The PSPgo is a reality, and this fall gamers will be able to get their hands on the sexy new piece of hardware, sliding screen and all. When the screen is slid up, most of the handheld’s controls are revealed — the analog nub, a d-pad, and all of the face buttons. The system doesn’t contain a touch-screen, as many had erroneously rumored.
So why would one even think to play a game on it with the PSPgo “closed,” the screen slid down to hide the controls? Not sure, but Joystiq did, and asked Sony if it was possible. In short, the answer was “yes.” But Sony goes on to say that it hasn’t announced any titles in development that use the PSPgo’s L/R shoulder buttons — which are accessible with the screen down — for controls.
“Users will be able to access content and applications on the XMB such as video, music and Skype when the panel is closed,” a Sony rep commented, “but users will need to launch the applications first before closing the panel.”
Also mentioned is that “original applications” like the clock and calendar will be accessible with the screen pulled down.
We have to wonder if this will also include the rumored “non-game” applications we’ve been hearing about.
Even though it’s technically possible, we have our doubts that we’ll be playing many (if any) games with the system in its closed state. As far as videos and music is concerned, having it closed and compact does however make quite a bit of sense — we get kind of miffed when we accidentally pause our Boyzone mp3s that we listen to on our PSP-3000.
