News
"The Majority" of PSP Titles to Be Downloadable
In Conjunction With the Launch of the PSPgo
The announcement of the new PSPgo left a lot of PSP owners with questions about software. Without a UMD drive (thank you), the new model won’t play any of the PSP’s existing UMD-based games, leaving a lot of gamers with essentially worthless software once they inevitably trade in their PSP 3000s for PSPgos. Additionally, while it’s assumed that most, if not all of the PSP’s upcoming titles will be available by download in addition to the retail UMD releases, but we don’t know for sure. While they may not answer all of our questions, Sony did reveal some details that let us know what the future holds for the second-place handheld console.
On Sunday, June 8, Sony’s Social Media Manager, Jeff Rubenstein stated on the PlayStation blog that “It’s my understanding that just about everything hitting after October 1 will be available for download.” Jeff was only referring to first-party titles, so we still don’t know if third-party games will be available for download, but one would assume that most of them will. Today, Rubenstein followed up, talking about the system’s existing library. “The majority of back catalog PSP games will be made available for download around the launch of the PSPgo." This time, Joystiq contacted Jeff to clarify whether he was talking only about first-party games, and he responded, "the majority overall” will be made available without a UMD.
While this does clear up some of the confusion, it still doesn’t address the question of re-buying existing games. If you have the UMD version, will you have to pay for the digital copy again, or will there be some system that allows players to re-download games for free? It also begs the questions “How long will Sony support the PSP 3000s?,” “Is there a way to physically transfer a UMD copy to a digital one?,” and “No, seriously, how long will Sony support the PSP 3000s? Like two weeks?” Time will tell, starting on October 1.
Comments
Yeah the 3000 is going to lose support faster than a one-legged can-can dancer.
I really hope it doesn't, loltim. I know it seems like I'm in the minority on this one, but I much prefer the 3000 than the Go.
I still like my PSP-2000 model. It's all silver and shiny still, and all, but I am going to be picking up a PSP-GO! as well. By no means am I getting rid of my good friend, Mister PSP-2000, but I will be changing how I use it.
Oh, and the PSP-3000 won't lose support because parents won't want to spend $250 on a new hand-held for their kids this holiday season.
You're not in the minority, Nick.
I actually just bought a silver 3000, and with the release of FFVII, I absolutely love this handheld. No way am I giving it up for anything?
Will I buy the PSP Go? Most likely not. I prefer my titles to be in a disc format of some sort. I don't like not having the ability to sell or trade in a game that is just collecting dust...or virtual dust.
I honestly don't think that Sony knows what the hell that they're doing. No UMD's , O.K now what about people who have the models with the UMD what are they supposed to do with their games if everything now is downloadable? Then Sony is selling the the PSP go for $250 and are going to tell retailers that costumers will only buy this product and not to return to their stores because all their games are downloadable. Yea!