Sony abandons plans for UMD conversion program

That really sucks for current PSP owners who were considering the "upgrade".

I guess they won't be considering it anymore...

Sony is doing a lot of things right lately, but this whole PSPgo thing is not one of them.

Score one for Sony, the kings of DRM.

I am still going to get one, but every day it seems like there is another reason this is a crappy purchase. Especially in the US.

At least in the EU they get a free copy of GT (which isn't worth $40, but is a decent toss-in), and the 'pick three' incentive (although the games are all ancient games selling in bargain bins for ~2 years now).

I was going to be surprised if they really did a solid UMD trade-in ... but I expected SOMETHING. They really are out of their minds - we are charging more, and offering absolutely no incentive to buy ... and that trade-in program we announced? It was really just to get pre-orders ...

Balls. Nice idea offering 3 downloads (out of a total of 17 ) but I was counting on a UMD conversion program. I wasn't planning on getting a Go any time soon however.

So with some game store chains deciding not to stock/carry the PSPgo!

And with Sony basically saying "up yours!!" to existing those PSP users who would probably be the main candidates for the PSPgo!, how much of a real success do we expect the PSPgo! to truly be?

Seems it's chances are stacked against it to say the least.

I won't be getting one. I'll stick with my PSPslim and 16gb memory card.

Sony, I really wanna buy the Go. But first the price, then the accessories, then this? Making it REAL hard on me to justify the money.

Okay this is turning me away from the go...I have a lot of UMD based games and I would really like to play them on the go(no pun intended)

I think I might have to hold out on the go until they get the conversion thing down.



Bless

Just wrote a bit about this for GearDiary ... will link when it goes live. OK, now it is up here: A quote -

Sony has watched their image in the gaming world plummet over the last several years after being ‘king of the world’ with the PSx and PS2, and had an opportunity to repair that image by rewarding their loyal customers who were going back to the well for them again … but instead they put us in a place where many PSP fans are hoping for a poor launch and terrible sales showing to teach Sony a bit about customer loyalty.

Click to expand...

New info - confirmed that the SCEA region (NA) gets a whole lotta nuthin':

""SCEA region will not offer a UMD rewards program at this time," due to the fact that the company has a "dual-platform strategy,""

You can thank Apple for being the prime example for downloadable gaming on the iPhone/Touch.

Think about it, instead of selling someone a game for $15, then they can sell it to someone else for $10, then that person can sell it to someone else for $7.

Sony will only make $15.

But, selling a DRM'd download for $15, each person has to buy a copy - so Sony will make $45.

Someone who works in the gaming industry told me that's where the handhelds are going - downloadable DRM'd content since the game filesizes are small.

iPhone/Touch, PSP Go, Nintendo DSi...

I think that once everyone is guaranteed a good wifi connection we'll start seeing physical media being dropped. I don't think Nintendo or Sony will be relying completely on DD for a good few years.
Could be cool if they added a Kindle like system, a data connection relying on mobile phone networks but can only access DD shops.

And that needs to happen too. DD shops. Not 1 shop per manufacturer. You'll never see competition that way.

I know that there are plenty here that want to upgrade, but this is clearly meant to appeal to new people, not that I think it will.

I see this as a pretty big flop.