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PlayStation Vita Backwards Compatibility Plan: Re-Buy UMD Games At A Discount

By Spencer . October 11, 2011 . 1:38am

PlayStation Vita is backwards compatible with PSP games, but only downloadable versions. So, what happens to that stack of UMDs you own? Sony Computer Entertainment Japan is working on a plan to migrate PSP owners to PlayStation Vita.

According to an interview with Dengeki PlayStation, SCEJ is considering a special offer where UMD owners can buy a downloadable version of the same title at a special price. No details were offered on how much each game will cost or if a similar program is under review for North America.

PlayStation Vita makes its debut in Japan on December 17.

Read more stories about PlayStation Vita & PSP & Sony on Siliconera.

godmars
If they do this, do it through someone like Gamestop for a flat fee, then that’ll likely mean a proprietary transfer unit. You given them the money and the UMD, get back a memory stick with the game in question on it.
Also probably means that if they don’t keep a close eye on the units that a few will find their way into pirate’s hands.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Roberto-Armando-Iraheta/775564143 Roberto Armando Iraheta
Welp, guess I’m keeping my PSP. If there’s one thing I don’t like is getting something without a physical copy.

Testsubject909
I feel you. Never been big on buying just digital. If it’s the only means of getting the game, sure. Hell most good indie games can’t be bought in a physical format to begin with.
That said though. I’m the type who doesn’t bother reselling their used console, so this was never really an issue for me to begin with.

SerendipityX
I feel you both. No wi-fi where I live (little to no access to PSN T_T), so I can only buy physical formats. Not that I was ever into the whole DD thing anyway. PSV is gonna be a wonderful dream and a nightmare for me.

Testsubject909
Well, the dream part is that the PSV still has it’s own physical format so you shouldn’t have any problems purchase the Vita games you want.
It’s really the PSP games that you won’t be able to do much but play them on a PSP.
But mind you. If you have a PS3, it shouldn’t be too problematic to not have Wi-fi.
You can access PSN via the PS3 corded internet access and download your PSP games unto the PS3 and transfer them from the PS3 to the PSP/PSV. But that’s if you have a PS3.

SerendipityX
P-PS3? Nope don’t got one! >_< I'm doomed…
Joanna
You could use Media Go on a PC (with a wired connection). My PSP hates my Wi-Fi (works fine on every other device so it has to be the PSP that’s having fits with it), so I just use Media Go to buy PSN games and transfer them to my PSP via USB. I’ve been getting PS1 games that way on my PSP. :)

Mister_Nep
I wonder if the Western regions will implement a similar plan. I doubt I’d use the plan even if it was implemented here, but I might do it if the price is right. I own most of my games on digital already so there’d be very few games for me to transfer.
http://twitter.com/manasteel88 Mana
It’s odd that the company that pioneered Backwards Compatibility is giving all of us a really hard time about it this generation.
There is nothing to really get upset about with all this, but still…They created and pushed a system like this and it only seems to be a backpedaling for the entire company.
I enjoy BC as much as everybody else, but my PS3 doesn’t have it even though it can play games I own like SotC. Now the Vita’s going to charge for it? It’s nickel and diming people for stuff. As I said, it’s not a big deal, but still…

Testsubject909
Mkay. First of all:
PS3 has full PS1 backward compatibility. The PS2 backward compatibility is present in certain older versions of the PS3 that had the PS2′s emotion chip integrated in it, unfortunately that also meant more parts in the manufacturing process which means that it would cost more money and either A) Cause them to lose more money per unit or B) Cause the price at which the PS3 is sold to be higher.
Digital backward compatibility was touched on, I myself have an 80GB digital backward compatibility, but it wasn’t all that stable. I’ve no idea what’s going on with the PS2 classics now that they’re released, but I’m not against them as they’ll help to expand the fanbase of some niche games which in turn will provide more funding and more support for more projects from these companies and provide a greater visual representation of a market that would be interested in spiritual sequels/sequel or prequels/HD remakes/etc.
The UMD is often spoken of as an inadequate storing device. The PSV has moved unto a better format that should lower down loading times while also increasing memory capacity and most likely will take less space then the UMD drive. In turn, adding a UMD drive to have full physical backward compatibility would add more strain to the battery, more bulk to an already relatively large handheld device and make it more unwieldy as well, not to mention possibly screw a bit with the touchpad on the back if not turned into a slit in which you pop in and out the UMD, in which case it could cause an even bulkier backside which could result in a far less ergonomic feel to the handheld.
To even think that you could have full proper physical backward compatibility on the PSV is rather ridiculous at this point in time as we’ve gotten so much information. Actually I’d almost consider a lack of a physical backward compatibility to be a major boon considering the compromises made and what we gain by it’s absence (Better battery life, better shape overall, etc).
It’s already digitally backward compatible which is really all you need. Some games are download only (ClaDun for example), and it’s reasonable that they’ve opted to not just give out free digital copies of the physical copy you’ve purchased.
You do understand that PSN allows multiple re-download of an item you’ve purchased. So technically giving out these free game download of games you’ve already gotten would cause you to be able to give out 4 copies to other players or all 5, which in turn would cause a large dent in the possible long term profit they can make.
Business wise it’s sound, and for the consumers… Seriously, you’ve got the physical copy of the game, you’ve probably got a PSP if you do, so what’s the big deal? You want to play it, just pop it back in your older console. It’s like for the PS2. I want to play a PS2 game? My PS2 is already plugged up and ready. Hell I return to it every now and again to play a few games from my rather extensive PS2 backlog.
Anyways…TL;DR:Yeah, you’re right, it’s no big deal and anyone who does make a big deal out of it is probably lacking any sense.

http://twitter.com/manasteel88 Mana
First, the PSV doesn’t have a better battery life. They have about the same battery life. That’s not an improvement when gutting UMDs for flash cards.
Business-wise, it’s freaking genius. Get an additional return on a customers new or used purchase? Brilliant.
However, the best thing for a consumer would be a UMD add on and that’s the truth. Like I said, this would be best for a consumer. We’ll already have to buy $50+ memory cards for this thing out the gate. Why not make a little UMD player off of old Walkman parts. But alas, that costs more to produce and the returns wouldn’t be as good. So they make it so we have to buy our games again.
Brilliant, I’m just not sitting here all excited about it.
I’m not going to get in to the fact that you have decent BC while I have absolutely none on my PS3. If anybody wants to explain to me why I can’t physically buy a brand new PS3 with software backwards compatibility (no matter how touch and go it is), then please enlighten me. So far all I’ve got is Sony telling me I don’t want Backwards Compatibility and I just don’t think that’s good enough. Also, my PS2 can’t play CD based PS2 games (blue bottom ones) so I’m stuck having to buy a new PS2 instead of playing it on my PS3.
I get the fact that if I purchase a game twice it will get some more money to companies so they can plan out new projects, but I want to play the copy I purchased on a console that has proven that it can indeed run it. If you can make a NIS game run off a download, you can certainly make it run off a DVD.
Like I said, there isn’t a lot to get upset about. I’m just tired of getting nickeled and dimed on each new system I buy from Sony. Microsoft tried, Nintendo has done it consistently, Sony tried and then just blew it off and told me to buy a digital copy off of PSN. It irks me. Whether the fee is large or not doesn’t really matter, it just irks me how they are running this generation.
I’m glad people get a chance to invest in games that deserve a second chance. I’m glad that there is an option to play my physical copy of ZHP instead of just sucking it up. To think, I’ve been buying my games new to do the exact same thing instead of buying used recently. I’m not very excited about having to buy something I own again and again and again to get it to play on the newest Sony system when there is another option that helps everyone.
I bring all this up because the entire point of BC is to get people to adopt your console quicker because they already have games to play on it. Putting a barrier up to slow this effect down isn’t a great idea.

Testsubject909
Dude, first of all the battery life is in the NON-INCLUSION OF ANOTHER FREAKING DRIVE. You add another drive, what happens? Battery drains extra. It’s simple. It’s like adding 1+1. That’s what I touched on and you bypassed that entirely. The hell man?
Yes, business wise, it’s sound and it’s also protecting their asses from people exploiting a system that has already been shown to be exploited multiple times. Ever hear of people getting Castlevania Harmony of Despair + all DLCs for around 7$? Yeah, that’s a group of five people putting money down and each downloading one copy. PS. Get POSSIBLE additional return from a consummer’s new purchase if he CHOOSES to purchase this ALTERNATIVE FORMAT, or get ANY return from a Used purchase because they get ZERO RETURN from a used purchase.
Don’t you understand how used games work!?
But yeah, calming down… Here’s the thing though. People were initially excited for the Vita because of a few things, one of those major things were not playing their old games on a larger screen. Hell, most people have had bad experiences with upscaling and they should… They SHOULD be able to discern a pattern that their good old PSP games will probably not look that great on a larger screen, if anything they’ll more likely realize certain flaws on them and they’ll still be stuck playing with the claw since these old games will not be coded to work with the second analog, so I’m sure I’m breaking someone’s fantasy out there of what Older (DO NOTE OLDER. i understand that newer PSP games like Monster Hunter might work with the second analog nub) PSP games on PSV would’ve been like.
This isn’t so much so a barrier as it is an interesting alternative opening to me. I’m looking at this and I see a system that’s highly exploitable to begin with. I purchased Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker. This means that I could possibly get 5 digital copies at a bargain price and share them with five people. Close friends or people online to play with on PSP and PSV as I’ll be able to switch it around one and the other. If anything, basing it off of smart consumerism, of which I’ve seen a growing rise especially off of the gaming community who loves to nickel and dime their way into getting everything they want (One close friend of mine is great at finding extremely rare games at incredibly stupidly low prices or abusing deals like two used for two free), there’s really nothing to fear about “slowing down the adoption rate”.
Nobody is forcing you to repurchase your games. Nobody. Nobody is forcing you to sell your used console or handheld and yes, I understand that there are some issues with BC and also some questionable things from Sony such as the entire removal of the digital backward compatibility. But on another note, considering that at the time Sony was LOSING money per each model of the PS3 they were selling and only recently starting to get EVEN return per model, that work on making a fine and proper backward compatibility for PS2 digitally wouldn’t be cheaply done. And even then, by the time they’d get around to working hard on it, many people were simply playing PS3 games with probably just a small margin overall replaying older PS1 or PS2 games.
They already took a risk on trying to force BR as the new standard and it’s been slowly but surely paying off and like it or not, people have slowly been starting to adopt the digital format as well, which honestly speaking is an entirely different format (You won’t see me crying over at a movie company that they owe me a BR format because I bought a DVD format a year back prior to their new release. That’s just childish self-absorbed entitlement on that front).
Do I enjoy this new world of nickeling me and diming me and constantly trying to shove DLC down my throat? Hell no. I believe DLC should be additional content, not content that was cut down and resold to me. But I can understand good value when I see it and accept certain things done very well (Borderlands for example, loved some of their DLC, properly priced and good quantity fun. Albeit understandably for some the game isn’t that good but comparatively to many other DLC content it’s good buy. Or Dynasty Warriors, something like 70 alternate costumes for 2$ or so, good value… Capcom’s Marvel vs Capcom 3′s 6 alternate costume for 6$ can go screw itself.)
Btw, you might notice I’m going a little bit everywhere here and there. It’s really because I’m touching on things as my mind is bringing it up and speaking of which. Buying a new PS2 is no big deal, hell buying a new used fully functioning or refurbished PS2 is no big deal. For example, I bought a slim PS1 for about 20$. I know where I can get a gamecube for just the same price, controller and memory card included. I got a Saturn for dirt cheap.
I see it as a minor nuisance really and in the long run, they’ll probably start to see far less and less usage as i end up doing what many gamers have done. Move along with the times and with the flow of gaming while occasionally returning to enjoy the games of our past. Which is the key word. Occasionally. And I for one have the habit of replugging my old systems for it because I enjoy using them. My mentality since the PS2 was to get the wear and tear on the proper system’s game so to me, Backward Compatibility is a neat feature but it’s not really that necessary in the long run.
What’s far more important now is the support for the consoles. Sega showed it early when they shifted consoles and completely cut all releases on the prior one. It isn’t the inability to bring your older game unto the new console that really cripples it, but rather the idea that you are FORCED to get the new one to continue to enjoy an inflow of entertaining games.
Sure, the PS2 was not compatible on the PS3 for the most part, but PS2 games continued to pour through and keep people well entertained as they slowly built up the money to move unto the PS3 and shift their attention away from the older generation game unto the recent generation games. And much the same is going to happen with the Vita. I tell you, wait one or two years, this whole “guah, there’s no UMD drive” business is going to be entirely forgot as people are going to be all hyped, splurting and enjoying hot new games. Sure, you’ll get the occasional person complaining, but it’s the same as me complaining that Sora didn’t make it in Super Mario Bros Brawl. Minor, inconsequential in the long run, and really the person can still have their fun and they’re just obsessing over something that, really, isn’t all that important.
By the way, sorry if I had a loss of consistency somewhere in there. I’ve been going down and up the comment list and all this whining and whatnot and all the amount of unglorious ideas and complaints and self-righteous entitlement just caused me to break down into a combination slow churning rage and complete loss of hope and acceptance that sophistry probably rule the earth and my hope for a gaming community that can have a better sense of consequences in the long run.
Actually, I’m fairly sure I messed up a train of thought or two as I wrote this just because I was a bit too busy emotionally despairing deep inside. But hey, I’m sure someone will kindly point it out and I’ll have the joy of fixing it up.

http://twitter.com/Austin_Buell Austin
I wouldn’t mind having a UMD Drive on the Vita, but then again, I have never had a PSP anything. IF I were to get a Vita, I would prefer if there was the same amount of support for their retro titles in the first iterations of the consoles in the same way as Nintendo has done do I could throw in some PSP titles without hassle, then buy the ones that are online and back them up on the comp.
But I’ve never had a PSP and went with the DS as I’ve been in Nintendo for some time since I was small. I never understood how the chip to make PS2 compatibility could not be an optional feature such as an UMD Drive at the very least like they have optional HDD sizes. I look at cars and Nintendo as the base for my argument. If done like a car, the premium PS3′s could/should have had optional PS2 compatibility. No if’s and but’s. You want the privilege to playing all three generations of the Palystation Umbrella , you pay the cash. I even see this in premium laptops such as the Macbook/Air/Pro line. More features for higher prices.
The same should be for the Vita. Just make it pricier to pay off the UMD insertion by a sum of cash as a premium feature, since as you said, they are offering some titles on their network.
Then for the second/third iteration of the system, just rid the compatibility of earliest system and you’re good to go, like the DS.
I have to admit that after I got the DS and then the Lite iteration, I played GBA games less and less. I rarely even touch them any more. I rarely see many complaining about the lack of GBA in the DSI or the XL or 3DS. While the option of GBA would sound plausible in the 3DS in theory, logistically it would be a nightmare for the hardware developers to squash three systems into a portable device (And no the GBA doesn’t count as the GB/GBC are the same cart format) physically. Way back when in the earliest years, you’d be lucky if they even had BC with one prior system.
How people expect to have the 3-in-1 console/mobile system to end all systems boggles me right now. When we get the technology cheap enough to make it possible to emulate up to the prior generation,then they have the case. But. the key is it has to be DIGITAL, not physical. Physical would make it clumsy, just look at the 5-6 several formats Nintendo and Sega have. It would be a clusterfuck of a system and too clunky to be worth the use. The simplicity that a digital format provides eliminates the bulk of multiple drivers and parts wasted when system emulation can provide the power of countless titles and more. The biggest issue I have is that not everybody will move to the digital format, but i’m sure people are figuring of ways to circumvent that this instance.
I have seen uber cheap handhelds from China that emulate up to 7 systems, but that’s the key. It’s all digital and the titles can be acquired on the net en masse, though the legality is debatable. I wholly agree with you it is optional and not mandatory to buy it. Besides, those same people , if they have grievances over it , probably also know of ways to circumvent it or research ways to get it illegitimately. So, there’s no reason to bitch really either way, though I wish there was a premium way to acquire those features.

http://bmgf.bulbagarden.net/members/55321.html FinalArcadia
If you don’t want to play UMDs on the Vita, then don’t pay for it. I DO want to, so I’ll gladly pay. My PSPs have some issues with the square button in their old age, after all.
Sure, this shouldn’t have been an issue in the first place, but isn’t this better than not getting ANYTHING for your UMDs? This is just the price we pay for not having to listen to a loud disc drive on the Vita. And really, how else can Sony be expected to allow backwards compatibility? Like everyone said below, free downloads are probably a piracy issue, and Sony doesn’t need any more of that.

Testsubject909
STOP THE PRESSES! STOP THE MANUFACTURING! THIS MAN BE GEEEENIOUS!
Of course! The solution is to simply go back to the drawing board, try to stuff an entire other drive alongside what we have without trying to sacrifice our battery life too badly and bump up the price for a model that most people will probably skip for the simpler UMD-less version and cause ourselves a possible financial blow by mass producing another model of our Vita that’ll probably undersell in contrast to the others! Brilliant!
In all seriousness. You’re better off hoping for an external UMD reader if you’re so desperate for UMDs on Vita. And yes, I understand I’m starting to become rather insulting, but many comments feel like they’ve been insulting my intelligence and I’m slowly, or rather rapidly and surely succumbing to a defensive act of insulting back.

Zonic505
I’m going to hold my final opinion until I hear the price. I’ve got a few that I wouldn’t mind having downloadable copies, but depending on how much I would have to pay, I’ll wait & see. I wouldn’t mind selling my PSP to have the money go towards a Vita (I’m sure GameStop will do some kind of offer), but I need to know what’ll happen to my UMD copies of some games.
http://twitter.com/Megawarrior345 Elle
Keep your PSP’s. It’s just as simple as that. Just like the PS2.
YoFace
Ph-physical copies? I kid, I kid.
In all seriousness like everyone has said I’ll be keeping my PSP then. Pretty sure due to licensing issues I doubt I’d get a downloadable version of Lumines.
http://www.facebook.com/ChrisDrake37 Chris Sánchez
Nice I’ll be getting Disgaea 1 and 2 when they come out there

Testsubject909
Personally, can’t wait for Disgaea 3 portable, it’ll be fun.

Yu_TheKing
Release a non-reuseable code on UMDs that can be downloaded onto the Vita OR
put the PSP games we (I) REALLY WANT to play (again) on the Psn Store, but I guess problems would arise in some way shape or form.
Namely: KH BBS, Naruto UNH series, Crisis Core, others :

http://tristsantithesis.tumblr.com/ Tsunayoshi Sawada
THIS! I wish the Naruto games were on PSN. Id rebuy them again even if there was no UMD option.
http://twitter.com/BaroTitor Baro Titor
That sounds good, but I’d probably just keep my psp
and the UMDs too.
I like the games I have, but I’m not really planning on buying a game
that I already own unless the game stops working.
I’m glad some of the games I own are digital though, like Silent Hill

http://pulse.yahoo.com/_BSWWTWOYVAD3IWPLFMXTZH46TM sergio
Just keep your damn old’psp.
Mine serves me for 4 years with no problem (just need a new battery).

Testsubject909
Same here. People whining about lack of PS2 backward compatibility on PS3. Just use your damn PS2.
Anyways, you’ll reduce the amount of wear on your consoles collectively if you just play the game on their respective consoles.

Tatsuya1221
Try doing that when you don’t have a tv in your room or in an accessible area, unless there’s a vga connector for the ps2 i don’t know about, i couldn’t play my ps2 games on my ps2 even if i wanted to.
There’s also the problem of supply, the ps2 is still obtainable, but eventually it won’t be, thanks to the ps3 having ps1 support i don’t have to rely on pc programs to play my ps1 games.
As for the psp, how long do you think the 3000 has?
Eventually it will not be purchasable, and in some cases, it’s unlikely there will be a way to play the game digitally anyway (last i heard, the main reason the legend of heroes trails to the sky SC isn’t on the playstation store in japan is due to it being a 2 UMD game, and thus being extremely hard to code digitally).
I mean, is an external UMD drive too much to ask?

doomspeller10
Yeah, a UMD reader would be much more viable. It’s not like piracy will grow even more, we’re talking about PSP games here.

Testsubject909
This week:
Gamers: Why don’t they just make a UMD reader!?
Two years from now:
Gamers: Hey man, you got that new game for the Vita!? It’s awesome! Huh? External UMD reader? Meh, I’m too busy playing [insert hot new title IP, sequel or spiritual sequel of a game you long finished on the PSP who you had a short plan of perhaps replaying on your PSV]. I might go back to it.

Testsubject909
What the… I don’t even… Just where were you going with this?
I’m sorry but when did the mention of a possible external add-on’s creation or not came into the image here? I’m merely talking about the freaking backward compatibility issue as well as simply being able to use your console for the games that were made for it.
Also, are you telling me that you have so many games and such a misfortune or an inattention to detail that you break down your consoles so fast and so hard that you’re actually worried that you’ll go through them within what? roughly 2 to 5 years time? Because trust me, those PSPs and those DS are still going to be sold for a few more years despite these new models.
Within three years, do you truly believe that if your PSP breaks down, you’re going to have difficulty finding a replacement unit?
I’ve got news for you buddy. I can go to a local shop, purchase a Gamecube + controller + memory card for exactly 20$. Last year, I bought a slim PS1 for kicks because I wanted a new cord controller and it cost me around the same price too, it was packaged together.
I bought a Saturn about two years back for just around between 30-50$
I’m sorry but… By the time we see a possible external UMD drive add-on that’ll probably kill the battery a bit faster just so you can have a relatively poor upscaling of a PSP game on your PSV which will probably feature slightly, just slightly worse loading time due to it being an external attachment rather then an internal one and don’t even ask for one because you know that’ll have an adverse effect on everything (price, weight, size, battery life, portability, etc). The odds are that just buying a used PSP is not going to cost you so much more then buying the damn freaking external what the hell are you guys complaining for you damn freaking….
Gah… i’m starting to build up a rage again… And I was so comfy in my simple lack of hope in being unable to find simple reasonable people…

Tatsuya1221
First off, B/C may not be a big deal to you, but it’s one of the main reasons i got a ps2 in the first place.
I have went through 2 ps2′s, this is with me knowing how to repair them as well, and each time was due to the dvd drive failure(disc read error), the ps2 is quite prone to failure.
Replacement unit?
Here’s a question, why should i have to buy a replacement unit?
I’ve had some bad luck with consoles, 2 ps1′s, 2 ps2′s, 2 genesis’s, a saturn, 2 dreamcasts and 2 game gears, the only ones who’s failure was not due to factory errors was the saturn and one of the genesis’s, like you said, the snes and a few other consoles are built like tanks, though all of my consoles were treated with care, tell me, can you find a VCR these days without going to a flea market or a pawn shop?
I prefer to buy my consoles new, not used and treated lord knows how badly.
Yeah i can buy one, sure, but why should i be forced to?
Your quite correct in that sony has no reason to care about the consumer, however considering it is a product that me and many others are interested in and buying with our hard earned money, we have every right to complain if it doesn’t do what we want it to, if you wanted a car with an air conditioner and you found one that didn’t, are you saying one doesn’t have a right to voice their desire or try to find a way to get such?
I should point out, i was intending to buy a non wifi model psp for trails in the sky SC when it came out, as my 2000 model is getting old, but that doesn’t change the fact that i wanted B/C for UMD’s on my vita, or possibly an attachment for the ps3(which would probably be more difficult), but that’s neither here nor there.
What does annoy me, is those who are so against some way for those of us who actually do care for B/C, yet are quick to gripe about things such as region locking(which i dislike as well) or cross game chat on the ps3 in some places(which i couldn’t care less about, but offer my support for since some people do wish for it), in other words, it’s nothing more than selfish hypocrisy, and it annoys me that so many people on here are so selfish that they only care about their own personal wants.
Bring on the flame, but you know what i said is true.

Testsubject909
Before anything. I’ll want to note that my current emotional stance here is simply that of basic calm discussion and exchange of thoughts. My raging quelled and I’m glad to speak to someone sensible. But on with the show.
Interesting metaphor but unfortunately I don’t think the car sale metaphor works all too well considering how you’ve multiple brands to choose from and that there are indeed cars that lack certain features, if you would’ve gotten further into details on a very specific sort of sale then it would’ve held up better under scrutiny, but it’s really minor.
But moving on. Despite wanting backward UMD capability for the Vita, the Vita is still capable of handling your PSP games, it simply doesn’t possess the UMD drive in it’s base model. Likely the same with the PS3, the inclusion of the PS2′s emotion chip meant a higher production cost which in turn also caused a greater loss for Sony financially or a greater price for us the consumer. Already we’re probably going to be causing Sony a loss per unit on the PSV and it’s obvious that they’ve been struggling to cram the PSV with as much as they could without sacrificing so much along the way.
Although I did voice my opinion on the general success of an external UMD driver. I’m not against the idea. It’s a neat thing that many people will most likely enjoy but it’s not something that you should be demanding from Sony to force unto everyone’s Vita’s off the bat as, again, it would most likely increase production cost which would be detrimental for us to begin with since many of us are interested in the Vita for the Vita, not for the PSP.
By the way, I do care about Backward Compatibility, but not so much so that I consider it a crippling factoid. I’ve held unto my DSlite for example because of the GBA backward compatibility but moreso because I’ve no interest in the other features of the other DS versions and even then, I didn’t purchase a GBA, I’ve only been borrowing them so this enabled me to get a combination GBA and DS.
The Vita on the other hand I would purchase only for the Vita and if I purchased it for playing PSP games, most if not all the PSP games I want to play are available on PSN to begin with, so I’d see little detriment in this what with the PSN digital versions typically being cheaper then the physical copies to begin with.
I’m not against us gamers having less features. I’m against us being dickwads and demanding self-entitled little idiots who can’t see beyond our own personal idealization of what should and shouldn’t be without any regard to the adverse effects it might have on every integral part of the community itself and to the future of our and their own personal enjoyment.
I don’t deny any truth I find but I will gladly poke into the holes I see.
And you can’t deny what I say either. Fact of the matter, in this discussion and this subject, we’re faced not with a singular truth but many small truths that forms the whole. What we’ve really got to watch out for though are those who attempt to pass their opinions as the irrefutable truth that cannot be ignored.
That said, I’m not some blind preacher. I tend to try and keep myself in line so that I don’t fall to sophistry or to that emotional trapping where I can see myself doing no wrong.
In this particular case though. I see a lot of whining. Yours hasn’t really been one to the quality of actually making me rage, far from it you seem rather sensible. It’s just that, again, my apologies, I’ve been a bit emotional since I’ve been seeing repeated fallacious demands as I was scrolling down and it’s been having a negative effect on me.

Tatsuya1221
I will also apologize for being a little high strung when i posted my last message, it’s not a good idea to post a message at 3 in the morning.
I used the car metaphor because it had bearing on the topic at hand,as a consumer, people have the right to want and ask for things, in a product they are interested in, it may not be the best metaphor, but it works for what i was intending.
Let me point something out, i was not suggesting that the vita come with a umd drive, i was suggesting a optional addon similar to the super game boy or the gamecube equivalent, that, of someone wanted to use it, and didn’t mind being tethered to a specific place, they could.
Ps2 B/C was not removed due to costs, sony themselves admitted this many times in the past, it was removed because so many people were buying ps3′s for BR playback or ps2 B/C at the time, the 80GB ps3′s that had B/C had a cost of 6$ for the RSX chip that was installed in them, the rest was emulated.
Technically, since sony has the general programming design of the ps2, the ps3 may even have a ps2 emulator loaded into it, but it only being accessible by products they allow, such as the ps2 classics and the remasters, which are more than likely just hd upgraded games running on an emulator.
Many people (such as myself), abhor digital media, as such it brings a great deal of anger that many of us feel we are being punished for not buying our games digitally, which actually may be the case, considering sony’s track record.
Dickwads?
Again, i could say the same thing about people complaining about region locking, but i don’t, for 2 reasons:
1:it’s justified in my eyes, just as any form of B/C is justified in being argued for.
2:your complaining about a feature that you have every right to want.
What bugs me is people who get extremely self absorbed and do not under any circumstances realize that there are others out there, that they badmouth, for wanting things they don’t care about, but are fully willing to get angry and attack another for removing a feature they do care about, i didn’t care about linux support in the ps3, but i was very angry when sony forcefully removed it, to the point i haven’t bought a sony game since.
This form of self centered way of viewing things is the definition of hypocrisy.
And the sony brand has already been hurt by much of their actions, how much, we don’t know, but the fact that i think all 3 console makers suck says enough about how i feel about them.
The problem with discerning opinion versus truth in this case is that there are too many variables, there’s no guarantee that the vita will even sell well at this point.
again, while i can understand your sentiments, people who wish to buy something (or in this case, feel like they are being mistreated), have every right to complain about things like this, if people were complaining about the second analog for instance, i’d agree with you, but otherwise, this is their right, and in many ways, is justified.

doomspeller10
I think it’s more than just a BC issue. I think most people (or perhaps the more hardcore) are more excited about the second analog-support for PSP titles. So it’s like an enhanced BC experience.

malek86
That will be only for specific titles, which will have to be worked on individually.

doomspeller10
Then there’re not enough reasons to re-buy a game, are there? Unless you really really want to play it again, you don’t trust enough the upcoming titles (if you think so perhaps you’d be better off buying a 3DS), and/or the absence of 2nd analog support isn’t a dealbreaker (e.g. I wouldn’t buy an FPS game if it’s not supported). Plus, what hasn’t been pointed out that often is that if we know how Sony works, the PSP games will be upscaled in the laziest possible way and thus they will look crappy on the Vita.
If only a few select games will have the dual analog compatibility, I’d rather buy them full price because that means I really need to play them that way. For all other games, just bring us an external-UMD drive.

malek86
If a game didn’t support the second stick from the start, of course it wouldn’t support it even if you had one. What would it be mapped to? Simply put, there’s no way to have a game recognize the second stick unless they specifically tell it to via emulator or code re-writing. The only alternative would be automatically mapping it to the d-pad, which would probably be an acceptable solution for most games. But I’m not sure Sony would be smart like that.
I’m guessing an external UMD drive might be cool… or maybe not. Keep in mind it’s supposed to be a portable console. Now I know many people in the US/EU just play them at home, which kind of defeats the purpose (and then people complain about having to play on a small screen!), but the console is probably mainly aimed at Japan, where people actually play the PSP on the go. An external reader would be very impractical.
doomspeller10
On second thought…
You’re right about the analog mapping, it’s certainly impossible for Sony to have included some sort of automatic support. Just saying that is not really practical if the games don’t offer any improvement over the PSP version. (Dude, if they only included at least super eagle engine or some similar filter that would be nice).
Regarding the UMD drive you just made realize it’s really tricky for Sony to get it right. As you said, the vita wouldn’t be portable anymore. However I’d thought of the drive as a transfer tool rather than just a reader (copy your umds to the memory). Of course this solution is impractical for them because that means rampant piracy. And again, I don’t think they thought of this and created a unique digital code for every disk available. Unless you can’t turn off your wifi and the vita somehow created a unique code with the transfer, and every one of those transfers was checked with a worldwide database of codes, I don’t see it possible. It’s like online-pass with a different use. >_<
Keeping your old psp looks like the best solution for now unless a specific and improved port gets released.

Testsubject909
I wouldn’t call them hardcore.

daizyujin
This comment is somewhat rude. Think about this, do you want to lug two portable consoles around with you? How about in addition to a smartphone? It isn’t that people don’t want to play on their PSP anymore, it is for convenience. Personally, if you get to keep the UMD and the price is $5-10 (honestly it probably will vary, games like Darkstalkers will probably be~$5, with newer games around the $10 mark.) then personally, it is a fair compromise. You don’t have to give up the disc, so the premium is tolerable. On the other hand, if it is just $30 for a $40 game, I doubt it will have a lot of bites.

Testsubject909
When it’s winter, I tend to have my wallet in my inner pocket alongside a DS with the PSP in the front pocket and either my backpack or my laptop bag strapped to my shoulder with additional items such as books with my smartphone in my pant pocket.
I don’t care about having to carry another handheld.
Plus it won’t be on the 30-40$ mark. Those are brand new recently published game prices and even then, most PSN available PSP games tend to fall and gravitate towards the 20′s, whether low or high.

thebanditking
meh its nice that they have something in place but I will be sticking to my physical media thank you, also with the price of the Vita memory cards I don’t see this as a viable option for a long time. imo unless you’re talking one or two games you’re better off playing your PSP games on a PSP.

Testsubject909
I’ve simply been switching games around, more precisely moving them in and out of the memory card. It’s no that big of a deal.
But anyways, for PSP games, I’ve got a PSP. For PSV games, I’ll probably just buy their physical version rather then the downloadable. I enjoy having a small box somewhere that tells me I have this or that game, personally.

http://www.facebook.com/Michael.Allen.Walker Michael A. Walker
I completely agree there. Having a data version is completely worthless to me. 1.- It has no future resale value.
2.- If the PSV goes bad and the current PSN is no longer being serviced ( say 10 years from now) then you are screwed.
3.- The data version, in a sense, is still property of Sony, if they take the game down, then its over.

http://twitter.com/IncrediBurch Ryan Burch
This is basically what I’ve been suggesting.
If they let users re-download the game at a huge discount ($5 ideally, $10 max) while still being able to keep the UMD, it’s a fair compromise.
How they let people register the game will be interesting. And hopefully, if the system goes into place, they won’t just have it in Japan because they think/know US people mostly don’t like it.

Testsubject909
For proof of ownership, they’ll probably need to rely on people having kept their receipt when you think about it.
If it’s the barcode of the game or something else in that style that identifies the game individually, a person could effectively rent or borrow another person’s game and net themselves a discounted copy.
That said, considering how this works already, those who owns physical copies of the game and don’t really care about digital copies since we’d keep our PSPs alongside our PSVs to play the PSP UMDs, we could easily just give out the discount to other people who’d want to buy the game cheap.
We can already exploit this system and people are whining for something that can be exploited even further that could cause far more of a dent in the possible financing of the companies that they so adore, and they seem completely oblivious to this fact.

http://www.facebook.com/people/Ayzumki-Sano/100002544819108 Ayzumki Sano
AT least this is a step in the right direction.

brian yep
No, that would have been including backwards compatibility.
But nope, Sony is too concerned with system memory and stuff like that.

Testsubject909
Brian Yep. I’m replying to you here because I can’t reply to you down the chain of commentary down below.
I’d just want to address how stupid of a post it was because who the hell said that Backward Compatibility was a bad thing?
Plus if you plan on purchasing a PSV to play old PSP games that you’ll purchase yourself anyways, it’s fully digitally backward compatible and thus enables anyone to enjoy a vast library of games that’ll actually be far easier to find then it would be going to a local store and attempting to find and see if they have a new or used copy of said mainstream or niche and rarer game.
So you can go ahead, take your self-righteous uneducated mind and shove it.
And yes. Boo for Sony for being concerned about something that consumers are always complaining about such as memory capacity, space and battery life. What sore bastards they are aren’t they?
Dood… Seriously…

Pekola
This was really uncalled for and rude. Calling out a person with insults doesn’t make you that much more educated.
I’m not trying to insult you or anything. But it feels really distateful having you reply to every comment which mentions a complaint. And then this last comment…just seems mean-spirited D;
I see nothing wrong with expecting backwards compatibilty from one console generation to the next, since the gap isn’t that great. And I don’t see anything wrong with voicing a complaint about it; the majority doesn’t want to lug around with two handhelds.
I do however, acknowledge that PSP games are for the PSP. Even so, from a consumer stand-point, I want to have Backwards Compatibilty–Full if possible.
But to be honest (and slightly cynical) Sony probably doesn’t care about expanding on Backwards Compatibility. Maybe they’re just merely using this as a way to get PSP owners to buy the Vita, while still offering a good line-up of games (from the PSP) as a means to reinforce the launch line-up for the Vita. And they’ll still capitalize from it!(however slightly) so that was a real smart move from Sony. I only hope that they actually start moving those UMD-only games to the PSN.
EDIT: Oh LOL! This is over a month old. Yay, I’m late to the party!

Testsubject909
Sony: “We’ll give you a discount to download a digital version of your physically owned copy of every game you own for your PSP, downloadable off of PSN 5 times which you can share away or keep to yourself in case your copy breaks down. Plus it’ll be accessible on all PSP models, which in turn would reduce the load times and enable you to enjoy your games on the go without having to bring your UMDs around and allow you to play it on your PSV!”
Gamers: “YOU SUCK! GIVE IT TO US FOR FREE!”
Seriously. You guys… You make me despair.
http://twitter.com/BenGermanBB Ben Moffett
What happens to the games that dont have a download copy, like Birth by sleep, or in america Crisis Core? I remember sony promising something like this for the go, then taking it back and saying they would start loading the store with past psp games, which they also stopped doing, so this is more unsettling in my opinion
LiteIndigold
They might actually do it this time considering the Go was just another version of a pre-existing system, whereas this time they’re trying to build support for a totally new product. I’d give this a 50/50 chance this time of happening, at least.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Jiggy-Pepper/100000804352621 Jiggy Pepper
Hmm, but what about games that aren’t available, or have been taken down from psn? For example, Brave Story was taken down because Xseed’s license on the game expired. I can’t see Sony or Xseed renewing the license just so people with umd copies can buy a cheap digital copy.
http://twitter.com/VXLbeast VXLbeast
Get over it already. Formats change. If you want to play your UMDs so bad, keep your PSP. Thats what I am doing.

http://www.facebook.com/people/John-Lawson/100001263438932 John Lawson
Strongly agree, Sony isn’t forcing anyone to sell their PSP for the Vita.
Haters need to keep thier PSPs, as for me, I’m gladly buying the PSP gold again for the Vita.

http://pulse.yahoo.com/_427ISE65UQ4DG6EWLW3W2P5ERY Darrell
I wecome the change from UMD to digital.
PSP was awesome…but I never cared for the UMD format.

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