PSP digital game rental coming?

Source: See below. What we heard: Sony's decision to remove the UMD disc media reader from the PSP Go has provoked its fair share of controversy. On the one hand, by eliminating the UMD drive, Sony was able to substantially reduce the size of its device, as well as improve battery life, among other enhancements. However, without the drive, PSP Go purchasers will be unable to use their previously purchased PSP games, and they won't be able to rent new games, either. While Sony has stated that it does not plan on offering a way for gamers to digitize their PSP libraries, the publisher may be cooking up a solution for those looking to rent PSP games. First spotted by gaming blog The Retail Gamer and confirmed by GameSpot, Sony has added "Starts," "Expires," and "Hours Left" options to the information pane within games (pictured, top). Notably, Sony floated just such an idea earlier this year. In May, a confidential Web survey surfaced online indicating that Sony was considering a subscription service that would let gamers rent PSP games. "The service will enable you to download a fixed number of games during your subscription period...[which] might renew weekly, monthly, or for some other time period," read the document. Further, the menu fields are identical to those found in PlayStation Store video content (pictured, bottom), which can be purchased or rented through the PlayStation Network. With video content rentals, the start date is generated at the time of purchase and gamers have two weeks to watch the content before it expires. However, once a piece of content is activated, gamers only have a 24-hour window before the content expires. The official story: Sony had not responded to requests for comment as of press time. Bogus or not bogus?: Looking not bogus.

PSP digital game rental coming?

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