AfterDawn: News

A UMD-less PSP had been planned since the start

According to Sony president of product planning Naoya Matsui, the company has been planning a UMD-less PSP since the launch of the original handheld system, but was simply waiting for the market for digital downloads to mature.

"We'd planned to release a PSP model without a UMD drive since the very beginning," says Matsui, via Develop. "But if we'd simply released the hardware, there wouldn't have been much for everyone to enjoy. We needed to prepare the right environment for it first - things like the transferral of content with the PS3 and PSN, and PC software to manage content like music and movies such as 'Media Go'.

"We wanted to release it when the delivery of digital content was on par with the delivery of physical media. Thats what we've been working on these past two years. We'll be selling the PSP Go alongside the existing PSP models, because it's a product targeted at those people who are more accustomed to digital content."

Sony officially launched the PSP Go at the E3 Expo event, and the handheld, besides removing the UMD drive, adds a slider design and and is slimmer than previous models.

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 4 Jul 2009 2:52

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• 14 comments

• c.trigger

  Digital distribution is great way to kill the used market, and good luck playing those games in 20 years, yes my atari 2600 is working fine thank you

  4.7.2009 09:31 #1

• D00mer

  Originally posted by c.trigger: Digital distribution is great way to kill the used market, and good luck playing those games in 20 years, yes my atari 2600 is working fine thank you
  agreed, and "DLC" is most stupidest idea I ever have heared

  4.7.2009 10:19 #2

• H08

  Originally posted by c.trigger: Digital distribution is great way to kill the used market, and good luck playing those games in 20 years, yes my atari 2600 is working fine thank youfrom sonys and developers stand point its a good thing, they dont make a dime, while gamestop makes people pay 100%+ of what they gave to someone for that used game.
  
  its funny because the only used game i bought was lumines to hack my psp, then returned it 7 days later and got my money back.

  4.7.2009 11:28 #3

• 4words

  Mmmmm go figure..... More ways for people to make money. But cool idea=P

  4.7.2009 14:18 #4

• Morreale

  I like the idea of DLC. The only problem is bandwidth caps for some people. Not a problem for me but I feel bad for the peoples with bastard ISPs... Anyways, as long as DLC is cheaper then physical media prices then it's all good. It should be, unless they're gonna send me a box/case, manuals and a magazine subscription offer in the mail after I buy online...

  4.7.2009 20:40 #5

• nervuli

  Yeah sure they did.
  
  They wanted to bury UMD after few years right from the start, yes very nice. Next they say PS3 was also planned for the third spot :-P

  5.7.2009 06:50 #6

• Morreale

  Well it can be true... I mean the console from the beginning looks like it was made for DLC besides the UMD, especially with the hacked firmware :)

  5.7.2009 11:18 #7

• ooZEROoo

  I'll stick to my hacked fat psp. If an exploit were to emerge for this model then it my be very tempting considering that there is 16 gig of onboard memory plus that is expandable via memory stick.

  5.7.2009 21:31 #8

• bomber991

  Originally posted by c.trigger: Digital distribution is great way to kill the used market, and good luck playing those games in 20 years, yes my atari 2600 is working fine thank youWow it's nice to know I'm not the only person that spends a few hours every single day for the past 20 years playing my atari 2600. Oh yeah, wait a minute. I don't!
  
  I get what you're saying though. 20 years from now we all know the download servers for the PSP Go games will be gone, so access to any purchased games is also gone unless they are already downloaded. Luckily though, I'm sure 20 years from now the only people playing a psp go is going to be a dedicated fanbase that will have the knowledge to get the games onto the system without an existing official download site.

  5.7.2009 23:24 #9

• eiamhere

  I've never been one for DLC. Even if you ignore the restrictions this places on your home line (download caps, less bandwidth available during downloads, download time, etc.). Low prices will be a thing of the past as companies completely control the market.
  
  No sales, no pre-owned, barely, if any depreciation in value.
  
  Very bad for the consumer.

  6.7.2009 03:49 #10

• xblade132

  Originally posted by eiamhere: No sales, no pre-owned, barely, if any depreciation in value.
  
  Very bad for the consumer.I never actually thought of it this way..

  6.7.2009 10:11 #11

• NINVIN21

  I agree I'm not a Big fan of "DLC"
  
  They should at least sell data DVD's with Games/apps etc on them then allow you to transfer the data from your PC to your PSP.
  (That way you don't need to carry UMD's with you but you will still own a physical disc)
  
  Most people download everything for free they don't wanna Pay for Digital content they can't touch.
  
  (I think alot of us are getting to old for portable gameing anyways I don't want to look at a tiny screen no more when I got a 40 inch 1080P at home what's the point?)

  8.7.2009 04:24 #12

• ZippyDSM

  Meh prices will start lower, they will take awhile to to hit 9.99 where they should linger longer, lowest price would be 5.99, its not the end all dooms day that people think it will be, also it will make the units easier to hack IMO.
  
  All in all things will change but they will remain the same.

  8.7.2009 15:24 #13

• Vulcan94

  I guess if you live in a area that doesn't have broadband service, your screwed.
  
  
  Vulcan94

  9.7.2009 19:43 #14