PlayStation LifeStyle » UMD

Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker Features Optional Install

Zak Islam — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 01:54:14 +0000

Hideo Kojima’s upcoming foray into PlayStation Portable development, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, will be soon be released in Japan. Kojima Productions has announced the PSP title will feature an optional install for players.

Hideo Kojima’s Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker will be released tomorrow in Japan, and for those who will be buying or importing it should note that the UMD version of the game will include an optional data install.

The UMD will offer two optional installs. The small install will be 300MB with the full install being a whopping 800MB. By carrying out the optional install, it will noticeably decrease load times and gameplay will be more ‘smooth’.

Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker is slated for a June 8th release for North America, and a June 18th release for Europe. Kojima recently promised a massive announcement for Peace Walker, which is due to be made tomorrow during a press conference.

[Via]

Pixel Junk Monsters Deluxe Takes Aim at UMD

Kerveen Flores — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 15:07:57 +0000

PixelJunk Monsters is a unique title for the PS3, part of the PixelJunk series by Q Games. The game then made its debut on PSP, with PixelJunk Monsters Deluxe. Now the monsters are now going to take over the PSP soon in a more physical manner.

Next month, you will be able to literally get your hands on PixelJunk Monsters Deluxe. Q-Games’s Dylan Cuthbert has announced that a UMD version of the game will be available April 27th in the US at a retail price of $19.99.

Last fall, Cuthbert stated that a UMD release of the game was not going to happen due to piracy. Q Games held off a UMD release in order to see how well the digital version sold.

It looks like sales most likely met expectations and a UMD release is now at hand.

Dissidia Final Fantasy’s Price Gets Slashed in Half

Anthony Severino — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 21:36:36 +0000

Dissidia: Final Fantasy released mid-2009 on the PSP and brought Final Fantasy fans a dream come true. Square Enix gave gamers the opportunity to pit their favorite heroes and villains from the Final Fantasy franchise in a duel to the death.

If you haven’t yet picked up this title, now is your chance as it’s price has been cut in half at one major online retailer.

As part of Amazon.com’s Deal of the Day, Dissidia: Final Fantasy has had it’s price reduced by 50%, bringing the price to $19.98. Since this is the deal of the day, you have until the end of the night to take advantage of this excellent offer.

Head on over to Amazon now and pick up a copy for this low price.

Save Bundles With These Gamestop Deals

Paulmichael Contreras — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 23:48:40 +0000

So the New Year is upon us. When you are done partying, be sure to check out a local GameStop for the following deals, especially if you are a PlayStation fan.

Available for a limited time only, you can snag Metal Gear Solid 4 Greatest Hits Edition for $19.99, Prototype for $39.99, Modern Warfare 2 for $49.99, and Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising for $39.99. You can also snag select UMD movies for a mere $2.99, including Godzilla, Mr. Deeds, Spiderman, and Secret Window. Get these deals while they’re hot!

UMD Drive Not Coming To The PSP Go After All

Paulmichael Contreras — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 00:42:50 +0000

Guess we'll never know what that may look like...

A few days ago a rumor was flying around that Logitech may have been working on a UMD drive add-on for the PSP Go. It looks like this may never come to pass, however.

Sarah Youngbauer, Senior Public Relations Specialist for Logitech, simply stated when asked about the rumor:

This is not something that our company is working on.

So it looks like no one at Logitech is working on such a product. Stay with PlayStation LifeStyle for this and other news.

UMD Drive For The PSP Go May be Coming

Paulmichael Contreras — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 15:35:25 +0000

What on earth would that look like?

One of the PSP Go‘s claim to fame is that it is so much more portable than the past PlayStation Portable models. But how did it get that thin? By expunging excess weight, of course! The handheld has no UMD drive, but Logitech may be looking to change that.

According to the latest rumor flying around the internet, Logitech could be working on an add-on for the PSP Go that enables it to read UMDs. When website CVG contacted Logitech’s UK offices, they responded saying they had no idea about such a product, but it could perhaps be something that is going on over at Logitech US’ HQ. No official word has been given by either Logitech or Sony, but as soon as there is confirmation or denial of an add-on expect to see it here.

[Source]

Persona 3 Online & Offline Numbers Revealed

Kyle P. — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 11:55:03 +0000

With more and more games either releasing exclusively on the PSN store, or doing a a dual PSN / retail release, the question must be posed: How do the sales numbers compare? Well, with the latest release of Persona 3, the PSP title that released on both the PSN store and on retail shelves, the numbers are quite striking.

According to the latest Media Create estimates, the retail version of Persona 3 has sold around 158,000 copies. On the other hand, the PSN version managed to sell a dismal 10,000 units.

It should be noted, these are not official numbers–only estimates. Atlus USA has not commented on whether or not Persona 3 would release in North America.

[Source]

SCEA on PSP Minis, UMD Conversion, And Amazon

Steven Garcia — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 17:22:33 +0000

Introduction of the PSP family’s newest member went off with hardly a hitch, setting in motion new PlayStation Network services and content poised to highlight the portable entertainment value inherent to Sony’s digital-download-oriented PSP Go. However, in spite of the excitement surrounding the recent influx of full PSP titles and Minis available for download and the debut of Amazon’s PlayStation Network Store, many questions remain regarding Sony’s pricing strategy, the noticeably absent solution to UMD conversion, and what Amazon’s involvement means for the future of the PlayStation Network.

In a recent interview with Joystiq, Eric Lempel, SCEA’s Director of PlayStation Network Operations, was kind enough to shed some light on the pricing mechanism currently set in place for Minis and whether such prices correctly reflect their value as opposed to any other non-Minis title.

“There are a couple of rules, or maybe there’s just one rule. Minis have to come in at $9.99 or under….As far as pricing goes, the publisher of the title sets the pricing. So, they give us the price and then we have a standard markup…it’s really on them to get on and compete and do what they can to get their titles sell and make them successful…If it’s not priced correctly, consumers may be turned off at the proposition and say, “I’d rather just go for this kind of stuff instead of minis.”

When asked why the much anticipated UMD conversion service that was first teased by Sony in the weeks after the PSP Go was announced was then scrapped soon after, Eric Lempel explained,

“It’s a combination of what’s technically possible, but a bigger part of that is the rights to the content that’s been available. PSP has been out for many years now. There weren’t digital rights secured for all of this stuff, at no cost. So, there’s lots of legal issues we’d have to get through to get a lot of content cleared. And also, we’d have to protect that content. So, with a good technical process so you can’t pass around the UMD or do something else with it. So, it’s a combination of things. It’s something we’ll continue to look at, but for the time being, it’s just where it is.”

On the subject of SCEA’s newly formed partnership with online retailer, Amazon, Eric Lempel revealed details regarding the exclusive terms of the deal as well as how prices are controlled, stating:

“…we’re definitely open to exploring other retailers in the channel. There’s nothing exclusive about this. If it makes sense, and works for both sides, yeah, we’d definitely be open to exploring this with other retail partners…Pricing will be separate. Amazon is on their own as a retailer, so they can set their own pricing.”

We believe the last bit of information regarding the Amazon partnership to be very important, not only because we’re excited at the prospect of Amazon shaving a few bucks off the price of games, but because it’s a promising foreshadow of a digital download utopia. By allowing Amazon and other potential online retailers to control their own prices, in addition to an increase in competitiveness, digital download monopolization becomes less of an issue. As a result, the PlayStation Network is transformed from being the only seller of digital titles to another competitive retailer trying to persuade us into parting with our hard earned legal tender.

Sure, one could argue that this type of competitive digital download marketplace is purely wishful thinking considering countless retailers already offer the same games without much price variance. While that may be true, it’s no secret that Sony wants digital downloads to work while retailers want to maintain their piece of the pie. This type of partnership provides a perfect solution which gives both camps a reason to smile while offering them a chance to make us consumers truly happy. However, at the end of the day, we can’t help but remain cautiously optimistic.

Sony ‘Rewards’ Those Upgrading to PSP Go

Sebastian Moss — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 12:03:15 +0000

The PSP Go is one of the boldest and most daring decisions ever made by a gaming hardware manufacturer. By utterly scrapping their disc-based format Sony truly embraced digital distribution, a move that could turn out to be truly industry defining, as the success of a solely digital platform will be seen for the first time. While Sony may have been planning to make the digital transition all along, they remained silent on how gamers could upgrade their handheld and yet keep their games.

Now, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe has announced that people with existing UMD games and PSP’s who wish to upgrade to the new PSP Go, due out on 1st October, can claim three free downloads of the full games. The “PSP Go Rewards” program requires you to register your PSP Go on the PSN, and then to log in on to the PSN with your old PSP with the UMD in the drive, allowing you to download a special PSP Go theme, which then emails you a voucher for use on the PSP Go. This process can be done for three different games, out of the 17 titles available for the offer.

The list of available titles, which “may vary by territory” is as follows:

Patapon
Lemmings
Wipeout Pure
Pursuit Force: Extreme Justice
Echochrome
SOCOM U.S. Navy SEALs: Fireteam Bravo
Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters
Everybody’s Golf
Resistance: Retribution
Syphon Filter Dark Mirror
Medievil
LocoRoco
Killzone Liberation
Syphon Filter: Logan’s Shadow
Daxter
Buzz Brain Bender
Buzz Master Quiz

However, Sony Computer Entertainment America has stated they have no current upgrade plans for their regions.

[Source]

Hundreds of PSP Go Titles Available at Launch

Steven Garcia — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 02:31:09 +0000

During Sony’s TGS 2009 keynote, details regarding the number of available titles PSP Go owners will be able to download on launch day were revealed.

When the PSP Go came under the spotlight, many gamers were waiting for some news on Sony’s solution for playing already purchased UMD titles on their brand new PSP Go. The same gamers were also very disappointed when said solution wasn’t delivered. Instead, Sony announced that 700 titles will be available for download when the PSP Go hits North America next week, and 400 when it hits Japan this November. Whether these numbers include already released UMD titles or are composed entirely of new “snackable” games is uncertain, however we would hate for Sony’s solution to the UMD issue to be an extension of how they plan to handle PS2 emulation on the PS3.

UMD-less PSP Has Always Been in the Works

Kyle P. — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 18:26:16 +0000

Speaking in a recent interview, Sony product planning division lead Naoya Matsui, had revealed that it was always Sony’s intention to remove the UMD drive from their PSP.

“We’d planned to release a PSP model without a UMD drive since the very beginning,” said Matsui. Going on, he stated, “But if we’d simply released the hardware, there wouldn’t have been much for everyone to enjoy. We needed to prepare the right environment for it first – things like the transferral of content with the PS3 and PSN, and PC software to manage content like music and movies such as Media Go.”

Essentially, Sony had to wait for digital downloads to come up to par with physical media, and they feel the time is right. The PSP Go] is set to hit stores shelves October 1st.

[Source]

PSP Go Suffering from Lack of PSN Cards in Europe

Kishen Patel — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 06:33:08 +0000

While the PSPgo and its removal of the UMD drive is considered a godsend to developers and consumers alike, European retail outlets aren’t the biggest fans of the PSPgo since they aren’t able to receive any profit from software sales for the device.

A solution to this dilemma would be wider support of PSN Cards (which aren’t even available in Europe) for retailers. Hopefully this problem is remedied before the launch of the PSP Go this Fall. With the bigger push on digital distribution, it’s more than likely that SCEE will roll out the European distribution of PSN cards in order to retain retail support.
[Source]

GameStop Offering PSP Owners a Great Deal

Kyle P. — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 01:03:54 +0000

In GameStop’s weekly ad, there is a coupon that will give you 20% used PSP games. The coupon is redeemable only in-store, so all you have to do is print it out. Please note, the coupon expires June 11th.

We can probably expect more coupons of this nature, in an effort by retailers to push PSP UMD titles, and prepare for the UMD-less PSP Go!

Sony to Offer New Digital Copies Of Your Old UMD Games

Dan Massi — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 21:17:56 +0000

You may be thinking, with the recently announced PSP Go, how will I be able to play my previous UMD games? Well, you can keep your old PSP, or you can listen to what John Koller has to say. What’s said might just peak your interest.

When asked how current owners of the PSP will be able to play their collection of UMD games, John Koller responded with:

“We’re in the midst of putting together a good will program. We’ll be unveiling that soon [because] we actually think there’s a significant group that will be upgrading from the 1000…In the past, we’ve seen a 20-25% trade-up factor, and I assume that’s going to be the case here. We’ve modeled that. So we’re looking at a good-will program—a short term good-will program that would continue for years afterward.”

Koller also explained how this would be done, and compared it to Portable Copy (which allows you to rip and convert Blu-Ray movies on your PS3 or PSP). But, Koller did confirm that they will not be doing UMD ripping. Instead, you can expect a PSN-based digital distribution system, in which you can sign up for.

The most interesting part of this whole thing is that Portable Copy is free. It might be possible that Sony will offer this new system for free, but of course, there is no confirmation. And to add, the system may not apply to every PSP title out there, just the important ones.

Stay tuned on PlayStation LifeStyle for more on the PSP Go, and other PSP related news.

[Source]

Unbound Saga Crashes the Digital Download Only Party

Anthony Severino — Sat, 16 May 2009 00:17:09 +0000

The upcoming comic inspired beat ‘em up Unbound Saga is the next PSP game that will be ‘unbound’ by the confines of UMD. The PSP title, developed by Vogster, will be released directly to the PlayStation Store on July 16.

Speaking to Kotaku, Mario Kroll Director of Marketing for Vogster explains why they are opting to go the digital download only route:

“We expect to see a growing trend where highly anticipated releases such as Unbound Saga will bypass the UMD format and the often challenging retail environment, being instead delivered directly to consumers. It certainly is a ‘win’ for both content producers and gamers alike —- it avoids an unpopular delivery medium and costly manufacturing, while improving the timing and availability of great content to consumers when they demand it.”

We expect to see this digital download only model ‘GO’ing forward, as we are pretty sure we will see a UMD-less PSP revealed at E3.

[Source]