PSP to get classic game download service
In an interview with the Japanese magazine NikkeiBP, Izumi Kawanishi, the head of platform development at Sony Japan, has announced that a new game download service for the PlayStation Portable will be released in November. The service will make its debut in conjunction with the worldwide launch of the PlayStation 3.
According to Kawanishi, the new service will work either through a PC with a broadband connection, or through the PlayStation 3 itself. The user will be able to download games designed for the original PlayStation 1, which according to the Sony head works well. "As for emulation power there is no problem," he said, although he added that some changes have to be made to the games because the PSP only has a single analog stick and fewer control buttons than the PS1. He did not mention which titles would be made available, but he mentioned how Amazon had a list of "all books," indicating that Sony probably wants to put a large number of games on the service.
In addition to PS1 games, Kawanishi added that the service will offer UMD movies for download. The UMD format was a failure in retail stores, at least outside of Japan, but Sony is hoping that it might find new life with digital distribution. The movies would be stored on the PSP's memory sticks, as well as on the user's PC hard drive, or on the hard drive of their PS3. The games and movies will be packaged with Digital Rights Management (DRM) software to prevent copying, and no burning capability is planned. This isn't the first time that Sony has released an online store for the PSP—in April the company opened an online music store, but it was limited to the Japanese market.
0 votes
