Sony doesn't say 'no' to UMD-less PSP

80 gigs + please Sony otherwise PSP2 with a build in harddrive will look embarrasing next to the Ipod classic.

All I know is they had better pull out something massively impressive because as much as I love my PSP, I'm tired of buying a new model roughly every year. And if they make my current library worthless, thats an instant no.

If Sony can get away with a UMDless PSP I'm betting they'll get rid of Bluray next.

sweet, now I can just buy a game and wait 2-3 hours to play it. Awesome!

I'm personally more concerned about what happens to my old PSP games if I upgrade to a new PSP-X000 and it doesn't have a UMD drive. Am I hosed?

Sony? Not letting go of a propriety format? You don't say...

I don't think using a proprietary format was bad...it was just the UMD that sucked. It used a lot of battery and took up a chunk of space. Admittedly that was the one way of fitting all that data that was needed back in the day....but now...you have 32gb phones. I'm sure they can have a 8gb flash memory psp.

It wouldn't be surprising if they don't implement a UMD drive in the PSP2. They'll killed off PS2 backwards compatibility in the newer PS3s so maybe that is the strategy they are going for.

Still it would be nice to play PSP games on the PSP2. They should release an external USB UMD drive to rip your current physical UMDs onto a PC for storage or directly onto the PSP2's internal storage (if it will have it) or memory card in the memory card slot.

UMD movies were an epic fail and even games weren't that hot. It was so much better ripping the physical UMDs to ISOs on the memory stick and running them that way. No grating loading noise from the drive and faster access times.

I'm in the same boat as Night Elve. UMD for movies failed for 2 reasons.

1.) Price to feature set. A dvd with more Extras cost less than a UMD with no extra's.

2.) No way to view movies on a bigger screen at launch. Had sony come out with a SUPER cheap player and compoent functions from the get, things might of been different especially with folks whom have kids.

However for gaming, I think it has served and still serves its purpose well (especially when you look at the cost of flash memory at the time of launch).

As far as PSP2 goes. I would like to see a UMD-less system. However I would hope it would be replaced by a cart system because I agree that a online only psp would come with many downsides for connected and unconnected customers. However I would like to see more games hit the store with their relative sizes listed.

Hmmm... UMDless psp2 with an optional attachable UMD drive? Would only work if it was a completely new system, which it won't be.

man this is like telling me to buy another psp... i just bought another psp not to long ago :( i bet most of the ppl that doesnt care about the UMD prob has none or very few digital copy. if the next psp doesnt have a UMD its time to MOD

B/C is over rated....I played Syphon Filter on the PS3 recently hoping to relive all the fun I had on the PS1 with it.

It didn't take even a minute and I had to tell my self "THIS IS HOW SHITTY GAMES LOOKED LIKE BACK IN THE DAY WTF!!!@!#$!#%$#!%!#...I SEE PIXELS AND BOXY FACES!!!AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"

Yes there are classics that are fun...game that didn't have an emphasis on graphics...but besides those, man....Also, they can introduce the older game as UMD Classics like they do right now.

so....has sony basically abandoned psp/ps3 integration in games?

I think a UMDless PSP2 would be fantastic. For those worried about BC, either keep your old PSP, or Sony could release an optional addon that plugs into the back of the PSP2 that can play old UMD games (and movies). Make it cheap enough ($20-$30) and people won't even complain much.

I dont know why people are surprised at all. The PSP is a lot older than people seem to recall. When it came out, flash memory was only available in 64 MB sticks at a hefty price.

Times have changed. They can now pack way more data in a smaller space at a much lower cost. The lower battery usage makes flash game carts a no brainer for the next PSP.. it simply wasnt a possibility on the first one.

At this point the UMD isnt supporting itself as a format for either games or media, Sony is aware of that. I think they're happy shifting their focus to Blu Ray anyway. Despite the relative failure, it was a necessary inclusion on the PSP or games like Grand Theft Auto ** Stories would never have happened. Crisis Core and God of War certainly wouldnt have.

John Koller: "Can't comment either way," but did add, "I will reiterate that the digital component is very important to us. That's all we can say at this point."
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......So the next PSP will be UMD-less then.

I think this is a brilliant idea, however, i have 10/15 games (only 1 that I play regularly) that i have paid for, but i would love an online only PSP, my 1000 model's thumbstick is getting "crunchy" and I've got dirt under my screen, couple of chips / dings too.

Now, if I was to pay Sony for a second PSP, an online only one, there would need to be some system of i send you my UMD's, or even just a list and you credit my PSN account to cover those games. I've payed for the rights to own that software but they will be killing the format, I won't want to buy those exact same games again as digital versions.

But if that was done i'd be all over a UMD less PSP, i hear the next Monster Hunter will have the ability of loading the game onto your mem stick, will be interested to see how copyright works on that, if possible perhaps playing without the UMD in will make my battery last longer??

Happy Killzone day everyone!

...Geez That's like triple negative.
Can't you not be any less ambiguous, Sony?

Sounds good to me. Especially if done like some other people have said with having a station setup for putting the games on a memorystick or the PSP directly in the stores where they are sold. Hell that shouldn't be TOO hard to do considering they have PSP vending machines. They could also just put the games on a 4GB Memory stick(even tho I can see the games being more than 2GBs, which will give us storage fo ra few more games or MP3s. They would just need to have a Memory stick LARGER than 80GBs available near release of the PSP2 and/or 20-30GBs of built-in flash based storage on the PSP2. If they do this right it will appeal to the same people that use MP3 players and will be the pioneer in digital handheld gaming. and I'm not counting the iPhone/Touch or N-gage as TRUE handheld gaming devices

Someone mentioned ipods/iphone & itunes. Well Sony would need to have a "PSP (2) manager" type of software that rivals itunes for this to be usable.

I'll probably jump on the psp train next generation. Just put the games on memory sticks (and re-release psp1 games on them as well), and be nice and add a sdhc slot as well for added storage. You could have a psp2 game in one slot and then use the sdhc for downloadable games and movies and whatnot. I'll be game for that.

/ends dream

i just hope the up the wireless network card to a G. B is to slow!

i mean, i hope THEY up the network card to a "G"! "B" is to slow.

If they axe the UMD completely or any way that allows me to use my extensive UMD library (80+ titles) on a PSP2 through a peripheral or whatever, then they will have lost a very loyal PSP fan. I would never invest a lot in digital content only.

To have an original hard copy of the game prevents you from getting shafted if something happens to your PSN account or with the service. I had an incident once with my PSN account on my PS3 and it made me realize that spending money on digital content is a very high risk.

Or what if your PSP gets stolen that was linked to your online account? Of course you wouldn't want to use that account anymore to make purchases with your credit card. The thief would have access to your account and your newly purchased games as well... So you will have to delete that account from your 'new' PSP to use another account, but this will make you unable to run your older (DRM) games from your old account. You can only have one account active at one time on a PSP. Because i'm sure they keep continueing to use DRM.

Plus downloadable games won't be any cheaper than UMD based games. Indeed no more used games deals like we knew from the local game store. I've bought UMD games for cheaper than they still try to sell them now on the PSN store. And i still rather have an original with box and manual in my hands than some digital copy with DRM. Going all digital is in my eyes a disaster which will be too expensive for the users and too risky as well. Think about it.

I will stick to my old PSPs until they die and then say farewell to the PSP platform for good.

I'm sure it's been said a hundred times already but I sincerly hope that the next PSP has a UMD drive or something that is like it. I don't like not having something in my hand that I pay money for.

If Sony can show me a digital distribution method that has the convenience of UMD but gives them all the security and control of digital distribution then i would be all for it.

Maybe a UMD drive that interfaces with the unused USB port or maybe a proprietary socket that would allow you to install games onto internal memory? Not as convenient as having the drive installed directly in to the device but it would make me feel better about the games I buy.

A portable device needs the following;
-great battery life
-low cost (or lower)
-built in storage or extremely small storage deviecs (DS got that right).

Sony needs to make the PSP more hip. First, no UMD on the new model. This will save costs. Also, they will need some way of allowing current game owners to import their games from UMD. Not sure how that would work without access to a PSP with a UMD drive to begin with. Maybe some sort of on-line validation ala Apple itune or MS's xbox live.

So, no UMD we have lower cost and probably power savings. Check.

Next, make the screen a touch screen. Do it like Apple did with the iPhone/iPod touch.
Also, an accelerometer like the iPhone/iPod.

Once all that is done the device will be a lot more convenient.

I will never buy one, however, but most of what I posted is really where the iPhone/iPod is. Now that is one superbly executed device. All the complaints I have heard about the Apple device to me are irrelevant because the thing does so much very well.

So, basically, I am sony should just out and out copy the features of the iPod/iPhone.

I would never use a PSP at work because that would look retarded, but the iPod/iPhone can easily sync our corporate e-mail and when I have a lunch break I can easily play one of the many games that I already have downloaded and installed on the device.

Has no one considered the possibility of games coming on locked Memory Stick Duo instead of UMD format, or is that just impossible?

My prediction:

A new hardware revision of the current PSP that drops the UMD drive. Sony will then announce that it is bringing it's entire 1st Party PSP library, all Greatest Hits titles, and selected 3rd Party titles to the PSN. All future PSP games will have a dual retail/downloadable release (already in Japan) so as not to cut-off your install base.

Basically if you are totally down with the digital revolution or already have a PSP and would like an additional, slimmer, more battery efficient model, you will get the PSP 4000.

i still want a UMD drive in the next PSP damn it!
This sucks and why not have both?

If they do go solely down the downloadable route with PSP2, then I hope there is a way to repurchase my current UMD library of games at some discount. With a PSP2 it come open up PS2 downloadable titles which could be awesome.

The problem with the PSP2 only being able to get its games from an online source is that not everyone has internet. Another problem is that downloading the games will take up a lot of space on a person's Memory Stick.

As long as there are fun games, I'll be good.

It's funny to me how no one has mentioned download speed issues on this... unless I missed it somewhere. Think about this, a UMD is 1.8GB right?

Say you have 5mbps cable internet

That will give you like 625kb/s download speeds, if you're lucky and Sony's servers can handle it.

That's a hell of a lot longer then I'm willing to wait to download a game. They'll have to start releasing small games that are hardly even worth playing if they want to be reasonable with download times.

PLUS

Think about this... Wifi cards use power... so you'll have to have the console plugged in during a crazy 1.8GB download session. My PSP is only plugged in when I'm home, just like with my DS the battery lasts long enough that I can take it wherever I want, even with my UMD drive spinning. So, you've downloaded your game and killed your battery. Now you want to play your game, fine this will work wonderfully, just how cartridge games have always... The games will load wonderfully... just how a portable should! THAT'S WHY I DON'T LIKE UMD BTW,

When I'm pooping I only have so much time... rofl sorry.. anyways.

Your game is great, and wonderful and everything is good... now you want more games...
What if you have, say a 16GB Memory stick. that's 8 games plus some music and videos. What if you want to download a 9th? Now you have to decide what game you are going to delete. You delete your game, play your new one. A new day has come... you just happen to want to play your old game again DAMN YOU HAVE TO DOWNLOAD THAT GAME AGAIN... Like someone else said, this is good on paper... But not something that should be implemented until download speeds are fast enough and flash(type) memory is big enough.

I'll stick to my UMD and Cartridge games, though I still prefer cartridge.. although the limited space is lame... oh well...

I do like digital distribution for smaller files (WiiWare, DSi Ware, PS1 Classics, Small PSP games, demos, and other things like that) But for full games, I'll stick to my regular format, if PSP2 uses digital distribution completely I won't be picking one up.

Thanks for your time O.o