AranhaHunter
Banned
Agent X said:
Do retailers even make any money off PSN Cards?
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Ars Technica: Retail Patapon 2 IS UMD-free
- Thread starter Alex P
- Start date
Do retailers even make any money off PSN Cards?
Minsc
Gold Member
Tobor said:
So the Zodiac is basically a pimped out Palm PDA? Well that's slightly less impressive, since PDAs generally have been all about digital downloads for as long as I've had them. I'm pretty sure my old iPaq was circa 2004-05, and I didn't get a single physical piece of software for it either.
But you're right, if I cared I could probably find a Windows CE emulator (or whatever) and run any software I got, same as you could. Still, I personally prefer to see how a larger service plays out before I invest any significant amount of money in to it or replace my retail buying preference.
AranhaHunter
Banned
I can't wait for the PSP4000 unveiling at E3, I wonder what kind of goodies it has. I hope touchscreen, dual analog, camera, gps, g wireless, etc I like the new walkman and Idou touchscreen interfaces so I'm sure the PSP4000 will have a slick interface, hopefully they give it more RAM that would be exclusively used just for the OS and not available to developers (so as that the games will still be playable on the old PSPs). Can the PSP4K be the big winner at E3?
Mutanthands
Member
Well, for me this is encouraging news, if true. With so many contradictory statements coming out of Sony lately, it seems they have been running a disinformation campaign worthy of the old-school CIA.
It does seem strange to skip right to the last step, rather than transitioning to a dual UMD/ download model, but this may represent the experimental nature of the release. Using Patapon 2 as a sacrificial lamb.
With Sony seemingly starting to grow a brain (and a pair to go with them) on these matters, I think they may come up with a solution for internet access for those who don't have it. A couple of years ago, everyone with a PSP could have 6 months of free service at T-Mobile WiFi hotspots. I could forsee something like that coming back. Maybe a voucher in the game case?
It does seem strange to skip right to the last step, rather than transitioning to a dual UMD/ download model, but this may represent the experimental nature of the release. Using Patapon 2 as a sacrificial lamb.
With Sony seemingly starting to grow a brain (and a pair to go with them) on these matters, I think they may come up with a solution for internet access for those who don't have it. A couple of years ago, everyone with a PSP could have 6 months of free service at T-Mobile WiFi hotspots. I could forsee something like that coming back. Maybe a voucher in the game case?
Hint, hint Sony.
panda21 said:
But the point is, you can more easily grab a couple of different UMDs. My PSP case holds 8 games, at any time I can swap any of those for different games. EASILY. Now I'd have to redownload those 8 games. Sounds more like an inconvenience to me.
No thanks. Bye bye PSP.
Tobor said:
Gigantic? It's 2 inches thicker than the PSP, which is already too big to put in your pocket. You seriously think re-downloading games is convenient?
Wanna impress me Sony, make UMDs that actually protect the disc surface. Even the NetMDs or whatever they were did that.
This seems like as good a place to ask as any... wheres the best place to get 16gig (or 8 I guess) official memory sticks online? Ebay?
I checked out a couple large retailers over the long weekend sales (in Aus) and the 16gig was $250 while the 8gig, the best they could do was $100.
I checked out a couple large retailers over the long weekend sales (in Aus) and the 16gig was $250 while the 8gig, the best they could do was $100.
Zizbuka said:
Why do you think you have to re-download them? You know you can back them up on a PC or PS3, right?
The UMD defense force is the weirdest thing I've seen in quite a while. There's some serious Stockholm Syndrome going on here.
voltron said:
Here in the US, you shouldn't pay more than $30 for a 8GB. $90 or so for a 16GB.
Tobor said:
I'll admit ignorance here, since I've never tried to download anything to my PSP. Don't have or want a PS3, and reading this thread it sounds like I have to have my PSP hooked to my PC via USB, but actually do the download via the PC?
Nah, I'd rather have the actual disc, not to mention the manual. Guess I'll have to use my printer/ink for that? And regardless of the method, I still have to re-download the game from somewhere later if I want to go back to it.
No thanks. PSP is a good system, and I quite enjoy it, but I can do without it.
drakesfortune
Directions: Pull String For Uninformed Rant
That's the dumbest thing I've heard all day. I hope it's not true. I will not buy Patapon 2 if it's true.
Rated-Rsuperstar
Member
drakesfortune said:
Your not gonna buy a game no matter the quality because it's not on a disc? Really.
ShinoguTakeruKoeru
Member
drakesfortune said:
I wonder if most of the backlash is coming from the fact that Sony's using Patapon 2 as the test bed and not something more mainstream. Heck, God of War PSP hit 20 bucks just recently, why not use that as a guinea pig instead of Patapon 2 which is super-niche compared to GoW. Then again considering how Sony decided to let NISA at Yuusha-whatever, Sony's probably got zero respect for first party niche content.
mrkapawutzis
Member
In 5 years time we'll no longer have any "Post Your Portable Collecetion" threads with pics 
Tobor said:
We feel the same about the Digital Distribution Offense Force, so it's pretty much even.
The bottom line is this: I like buying games on fixed media because it gives me control over the content I've purchased.
If and when I get tired of a game on UMD, I can resell it and get back part of what I paid for it. I can't do that with DD-only games.
If I'm not playing a game I've bought, I can lend the UMD to a friend. If a friend owns a game I'm interested in and he's not playing it, he can lend it to me. In a DD-only world, we'd each have to buy a copy.
The two things I mentioned above more than make up for the added expense of the UMD drive in the PSP, IMO. So why should I be eager to embrace a DD-only future? Where's the benefit for me as a consumer? When I take the PSP out with me, it's going to be in a backpack or briefcase anyway, so the 'PSP would be smaller without the UMD drive' and 'it eliminates the inconvenience of carrying around UMD's' arguments don't hold water. 'It's more convenient to download'? Going to a brick-and-mortar mall store really isn't a big inconvenience for me. :lol (Some of us actually buy things besides games when we go shopping!
) 'Removing the UMD drive would prolong the PSP's battery life'? Maybe it would, but it's rare that I'm away from an outlet long enough for the battery life to become an issue.You seem to be one of the more vocal proponents of the whole DD thing around here, to the point of sniping at people who don't agree. (Your 'Stockholm Syndrome' remark is a good example.) Now that you've heard my take on it, I'd like to know why I should feel differently. Digital distribution must have some amazing advantage that I'm not seeing, if it's worth giving up the rights and benefits that come with owning a physical copy of a game. Explain to me what I'm missing.
(And for the record, I'm not totally opposed to DD. I've downloaded some games, and will no doubt continue to do so. What I'm opposed to is the idea of DD becoming the sole avenue of distribution for games. And that's the idea some people here insist is 'the future!' lately.)
BobsRevenge
I do not avoid women, GAF, but I do deny them my essence.
I'd feel ripped off if I bought a game with a case and all that was inside was a download code. Not everyone has a memory stick, the memory sticks for the PSP are expensive, and what the fuck is with the markup?
Is this confirmed yet?
Is this confirmed yet?
Rated-Rsuperstar
Member
Tellaerin said:We feel the same about the Digital Distribution Offense Force, so it's pretty much even.
The bottom line is this: I like buying games on fixed media because it gives me control over the content I've purchased.
If and when I get tired of a game on UMD, I can resell it and get back part of what I paid for it. I can't do that with DD-only games.
If I'm not playing a game I've bought, I can lend the UMD to a friend. If a friend owns a game I'm interested in and he's not playing it, he can lend it to me. In a DD-only world, we'd each have to buy a copy.
The two things I mentioned above more than make up for the added expense of the UMD drive in the PSP, IMO. So why should I be eager to embrace a DD-only future? Where's the benefit for me as a consumer? When I take the PSP out with me, it's going to be in a backpack or briefcase anyway, so the 'PSP would be smaller without the UMD drive' and 'it eliminates the inconvenience of carrying around UMD's' arguments don't hold water. 'It's more convenient to download'? Going to a brick-and-mortar mall store really isn't a big inconvenience for me. :lol (Some of us actually buy things besides games when we go shopping!
You seem to be one of the more vocal proponents of the whole DD thing around here, to the point of sniping at people who don't agree. (Your 'Stockholm Syndrome' remark is a good example.) Now that you've heard my take on it, I'd like to know why I should feel differently. Digital distribution must have some amazing advantage that I'm not seeing, if it's worth giving up the rights and benefits that come with owning a physical copy of a game. Explain to me what I'm missing.
(And for the record, I'm not totally opposed to DD. I've downloaded some games, and will no doubt continue to do so. What I'm opposed to is the idea of DD becoming the sole avenue of distribution for games. And that's the idea some people here insist is 'the future!' lately.)
Preferring UMD over, well... anything, is a shocking revelation on the scale of discovering life on Mars. So I apologize if I sound snippy. It's just...shocking. It's the worst portable media format ever designed, and it's many well documented flaws far outweigh it's only positive, file size.
Starting from that point, that UMD is the media format equivalent of a barium enema, it should be easy to see why I'm so mystified. Even if you dislike DD, it should be treated like the US army arriving in Paris in 1945.
The real fun part is that this exact forum spent the last 3 years complaining how PSP games should all be downloadable, and UMD should die, be buried etc.Kintaro said:
Either people are just complaining for complaining sake - or the userbase of this forum is actually diverse enough you get noise in any and all extremes.
Hcoregamer00
The 'H' stands for hentai.
Pachael said:
Don't get me started on that, I am a huge DS fan and I have a litany of complaints about the lack of space in the DS carts.
Tobor said:
If the UMD format itself is the issue, I'd be satisfied if Sony switched from UMD's to memory sticks preloaded with games (as long as inserting them in your PSP didn't automatically tie them to that particular hardware or something). Any format that allows me to resell/borrow/lend a game to somebody else is fine, IMO. I'd just like to have those options available to me, even if it means paying a little more than I would for a download.
rainking187
Member
Tobor said:
Really? You want Nintendo to switch to DD? That's a good idea. The DS2 will launch with 2GB of space. They'll get back to you if they feel like increasing it.
rainking187
Member
Ok, here's a question I have to ask, for the people that want DD to become the standard, why? Aside from storage and convience which are both minor issues, what is the appeal? I mean realisticly, where are you going that you need to bring six games? If you're going on vacation I imagine you could find room in your luggage for a game case. I pretty gave up on taking my systems out with me because I would barely even get started playing one game but people are bringing multiple UMDs with them?
Here's a bigger problem: in the EU creditcards aren't really that common. DD only PSP games will totally fail when you can only buy them with a CC and since there aren't PSN cards available in shops. Sony should really look into other payment methods beside CC, like PayPal or paying with you bank acoount on the internet (for example, Ideal in the Netherlands).
Saint Gregory
Member
So on a scale of 1-10 how pissed is Amazon going to be if I cancel my preorder after I already used their demo bonus code?
While taking the PSP download only makes sense to give it some identity after it's raping at the hands of DS/iPhone, there is something utterly bizarre about paying money for an empty box with a download code in it.
That's so very, 'Sony'. Late to the party, and when they do turn up they miss the point of what the party was about (see mp3/ATRAC/SonicStage/whatever-their-iTunes-Store-was-called).
I mean, it's just really bizarre! Either embrace digital distribution, or do both. Don't invent some weird middleground that is neither one nor the other.
That's so very, 'Sony'. Late to the party, and when they do turn up they miss the point of what the party was about (see mp3/ATRAC/SonicStage/whatever-their-iTunes-Store-was-called).
I mean, it's just really bizarre! Either embrace digital distribution, or do both. Don't invent some weird middleground that is neither one nor the other.
I'm all in favour of digital downloads but I'm hesitant about a DD ONLY future. I have no problems at all with Sony ditching the UMD format, but I feel they should start sell games on memory sticks instead in retail shops. Then you can still have physical media (so you can sell, swap or lend your purchased game) and you've got the benefits of faster loading times and longer battery hours.
BTW I wonder how succesful a DD only PSP2 would be. Many people, especially in Europe, are still hesitant about online purchases and credit cards still aren't very common around here. Yes, the Ipod and Iphone have become very popular, but remember that you can use these gadgets without ever purchasing a song or an app from the Itunes Store. A large percentage of Ipod/Iphone usesrs have never ever purchased anything online. You don't need to if you rip/download your songs yourself or when you just want to use the Iphone as a mobile phone and MP3 player.
A consumer device that's COMPLETELY dependent on digital downloads is a commercial risk.
BTW I wonder how succesful a DD only PSP2 would be. Many people, especially in Europe, are still hesitant about online purchases and credit cards still aren't very common around here. Yes, the Ipod and Iphone have become very popular, but remember that you can use these gadgets without ever purchasing a song or an app from the Itunes Store. A large percentage of Ipod/Iphone usesrs have never ever purchased anything online. You don't need to if you rip/download your songs yourself or when you just want to use the Iphone as a mobile phone and MP3 player.
A consumer device that's COMPLETELY dependent on digital downloads is a commercial risk.
AranhaHunter
Banned
Dizzan said:So this is confirmed
Awesome. I'll probably pick it up just to show Sony my support for dd
I'll probably do the same, Patapon was great, I'm betting Patapon 2 is just as much fun.
Saint Gregory
Member
Based on the demo I'd say even more so.AranhaHunter said:
ymmv said:
Yeah some period of transition of doing both would make more sense, DSi seems to be going down well. And obviously no one with an iPhone/iPod Touch gives a toss about media, and likes everything available instantly. It's just the PSP is so closely tied to UMD and being a media-based system. That was one of their problems, they never pushed it far enough into the iPhone/iPod realm and now look like they are desperately playing catch-up.
What's described in this thread though isn't a period of transition. And just seems like some bonkers way of trying to keep retailers happy when digital distribution is obviously going to be working against them in the long-run.
It's definitely not aimed at the gamer.
