James Branch
I started my I.T. life back in 1987 with a Commodore 64, swiftly moving to the Amiga 500 and 1200, but got my first (What I could call 'real') PC in 1991.... a Packard Bell 486 DX running Windows 3.1 and from then on, I was hooked!
I've been working in the I.T. sector in the U.K. for over 10 years now. My career started as a junior technician for Sage Software (Working in house as part of the I.T. tech teams, not developing their software as such) repairing PC's and doing the boring jobs that nobody really wanted or could be bothered to do! It was my first taste of work in the I.T. sector since leaving college (Where I studied I.T. and Business believe it or not!) so as far as I was concerned, I had the best job in the world!
After a couple of years I left Sage as a Desktop Support Engineer and worked for a number of I.T. companies, with most of my concentration and dedication being aimed at PC, Server and Network support/design.
I'm currently working as part of a two man I.T. support team, so tend to get my hands dirty with not only network design and support, PC & Server repair/maintenance, but I also maintain VoIP telephone systems, have mastered Sharepoint (MOSS/WSS Design, Document Library and Workflows), setup Virtual Servers using VMWare & MS Virtual Server, systems administration, Unix maintenance, and I like to dabble in SQL now and again.... just for my sins! :)
I tend not to go very far without my iPod shuffle and can't live without my Blackberry 8820 - it's like an extension to my right (or even left!) hand!
As you can probably gather, I'm also addicted to gadgets.... I have quite an impressive collection of toys now, which seem to take up too much space at home! I've gone through more digital cameras that I care to think of, had far too many Palms, games consoles, smart phones and an impressive of collection of PC's and laptops! Not a bad thing though, I think anyway!! My wife might think otherwise! :)
When I'm not playing with gadgets or on the internet, I'm spending time with my gorgeous wife and three kids (All boys!) who'll no doubt grow up to be gadget freaks too, I hope! :)
You can always find me checking e-mail, Twittering or mooching around Facebook, or indeed finding the next gadget(s) to review!
James
Gadgeteer Comment Policy - Please read before commenting
Y’know, this has really annoyed me.
Does this mean I’m going to have to dump my 120 or so UMD-based games and other software?
Are Sony going to give its loyal customers some way of using UMDs with the new PSP Go?
So many questions – hopefully E3 can provide the answers. I’ll definitely not be purchasing this version until I know the road ahead.
🙁
Dave.
Dave – You own 120 UMDs, meaning you’ve already spent between $2,400.00 and $4,800.00 on your PSP?! I’m a little surprised that someone with that kind of cash would be bothered at all by any of this. Anyway, Sony isn’t phasing out UMDs or the PSPs that run them, and UMD-based PSPs can still download games.
@Ash, very true. The PSP-3000 will stay on the market concurrently when the PSP-Go is released for sale in the Autumn. However, as suggested with the drop of the UMD’s there will always be that lack of flexibilty between versions, meaning that you can’t play any of your current media on the new console.
There are however a wide range of digital media (games etc) available at the Playstation Store already, as Sony has been looking to move away from UMD for some time.
You never know, in due course they (Sony) may release an adapter of some kind that fits to the rear of the ‘Go’ so you can play UMD’s…. or indeed, maybe not! 😉
James
Ash – your points are well taken – however I was also thinking of the ‘hassle’ factor eg; If I wanted to use a UMD that wasn’t released in download format.
I’d just like to see a method of access. True, thats a lot of dollars – but I’ve been playing/collecting since the PSP first came out so it has been a slow-but-sure buildup. I see, as you also say, that the PSP 3000 is to run concurrent with the PSP Go for a while. Interesting times ahead…
Cheers,
Dave.
I too have had a PSP since launch… I don’t have anywhere near 120 games in my collection, but I have enough that I wouldn’t want to lose access to them.
A bigger concern for me as Sony (and others) abandon physical media for games is how it is probably going to kill the rental and resale market. (That is, I’m sure, one of the main reasons they are doing it… after all, it’s so unfair that Sony doesn’t get a cut of that.) As game prices go up with every new generation, it becomes more and more painful when you waste $60 on a turd that should have been consigned to the recycle bin.
I’ve already curtailed my game purchases in the last few years after being burned by crap a number of times, and if I can’t rent (the full game, not a demo) first, I’ll buy even less. Others are good enough to play, but not worth full price, and if I can’t get them used, I won’t play them. And of course I sometimes like to sell titles from my own collection on to someone else who might enjoy them. Congratulations Sony, not only will I not be spending my cash on your PSP Go, but you might just convince me to stop playing games on your platform altogether!
Who said that sony is dumping UMD not this article.
MAY (or may not) make a new model that does. The PSP Go is to go some where new.
This is ridiculous. You’re annoyed that you can’t use your UMDs on the new PSP? Oh my, whatever shall we do :O
(Ok, this took a long time to decide to finally not give you an ironic and flaming response, considering the stupidity of the problem at hand):
YOU DO NOT HAVE TO DUMP YOUR OLD PSP.
Heeey, that’s right! you can keep your old one and play UMD games, and use your new PSP with the NEW games that are made specifically for the newer and better display and performance!
Although I bet that by then somebody, if not Sony themselves, will devise a new gadget so that you can magically transmute your UMDs into data stored on the new system.
120 games… I have 10 and I rarely play them… : /