16 replies to this topic

[Metal Ghost]

http://kotaku.com/58...p-discs-to-vita

Kudos Sony, kudos.  Unless there are some legalities that are not currently being mentioned that are preventing this from happening, it's a pretty shamful lack of action.

[godslabrat]

Well, it does mean that the Vita is compatible, on a software level, with the original PSP.  This means that playing rips of existing UMD discs could, theoretically, be done.

It'll be done without Sony's help, and without their getting any money from it.  Observe how I cry myself to sleep tonight thinking of that fact.

[Reaperman]

Anybody else read the thread title and think "road trip"?  (possibly with little musical notes around it or jazz hands)

[ninjarabbit]

That's okay, I still have my PSP and games for it are dirt cheap right now. And chances are that it'll be hacked by the time I might consider buying a Vita.

[HatefulGravey]

Sony seems to be developing a habit of making people hack the hardware to get what they should be given. It can be done, Sony could use that to sell the system to new people, instead it will have to be hacked to get it done and Sony will get no credit for that in the end. Smooth move Sony. Even my PSPs I have had over the years have been glorified emulation machines. I don't know that I have ever purchased a PSP game at retail price and this just make me want a Vita less.

[MagitekAngel]

I've got a perfectly good PSP-3000, zero intention of ever downloading anything I can get on disc, even less intention of buying a "discounted" download of something I already have on disc, and even LESS intention of buying a Vita.  So yeah, I think I'll be okay.

[Mord]

Metal Ghost, on Tue Feb 7, 2012 6:52 PM, said:

http://kotaku.com/58...p-discs-to-vita

Kudos Sony, kudos.  Unless there are some legalities that are not currently being mentioned that are preventing this from happening, it's a pretty shamful lack of action.

I'm sure it's just because they feel piracy is a foreigner problem.

[cimerians]

Mord, on Wed Feb 8, 2012 12:58 AM, said:

Metal Ghost, on Tue Feb 7, 2012 6:52 PM, said:

http://kotaku.com/58...p-discs-to-vita

Kudos Sony, kudos.  Unless there are some legalities that are not currently being mentioned that are preventing this from happening, it's a pretty shamful lack of action.

I'm sure it's just because they feel piracy is a foreigner problem.

I have to agree but its naive (maybe just plain ignorance actually) on Sony's part.  The akhibara district and other spots in Japan are brutal with piracy I'm sure.

WTF Sony?

[Mendon]

I've always thought that the main reason BC is being eliminated (even GC on the redesigned Wii's) is that the companies have learned that there is a profit to be made from selling you retro games on PSN, Wii Shop, etc. Why give something away when you can make a few bucks off of it?

Nothing wrong with it, just the way the world works today.


Mendon

[HammR25]

I hope they don't wonder why they've lost money 4 years in a row.

[MagitekAngel]

I hope they do wonder, and then adopt a more user-friendly approach.

[Metal Ghost]

Mendon, on Wed Feb 8, 2012 8:56 AM, said:

I've always thought that the main reason BC is being eliminated (even GC on the redesigned Wii's) is that the companies have learned that there is a profit to be made from selling you retro games on PSN, Wii Shop, etc. Why give something away when you can make a few bucks off of it?

Nothing wrong with it, just the way the world works today.


Mendon

I don't disagree with your statement, necessarily.  What I personally find distasteful is that a program that they have already taken the time and effort to introduce in Japan is simply not going to be rolled out elsewhere.  Surely, there's money to be made reselling these same games in Japan too, right?

And granted, there may be many a good reason for it that I'm simply not aware of.  However, without any additional information to go on, I'm pretty disappointed in Sony (more so than usual, if that's possible).

[akator]

Sony announced a UMD-to-PSN upgrade with the PSP Go, then pulled it from the US just before the Go was available.  No doubt it was one reason (out of many) why the Go was stillborn.

So... because SCEA pulled one of these announce-it-then-not-for-US moves with the Go, it shouldn't be that surprising that they did it again with the Vita.  Disappointing that they are idiots, yes -- but it really shouldn't have been unexpected.  Sometimes it seems that Sony has forgotten many of the things that made the PSX and PS2 so successful.  Perhaps that decade+ of success has simply made them flacid and too complacent.

Sony's recent decisions are starting to remind me of the internal regional problems Sega had in the 90s.  Is there some disfunction between Sony headquarters in Japan and SCEA that we don't know about?  Too many accessories and games that would be successful in the US never make it here.  Whether that's from licensing, developer, publisher, marketing, or management issues shouldn't matter if there is a good market with money to be made.  I can't think of many legitimate reasons for these blunders except for management problems (ego, territory, culture, some silly reason to start a pissing contest).

[Atariboy]

Disappointing, but not too big of a deal.

For starters, much of the PSP's library isn't even available on PSN. So that ensures a large swath of the library was going to be unavailable even for consideration for inclusion on this discount program.

Secondly, the publisher had to actually sign up to participate in this program. That takes care of most of the library that is available on PSN.

Third, the few publishers that did enroll decided on the discount. It's my understanding that beyond Sony, the discounts the Japanese got were rather marginal at best with the 3rd party publishers charging prices not far from the standard download MSRP.

Lastly, it seems plausable to assume that many of those that have an interest in PSP downloads on the Vita already had taken an interest in them on the PSP. Thanks to the Go (Which had PS3 controller support, an attractive selling point if you wanted to use tv/out), I know I already own much of what I'd be interested in when it comes to downloadable PSP software.

Beyond wanting a downloadable version of Activision Hits: Remixed (The Vita's controls look like they will suit this compilation better than any PSP did and I had no urge to play this on the Go when I could just fire up the PS2 version to play on my tv), I can't think of a UMD game in my collection that I haven't either already bought the downloadable version of or would be interested in upgrading to the downloadable version.

The program was going to be of such limited utility (Only a very small percentage of the library would've been available, the discounts were mostly minor, and how many people would've taken advantage of this for more than a game or two?) that its loss barely even registers.

akator, on Wed Feb 8, 2012 1:22 PM, said:

Sony announced a UMD-to-PSN upgrade with the PSP Go, then pulled it from the US just before the Go was available.  No doubt it was one reason (out of many) why the Go was stillborn.

So... because SCEA pulled one of these announce-it-then-not-for-US moves with the Go, it shouldn't be that surprising that they did it again with the Vita.  

They never announced anything for the Go and no territory got a transfer program. All they said was that they were considering a way for UMD owners to get their game on the Go. It never went beyond that.

Edited by Atariboy, Wed Feb 8, 2012 2:23 PM.

[Jibbajaba]

One less reason to buy something that I was already less than interested in purchasing.  A lack of backwards compatibility with PS2 games is why I decided not to buy a PS3 after the price came down a little.

Sony is like the NBC of video game companies.

Chris

[Bilnick]

Backwards compatability is alot like enabled DVD playback on a game system. It is nice to have, but not a deal breaker. If lack of DVD playback(for consoles) or backwards compatability is preventing people from buying a device, then I would guess they were not serious buyers anyway. I would buy a Vita for Vita games. I already have a few PSPs that will play the old PSP games I have.

[Mord]

Atariboy, on Wed Feb 8, 2012 1:47 PM, said:

They never announced anything for the Go and no territory got a transfer program. All they said was that they were considering a way for UMD owners to get their game on the Go. It never went beyond that.

Actually the way they "considered" it was a bit more misleading. Up until near the launch they kept saying they were looking for ways to impliment a transfer program, and didn't seem to realize (or refused to admit) that most any good review about the Go hinged on being able to keep your PSP games that you already had bought on UMD. Virtually nobody was interested in the system without such a program. Sony announced it would not have any program finally near the launch, and the results were predictable - world wide flop.

As for the comment from another post about BC being a dealbreaker meaning they weren't serious buyers anyway - can sony really afford to target -only- the serious buyers? If they can offer this program in Japan, then there is absolutely no reason to push it out to the rest of the world as an option.