TGS 08: PSP Wi-Fi Store opening Oct. 15 in Japan; all future first-party titles to be downloadable

Cool!

Thats actually the best news I heard for the PSP in a LONG time..

US only gets the Video store.

Japan only gets the PSP store.

UK only gets PlayTV

Apparently Canada is now part of continental Europe getting Sony cock rammed in its ass. They do love to rape the consumers who remain loyal to them against all reason.

I'm very tempted to get a PSP again. I had a first gen one when they first came out, but I sold it after it sat on my desk never getting any love. A lot of games now that I would like to play and they'll be super cheap as well.

What is up with October 15!?! If I remember correctly, its when Adobe CS4 is released and I believe Apple will be holding a press conference about their new Macbooks...

Its a big day for me!

Hmmm, now that I think about it, the idea of Digital Downloading portable games doesn't sound so bad. I usually can't stand it, like iTunes, but if it's just a little game I don't really see the problem, I didn't mind the VC on Wii at all, heck I even had Super Metroid which I already own, just so I can play it on the machine that's hooked to my TV.

So yeah, I think this is a pretty good idea, same with Nintendo's store, if it comes to fruition.

who cares about when the store opens IN JAPAN - when does it open IN THE US

ohh..well..time to switch to japanese firmware lool

A download store is what they should have done from the beginning, instead of that big, slow, battery-eating UMD drive.

Just a prediction.

Prices will be exactly the same either online or a UMD. You see, it does indeed save a ton of money in packaging, production, shipping, etc, which is then put right into Sony's pocket.

You really expect them to pass on the savings?

What happens to people with no WiFi? Sounds good though. I wish I still had my PSP (I bricked it :( )

Ironic, isn't it?

Disc technology, the main thing that helped Sony whoop Nintendo in the PSone/N64 generation, is now beginning to be looked on as a liability for the PSP, and looks to be replaced by solid state memory, which is what has been in cartridges all along!

Makes sense though, solid state has always been better for portable use, due to its durability, speed, and low power use, but only lately has flash memory increased in capacity enough to start replacing discs.

Digital distribution is a bad idea.

(A) Not everyone has wifi in their homes. Because you don't need wifi in your home, unless you have a huge home, or 9 computers on a network, or you think wires are ugly arbitrarily, you don't have wifi.

(B) ISP's have bandwidth caps. Which means that depending upon your ISP, you can only buy X number of games in a month.

(C) It is unknown whether or not you will have access to the games you paid for FOREVER. A physical disc is yours until the disc falls apart. A bit of data is yours until they decide to turn the servers off because it costs too much money to keep all those PSP games stored on them in ten years time.

(D) Instruction manuals. Will digital copies have those?

@aj,

You bring up some good points there, and I also appreciate actually owning physical media, but there are ways of adressing the issues you brought up.

(A) WiFi connections are becoming more and more common in places like coffee shops and various other kinds of businesses. In addition to that, retail stores could and should provide in-store download kiosks where customers can purchase and download content at the same location where they would traditionally purchase physical media. That way, it won't matter if you don't have a broadband connection yourself, as you can just go to the store.

(B) As networks improve, bandwidth concerns may lessen, and direct store downloads could possibly help remedy this problem, as retailers could have special deals with service providers to handle the bandwidth.

(C) You definitely don't have to constantly re-download content, as games could be stored on (increasingly inexpensive) memory cards, but as those are known to have a limited life-span, maybe people could be allowed to make backup copies to their computers, as is the case with songs bought on online music stores.

(D) I've read that some music albums sold on iTunes will come with digital versions of the album booklets starting late this year, so this is definitely doable.

In the case of PSP games, though, getting rid of UMD doesn't doesn't necessarily mean getting rid of physical media. Memory chip prices have continued to go down, and it's conceivable that the successor to PSP could use memory cards with capacities similar to UMD.

I think digital distribution definitely has some cool uses and features, but just because it's coming more into the spotlight, it doesn't mean traditional media has to die off, and personally I hope it won't.