Rumor: PSP2 won't have UMD drive, says David Perry *UPDATE* PSP 2 is real, says Perry

Posted Feb 25, 2009 at 1:35PM by QJ Staff Listed in: Interviews, Rumors Tags: David Perry, GDC, prototype, PSP2, Shiny Entertainment, Sony
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 David Perry: PSP2 will not have UMD drive - Image 1 


Is the UMD finally dead? That's what Shiny Entertainment founder David Perry suggests in one of his Twitter tweets (I sound like Tweety bird), where he says that Sony finally "removed the stupid battery-sucking UMD disc drive" in the PSP2.

Rumors of a new PSP model have been circulating wildly lately, the last one being a sliding screen. None of them have been directly linked to solid names in the industry though, so Perry's tweet strikes as odd. Was he commenting about the circulating rumors, or did he say something he wasn't supposed to because he knows something we don't?

It's also of note that Perry has a history of strongly criticizing Sony, saying that they have "pretty much no chance of making money on the PS3" and that they need "new business models." I'm curious to know if his source is that credible to get him so excited.



*UPDATE*

David Perry has spoken. The PSP2 is real. Believe, or else a PSP angel will lose its wings.

I spoke to a developer who is working on it right now. I know this developer is already working on it, so that means they have a prototype. That would sound like a fall release to me.


I've been pounding on Sony for a long time to make the Playstation Portable relevant and not to let Apple stroll away with the portable game market. Look at what Apple is doing now.


Why are so many investors investing in Apple game development? Trying to pitch a PSP game to investors right now is brutal.


The ultimate goal is for the PSP to go 100% digital, he says, and this will kill the used game market (a big issue these days). Perry also believes that Sony will initially sell games on Memory sticks, and that all current PSP titles will show up on PSN (calm your fears for backwards compatibility).

Remember, a lot of what he says comes from his source, but a lot is also speculation. And we don't even know if any of it is real. But if it is, I expect we'll find out soon, maybe during GDC or E3.

Visit: QJ.NET PSP speculation thread

Via Tweeter via VGTribune

 
 
 

Comments [refresh]

by sicksider - 2009-02-25 03:36
» hmm..

might not be removed..maybe they put a new type of UMD..higher Quality UMD maybe..like Blu ray?

by thefinalhero - 2009-02-25 03:45
» Hmmm...

I hope it isn't removed. Like Sick said I hope maybe a higher quality UMD. As long as they allow backwards compatability between the systems.

I have no clue when this is supposed to come out, but I'm still holding onto hope for a NA release of Birth By Sleep.

by HeLRaZR - 2009-02-25 03:59
» Bad idea

Not having a UMD drive ensures limited or no backwards compatibility for the current PSP game and movie line-up. Big mistake surely to piss off a high percerntage of the what 16 million plus PSP owners out there that would move to an upgraded PSP2 console? I suspect Perry is talking out of turn and thinking wishfully, not wisely. Why on earth would Sony make such a bonehead manuever is beyond me, I suppose anything is possible though.

by thexile - 2009-02-25 04:09
» If what he said is true...

I referring to the UMD battery sucking part. Is it true?

by spankmaster - 2009-02-25 04:20
» not so fast...

i dont think not having the UMD will limit the compatibility between the systems. Just think about it, what other medium does the psp have for data storage? the memory stick! i will bet good money that instead of titles being fully downloadable and all that (which the industry AND consumer is not yet ready for) all games and Movies will be sold on read-only memory sticks. its brilliant really. all they basically do is have the game formatted like a PSN download(more then likely a NEW sort of encryption of key). Cause what has been the most MAJOR component of peoples complaints that drive them the hack there psps's.... long loading times, better battery life, and better and more comfortable game storage. This will deliver ALL of that PLUS memory sticks are so cheap to make now i wouldnt be surprised if its almost cheaper then making those UMD's.



So there you go. I'd bet GOOD money that thats what's gonna be going on with the PSP2

by pokerpoker - 2009-02-25 04:58
» about blu-umd

guys, can u remember when dvd was released? it was a leap from cd, but now, it's freaking small (in capacity)



if they're gonna invent blu-umd (you name it), it'll be old in ~3 years.



Do the math:

9gb (normal dl-dvd) / 1.8gb (umd) = 5gb

50gb (normal dl-blu-ray) / 5gb = 10gb (blu-umd)



(hmm, actually, 10gigs is very large for a 333mhz cpu 32mb ram 480x272 system)

by DVD_Sandwich - 2009-02-25 05:29
» stupid

That would be stupid to remove it. It would have little to no backward compatibility with everything that's already out. All my UMD games and UMD movies useless? No way, man. That's stupid.

What they could do is improve it. Perhaps higher capacity and faster load times, or something. And it wouldn't be necessary to upgrade the disc format until the successor comes around, not just a redesign.

Anybody who thinks it's a good idea to remove the primary data format from a device is a god damn idiot.

by Stealth! - 2009-02-25 06:27
» Hmm

apparently his source isn't credible. I mean hye claims Sony isn't going to make a profit on the PS3, yet they're very close, probably around middle to late march will start making profit. The reason why PS3 isn't going to be cut in price, is cause they're not making profit with each console sold. When they do hit that, i'm sure the price cut will definitely follow.



Anyway enough of the offtopic chatter, It's not out of the unrealistic if Sony finds a way to have mini-blu-ray on the PSP2. But it's awhile before we get the next edition.

by Techni - 2009-02-25 06:33
» Agreed

If they don't keep the "stupid" ability to play my 45 PSP games then it won't have the "stupid" ability to get my money

by thexile - 2009-02-25 06:36
» ...

Great comparison drawn.



NOT!

by Hekynn - 2009-02-25 07:28
» Bad move Sony!!!!

Bad move SONY!! Keep the damn UMD's!! I like them or unless they remake the umd drive to become a reallly tiny Blu Ray disc and drive.

by phiyuku - 2009-02-25 07:43
» Although memory stick prices have dropped...

it is a dumb idea to sell read only memory sticks and here are the following reason why and note this is only my opinion:



-They are small and easily lost.

-They cost a lot of money for them to make compared to a UMD. Even a 32mb memory stick costs more than a UMD.

-This costs increases as the size of the memory stick goes up.

-All existing games needs to be ported to a memory stick format to ensure backwards compatability.

-DRM would be easily cracked compared to ripping a UMD.

-This would have been done if they really wanted to since the DS currently is using this method. The reason why Sony went with UMD is because it is cheap to produce and has a much bigger memory capacity. Do you really want your PSP games to have the depth of a DS game?

by deejaydark - 2009-02-25 08:29
» WOWSER !!!

So now all those umd movies and games are absolete. hmmm.Thank god we have Team M33 :)

by sickofitall - 2009-02-25 08:41
» he does have a point though

it is a lot easier to download and play games on an ipod, than a psp. They may not be great, but it is easy to get it. I wish all new psp games had a download option for purchases too.

by pokerpoker - 2009-02-25 08:46
» NO ANALOG STICKS?!?

"The ultimate goal is for the PSP to go 100% digital,"

by xruiza - 2009-02-25 08:56
» Phiyuku

"-This would have been done if they really wanted to since the DS currently is using this method. The reason why Sony went with UMD is because it is cheap to produce and has a much bigger memory capacity. Do you really want your PSP games to have the depth of a DS game?"



Last time i checked, 2+ gigs is a lot bigger than 1.8 gigs.

by xruiza - 2009-02-25 08:59
» Wrong

He ment going 100% digital as in not buying the actual game but downloading it from an online store.

by MitchenX - 2009-02-25 09:09
» I hope they know what they are doing...

no UMD drive means they will have great demand from the consumer to have all their games downloadable from the store... That is only half the battle, as they will have to close in on the pirates and torrent sites if they want to sell digitally... which they have failed this task at every turn. So either they have a plan, or they've just freakin lost it.!!

and i guess we knew that already so i'm just stating the obvious... lol

by tacopalypse - 2009-02-25 09:15
» i want...

2 analog nubs plz

by pokerpoker - 2009-02-25 09:17
» @xruiza

orly?

i know how to read +)

by Neko Kyu - 2009-02-25 09:19
» xruiza

Nintendo DS Game carts have 2.0 gigaBITS of memory storage (roughly 256 megaBYTES)



whereas the umd is 1.8 gigaBYTES

by Techni - 2009-02-25 09:22
» and that all current PSP titles will show up on PSN (calm your fears for backwards compatibility).

"and that all current PSP titles will show up on PSN (calm your fears for backwards compatibility)."



How the hell does that let me play the 45 games I already own? Complete bull. It NEEDS UMD.

by s*****man - 2009-02-25 09:25
» The great Video Game Crash of 2010

I think if games start going all digital that would be a HUGE mistake. I have been collecting games since the Atari 2600 and am the type of person who likes to have something to put on the shelf. I like video games as both something to play and something to collect as well.



They tried to do this with digital comics a few years ago, but failed horribly. People want to have something that represents their $60+ purchase other than a file on a memory card or hdd.



In the short term the game companies may think this is the way to go (no more production costs. No artist fees to create box art. No more paying stores for shelf space. Do you think they will pass that savings on to us (the customers)? I really doubt it.



If they are going to eliminate the UMD drive they should sell the games on mini DVD or cheap sdmicro and give us the option to send a digitally encrypted copy of the game to our PSP. Whatever they choose they should give the customer something in physical form.



I just feel eliminating media has many repercussions that will hurt the industry rather than help it.



I personally know a lot of people who could easily pirate most any software, but choose to buy it to get the extra "stuff". I have always been a supporter of exceptional games, but I won't continue to support if they go all digital....

by blackthorn - 2009-02-25 09:26
» Well actually

If you think about it, 100% digital is not a bad option at all.



Flash memory costs have gone down by a heavy amount since the introduction of the first PSP (whilst capacity is reaching new heights!), it's certainly not unfeasible to have 32 gig of onboard memory and one or even two expansion slots replacing the UMD on launch of the PSP2.



For sure backwards compatibility might be an issue for those with large collections, but what if SONY can just release a software package for your PC/MAC that allows you to dump the UMDs you have to a pre-defined and key encoded format via the existing USB interface for transfer onto your new PSP? The brew community has already shown that dumping UMDs to readable image files is a no brainer, there's absolutely no reason why Sony can't incorporate this with something akin to the Apple's IPOD software interface for managing IPOD content.



Viola! No redundant UMD format required!



As for 'the community not ready for digital' I think people need to step out of the stone age and get a grip on reality for a moment. The Apple online store for IPOD & STEAM for the online gaming community both prove already beyond any doubt that it's more than ready.



I think the fear mongers among you all need to stop and get a *****ing reality check. Removable optical media is a significant restraint on the overall system capability in terms of functionality, design, power consumption and practicality (who actually WANTS to cart around 40 odd *****ing UMDs with their portable gaming unit?).



If Sony drop it in favour of going 100% digital, it'll be the next obvious step in evolution for portable gaming systems because sure as hell the likes of Nintendo will be looking at this as the obvious next step...

by NEOL - 2009-02-25 09:30
» hmmm...

I dont think this is real but if its then Horay i will gonna buy it :)

but for the UMD remove thing i think it would be a better to upgrade it than to remove it because there is about 50 million ppl out there is using this damn thing and any one here too XD

so sony (better UMD)=(better sales)

remove UMD = our hates and (hmm A new market for new psp users)

its just my opinion so dont flame me :)

by blackthorn - 2009-02-25 09:38
» Well

I think you're speaking from personal bias right there rather than a practical look at the situation. Having media delivered by electronic means has a whole new level of convenience and what's more, once you have purchased it online, you can continue to download it to your system indefinitely as the parent server retains your purchase information. If someone breaks into your house and steals your precious UMD collection, you sir are screwed. If you buy through steam, get another unit - redownload. Problem solved.



Look at my post below. Your fears of the industry being hurt by going digital are already unfounded and proven to be false. Apple IStore? Steam? Any of those ring a bell at all?



You need to get with the times and realise that just because a small minority have more faith in monetary value through physical media in hand, the majority of people out there really don't give a ***** and will happily purchase digital formats over these older methods.



Of course they might lose a few die-hards like yourself in doing this, but you already admit they'll save a wad of cash in production, packaging and shelf space so why are they going to care?

by Binary - 2009-02-25 10:15
» ..

who knows man.

by Binary - 2009-02-25 10:18
» ...

This is good and hopefully it does not collect dust in the feature like mine.





Sony really need to revamp the protable, maybe this one will play PS2 games? lol that would rock!







Hopefully this time they put like 256MB of flash and a SD card.

by xruiza - 2009-02-25 10:34
» neko

Was comparing Umd to memory stick.

by phiyuku - 2009-02-25 10:37
» Know your bits and bytes... xruiza

As pointed out by neko it is 2 gigabits not bytes. Bits for some odd reason is how we measure internet usage. But i dunno who used it for the DS. If its nintendo obviously they just wanted to inflate the number and make it seem bigger. Probably why they use bits for internet speed as well.

by phiyuku - 2009-02-25 10:40
» Either your using ur last reply as a cover of your stupidity or you actually meant it

Then don't quote that part... There's a reason why DS uses such a tiny amount of memory. It would cost them a lot more to produce a 2 gig... Which is why I brought up the 2nd and 3rd points in my post...

by djman855555 - 2009-02-25 10:46
» yeah....

i smell a fail. lets be honest most people have atleast a computer. but not all fully trust putting credit card information online. with all the hackers and virus's these days who can blame them. if the psp2 will make every game digtial i see sony losing alot of sells on the portable side. ps3 already has lost alot of sells then sony projected. they lost close to 2 billion dollars last year and they go and do this........ wow

by Flamesack112 - 2009-02-25 11:30
» Firstly...

I believe he's talking out of his ass.

Sony just had a press release not to long ago announcing a whole slew of new PSP titles coming this year. It would be foolish to think ahead and release a PSP follow up.

Not to mention the fact that we have not heard any details of a new PSP so how could it be released "in the fall" when their have been no confirmations that it's even in development yet.

Third, he claims he talked to a developer working on a PSP2 game. To start working and planning a game does not require one to have a "prototype" system. Working on a game can mean anything from art direction and brainstorming ideas to actually coding the game to work on a specific platform.

To be honest, I think this guy just wants attention. He's talking out of his ass. I would take everything this man has said with a huge giant tanker full of salt

by DarkXCloud - 2009-02-25 11:42
» It's bull....

He just wants attention...



I could be wrong... time will only tell.

by djman855555 - 2009-02-25 11:42
» but

that be nice to believe. cause i wont lie i download most of my psp games and the ones that i enjoy i actually purchase. sorta my ilegal demos lol

by FreePlay - 2009-02-25 11:51
» ...

Right, because you NEED TO BUY ONE AND GET RID OF THE OLD ONE.



Get serious.

by blackthorn - 2009-02-25 11:51
» lol

I don't think so. Look at the mobile phone market where 100% of software purchased comes from digital sources. They seem to be doing a roaring trade at the moment.



I think there's a lot of over reacting from the people who who invested a lot of their money into UMDs.



Face reality people, the UMD is a DEAD format. The sooner Sony dumps it, the better off they'll be.

by Marmarflam - 2009-02-25 11:59
» sup

hikashooooo



mr poker poker made a joke and i lol'd

by Specht - 2009-02-25 12:30
» Yup

The UMD Drive is the biggest contributor to the PSP's short battery lifespan. One of the main reasons I rip an ISO of any UMD game I come across and just play from that.

by GLO13AL_T3RROR - 2009-02-25 12:44
» hm......

well if sony is going to sell games directly playable from memory stick...thn i don't the idea cz just by incase what if it got accidently gets deleted?

by Techni - 2009-02-25 13:44
» ...

Some people will sell their old PSP to pay for the new one.



And the new one has to play old games even if you keep the old one. You don't want to have to carry 2 PSPs around



Dont be stupid. BC is required. PSP had a hard enough time with it's library

by IIVIIOJICA - 2009-02-25 13:51
» Great

Hopefully they do take the umd drive OFF!!! put heka more RAM FLASH and internal memory. And be able to download games from the ps store. GREAT NO UMD DRIVE!!!!!!!YEA AAAAAAAAAAA!!!! !!!!!

by Mr Toasty - 2009-02-25 13:54
» hopefully

they'll release a tool to rip PSP games to a computer or PS3.



also, hopefully this doesn't make the price of games skyrocket. I'd rather see them sell the games on a CD, which you put in your computer and sync to a PSP rather than sell them on expensive memory sticks.

by KylBlz - 2009-02-25 15:13
» LOL

clever..

by KylBlz - 2009-02-25 15:17
» this is a good thing

if this it true, that would leave a lot of the systems weight and thickness and battery consumption behind. i say good move. BETTER CPU!! the ipod touch kicks the ***** outta the PSP performance wise.. and its tiny too D: THE PSP MUST WIN!!!

by ghettoblastedXD - 2009-02-25 16:00
» ehhh

DVD's were meant to replace VHS tapes not CD's

by Aces In The Palm - 2009-02-25 16:27
» you can download indefinetly

until thier server crashes or gets infected with a virus and they lose everyones account and purchase details



physical media must be kept to keep the resposibilty of managing the media with the purchaser

by Aces In The Palm - 2009-02-25 16:33
» lol

mobile phone software hardly reaches 1.8GB

digital would suck

you'de need a blazing fast connection to get it in a timely fashion

whereas i go to games r us, buy a UMD and HEY it plays straight away

by Aces In The Palm - 2009-02-25 16:44
» another reason to keep physical

"we are sorry for any inconvenience, our servers are currently undergoing maintenance and will be back up in (insert time here)"

by danielakadanny - 2009-02-25 17:04
» first 4 all of u tht say this is a bad move of no UMD...

how is it now we have faster loading,more battery life,and no crap tht can come out of the UMD case (i mean by the case holding the UMD breaking).Plus we get more memory 4 better graphics,longer gameplay,and more added features if the game desiners arn't lazy.Also if u have a psp y do u need bc u already have the psp so u can just play it on there.Pls no flame wars w/me i see how u ppl get when u get mad. :(

by Puntymario - 2009-02-25 18:17
» Why is everyone worried about capacity?

Almost all psp games currently have never filled a whole umd yet because the need for that hasnt arrived yet

by Puntymario - 2009-02-25 18:23
» Neko you are dumb

Where did you get your numbers from last time i checked the capacity of a ds card was 1 GIGABYTE not 2 gigabits not 256 mb it was 1 GIG

by KritzKrieg - 2009-02-25 18:46
» Not to mention...

The fact that mobile phone customers are an entirely different target group than the psp's. Dominated by kids and teens, it would be annoying to require CC to make purchases. Hell, even with a points card it's just another hurddle that prevents impulse buys at the airport before your family vacation to Vermont.

by vincentx - 2009-02-25 18:56
» Uh... no

Correct me if I'm wrong, but is ASH (Archaic Sealed Heat) not the only DS title released so far on a 2 gigabit card? And, to date, is that not the largest game created for the system? I think even Chrono Trigger, with all of those FMV sequences, was only 1 gigabit (128 megs), and it included both languages in the same cart. The same is true for Final Fantasy IV. There's no need to be rude, Punty, just learn something new and evolve.

by Miclowgunman - 2009-02-25 20:12
» Steam

Digital Downloads are the future of media. Just look at the market and the success of Steam. Gamestop is scared to death of Steam and digital success. Music and movies are all over the internet for a monthly fee. The PSN and XBox Live are providing more games for download. Making a PSP with a 60gig hard drive in stead of a UMD drive would help the PSP a lot. The UMD's have failed in a lot of ways. I still loved the idea, but there are greener pastures to follow now. As long as they find a way to make reverse content accessible, then they are doing well. If it is the psp2 and not the psp4000, then it would make sense that it have a different format for game playing, and a Blu-ray UMD player does not make sense economically. They may make a UMD player attachment for the PSP2, but I doubt backwards compatibility is a must for them, just like with the ps3/ps2 compatibility. The first is to make a solid system that works to their expectations, then to get games rolling on it for launch. PSP games may show up on the network to buy, just like PS1 games did for the PSP. They never relased a tool to convert your PS1 games to work on the PSP. Plus digital downloads = lower production cost and more games from smaller companies.

by yoshi314 - 2009-02-25 21:33
» things are getting crazy

"(...) this will kill the used game market (...)"

i think we can all agree that game companies consider buying games second-hand a threat to their profits.



i'm worried that the day that buying used games will become illegal will come quicker than expected. this is really getting ridiculous. most of my games are bought second-hand, and i definitely would not affort most of them if i bought them normally.



"They [sony?] never relased a tool to convert your PS1 games to work on the PSP"



in the context of killing the used game market this is only natural - they want to charge you as many times as possible for the same game. from the other hand, they would have no way to check whether the ps1 game you are converting from is original (unless it would be done on ps3).



i believe that sony will eventually release some ps2 games on psn for ps3. but you can bet that you won't be able to convert your existing games - they'll want to milk out as much money as they can from you.

by PS2GT - 2009-02-25 22:18
» dont forget

they cant even release multi-disc ps1 games on the psn, 1 more reason to have cfw, love dax and of course zinga burga for making things easier like custom xmbs and ps1 eboots.

by ctjk1982 - 2009-02-26 03:48
» sony can do a number of things

lets face it the psp movies suck like hell if your psp was imported.



sony can do a number of things here for usa psp owners that will work for all.



people who owned the old psp can register the games that they still owned and sony can give people a download code to download the games they already owned so as not to pay for it again. cause i agree with people i don't want to buy games for the old psp just to have to buy it again in another format. doing it this way will give people more of a reason to buy the new game instead of downloading it and playing it for free it will be more worth my money this way.



sony can use SSD hard drives instead of memory sticks for the games and movies.

by hakk3r - 2009-02-26 04:07
» maybe....

Maybe this is why they are making a 2TB memory stick, that way you can hold all your games on it!

by andychole - 2009-02-26 05:20
» Ehhh?????????????

How can this be possible, if Sony is investing huge amounts of money in big games for the PSP this year (LittleBigPlane t, Motorstorm, Assassin's Creed).

Why would anyone make huge new games, only a few months before a new console is out! (fall 2009 - PSP2)



Some people say 2009 is the year of the PSP!



I think 2009 is the PSPs resurrection!



Might as well be the insurrection of the PSP vs PSP2!



What do you guys think!

by Stealth! - 2009-02-26 06:20
» Um not quite

you have to remember not everyone has a high stable 5MB dl speed or more to be able to download big files. That's why the hole Digital Download HD crap Microsoft has been going on about, while good in theory and could be something in a few decades, at the current time, there's just no feasible way to get everyone a better internet connection service to download all this stuff. Disc mediums will not be replaced so soon. Yea sure PSN has games you can download and buy, but most of them aren't as big as disc medium games. As much as I like the Idea behind it, Disc mediums will win in the end. I love having a physical copy of my games, and not something on a pen drive or on a HDD which the system could crash and I'd lose it. As I said, it's good in theory, but the digital downloads won't catch on anywhere near the impact Blu-ray has and will in the future.

by Atownaction - 2009-02-26 06:30
» Hey I agree.....

The whole thing about the PSP2 seem so cool to me I mean if they use the same method they use to make the PS3 and make is more compatible with the PS3 then that would be damn cool and besides we need something more advanced and exciting so what if they lose the UMD drive....farewell.....I all for it and they will get my money just like when the PS3 came out......something new thats what we need cause the PSP has gotten boring!!!!!

by Stealth! - 2009-02-26 06:37
» um..

as I said, we're not ready for digital. What about the places in the world, a good handful, who don't have internet access or only use dialup or something which doesn't have a good download speeds? Are you telling me this is going to benefit them? That's why people are saying "We're not ready for digital downloading", and while it's a interesting concept, at the roots it's not going to be a good hit come the next 10 or more years. You have to think about the other areas who's big on gaming but don't have net connections or services.



Disc Medium games are still going to be the norm for awhile, with having some PSN games.



"(who actually WANTS to cart around 40 odd *****ing UMDs with their portable gaming unit?)."



I'd have no problem carting around that much, in fact I have a case which holds alot of my PSP titles.

Disc medium games are the best kind of storage. I want PHYSICAL copies of my games, while the PSN is great, it's not something I'm willing to trade for from DISC MEDIUMS. The discs can have more space and use to better potential than crappy pen drives or SD cards which can hit virus or the files to delete.

Also, you know how how expensive a 16-32GB pen/SD cards are? Close to 100 where if sony utilizes and helps make a mini blu-ray discs for the future PSP, that's gold.



You have some good points, i'll give ya that, but not quite thoughtout though. Keep working, you'll get there. :)

by phiyuku - 2009-02-26 07:33
» Lol you just made DS gamers look bad and seem like a bunch of kids that know nothing

Its gigaBITS. DS games have always been using a 1 gigaBIT card as the biggest until recently where bigger games needed more memory. Therefore the 2 gigaBIT card was introduced. It is rarely used because the more memory it has the slower it is. Therefore as a further argument the bigger the game is the slower it will load. Though a 2 gig card would probably load faster than a UMD though. This is assuming they use quality cards. Obviously if they use read only memory sticks it would be made extremely cheap and probably still load at the speed of a UMD. Though the upside is that it wont suck the battery life out of your PSP.

by GamefreQ - 2009-02-26 11:38
» What?

The Xbox 360 and the Playstation 3 basically RELY on the internet, with many, many games released exclusive to internet subscribers. Statistics show that a huge % of PS3 owners have PSN accounts.



Digital storage can hold a hell of a lot more than any disk based storage.almost a year ago i got a pc with a 1tb hard disk, and then blu ray was released, a dual layered one at 50 gb a pop. psp umd + 1.8 gb. psp memory stick 32gb+. And who said they are being sold on 16-32 GB memory sticks for $100 +? The iphone has a huge internal hard disk, no?

by avatar76 - 2009-02-26 12:58
» Yeah not a bad idea

But like someone else said I hope there's some way format shifting or otherwise of playing your UMD titles. Even if they released an external drive that let you copy one UMD at a time into the flash memory of your PSP2. I mean what do they care anyway if they're walking away from UMD sales.

by Djhg2000 - 2009-02-26 13:57
» Wow...

"Even a 32mb memory stick costs more than a UMD."

"This costs increases as the size of the memory stick goes up."



This makes me ask the question; in what kind of world does this happen?



UMDs would probably be more expensive to make, it's more than just a cheap disc; it also has a cheap plastic cover and only Sony makes them.

Cheap memory on the other hand is very common and bought in large numbers the price would be incredibly low for Sony.



Also memory prices sink like rocks, a 1GB stick would be worthless in a year or so. (If you meant 1GB is cheaper than 2GB then that's a perfectly valid point.)

by Djhg2000 - 2009-02-26 14:04
» @blackthorn

What if your unit breaks/gets stolen in 10 years?

There's no way Sony will keep the servers online for that long.

by Djhg2000 - 2009-02-27 02:48
» Simple solution...

CDFS (ISO9660)?

It's designed to be a read-only file system so all Sony has to do is... not writing write functions.

by Djhg2000 - 2009-02-27 02:55
» Uhm...

Why is used games such a big issue anyway?

Are they worried retro games will live too long or what?



People buy and sell suff, DEAL WITH IT!

by Djhg2000 - 2009-02-27 03:13
» Mostly you're right, but...

SSD (solid state drive) is the opposite of hard [disk] drive (HDD) and memory stick (the Sony format) is a kind of SSD.

by s*****man - 2009-02-27 10:33
» Sorry, but you are wrong... going 100% digital delivery is a VERY bad idea...

and for god's sakes stop talking about APPLE.. They are not a game company no matter how hard they try.



Sony will never give you a way to dump your UMDs.. that's what homebrew is for.



My original statement is that we (the consumers) will not benefit from the elimination of disc (and cart) based media. We will not see any type of savings passed onto us and they would essentially be killing off the used game and rental markets... forcing customers to pay full price even after the game has been out for many years. Taking software out of brick + mortar stores is a very bad idea. No more clearance prices.. They will have no pressure on "sensible" pricing.



Not to mention there is still quite a few people using dial-up. How in the hell would they deliver PS3 games that utilize an entire Blu-Ray disc? I have a couple ideas and I don't care for them. 1. Waiting 6-8 hours for it to download and fill up your hdd and 2. Cutting out content and offering it for more money at a future time. 3. Compression and not the lossy type.....



It seems that many people don't even realize we are going in reverse in terms of audio and video quality, and much of that has to do directly with digital delivery. We went from cassette tapes, to CD's, to MP3.. That was a step back since the CD quality is compressed and audio that they believe most people will not miss is lopped off!, but that's the price we are paying to have files digitally deliverable.



I don't want to see the same fate happen to video games. I love the PS3's uncompressed 7.1 audio and amazing textures. To go in reverse with quality to cater to digital delivery would be a crime!



I also disagree with your statement



"a small minority have more faith in monetary value through physical media in hand, the majority of people out there really don't give a ***** and will happily purchase digital formats over these older methods."



I know a lot of gamers that would never consider buying a $60 digital game. Virtual Console and other $10 games here and there are a different story. I believe the majority of people paying full price for a game want to have the disc, box, manual. I also like to see the deluxe sets with extra incentives. You just won't get that with digital delivery.



I see digital-only content as a lease rather than owning. Do you really think you will have all those games in 10-20 years.. long after the servers shut down and your hdd gets corrupted? Is that a chance you want to take?



OK, I rambled quite a bit there, but I think many other gamers share my feelings.

by Stealth! - 2009-02-27 12:28
» Also

Just because they're making bigger storage pen drives or SD cards, you have to remember the bigger you make the game, the more likely the PSP, given it's hardware, might not be able to play it. God of War Chains of Olympus pushed the PSP to the absolute limit using it's full processing power 333 and guess what? You was only able to play for 4 hours at most before the battery died. Digital download at some point will probably be out, but it won't be massive then disc mediums.

by FreePlay - 2009-02-27 12:45
» ...

"Some people will sell their old PSP to pay for the new one."



Are you serious? That justifies your complaining?



You seriously think someone is going to be retarded enough to sell an old UMD'd PSP to buy a new UMDless PSP, only to THEN find out it won't play UMDs?

by Wicked_Insider - 2009-03-03 05:52
» games on stick... dear God!

This would be a very bad idea.

Reasons why:

Out of 6 of the memory cards I have owned

4 of them have started to seperate at the seems or broke alltogether due to constently sliding them in and out of the handheld system.

While yes UMD's do still brake just not as often as memory sticks do.

I do like the idea of Blu-Ray UMD though, that is a great idea and I've though about it for a long time but doubts SONY is intelligent enough to do such a thing.

They rather keep shouving their over priced ms pro duo's down our throats.

by Wicked_Insider - 2009-03-03 05:57
» UMD's Out BMD's In!

Blu-UMD's or BMD's would be this shizknit!



They need to stroungly concider using the

new Atom processor with the PSP2 at 1.6Ghtz

instead of old 333Mhtz tech.

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