Sony Introduces UMD-to-Digital Program, But It’ll Cost You

Very interesting! Bravo Sony! But guess what? I will never pay not even a cent for a game that I already own.

@VinceNotVance said:

Not a bad idea. I have a small amount of I'd love to play on a Vita (mostly, Square's stuff like Crisis Core & Dissidia); it'd be nice not to have to dig out my PSP to play some games.

Doubt that one of my all-time favorite games, Chili Con Carnage, will see release through this program though, which kinda sucks.

wow. someone else that has played Chili Con Carnage?   right on, Vince! 

Oh hell yes! This means I might not need to buy a new PSP-3000 to replace my old stolen one ^.^ (Need to get those 2 lost games again though >__<) Great news if I'll be able to play my old Korean DJ Max games on PS Vita. All I now hope I don't need a Korean Vita to do this x____x They are legit imported discs after all.

no way am I paying twice for a game I already own.

i'll just wait for the vita to get cracked so i can continue pirating again. cheers sony.

wow sony really squeezing people for money whats new?

I'm not going to be upgrading any UMD's though. They should be doing it for free along with an apology for the PSP overall.

The price is cheap compared to how Nintendo is going to rape us when we want to play Super Mario Galaxy 2 in HD.

no thanks ill stick with my psp

if clearfx's currency converter didn't fool me, 500~1500 yen is around $50~$150 hkd.

new titles are around 300~500 here in hong kong, 200~300 if second handed

charging up to half of the game's price to get it work on Vita sounds...outrageous

@gladspooky said:

@Napalm said:

@Curufinwe said:

@piderman said:

Except the next system is still using discs and might very well be able to play X360 games. The Vita can't hold discs so you have to hold on to the old system then. And who is giving away games for free? We have paid for the games, we just want em on a different medium. It's the same bullshit as VHS/DVD/BD all over again.

You really are clueless if you think buying a console or handheld game on a disc or cartridge automatically entitles you to a digital version of it for free.

The guy above you has a fucked up definition of "free". According to him, he should be entitled to free copies of a specific game published on every system thereafter. So if he buys a DVD of a movie, he should be entitled to a free copy to be released on every following player/format. Yeah, you're totally not asking for free copies.

Yeah, it's not like they include free digital copies with movies on Blu-Ray/DVD. Pffft. Nice argument.

Flimsy argument. Including digital copies is standard, but what they don't include is a transferable license to the contents on the disc to undisclosed future formats, which, the "on a different medium" comment from whoever-said-it above certainly implies you'd want a transferable license.

@Napalm said:

@Curufinwe said:

@piderman said:

@Curufinwe said:

@KaneRobot said:

@mariokart64fan said:

why are people complaining about getting a digital copy for free, you are not entitled to that, just play the game for the system you bought it for ,

Probably because this isn't 2007 anymore and companies should be far more open to letting users who have purchased their products play it across advancing platforms when the technology is there, which it clearly is here. Nintendo is by far the worst offender at the moment but clearly Sony hasn't gotten the message either.

If you think Microsoft is going to give you free digital licenses to all your disc-based 360 games when the next Xbox comes out you're mistaken. None of the console makers can force publishers to give away their games for free. That's the message you need to get.

Except the next system is still using discs and might very well be able to play X360 games. The Vita can't hold discs so you have to hold on to the old system then. And who is giving away games for free? We have paid for the games, we just want em on a different medium. It's the same bullshit as VHS/DVD/BD all over again.

You really are clueless if you think buying a console or handheld game on a disc or cartridge automatically entitles you to a digital version of it for free.

The guy above you has a fucked up definition of "free". According to him, he should be entitled to free copies of a specific game published on every system thereafter. So if he buys a DVD of a movie, he should be entitled to a free copy to be released on every following player/format. Yeah, you're totally not asking for free copies.

Yeah, it's not like they include free digital copies with movies on Blu-Ray/DVD. Pffft. Nice argument.

@VicRattlehead said:

the price should be free.... fucking clowns

this*OVER9000!

anyway..yah..this "service" should be free..or at the very least cost a small fee for the program itself that has the ability to do it to any game you want at any time. fucking pathetic they're trying to milk all they can to those that actually fucking supported the damn system. great job as always sony

@Napalm said:

@Curufinwe said:

@piderman said:

@Curufinwe said:

@KaneRobot said:

@mariokart64fan said:

why are people complaining about getting a digital copy for free, you are not entitled to that, just play the game for the system you bought it for ,

Probably because this isn't 2007 anymore and companies should be far more open to letting users who have purchased their products play it across advancing platforms when the technology is there, which it clearly is here. Nintendo is by far the worst offender at the moment but clearly Sony hasn't gotten the message either.

If you think Microsoft is going to give you free digital licenses to all your disc-based 360 games when the next Xbox comes out you're mistaken. None of the console makers can force publishers to give away their games for free. That's the message you need to get.

Except the next system is still using discs and might very well be able to play X360 games. The Vita can't hold discs so you have to hold on to the old system then. And who is giving away games for free? We have paid for the games, we just want em on a different medium. It's the same bullshit as VHS/DVD/BD all over again.

You really are clueless if you think buying a console or handheld game on a disc or cartridge automatically entitles you to a digital version of it for free.

The guy above you has a fucked up definition of "free". According to him, he should be entitled to free copies of a specific game published on every system thereafter. So if he buys a DVD of a movie, he should be entitled to a free copy to be released on every following player/format. Yeah, you're totally not asking for free copies.

one thing he has right, it's EXACTLY like VHS/DVD/BD in that if you want it on the new format, you gotta pay up some money.

@Curufinwe said:

@piderman said:

@Curufinwe said:

@KaneRobot said:

@mariokart64fan said:

why are people complaining about getting a digital copy for free, you are not entitled to that, just play the game for the system you bought it for ,

Probably because this isn't 2007 anymore and companies should be far more open to letting users who have purchased their products play it across advancing platforms when the technology is there, which it clearly is here. Nintendo is by far the worst offender at the moment but clearly Sony hasn't gotten the message either.

If you think Microsoft is going to give you free digital licenses to all your disc-based 360 games when the next Xbox comes out you're mistaken. None of the console makers can force publishers to give away their games for free. That's the message you need to get.

Except the next system is still using discs and might very well be able to play X360 games. The Vita can't hold discs so you have to hold on to the old system then. And who is giving away games for free? We have paid for the games, we just want em on a different medium. It's the same bullshit as VHS/DVD/BD all over again.

You really are clueless if you think buying a console or handheld game on a disc or cartridge automatically entitles you to a digital version of it for free.

The guy above you has a fucked up definition of "free". According to him, he should be entitled to free copies of a specific game published on every system thereafter. So if he buys a DVD of a movie, he should be entitled to a free copy to be released on every following player/format. Yeah, you're totally not asking for free copies.

This isn't worth the price. Just keep your PSP if you already have one.

5 should be max.

The prices are a little to high for my taste.

@piderman said:

@Curufinwe said:

@KaneRobot said:

@mariokart64fan said:

why are people complaining about getting a digital copy for free, you are not entitled to that, just play the game for the system you bought it for ,

Probably because this isn't 2007 anymore and companies should be far more open to letting users who have purchased their products play it across advancing platforms when the technology is there, which it clearly is here. Nintendo is by far the worst offender at the moment but clearly Sony hasn't gotten the message either.

If you think Microsoft is going to give you free digital licenses to all your disc-based 360 games when the next Xbox comes out you're mistaken. None of the console makers can force publishers to give away their games for free. That's the message you need to get.

Except the next system is still using discs and might very well be able to play X360 games. The Vita can't hold discs so you have to hold on to the old system then. And who is giving away games for free? We have paid for the games, we just want em on a different medium. It's the same bullshit as VHS/DVD/BD all over again.

You really are clueless if you think buying a console or handheld game on a disc or cartridge automatically entitles you to a digital version of it for free.

If Capcom would put Megaman Powered Up onto the PSN Store, I'd pay full price for it nevermind getting a discount from my UMD.

Maybe a bit too pricey but I'm glad they're setting up this service at all. 

$6 to $20 is a huge margin. I can't imagine it will be that wide in the West. In Japan, games tend to vary in price by title, while there's pretty much a single retail price for new games in North America, so I can't help but think the same will happen again.

@SolidSnake35: For the day your PSP dies on you and they no longer make them?

So you don't have to carry around 2 systems?

/shrug

Why pay to play it on the Vita when you already have a PSP to play it on? O_O

Backwards Compatibility is only important for the first year or so because there aren't that many good games.

From the looks of the vita, that shouldn't be a problem.

I suppose it's worth charging something if they re-route the camera with a second analog stick, update the graphics + sound, and make it playable on the console.   These are Japan prices if or when it comes to America, I'd say expect between $2 - $10 (maybe they'll even make some free). America is a bigger market and I know we all hate high pricing for little; if you compared this to other options of the same kind of thing, you'd easily see these foreign prices are overpriced.

@Hawk456 said:

There is already a similar program out there already at no additional cost ... it's called "Play your PSP games on your PSP"

That's the program I plan on using!

I'm pretty over backwards compatibility. When I got a PS2, I needed it because I traded in my Playstation for it. Now, and especially with the PSP, it'll probably be hanging around unused (just like usual, right!?!?), and is it really that much of a biggie to just play the few PSP games I have on that? The answer for me is: nope.

Transfered all my PSP games into digital versions when the PSP Go came out so I'm all set. Not sure why people are butthurt either... It's not like Sony is making your games useless...

There is already a similar program out there already at no additional cost ... it's called "Play your PSP games on your PSP"

@xbob42 said:

@BionicRadd said:

The Vita is 100% backwards compatible with all PSN purchases. You are not paying to play PSP games on a Vita. You are paying to get a digital version of a game you previously bought as physical media. This is no different then you buying a game and them releasing a GOTY edition of it a year or two later. You are entitled to the physical media version you already own and nothing more. As I said, if the "trade-in" scheme doesnt tickle your fancy, sell the games on ebay and use that money to buy the digital version.

Holy crap, people have a messed up sense of entitlement, these days.

What a meek response. Of course people have a sense of entitlement, these companies exist solely because of us, the consumer. They are not our benevolent benefactors that spend all their free time trying to please us, and likewise we should not spend all of our free time accepting whatever they throw our way.

Take Steam, for example. I can buy a physical copy of a game (If I hate myself.) and have both that and the Steam version for no additional charge. Bandwidth is dirt cheap right now, largely because everything is going digital. If Sony wants to get people into the PSN shop to actually buy shit, then they need a hook that makes sense, and letting us pay to have digital versions of our games is not the fucking way to go about it.

Let people register and download digital versions for free, while at the same time seeing the shop and what it offers, thereby making customers happy that they now have a digital version (A loyal customer is a valuable customer, and a loyal customer is only born from a happy customer.) and that same happy customer may now express an interest in everything else in the shop.

As it stands, a few people will use this service, but they've created a barrier of entry. Lots of people have never explored the PSN shop, and this'd be a fantastic way to introduce it to possibly hundreds of thousands of new potential patrons.

That key you used to add that game to Steam can be used ONE time. After that, sure, you technically have 2 physical copies of the game. Also, not every game allows you to add a key to Steam in that fashion. This is especially true of older software which I think is especially relevant to this particular conversation. My PC CD Rom edition of Max Payne has no CD key to input into Steam. If I want the digital version, I have to buy it. Same thing goes for a lot of my old PC titles that are available on Steam but did not utilize CD keys or any online registration. That CD key is a license and you chose to use that license to add it to Steam. Also, not every retail can be used to add a game to Steam. It's actually a relatively short list.

Since we do not know if Patrick's "pass around the UMD" scenario is going to prove true, it's kind of hard to fully debate this topic, but if Sony has no way of identifying individual UMDs, that in and of itself is a reason why they can't simply allow you to add all your UMDs to your PSN account. Not to mention, again, that Sony would have to get the participation of publishers for that scenario, which is unlikely.

Paint it however you want, but you are not "transferring your UMD games to your Vita". You are getting a new license for a different version of the game. It is truly no different than owning Plants Vs Zombies on PC and expecting to get it for free on the Iphone. The fact remains that most (probably all) digital PSN purchases will work fine, so everyone that realized where the future of gaming is headed will be set. You have the option to continue playing UMDs on an existing PSP for as long as you like.

@Curufinwe said:

@KaneRobot said:

@mariokart64fan said:

why are people complaining about getting a digital copy for free, you are not entitled to that, just play the game for the system you bought it for ,

Probably because this isn't 2007 anymore and companies should be far more open to letting users who have purchased their products play it across advancing platforms when the technology is there, which it clearly is here. Nintendo is by far the worst offender at the moment but clearly Sony hasn't gotten the message either.

If you think Microsoft is going to give you free digital licenses to all your disc-based 360 games when the next Xbox comes out you're mistaken. None of the console makers can force publishers to give away their games for free. That's the message you need to get.

Except the next system is still using discs and might very well be able to play X360 games. The Vita can't hold discs so you have to hold on to the old system then. And who is giving away games for free? We have paid for the games, we just want em on a different medium. It's the same bullshit as VHS/DVD/BD all over again.

Considering how very little I paid for almost all of my UMDs - most about $10 because they didn't sell - paying $5-$10 for the few excellent games amongst them (Jeanne D'Arc) would still make them a cheapish purchase. Depends on the game and how much you really want to play it on the PSV really..

@KaneRobot said:

@mariokart64fan said:

why are people complaining about getting a digital copy for free, you are not entitled to that, just play the game for the system you bought it for ,

Probably because this isn't 2007 anymore and companies should be far more open to letting users who have purchased their products play it across advancing platforms when the technology is there, which it clearly is here. Nintendo is by far the worst offender at the moment but clearly Sony hasn't gotten the message either.

If you think Microsoft is going to give you free digital licenses to all your disc-based 360 games when the next Xbox comes out you're mistaken. None of the console makers can force publishers to give away their games for free. That's the message you need to get.

In Japan, Those are cheap for games.

Edit: Just look at how much Japanese games cost in Play-Asia

If I've owned Commander Keen for PC since the mid 90s, and I take that software and mess with it till it runs on Linux, or run it from a USB memory stick, or on a Mac, or on an Android phone or load it through DOSBox, or pay to run the same thing on Steam's DOSBox client, am I committing a crime against Apogee? Am I only allowed to run my Commander Keen on a 386 with Windows 3.1? I'm sure there's plenty of fine print in those shareware agreements relating to what future as yet undiscovered platforms that it's not okay to run Commander Keen on.

----

Hardware changes. And the pseudo-laws being made regarding how you can use software you paid for on machines you paid for have been all about protecting business interests for some time, and nothing to do with keeping software which you own a license to functional in the long term.

People who think you are only entitled to run software you bought the license to under the exact laboratory conditions prescribed to you by the company, are just begging for dystopia.

Is it actually $6-20 worth of work to move PSP software you own to a PSP Go or Vita that you own? Pretty good business model if you ask me, it's just about pure profit. But actually, I agree - they do have the right to charge you whatever they want when they're the ones doing the work for you. My point is that it should be legal to do that work migrating software you own a license to to over to whatever hardware you own, for yourself. If selling a car is legal, then custom building a car needs to be legal as well. Otherwise you get into different laws for businesses and individuals, and then where are we?

Consider the people that hacked their Kinects to do cool stuff on a PC and then put the evidence all over Youtube. I'm sure what they were doing wasn't in the agreement! Then Microsoft realized it was the best free nerd PR ever, and strangely enough, enforcement of those user agreements never occurred. That's what I mean when I say what we're talking about here are pseudo-laws. When they aren't relevant to the company's interests, they disappear.

I use my psp all the time. Hopefully all my umd games i still want to play will be available and cheap ^_^ I still think I'm going to buy digital only for psp games though.

I wonder if this is just a really sleazy and underhanded way to get people to buy the games they already own all over again under the guise of "transferring" them instead. I'm curious what is the actual cost for Sony to offer this program and what money are they losing that they feel they need to recoup by charging per game to make up for that loss?

EDIT: Forgot about this part: "... it appears [the price] will be up to individual publishers to determine."

So it's not just Sony but each dev as well, but my question still stands just positioned towards the devs instead of squarely on Sony.

@BionicRadd said:

The Vita is 100% backwards compatible with all PSN purchases. You are not paying to play PSP games on a Vita. You are paying to get a digital version of a game you previously bought as physical media. This is no different then you buying a game and them releasing a GOTY edition of it a year or two later. You are entitled to the physical media version you already own and nothing more. As I said, if the "trade-in" scheme doesnt tickle your fancy, sell the games on ebay and use that money to buy the digital version.

Holy crap, people have a messed up sense of entitlement, these days.

What a meek response. Of course people have a sense of entitlement, these companies exist solely because of us, the consumer. They are not our benevolent benefactors that spend all their free time trying to please us, and likewise we should not spend all of our free time accepting whatever they throw our way.

Take Steam, for example. I can buy a physical copy of a game (If I hate myself.) and have both that and the Steam version for no additional charge. Bandwidth is dirt cheap right now, largely because everything is going digital. If Sony wants to get people into the PSN shop to actually buy shit, then they need a hook that makes sense, and letting us pay to have digital versions of our games is not the fucking way to go about it.

Let people register and download digital versions for free, while at the same time seeing the shop and what it offers, thereby making customers happy that they now have a digital version (A loyal customer is a valuable customer, and a loyal customer is only born from a happy customer.) and that same happy customer may now express an interest in everything else in the shop.

As it stands, a few people will use this service, but they've created a barrier of entry. Lots of people have never explored the PSN shop, and this'd be a fantastic way to introduce it to possibly hundreds of thousands of new potential patrons.

Wait you get to KEEP your old UMDs? Awesome. This is actually better than any outcome I expected. For those of you concerned about losing saves, in my experience, UMD saves seem to work flawlessly with digital versions. And for everyone who's bitching about not getting downloads for free, keep in mind the publishers have as much say in this as Sony- deals must be negotiated with them individually. Just sell your UMDs (if you don't care about collecting games like I do) and you'll recover most of the fee.

pay to access a game you already own. that's fucking stupid.

This just made me proud to not have an extensive UMD library. I'll admit being interested in Vita but I'm going to wait. I almost regret my current PSP, not making the same mistake twice.

Not a bad idea. I have a small amount of I'd love to play on a Vita (mostly, Square's stuff like Crisis Core & Dissidia); it'd be nice not to have to dig out my PSP to play some games.

Doubt that one of my all-time favorite games, Chili Con Carnage, will see release through this program though, which kinda sucks.

@uomoartificiale said:

usually backwar compatibility is a smart tactic for hardware companies to ensure that people will buy their next console at launch, based on the idea that the new console will retain the old library of games while the new one is still to come. BC is maily a favor they do for themselves, and it is reflected in sales to early adopters.

Now they are charging you to support this move. I don't see how they can make a profit like this if they discourage their first supporters (the one who get the worst revision of their product). They are asking for low sales.

Maybe the customers is not entitled to anything, but this is not a smart move either...

The Vita is 100% backwards compatible with all PSN purchases. You are not paying to play PSP games on a Vita. You are paying to get a digital version of a game you previously bought as physical media. This is no different then you buying a game and them releasing a GOTY edition of it a year or two later. You are entitled to the physical media version you already own and nothing more. As I said, if the "trade-in" scheme doesnt tickle your fancy, sell the games on ebay and use that money to buy the digital version.

Holy crap, people have a messed up sense of entitlement, these days.

Sunnuva bitch... at LEAST $6.50 US if this goes stateside?

usually backwar compatibility is a smart tactic for hardware companies to ensure that people will buy their next console at launch, based on the idea that the new console will retain the old library of games while the new one is still to come. BC is maily a favor they do for themselves, and it is reflected in sales to early adopters.

Now they are charging you to support this move. I don't see how they can make a profit like this if they discourage their first supporters (the one who get the worst revision of their product). They are asking for low sales.

Maybe the customers is not entitled to anything, but this is not a smart move either...

@BionicRadd said:

@Peanut said:

Fuck that. Paying $6-$20 for a game I already own isn't reasonable at all.

I bought Max Payne on CD Rom years ago. Therefore, Steam should let me have it for free!

I own a Super Mario Brothers NES Cart. The Wii Ware version should not cost me anything.

You own the UMD version. You do not own the Digital Version. Owning a CD doesn't mean you have the right to go on Itunes and download it without paying.

My suggestion is anyone that wants digital versions of these games should start hocking them on ebay and using the money they get from the sales to buy the PSN versions (or socking the money away to do so later). From where I am sitting, I see that i can buy a Vita, register my wife's copy of Darkstalkers and get that for my Vita on the cheap. Sounds like a win to me.

You got it right, my man.

@Nicky92 said:

Handheld gamings dead. Playing games on the big screen with the good sound system is how to play games.

We can do both. They are both equally awesome.

Handheld gamings dead. Playing games on the big screen with the good sound system is how to play games.