less games in the long haul.

The biggest reason I bought the Go, however, may have been to support the concept of a digital-only device. I may be overpaying for it right now, but I feel like I should be supporting such a platform from the get-go. The PSP may not have been the right console to go with on this front, but I'd like encourage anyone of thinking this way as much as I can.

Or maybe I'm just trying to validate a bad decision.