Third parties not required to release PSP games on PlayStation Store
by Andrew Yoon 
{ Oct 16th 2009 at 9:15AM } 
Once again, Sony's hands-off approach to the PlayStation Network means third parties are responsible for getting their content on both UMD and the PlayStation Store. "It's up to individual third parties to decide if and when to publish their UMD releases on PSN. Most, if not all, are on board, as this is a revenue opportunity for them," we were told by Eric Lempel, SCEA's director of PlayStation Network operations. Namco, the one publisher that returned our request for comment, noted specifically that "there are currently no plans to release Akatsuki Rising on PSN right now," despite its October 6 release on UMD.
We highly encourage Sony to make simultaneous digital releases of PSP games a requirement for publishers, not merely a suggestion. The company previously issued a mandate for PS3 games to include trophies in 2009 -- a similar policy must be enforced on the PSP. Without it, there's no guarantee that all future PSP games will ever be playable on the PSP Go.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Taijo @ Oct 16th 2009 9:19AM
aren't + unavailable = available
Jack_Jackington @ Oct 16th 2009 5:39PM
I'm glad someone else noticed that too
Taijo @ Oct 16th 2009 9:32AM
They fixed it! I'm not crazy! Curse you, joystiiiiiiiiq!
dgknight500 @ Oct 16th 2009 10:00AM
I believe you, because you're man of class. Your avatar confirms it.
GewurztraminerX @ Oct 16th 2009 9:22AM
One of these days the PSP Go will make sense.
None of those days end in xx/xx/09
INTERNET SUPERHERO @ Oct 16th 2009 10:26AM
The PSPGo just came out and it's already obsolete....
INNUENDO 64 @ Oct 16th 2009 1:05PM
days ending in xx/xx/2010 doesn't look good either
BIGGEN (LIVE-PSN: BIGGEN1103) @ Oct 16th 2009 1:20PM
i'm glad others think this as well. i mean, i get the concept, i just don't get why now. is it a little ahead of its time? or horribly behind the times. i can't decide.
SolidSnakeX @ Oct 16th 2009 1:54PM
Lmao Eric Lempel should find a new job! LMAO.. if he's the director and operations manager for the PSN what a loser!..E3 07-06-08-09 Lying to all those fans that have been asking for In Game Music/ Cross In Game Chat?.I don't see any of these features as of yet Eric! Or better yet Universal Ban List And Universal Friends list!.. When is he going to realize Enough's Enough!..Stop promoting childish crap!..And start listening to what your fans want a better costumer Service with the Moderators understand our problems and concerns!..Because right now there all assholes just like you Eric Lempel! peace!
Lars @ Oct 16th 2009 4:52PM
Look, I'm not defending Sony here (I hate the Go for other reasons)... but come on, UMD's sucked! Ditching that fucking disc drive was the best thing they did with it.
NOT ME @ Oct 17th 2009 7:43AM
2/30/2010
Larry Ortiz @ Oct 16th 2009 9:27AM
this policy and and unwilling part of sony to port previous games to PSPGo opens up and encourages a pirating market.
Solace @ Oct 16th 2009 12:12PM
once its hacked Sony is fucked are deservingly so for screwing over the people who bought the PSPgo
random-yeti @ Oct 17th 2009 4:39PM
There still isnt a good way to run pirated games on some psp2000s, the psp3000, let alone the Go
Andrew @ Oct 16th 2009 9:28AM
I have the go and im hoping they at least put out FF7 CC when that is on the PSN then I will be a little bit happier for owning one.
Zeke @ Oct 16th 2009 9:29AM
The PSP GO is DOA. This bit of news just confirms it. What is Sony thinking here?
Gibbeynator @ Oct 16th 2009 9:30AM
That people will buy anything with the Playstation brand on it, like they were banking the PS3 on?
Hydrophobicfish (PSN: HydrophobicFish) @ Oct 16th 2009 10:24AM
Maybe the release of the Go wasn't to stimulate Go sales, but rather to stimulate 3000 sales... and... if that's the case, great success.
Jampirow @ Oct 16th 2009 11:12AM
I think it's really sensate not to force developers into releasing stuff on the PS Store, due to the bandwidht costs Sony puts on them.
BigD145 @ Oct 16th 2009 1:30PM
Stillborn Sony product is Go.
iamnotafish @ Oct 16th 2009 9:30AM
I still think that the PSP Go is overpriced at the moment. However, if/when it gets jailbroken it'll be interesting. A buddy of mine has the original PSP and he uses it for internet radio, videos and (mainly) as a portable e-book reader.
theblackman357 @ Oct 16th 2009 9:31AM
You know what? All these games would be something you'd buy your kids for Christmas? Can't exactly gift-wrap a downloadable game, now can ya? Going all digital would destroy Christmas sales, end of story. I think these developers are showing some foresight on their part, and considerably more than Sony has shown this gen. Going all-digital and cutting out physical media would be suicide for the game industry.
kal326 @ Oct 16th 2009 12:25PM
What about physical redemption media for digital download games? Add-on packs are already being sold as gift card like items in retail stores. Fallout 3 were I first saw this. So in that regard you could have a physical presence while still running a digital download platform.
SolidSnakeX @ Oct 16th 2009 2:08PM
I agree well I would like to see being able to rent games on your PS3 like join Game-Fly etc..the 360 well probably have this by next year I talked to GF and they said there in the process of doing this for 2010-11
-Vexx- @ Oct 16th 2009 9:33AM
PSPGo Status: 90% useless now is up to 95% useless
Come on Joystiq report on some crazy defect like for instance the PSPGo can randomly reformat itself
Gibbeynator @ Oct 16th 2009 9:36AM
Well, there is ONE thing the PSP Go does well...
It makes people buy the PSP-3000 very well.
-Vexx- @ Oct 16th 2009 9:37AM
lol I remember retailers even saying it helps them sell 3000's
Sweets @ Oct 16th 2009 12:12PM
Yeah, and Sony makes money on the sales of both. Either way, we win because we have a choice in PSPs, Sony wins because we buy a PSP.
INNUENDO 64 @ Oct 16th 2009 1:08PM
its buying windows vista, realizing it sucks and then 'downgrading' back to xp all over again!
Archon (Charity Game-a-thon with live feed on Sat: arhn.eu ) @ Oct 16th 2009 9:38AM
How stupid does a company have to be NOT to release their games on the PSN?... Seriously.
It's like saying "no, we don't want to sell more copies of our games".
Gibbeynator @ Oct 16th 2009 9:41AM
If it costs them anything to put their games on the PSN, then developers might not do it until the Go can prove itself to be a good investment.
dgknight500 @ Oct 16th 2009 9:42AM
Tell that to Square Enix. I guess they think our cash isn't good enough for them...
Archon (Charity Game-a-thon with live feed on Sat: arhn.eu ) @ Oct 16th 2009 9:46AM
The way it was explained, the devs are only charged per GB downloaded and for the first couple weeks only so the only pay Sony a few pennies if the game is actually downloaded. Anyway, whatever the cost is, it can't be more expensive then producing a physical disc.
elmer @ Oct 16th 2009 10:23AM
Perhaps if the publishers are taking a bigger margin on retail versions than the digital version, they may want to actively discourage sales of digital versions. Bear in mind that regular PSP 3000 etc. can also get digital versions, and the threat it poses them might be serious. Maybe this indicates which companies think Sony's whole plan is a bad idea.
Mikhail @ Oct 16th 2009 10:28AM
Small companies like Atlus usually publish niche games that won't really be popular with any other group besides those to whom to cater. SO even of they do release games on the PSN there is little chance that they will see an increase in revenue. I don't really think many companies see any investment so far in releasing games onto the PSN at the current time.
mahouneko @ Oct 16th 2009 2:12PM
Companies like Sony can seem to be pretty fucking stupid or schizophrenic exactly because of its internal politics. Every company has internal politicking issues and Sony's not immune to it. Still doesn't change that the Go came out way too early for its own good.
Zing @ Oct 16th 2009 9:43AM
What the fudge?
I refuse to believe Sony actually think this is a good idea, i was going to get a PSP GO the other day, i opted for the 3000 because buying a 16gb memory stick was still cheaper.
Plus i have a UMD drive for third part games.
*Sigh* Sony its getting real hard to defend you when you make these dumb decisions.
RIP PSP GO: You were before your time.
ElWaster @ Oct 16th 2009 9:46AM
250EURO paperweight! FAAANTASTIC!!
Sony should have released all this kind of informaiton much more clearly prior to the release of the PSPGO.
Thankfully, I will never want to Undead Knights, Naruto Shippuden: Legends: Akatsuki Rising, NBA 2K10, Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes and Cars: Race O Rama anyway.
fanpages @ Oct 16th 2009 10:27AM
Another mandatory requirement (well, OK, a "suggestion"): Offer Playable Demo versions (or at the very least, videos showing actual game-play footage) on the day that a full game is released to the PlayStation Store for download.
There are so many games I wouldn't mind trying, but due to the prices I am put off with downloading a relatively unknown title.
BFN,
fp.
jeffrudow @ Oct 16th 2009 9:57AM
woops ... that's a mistake.
tony @ Oct 16th 2009 9:58AM
well actually if you went on the psn store on oct 1st you could have gotten undead knights, the full game for free. sony messed up just like they did on the uk store with manhunt 2. instead of just the deom they put the whole game up for download. believe me its true because the file i have on my psp is like 425 mb and the demo on the psn now is only like 90mb
Jay @ Oct 16th 2009 11:56AM
Yes, I thought is was odd at the time that the demo was so huge, but I really wanted to play it so I downloaded it, little did I know it was the full game! It's a fun game too.
Nook @ Oct 16th 2009 3:52PM
for real? damn.
damn. DAMN!
Shoyz @ Oct 16th 2009 6:42PM
I also got the full game.
The funny thing is that you can't even run the 'Demo' on Custom Firmware.
Sort of a turn-around, only Legitimate PSP Users getting the free games.
Lurkero @ Oct 16th 2009 10:23AM
Do we really need any more proof that Sony had no serious plans for the PSPgo?
Gibbeynator @ Oct 16th 2009 11:14AM
Oooh, I hope they didn't put up a "mission accomplished" banner at Sony HQ, that would be rather embarrassing.
SolidSnakeX @ Oct 16th 2009 2:02PM
Screw the PSP-GO I have the original PSP and it works just fine..Also DLC is stupid..Its a waste of our money it just making these lazy bastards more richer!..Not PS3?..Well the prices suck as well what happened to $4.99 no the price went up to Download Maps or levels $5.99--->$7.99 to $9.99 there all sucking my wallet dry! Greedy Bastards! Thanx in due part to SCEA!
Lurkero @ Oct 16th 2009 2:12PM
Y'know, Microsoft does that too, it's not just Sony. Most DLC has reached a standard price of $10 for 3 new multiplayer maps and maybe a couple weapons and bug fixes.
Mr_Ahh @ Oct 16th 2009 10:46AM
i think the publishers are being really stupid here, to not take advantage of the people who bought a GO. I mean my logic states that if you're willing to spend $250 on the system you'll take what ever games you can get and you can't convince me that a UMD is cheaper to put out.
As a launch day PSP owner I would buy a GO but at 32GB, i would fill that 16GB in a hurry.
Shimrra @ Oct 16th 2009 10:52AM
PSPGo just reminds me of the Titanic, luxurious in design but its just destine to sink and take everyone down who bought a ticket.