Sony's UMD-to-diigtal program expects you pay to play your old games on the Vita

Link.

The company is calling this service, at least in Japan, "UMD Passport." You download a program from the PlayStation Store, insert a UMD featured in Sony's list, register the game with PlayStation Network, pay a certain amount (it changes per game) to access a digital copy, and download away.

As mentioned, there is not a flat fee to purchase a digital version, and it appears that will be up to individual publishers to determine. Sony's press release says the prices will be "reasonable," and with one exception, the price mostly hovers between 500 yen (about $6.50) to 1,500 yen (about $20).

A comparable program has not been announced for anywhere outside of Japan, and it's unclear how Sony would prevent players from handing a single UMD around, but those details will come later.

Giant Bomb

Can't say I'm surprised. Monetizing the program like this was probably the only way they could get solid support from publishers. Asking to pay up to $20 for a digital copy of a game you already own is a bit much (no more than a few bucks a pop tops would have been the better pricing scheme), but, hey -- least they've got something in place for this. Better this than those games becoming completely defunct, eh?

"It's probably too cheap…" – Ken Kutaragi, Regarding the $499 to $599 price point for the ps3

Its like Sony wakes up everyday and thinks of new reasons to make me not want to buy their stuff. Someone give these boys a raise cause mission success!GodModeEnabled

If you dont own a PSP and UMD games, this does not apply to you. So why does it matter?

Hell, even if you do own PSP games on UMD, you can always play them on your PSP. I really dont see how a service that is entirely optional and is there just because their customers wanted it is a bad thing. You can still play all your downloadable PSP titles on Vita for no fee. Sure the $20 fee is high, but $6.99 is pretty low as well. I dont see many publishers charging $20 fees for their PSP games that are now available for download for less than that.

I'm not buying a PSP anymore thanks to the memory card fiasco, but this is a GOOD thing Sony has done for its loyal PSP userbase. I really dont see what the problem is.

THIS is what pisses me off. I already bought my PSP games. I shouldn't have to buy them again.

If I could just get my PSP games transferred over to Vita, I would get a Vita.

Sony was idiotic to announce a physical to digital conversion program. It failed with the PSP Go and no one has ever done and it and I doubt anyone will ever do it because its just not feasible (since one doesn't have to give up the physical copy, there's nothing stopping people from renting or borrowing games in order to permanently obtain digital copies).

[QUOTE="GodModeEnabled"]Its like Sony wakes up everyday and thinks of new reasons to make me not want to buy their stuff. Someone give these boys a raise cause mission success!S0lidSnake

If you dont own a PSP and UMD games, this does not apply to you. So why does it matter?

Hell, even if you do own PSP games on UMD, you can always play them on your PSP. I really dont see how a service that is entirely optional and is there just because their customers wanted it is a bad thing. You can still play all your downloadable PSP titles on Vita for no fee. Sure the $20 fee is high, but $6.99 is pretty low as well. I dont see many publishers charging $20 fees for their PSP games that are now available for download for less than that.

I'm not buying a PSP anymore thanks to the memory card fiasco, but this is a GOOD thing Sony has done for its loyal PSP userbase. I really dont see what the problem is.

:lol: Oh captain my captain. Not trying to insult you but I literally laughed out loud when I seen it was you arguing in favor of Sony charging us more money. Never change. :P Why should we be paying for something that should be free. Nintendo has backwards compatibility with their systems, so why does Sony get to run shenanigans and everyones like "oh well its ok... its Sony!" *insert boot into consumer ass here plz*GodModeEnabled

Why are you buying a PSP 2 to play PSP games? I will never understand this mentality.I mean this is what the guy above you siad:

If I could just get my PSP games transferred over to Vita, I would get a Vita.

Does this make ANY sense to you? It's like me wanting to buy a PS3 not for Uncharted 3, MW3, KZ3, or Skyrim but for the Jak & Mother f***ing Daxter game I bought on my PS2 ten years ago.

Backwards compatibility IS indeed free on the PSP if you have the downloadable versions of the game. Vita doesnt have a UMD drive which means they cant emulate what Nintendo is doing. I suggest you propose a better solution because i would love to hear it. Sony made the original PSP very open and look how that panned out. Piracy ruined that platform.

[QUOTE="GodModeEnabled"] :lol: Oh captain my captain. Not trying to insult you but I literally laughed out loud when I seen it was you arguing in favor of Sony charging us more money. Never change. :P Why should we be paying for something that should be free. Nintendo has backwards compatibility with their systems, so why does Sony get to run shenanigans and everyones like "oh well its ok... its Sony!" *insert boot into consumer ass here plz*S0lidSnake

Why are you buying a PSP 2 to play PSP games? I will never understand this mentality. Backwards compatibility IS indeed free on the PSP if you have the downloadable versions of the game. Vita doesnt have a UMD drive which means they cant emulate what Nintendo is doing. I suggest you propose a better solution because i would love to hear it.

[QUOTE="S0lidSnake"]

[QUOTE="GodModeEnabled"] :lol: Oh captain my captain. Not trying to insult you but I literally laughed out loud when I seen it was you arguing in favor of Sony charging us more money. Never change. :P Why should we be paying for something that should be free. Nintendo has backwards compatibility with their systems, so why does Sony get to run shenanigans and everyones like "oh well its ok... its Sony!" *insert boot into consumer ass here plz*GodModeEnabled

Why are you buying a PSP 2 to play PSP games? I will never understand this mentality. Backwards compatibility IS indeed free on the PSP if you have the downloadable versions of the game. Vita doesnt have a UMD drive which means they cant emulate what Nintendo is doing. I suggest you propose a better solution because i would love to hear it.

Ain't no partay like a Sony partay!

Oh, and:

LOL

Wish they provide more technical explanation? I think this feature can easily be abused if it's free. I can give the UMD to my friends and let them download the games free for unlimited times. Maybe they know we'll sell the UMD after downloaded digital version for profit. Perhaps the famous excuse, "To prevent piracy".

(since one doesn't have to give up the physical copy, there's nothing stopping people from renting or borrowing games in order to permanently obtain digital copies).CarnageHeart

They'd still have to pay the extra fee to download the games, though, so its not like people can just obtain those games for free or anything. Game sharing isn't a viable means of subversion either given Sony's recent decision to only allow everyone to download whatever games they buy onto two systems maximum.

Upload your game file into Sony cloud then redownload it onto your vitas memory stick. They would need some kind of program too I suppose either for each individual game or blanket to make them work properly and upscaled on the hardware.GodModeEnabled

I think the better way they could have handled it was to just charge $5 or $10 bucks for the program itself and get whatever games you register from there for free. They could keep the monetization in place that way and we wouldn't be paying much for access. I mean, yeah, it'd be great if they made it entirely free, but I imagine they can't if they want to gain publisher support for this (it isn't mandatory to participate, you see).

Is there any redeeming quality about the Vita left?foxhound_fox

Upload your game file into Sony cloud then redownload it onto your vitas memory stick. They would need some kind of program too I suppose either for each individual game or blanket to make them work properly and upscaled on the hardware.GodModeEnabled

How would they know that your game file isnt from a rental or a pirated version of the game? The PSP was pirated to hell and back, this would open up a door to every pirate out there.

[QUOTE="GodModeEnabled"]Upload your game file into Sony cloud then redownload it onto your vitas memory stick. They would need some kind of program too I suppose either for each individual game or blanket to make them work properly and upscaled on the hardware.S0lidSnake

How would they know that your game file isnt from a rental or a pirated version of the game? The PSP was pirated to hell and back, this would open up a door to every pirate out there.

[QUOTE="S0lidSnake"]

[QUOTE="GodModeEnabled"]Upload your game file into Sony cloud then redownload it onto your vitas memory stick. They would need some kind of program too I suppose either for each individual game or blanket to make them work properly and upscaled on the hardware.MorningJuturna

How would they know that your game file isnt from a rental or a pirated version of the game? The PSP was pirated to hell and back, this would open up a door to every pirate out there.

The SKU? No they arent serial numbers. The SKU numbers are the same on each copy of the game. There is no way for Sony to know that the game you claim is yours. Unless you personally go into Gamestop, trade in your UMD and get a PSN card for the price of the game on PSN, but Gamestop would want a piece of it and it will end up costing Sony more. Hence the fee.

This is a slippery slope, and I think Sony is handling it pretty well. You make this service free, and the value of PSP games plummet forever due to renting and borrowing and then just keeping them forever. It will also most likely lead to a piracy issue (something that has plagued Sony's handheld for quite some time). You charge too much (like $20) and people will complain about Sony nickle and diming them. (For the record I believe $20 is way too much). But I think Sony is doing the right thing here, they aren't going against their word, and are providing a service they promised would be on the Vita. Now, for people who are complaining, how on Earth would you guys like it to be settled otherwise? It's not like you don't already have a PSP and the game to play it, you just want the convenience of having your older PSP games on your Vita. Shouldn't your Vita excite you enough with it's OWN games? [QUOTE="foxhound_fox"]Is there any redeeming quality about the Vita left?MorningJuturna

For the record, this is NOT my alternate account.

But this guy could be my twin, in that case please add me as a friend.

This is a perfect example of what I'm talking about. MorningJuturna

[QUOTE="CarnageHeart"](since one doesn't have to give up the physical copy, there's nothing stopping people from renting or borrowing games in order to permanently obtain digital copies).c_rake

They'd still have to pay the extra fee to download the games, though, so its not like people can just obtain those games for free or anything. Game sharing isn't a viable means of subversion either given Sony's recent decision to only allow everyone to download whatever games they buy onto two systems maximum.

Upload your game file into Sony cloud then redownload it onto your vitas memory stick. They would need some kind of program too I suppose either for each individual game or blanket to make them work properly and upscaled on the hardware.GodModeEnabled

I think the better way they could have handled it was to just charge $5 or $10 bucks for the program itself and get whatever games you register from there for free. They could keep the monetization in place that way and we wouldn't be paying much for access. I mean, yeah, it'd be great if they made it entirely free, but I imagine they can't if they want to gain publisher support for this (it isn't mandatory to participate, you see).

I agree that the way Sony handled this (a per game fee) is the only way they could have made a physical to digital transfers acceptable to (or ever attractive to) publishers but I don't blame disappointed people who laboured under the delusion that somehow a physical copy would magically translate into a digital copy because Sony encouraged that line of thinking with their initial vague announcement. They should have just laid out the plan it its entirety or better yet, not bothered.

Speaking as a guy who always trys to buy digital in the portable arena, I suspect the transfer program will disappoint even people who accept it because a lot of quality PSP games aren't availiable on PSN (Tekken: DR, Luminees and Kingdoms Hearts spring to mind).

[QUOTE="MorningJuturna"]This is a perfect example of what I'm talking about. foxhound_fox

The Vita's launch priceis the same as the PSP's. Given the power and features the hardware packs (dual analog FTW) $250 is quite reasonable. Of course, people buy systems for games, not hardware. With Gravity Rush, LBP, Escape Plan and Luminees Electric Symphony in the pipeline all hitting at or near launch the Vita's library is irresistable for me (good mix of original games and sequels).

Also, who in their right mind carries around their entire portable library at once? Most people can play a given game for hours and most people don't spend hours a day on the road.

Last but not least, if you think the Vita will be a disappointment like the Wii why not keep your money in your pocket and buy games (and the hardware they run on) that interest you?

If I read this right what's affected is PSP UMDs.....in which case play the UMD on the PSP. Problem solved. If you want to play them on the Vita then you have to pay for the convenience. It's not necessary, however, to do so. I'm not getting the reason for complaints for something that is choice.

Well if it was free, then anybody can just rent a PSP game, convert it to Vita and keep it.

They did put in work to code this mechanism.

I think $5-$10 fee per game is reasonable.

I understand that people don't like to pay for anything but c'mon now, you gotta let a company make a little money.

If I read this right what's affected is PSP UMDs.....in which case play the UMD on the PSP. Problem solved. If you want to play them on the Vita then you have to pay for the convenience. It's not necessary, however, to do so. I'm not getting the reason for complaints for something that is choice.

LJS9502_basic

Wish they provide more technical explanation? I think this feature can easily be abused if it's free. I can give the UMD to my friends and let them download the games free for unlimited times. Maybe they know we'll sell the UMD after downloaded digital version for profit. Perhaps the famous excuse, "To prevent piracy".

Everiez

[QUOTE="MorningJuturna"]This is a perfect example of what I'm talking about. foxhound_fox