Is the Sony PSP getting ready to ditch UMD to go full download?
Sony has recently been focused on getting UMD games such as Gurumin: A Monstrous Adventure and Jeanne d’Arc up on the Playstation Store. It seems Sony is slowly converting its UMD collection to downloadable form in preparation for the Playstation Store revamp. Could this be an indicator as to the direction Sony plans on taking the handheld market?
UMD (Universal Media Disc) was Sony’s attempt at introducing a new portable format, not only for games, but for movies as well. However, despite the technological achievements made by UMD, the format hasn’t flown off the shelves for movies.
I suspect most people don’t actually go out and buy UMD movies for their PSPs but download them or rip them from their DVDs in order to transfer them to the PSP. Moving games and movies online, especially for portable gaming devices such as the PSP, is a great idea when you think about its actual purpose.
Most people probably dislike the idea of carrying multiple UMD discs on trips when everything can be stored on a single 8GB memory stick. It does sort of defeat the purpose of portability. In order to solve this very problem, Sony has recently verified that a version of the Playstation Store is in development that would allow for direct access from the PSP.
Traditionally, one would have to access the store via the PC or the PS3, thus hampering those who do not own either. Creating a virtual store which can be accessed directly from the PSP would allow for better visibility of the products as well as adding the convenience of purchasing items while on the go.
According to Kotaku, D3Publisher recently announced plans for bringing all of its PSP library onto the Playstation Store. This is a definite sign that publishers are jumping on board this idea as well. D3Publisher’s library consists of:
Cube – September 18, 2008 for $9.99.
Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords – September 18, 2008 for $14.99.
WTF: work time fun – October 2, 2008 for $9.99.
PQ: Practical Intelligence Quotient – October 2, 2008 for $9.99.
PQ2: Practical Intelligence Quotient 2 – October 16, 2008 for $14.99.
Dead Head Fred – October 16, 2008 for $14.99.
The list did peak my interest when I saw Dead Head Fred listed as one of the games being brought onto the store. Dead Head Fred is one of those cult classic adventure games everyone should try. If you are a fan of wacky Day of the Tentacle style humor and adventure you will love this game.
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15 Responses to “Is the Sony PSP getting ready to ditch UMD to go full download?”
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September 9th, 2008
Unlikely, considering the newly announced PSP3000 has a UMD drive…
September 9th, 2008
Wouldn’t the PSP3000 have the UMD drive for backward compatibility?
Oh, and Jeanne D’Arc is an amazing game! Level-5 knows fun.
September 9th, 2008
Toast…
September 9th, 2008
I think Sony could make a big impact on the market with a major price drop for PSP by eliminating the cost of the UMD mechanism. That would require them to admit failure AGAIN on another physical media format though, so it is unlikely. I’d personally LOVE to see them officially eliminate it in favor of an SSD, but that would be VERY costly to the consumer (no matter the techno wow factor). Wouldn’t it be KEWL to have a PSP with 80 Gigs!!!???!!!
September 9th, 2008
8 gig stick will only hold 4 UMD’s worth of data.
Not everyone with a PSP has a PS3 or PC and if Sony dropped the UMD they would be pi$$ing those people off.
I would like to see them drop the UMD and put in a 120 gig HDD.
September 9th, 2008
120 HDD in the psp? Nice fantasy.
September 9th, 2008
It would naturally come with a mini nuclear reactor for power. You’d just need to supply the water.
September 9th, 2008
I just borrowed Monster Hunter from a friend, and the experience was painless thanks to the wonderful technology known as a disc-based storage medium. I just borrow the disc, and it’s like I have the whole game! WOW!
If digital-downloads-only is the “wave of the future”, then the future looks to be really damn annoying.
-Arvis
September 9th, 2008
i cant imagine downloading a 1.7 gig file from a psp playstation store using the psp’s wi-fi. That will kill the battery fast.
September 9th, 2008
Arvis- couldn’t agree with you more. Digital downloads are a 360 owners dream apparently, but for the rest of the world we want our physical data storage. I can see the movie umd’s being weeded out due to low sales. Who wants to pay $20 for a movie that can only be played on a psp? But for games, they will still be around for the foreseeable future.
September 9th, 2008
I’d say digital downloads just need to be on the right platform.
For the PSP I can see if being a bitch just because of all the transferring around you’d have to do etc.
For PC and consoles, I can see it become a reality in the future, I’m not saying super near future or anything.
I know alot of people like discs and I do too! Because its always there and you just put it in and go, but for PC at least I prefer digital downloads on these days. Discs just create objects I need to store or trash, digital downloads just take up a few gigs of storage.
September 10th, 2008
The UMD will never be ditch. I personally hardly use UMD since i have a hack PSP but UMD are great for movies and especially games. Sony will never take out the UMD. Digital Download will never beat UMD.
September 10th, 2008
SW,
It’s not that I don’t see a place for DD, it just makes game sharing very difficult. And since most gamers I know borrow games all the time, it really does make a difference, especially on a portable platform.
-Arvis
September 10th, 2008
“it just makes game sharing very difficult”
I see your point, but it just makes me wonder if that is going to be one of the aims of the games industry. We already know they hate us reselling our games…
September 11th, 2008
Game sharing on a PSP (or DS) is important because of the nature of the platform. If its something you are supposed to be able to take around, if you have borrowed a game from a friend and like it, you are more likely to buy it for that 10 hour trip than if you don’t know a lot about the game.
Reselling a game means its one less game sold. Lending a game is one more person exposed to, hopefully, a good game.