Companies like to brag about good sales figures. When a new system – or new iteration of an existing system – is released on the market, companies want consumers to know how successful it is. It isn’t a bad idea, really. If people see a system or a console is a winner, then they’ll be more likely to jump on the bandwagon as well.

The thing is, we aren’t seeing that with Sony’s PSPgo.

The PSPgo debuted October 1, 2009. It’s been out for nearly two weeks and Sony has yet to start gloating about the system’s sales. There were no first two- or three-day sales figures reported. Sony hasn’t even released first-week sales figures. This leaves consumers to wonder whether or not the PSPgo is really doing all that well.

Poor Sony. The original PSPs have been a favorite of pirates and hackers for a while. They’d create custom firmware and then go nuts with homebrew, emulation and piracy. Sony probably thought going download-only with the PSPgo would keep that from happening. Sorry to say, that isn’t the case.

A hacker going by the moniker FreePlay has found an exploit in an unknown game downloadable from the PlayStation Store. That’s right, a hacker has found a way to start to crack the PSPgo using one of Sony’s own PSN games. FreePlay hasn’t been able to do much other than get into user-mode and tinker around. So, at the moment, no custom firmware. But, as FreePlay states in his video, it does provide hope that the PSPgo can be cracked and could eventually run custom firmware.

Let’s watch FreePlay’s video showing the initial attempts at hacking the PSPgo…

At the asking price of $249, the PSPgo is a Siren of game devices, offering a lot of sexy style without a lot of substance. There’s no UMD backwards compatibility at this time, leaving anyone with a large collection out in the cold or having to be re-charged admission.

Opening the box of the PSPgo almost feels like unboxing a cell phone especially since the device is much smaller than the previous PSPs and is about the size of an iPod Touch. You flip open the top and there the device is, looking back at you in all it’s $249 glory. Truth be told, love it or loath it, the PSPgo is one sexy piece of hardware and you definitely get that feeling the first time you set eyes on it.

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) used the 2009 Tokyo Game Show to make two big announcements concerning the PS3 and PSPgo. First, the SCEE announced a new version of the PS3 Slim that has a 250GB hard drive which everyone is excited about. The second announcement was the PSPgo Rewards program, which will reward existing PSP owners who purchase a PSPgo with three downloadable PSP games.

The PSPgo announcement is an attempt to get current PSP owners to upgrade to the PSPgo. When the system debuts October 1, 2009, the PSPgo Rewards program will launch as well. Users with both systems can then log into the PlayStation Network with both systems to unlock three free game downloads. There are some catches though. First, you have to claim your three free games before March 31, 2010. Second, You have to have a UMD in the old PSP unit. Third, you can only choose from 17 PSP games.

Here are the 17 PSP games you can choose from, in alphabetical order…

There’s a bit of bad news for PSP owners. Well, for PSP owners who are eager to ditch UMDs and only collect downloadable games. Remember the exciting news about Atlus releasing Shin Megami Tensei: Persona on the PlayStation Store and on UMD on September 22, 2009. The Atlus Faithful email newsletter just issued an update stating that isn’t going to be happening.

The UMD version of SMT: Persona is still on time. You can pick it up in stores, with the two CD soundtrack, on September 22, 2009 for $39.99. The downloadable version, which will be available via the PlayStation store for $39.99 – sans soundtrack, has been bumped back to an October 1, 2009 release date…

Atlus is going to debut the remastered Shin Megami Tensei: Persona PSP remake on September 22, 2009. There’s even more good news for PSP owners. Those who are big on digital downloads to avoid having to carry around UMDs will be able to purchase the game from the PlayStation Store. It will be released online and in stores at the same time, so there’s no need to wait. This also means that PSP Go owners will have one more reason to consider adopting the newest incarnation of the system.

If you’re not planning on picking up a PSP Go, I’d recommend getting the UMD release of Persona. It’s part of the Atlus Spoils program, which means that for $39.99 you’re getting the game and a two-CD soundtrack filled with all the music from the game. So for the same price, you’re getting a great bonus…

Gadgetell‘s editor, Iyaz Akhtar, recently got a chance to hold Sony’s PSPgo handheld system at Digital Experience in New York City and is sharing his photos with us.

From the photos you can see the system playing several videos (Family Guy, 24 and Paul Blart: Mall Cop). The system has the familiar “Sony” and “PSP” logos on it but nothing that includes the “go” element.

Click though the photo album for better views and a comparison shot of the PSPgo next to the pink Hanna Montana PSP.

Dubbed the “worst kept secret” of E3 by Kaz Hirai himself, the PSPgo was given a release date of October 1, 2009, with a $249 price tag. This is the same price that accompanied the release of the PSP-1000 in 2005. A lot has changed since then in terms of production costs for the handheld and some feel the PSPgo is overpriced. One such person who believes this is Wedbush Morgan Securities Analyst Michael Pachter.

E3 2009 has come and gone in a fluster of press conferences, announcements and releases. Now’s a good time to sit back and regroup, taking time to process the new wealth of information we possess.

The handheld consoles did particularly well this year. The DS had quite a few interesting game announcements that surely delighted the system’s fans. The PSP also had quite a few big name game announcements, as well as a whole new model debut.

Join Gamertell as we revisit what we felt were some of the biggest handheld E3 announcements…

Playlogic Entertainment used E3 2009 to assure potential PSP go users that the company had Sony’s new system in mind while creating Obscure: The Aftermath. The game is the portable port of Obscure II/Obscure: The Aftermath, which originally appeared on the PC, PS2 and Wii, and the sequel to Obscure, which was a PC, PS2 and Xbox 360 game.

First of all, Obscure: The Aftermath will be released both on UMD and as a digital download from the PlayStation Store when the game comes out September 8, 2009. Second, Playlogic has confirmed that the developers kept in mind the PSP go controls and capabilities when creating the game. Perhaps this means the control scheme was tweaked to take into account the smaller system.

Obscure: The Aftermath is a horror game where six college students, who coincidentally happen to be survivors of the terrifying incident that took place in the original Obscure…