Will the PSP loose the UMD drive?

[Shao Feng-Li]

http://www.pcworld.com/article/160360/will_sonys_next_psp_lose_the_umd_drive.html?loomia_ow=t0:a16:g2:r5:c0.0371761:b22360444

I say keep the thing. Let the folks with the UMD disks be able to use them and for those who don't want to use it the drive, they don't have too.

[Midori]

Well, a download-only console is very cool, and may be the way of the future.
But, I think you should wait till you make a whole nother console before making it download-only. Unless, of course, there's a way to copy the UMDs into memory and beam them to a UMD-less PSP! Of course, there's no way Sony would let that happen.

[TriezGamer]

Yeah, way too open to piracy. Personally, I'm of the opinion that backwards compatibility is a wee bit over-rated. Very few, if any, backwards compatible consoles actually do everything right. I play all of my PS1 games on my PS1, my PS2 games on my PS2, and my Xbox games on my original Xbox, despite having both a 360 and a PS3. I feel they generally 'feel' better that way.

Maybe it's just me.

[Nate]

I don't think we'll be seeing a download-only console in America anytime soon. Remember that there's still quite a few people in the States that use dialup or have no internet access at all. While a large portion of adult gamers don't use these, there are the kids that have to use mom and dad's phone line to get on the net...it would be disastrous, I think, to release a download-only console since it wouldn't be feasible for some people to have.

[Benn]

Yeah, way too open to piracy. Personally, I'm of the opinion that backwards compatibility is a wee bit over-rated. Very few, if any, backwards compatible consoles actually do everything right. I play all of my PS1 games on my PS1, my PS2 games on my PS2, and my Xbox games on my original Xbox, despite having both a 360 and a PS3. I feel they generally 'feel' better that way.

Maybe it's just me.

Sony will probably develop some horrid DRM like Windows Media Player, iTunes or Microsoft Reader uses. A person will be able to copy copy their game a few times and then after that the file will become useless. Or there will be an ID tag encoded into the software that will allow Sony to track down the original buyer of the game.

[Etoh*the*Greato]

The issue that I would have with an all digital PSP is the fact that Sony does every downloadable for the PSP as it is off of the PS3. I don't think $600 is a fair price to pay for a handheld downlaod service. :p

[Shao Feng-Li]

Well, even now, I go download a game directly onto my PSP with with the PSP's online store. No PS3 in sight.

[Etoh*the*Greato]

Oh? Nice! I figured that ability had been lost to me since I didn't have a PS3. How's the Downloadable game selection?

[blkmage]

Well, among all of the PSP owners I know, none of them use UMDs. When they do buy games, they don't use the UMDs and just throw an ISO on a memory stick anyway. I mean, the PSP isn't exactly pirate-proof even with UMDs. The fact that it's an optical medium that spins and drains the battery and takes time to load is another mark against it. I can see why they're floating the idea around.

[Shao Feng-Li]

...

Getting that thing to play ISOs is the hardest thing ever... I've tried, lol. The 1000s were easy to hack, but the 2001s require a lot more... work.

The fact that it's an optical medium that spins and drains the battery and takes time to load is another mark against it. I can see why they're floating the idea around.

True, though, even with my PSP, I can buy games from Sony online...

Oh? Nice! I figured that ability had been lost to me since I didn't have a PS3. How's the Downloadable game selection?

It's pretty cool. It doesn't have everything though, I don't think. You just download and install, though, I've only done it with demos.

[Etoh*the*Greato]

Yeah, I'm gonna say I'm pretty much a PSputz. I always use the UMD simply because I'd rather just toss the game in and play rather than prepare it.

[TriezGamer]

With a CFW on a PSP (which took me 15 minutes, even on a PSP-2000), I can turn a UMD into a playable ISO in about 10 minutes. It's really not that hard, and it only really needs to be done once.

[Bobtheduck]

...

Getting that thing to play ISOs is the hardest thing ever... I've tried, lol. The 1000s were easy to hack, but the 2001s require a lot more... work.

Even if you hack them, CFW doesn't instantly play ISOs (at least I think, I have 5.00 m33 um... 4, I forget exactly what it's called, my PSP isn't with me ATM)... There's still a step or two you have to do to get it to do that, (which I haven't done yet)

No physical media makes me a sad alien cat duck. Even though having too much physical makes it hard to move, I'd really love to have a bookshelf full of games and movies, not a harddrive full, that could go bad at any moment and BAM there go my games and movies.