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All Sony Japan PSP games going digital

TGS 2008: Publisher commits to simultaneous DLC and UMD releases of new games; handheld's online storefront goes live next week in island nation.

Sony is rapidly laying claim to a number of pioneering steps in the world of digital distribution. It was the first console maker to simultaneously launch a major stand-alone release through retail and digital channels (Warhawk), the first to use its online storefront as a second release window for a AAA title (Burnout Paradise), and now the first to commit to simultaneous online and retail releases for an entire platform.

Sony Computer Entertainment Japan today announced that it would be launching its PlayStation Store for PSP on October 15, allowing handheld gamers with Wi-Fi access to download new games and other content directly to their systems. To help populate the store with the latest and greatest offerings, SCEJ declared that all upcoming titles it plans to release on the system's standard Universal Media Disc format would also be available in downloadable form upon release.

The first such offering, Destroy All Heroes 2, will be available to Japanese gamers on October 16, but it will later include anticipated titles like LocoRoco 2, Patapon 2, and Resistance: Retribution. These games will also be available through Sony's PlayStation Store services on the PC and PlayStation 3.

As of press time, a representative with Sony Computer Entertainment America had not returned GameSpot's request for info on the PSP store's international launch plans.

51 Comments

  • aznstyle11

    Posted Oct 24, 2008 6:26 am GMT

    I'd rather get the UMD version. Boxart and boxlet =D

  • Tuppe666

    Posted Oct 22, 2008 3:31 am GMT

    Playing games from memory stick is faster and also saves battery.

  • RakinR

    Posted Oct 19, 2008 11:24 am GMT

    all of you guys should just add custom firmware to your psps ;D im thinking about doing that

  • RakinR

    Posted Oct 19, 2008 11:22 am GMT

    hmph they're copying what all the psp hackers are doing, putting isos on their site except for sale... they're probably going to put up playstation one game eboots soon as well...

  • EPaul

    Posted Oct 12, 2008 6:23 pm GMT

    guess i have to buy that 16gb memorystick now

  • Hsanrb

    Posted Oct 10, 2008 10:30 pm GMT

    Like the idea... just I import games too frequently and want to actually visit foreign Playstation Network Stores so hopefully Sony considered importers and makes an update allowing people to get content for the PSN outside their region.

    Otherwise, I'll probably use it if I know I want a title and start skipping titles I don't.

  • ScreamDream

    Posted Oct 10, 2008 4:25 pm GMT

    Since we can't sell these games when done playing, it would be nice if Sony made these cheaper to download. I'm not a big fan of this unless there is a good 30% or more discount.

  • chibi-acer

    Posted Oct 10, 2008 2:48 pm GMT

    Ooh! PLEASE do this for the US as well! I hate the UMD format. It's slow and noisy. 4GB memory cards are cheap, I'd much rather buy my games digitally.

  • Hvac0120

    Posted Oct 10, 2008 9:18 am GMT

    Rect_Pola wrote:
    I also hope they don't become corrupt and pull the "you're only renting it" model.


    I think that they should do a rental model. I don't want it to be the only option, though. I think it would be great to pay for a digital download that was restricted to a time limit, like they do for downloadable movie rentals.

    If Sony (or even Microsoft) could come up with a system that works and is cheaper than GameFly or renting from a store ($8 @ Blockbuster), then I think that a rental model could really work. Bundle that with the option to purhcase the game to keep forever and you've got a good business model all together.

  • Hvac0120

    Posted Oct 10, 2008 9:14 am GMT

    Since there will be a digital copy of EVERY PSP game available on the PS Store, they should include some method for downloading games that you've already paid for the hard copy. Maybe if you open the PS Store on your PSP while you have the disc in the drive and then there is a hidden key that can only be used once to allow a free download of the digital version?

    I also want hard copies of all my games. I am against going completely digital and have not purchased many digital games this generation because of it.

    However, I think that if I buy the hard copy, I should be able to also enjoy the digital version. Sony should really consider doing something like this since they are moving in that direction.

  • Rect_Pola

    Posted Oct 10, 2008 5:56 am GMT

    I don't mind downloaded stuff, I just prefer to have a hard copy. I also hope they don't become corrupt and pull the "you're only renting it" model.

  • puablo

    Posted Oct 10, 2008 5:17 am GMT

    How is this new, and how are there haters? They've been doing this for a while, you can buy PSP games digitally already, just through the PC and PS3. I'd prefer to have the physical UMD and just copy the contents to a memory stick, but that's alright. I've already bought Puzzle Warriors digitally.

  • Shtinky posted Oct 10, 2008 12:13 am GMT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    Shtinky

    Posted Oct 10, 2008 12:13 am GMT (hide)

    wont save it, it's still dead in the water

  • haloshalo posted Oct 9, 2008 11:43 pm GMT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    haloshalo

    Posted Oct 9, 2008 11:43 pm GMT (hide)

    nintendo dsi anyone ?

  • V-r0cK

    Posted Oct 9, 2008 11:02 pm GMT

    I think for something such as handhelds, example, all UMD games should be able to have a digital copy of the game that can let you copy it directly to your memory stick. For one, playing games off the memory stick saves more battery then running it via UMD (and for PSP you want as much juice as you can get), and im sure alot of people would still want to own the physical medium of the game with the fancy box art etc. I think this would be a better option.

  • VenomRitual

    Posted Oct 9, 2008 10:26 pm GMT

    keep it coming sony

  • galduke

    Posted Oct 9, 2008 9:37 pm GMT

    Hehehe, 30-40 bucks for intangible data? Ya, that'll be the day! I'll stick to amazon and a week's wait, thanks. Hopefully they'll release an OFFICIAL UMD dumper for the more "standard" users.

    People worrying about space, games range in size between just above 100 megs to over a gig, and with that variety you can expect to fit several games on a little 2 gig, plus I'm sure developers can cut down on unnecessary data and may become more space conscious.

  • jcasanova

    Posted Oct 9, 2008 9:23 pm GMT

    Hope all developers do this, I dislike umd's, and making games available online gives the same price wherever country you are. I have not purchased a physical ps3 or psp game since april! PSN is my favorite retailer now.

  • snarple_basic

    Posted Oct 9, 2008 9:22 pm GMT

    It would be cool along as you can download the games from your computer. Then all you would have to do is copy them over from your computer when ever you want to play them. Downloading a whole game through the psp's wifi sounds like it would take up a lot of time.

  • edscma

    Posted Oct 9, 2008 9:09 pm GMT

    And you can get a 8gb stick for about 40or 45 on amazon there not that expensive any more http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-8GB-Memory-Stick-Pro/dp/B000UZH7P6/ref=pd_bbs_12?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1223611635&sr=8-12

  • edscma

    Posted Oct 9, 2008 9:04 pm GMT

    Yeah this means no more scratched umd's once its on the memory stick its there an if you have a PS account you can go back an redownload if you loose it. why buy a disk or umd that can get scratched or worse when it can be placed on a hard drive or memory stick and never lost

  • kkkkknaruto

    Posted Oct 9, 2008 8:59 pm GMT

    sony has a good chance with this getting closer to the next itunes but for gaming

  • Tremblay343

    Posted Oct 9, 2008 8:52 pm GMT

    Sounds awesome, but I only have a 4gb memory stick. How many games will I be able to fit on there with all my music and videos? I think they should of put a little HDD in the new PSP. Even if it was just for faster loading times. Still I bought both burnout and warhawk online, saves me a trip to the store. And it's easy with my $90 320gb laptop drive. Now lets just see some big name PS3 games so I don't have to preorder or rush to games stores.

  • thestickman

    Posted Oct 9, 2008 8:41 pm GMT

    Pretty good news. This means things are actually moving forward as far as digital distribution and whatnot.

    This is perfect if you don't want to leave your house to get a game, all you have to do is download it Provided you have the free space on your memory stick of course...

  • shanzor

    Posted Oct 9, 2008 8:03 pm GMT

    While this sounds cool, it'll probably only further the pirating of psp games.

  • shanzor

    Posted Oct 9, 2008 8:02 pm GMT

    While this is cool it'll probably on further the pirating of PSP games.

  • Legendary_Ross

    Posted Oct 9, 2008 7:59 pm GMT

    Yeah well I hope memory prices come down was well.

  • torontomapleafs

    Posted Oct 9, 2008 7:38 pm GMT

    Kind of stupid as it's gonna just take all your memory.

  • TMorss

    Posted Oct 9, 2008 7:33 pm GMT

    This is great opportunity for sony to make the psp an actual competitor in the ipod market. They need to release a model with like 8 or 16gb of internal memory and they can watch the sales takeoff.

  • Humikimi

    Posted Oct 9, 2008 7:11 pm GMT

    That's pretty tight. I wonder how much memory each game will take up, since I only have two 2GB sticks.

    And Patapon 2 and LocoRoco 2? Did I miss something? Well at least now I have a reason to dust off my PSP YAY!

  • CodingGenius Site moderator

    Posted Oct 9, 2008 7:03 pm GMT

    Nope. Not interested in purely digital downloads as long as there's a hard copy available. Still, this provides easy access to games, especially those from distributors who may not traditionally have large production runs (e.g. Atlus).

  • Kenaue

    Posted Oct 9, 2008 6:58 pm GMT

    Nice. I'll still get the disk version of most games though.

  • darkride66

    Posted Oct 9, 2008 6:55 pm GMT

    I see a bigger memory card in my future. This rocks.

  • shinspikes

    Posted Oct 9, 2008 6:50 pm GMT

    Yes, keep my psp alive. Haven't touched it in awhile.

  • JesusFreak1990

    Posted Oct 9, 2008 6:43 pm GMT

    Cool! Not the fact that their making all games downloadable (I prefer UMDs because my memory card woulden't hold many games), but the fact that now we will be able to download the extra free content, such as the PS store demos which are better than the official PS website demos.

    The only downloadable store game I ever bought, was Beats.

  • lebanese_boy

    Posted Oct 9, 2008 6:42 pm GMT

    That's amazing news

  • Bren128

    Posted Oct 9, 2008 6:36 pm GMT

    destroy all heroes 2? do they mean destroy all humans 2?

  • normsta

    Posted Oct 9, 2008 6:33 pm GMT

    This is sweet!
    @tonicmole
    What the hell are you talking about i bought a 4 gig mem stick for my psp like 1 year ago and it cost me $35 Canadian... it's called ebayyyyyy.

  • remaGloohcSdlO

    Posted Oct 9, 2008 6:30 pm GMT

    Like it or not, digital distribution is the way of the future. This is at least a nice transition of both where you can begin to get on board with it, instead of forcing it on you all at once.

    I personally like to have the disc/UMD/cartridge/etc... of any games I own, but you can't stop progress.

  • 5FingersOfDeath

    Posted Oct 9, 2008 6:12 pm GMT

    I like this.

  • dchan01

    Posted Oct 9, 2008 6:10 pm GMT

    Yikes. Load times versus DRM. Which is worse?

  • rimidi

    Posted Oct 9, 2008 6:04 pm GMT

    This is great news. Hopefully with digital distribution, prices can come down somewhat (with less production costs).

    And, oh, first.

  • Yuck_Too

    Posted Oct 9, 2008 6:02 pm GMT

    hehehe...and that is the official death of UMD now that we can download it. About time too.

  • Paulf001

    Posted Oct 9, 2008 6:01 pm GMT

    How is this going to stop people from just downloading their PSP games off of illegal sites for free?

  • Loucetios

    Posted Oct 9, 2008 6:00 pm GMT

    tonicmole

    u can easily find 4gb SD sticks for $22, thats how much i got my 4gb one

  • hazuki

    Posted Oct 9, 2008 6:00 pm GMT

    I like the idear of this. Think about it. Over the years, theres only such much room we can put stuff. Collecting hundreds of movies, games, and music can take up a bunch of space. Its even easier to lose portable games. As long as you can keep a copy of a game on your computer, I believe this is the way to go.



    Think about it. A portable game, is usually less the size of a ps3-360 demo. Is that so bad? I can see why people don't like the ps3-360 download scene, since you can't really back it up AND downloads are longer than willing to wait.

  • Paulf001

    Posted Oct 9, 2008 5:59 pm GMT

    How is this going to stop people from download their PSP games from illegal sites?

  • tonicmole

    Posted Oct 9, 2008 5:48 pm GMT

    A 1 gig memory stick is....like $30-$40. A 1 gig game fpr the PSP $20-$30?.......this actually might not rock. If you add the price of memory to the cost of the game and take in account that it can't be resold.....hmmmmm, we are gonna need a bigger boat.

  • ColdfireTrilogy

    Posted Oct 9, 2008 5:46 pm GMT

    Woah thats intense ... feels like wintergreen in my eyes! Great stuff!

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