http://www.computerandvideogames.com/ar ... ?id=228684

I'm honestly starting to think the Go will become one of gaming's biggest flops

I agree, I mean yes people download but why on earth remove a function completely, one that many still use?

Just seemed a bit odd.

UMD is clearly the format that will never die.

Now, when I bought Gran Turisomo for my PSP (one of the originals), I installed itself onto the memory stick. A UMD drive for the PSP Go would make sense if it let you install games. MemorySticks have this MagicGate DRM system, so you could in theory lock the UMD drive, and therefore the copied game, to a particular console.

It'll die when the next generation of the PSP appears (assuming there is one). There's no way Sony would use them again. Given backwards compatibility no longer seems to be on the industry's list of required features, I wouldn't expect the PSP2 to go anywhere near UMDs.


That kind of install still requires the UMD in the drive doesn't it? If this peripheral allows you to 'image' your UMDs on to the SSD then it will have a point, otherwise it will be a waste of time. Why pay extra for the PSPgo the only real plus of which is it's smaller and lighter, then have to carry a UMD drive around as well?

As it is, if you need a new PSP and you already have some PSP games you'd be mad to buy a Go rather than a standard PSP. I needed to do this (my PSP got nicked) and I bought a PSP-3000 and a 16GB memory stick - thus getting pretty much all the useful bits of the Go - for about £30 less than the Go costs in the shops...

Jon

“Image” being the word I was looking or, but could not find. This is exactly what I was imagining.

PSP downloads are a pile of crap. Sony have taken EA's now defunct strategy of ludicrously expensive downloads....I can't believe they think players will pay up to £32 for a digital copy of a game when it can be found on UMD for less than £20 on the net or even supermarkets!

The £4 Mini downloads seem a good idea, but I am not going to pay almost twice as much for a game just because it's downloaded....the shops aren't so far off that I can't get to them

More consoles (especially the PSP and DSi) need a format of enabling the games to be ripped on a console to memory unit and played from that, there are a lot of ways they can protect them (locking to memory stick GUIDs, consule GUIDs etc) and gives the end user more flexibility while still helping to stop the piracy.

Or the route they SHOULD have gone down with the go, send your games to sony, get download codes for all of them for free.

Yup, I think they've shot themselves in the foot really. There really should be a way to either replace UMDs, as you say, that people have bought or be able to transfer them to the Go. I mean you can transfer vinyl to your PC with the right equipment.

It looks like they're trying to soften the blow by giving a few games away with them now but it still doesn't resolve the issue of people not being able to play games they've already bought, thus missing out on many who may have just wished to upgrade their console.

Not legally though. That’s the issue here - PSP Go prospects with a pile of UMDs should be able to play those games on the new handheld. It’s not PSP 2; it’s technically a PSP 1 in a different form factor. There has to be compatibility.

Micropayments and downloads seems to work for games - look at how the iPHone is becoming a games console by stealth. Use the UMD for the big complex games, but the smaller casual games (which portable devices seem to be pretty good at) could easily be distributed via an online PSP store.

PSPgo "will die" without cheaper games

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/ar ... ?id=228840

No kidding

What vinyl to PC? How do they get away with selling turntables that plug straight into your PC with the sole purpose of copying your collection of LPs?

Essentially what I said above.

Ever since third party games on Steam came along, I've been aghast at the gall of publishers to think they can get away with charging full price for a digital download. Heck, even PC World recognises that to shift units you have to sell below RRP and cut prices. Publishers seem to have no commercial sense at all, or perhaps they bank on one or two rich people/idiots on downloading at full price.

Penny Arcade's take on the matter.

So long as they don't make too many of them, they could probably still turn a profit with the 'it was bought for me' and 'oooh, shiny shiny new hardware' brigades who probably now loathe the sight of their Go