No UMD Transfer for the Vita

vxicepickxv

Slayer of Bothan Spies
Sep 28, 2008
3,126
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Aiddon said:
Sony, once again proving their two generations of dominance in the market was sheer, unadulterated LUCK.
The only real competitor in their first generation was... nobody. Nintendo went with the N64, which meant smaller capacity in order to remain price competitive(inferior graphics and smaller games), Sega was still failing to recover from their SegaCD/32x fiasco with the Saturn(which never caught on), and does anyone really think the NeoGeo was going to go anywhere with an 800 dollar system and 200 dollar games? Sony one the first round because they got good with CD based games, and because Sony Japan fired the Sony Computer Entertainment America director who was blocking JRPGs from America. He in turn immediately got hired by Sega America, and rejected the idea of putting Final Fantasy 7 on the Saturn.

The second Generation started off with Sega pretty much rushing out the Dreamcast to get to the market first, followed by Sony and it's amazing DVD player and fully backwards compatible game system. Microsoft floundered at first, and then Halo saved this new X-Box system. I would say the winners of that generation were both Sony and Microsoft. Nintendo did its own thing with the Gamecube, and it seemed to work for them.

As for this generation, I would say Nintendo won the first half, and both Microsoft and Sony are trying to play catch up. While they're both great systems, at the rate publishers are going, they could be the last full console generation.

As for the portable side, Sony dropped the ball on the PSP. They could have pulled something off if only they added a couple more features, and went with a business casual deal(think Personal Digital Assistant that has games, movies, and music). I don't think I've seen an advertisement for the PSP outside of a couple of magazines. The PSPGo was a terrible idea. This PSVita don't port over stuff we bought is just stupid. Of course, Nintendo isn't doing as good as they would hope right now either with the 3DS.

Granted there are more problems with the way gaming as a whole is working right now than I could probably ever address. I think we're heading for a long term repeat of 1983. Too many games and systems, and too few people willing to spend on it. I'm just not seeing enough interest in what's out there, especially long term, for companies to continue to head down their current course. I can't name a single factor that needs to change to fix it, because it's more than any one factor. There is no silver bullet to save gaming from itself.
 

kouriichi

New member
Sep 5, 2010
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Yeeeeep~!

Im not getting one. Im happy with my PSP. Before long, PSP games will drop to 5$ a pop, maybe 10. Then i'll just mass up on the cheap games and laugh.

Much laughter will be had. But i still dont see why they would charge for the Passport system at all. Your paying for an overpriced version of something you might already own, and now they want to charge you for game you already own?

For shame Sony. For shame.....
 

The Wooster

King Snap
Jul 15, 2008
15,305
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ila said:
I still can't believe how self-entitled certain gamers feel. When I bought a UMD I wasn't thinking to myself "oh boy I sure hope this works on every Sony system ever." It' just like a license. When I bought say, God Eater Burst on UMD, I was buying just that. The game on UMD. At no point was anyone obligated to make sure I can download a digital version of the game for use on a new upcoming system.
You're absolutely right, Sony isn't obligated to do anything regarding backwards compatibility. At the same time, people aren't obligated to buy their products, and by not including features people want, like backwards compatibility, Sony is making their product less appealing. That isn't gamers being "self-entitled," it's gamers being savvy customers.

I have a Vita preordered as well.
 

RikuoAmero

New member
Jan 27, 2010
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ila said:
I still can't believe how self-entitled certain gamers feel. When I bought a UMD I wasn't thinking to myself "oh boy I sure hope this works on every Sony system ever." It' just like a license. When I bought say, God Eater Burst on UMD, I was buying just that. The game on UMD. At no point was anyone obligated to make sure I can download a digital version of the game for use on a new upcoming system.

And for the record, this whole "transfer" system only covered games that already had PSN releases. It didn't cover every UMD, in fact it covered a very limited amount. Hardly "crippling."

Full disclosure here: yes I have the Vita preordered, and I also own a 3DS. I don't care to see any company "fail" or the like. I'd rather that gaming continues to get better. I really don't think the recent trend of negative journalism is helping the case at all.
No-one is has said that Sony is obligated to give us downloadable copies of our PSP games. No, what we're complaining about is poor customer service. Here's the scenario.
Let's say I now have a PSP in my hand (one with a UMD drive, the less said about the Go, the better). I've got a bunch of games on it I've paid money for (let's also assume I bought them all new, so we don't get into the arguments over new vs used). I now hear that Vita is on its way, its the shiny new handheld console, its more powerful and generally better.
However, the main thing keeping me from then buying the Vita is the fact its a separate console. The point of a handheld console is the fact you can carry it around with you, preferably stick it in a pocket, or keep it in the inside pocket of my coat. Now, I have to worry about which of the two handhelds from the same manufacturer I will bring with me. I'm not going to bring both, I already bring my smartphone with me (and that's competition right there, smartphones already have a bunch of great games, at better prices).
So, one way Sony could have persuaded me to buy their new product would have been to offer me downloads of any UMD games I have for the PSP. One way it could have worked would be to stick the disc in the PSP drive, log in to my Sony Account on the PSP and have the option to then register the game to my account. I then log in to my Sony account on the Vita and I'm able to download. Once my downloads are complete, I toss the PSP, and keep the Vita, and then on buying Vita games.
As the Vita is right now, its competing with its manufacturer's own products (which is never a good thing). At the moment, the only Vita game I'm interested in getting is Persona 4, but one game is not enough to get me to buy a machine.


So, to sum up, no-one is saying Sony is obligated to do ANYTHING. We're saying it would be a good business practice to do these things, because it creates goodwill with the customer. Instead, there's no good selling points for the Vita and a whole load of reasons to avoid it. Especially with charging for Passport. I know, a company exists to make money, but at $13 a game? That's pure profit right there, considering gigabytes of bandwidth cost only pennies to companies. What if that UMD game you bought cost only a tenner, and now its going to cost even more to get it onto the Vita?
 

Vault Citizen

New member
May 8, 2008
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What the hell Sony? It'd be one thing if you weren't offering the service alltogether but why does Japan warrant it when North America (and in all likelyhood Europe too) doesn't?
 

Baresark

New member
Dec 19, 2010
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Wow, these guys just don't want to sell anything. First it's expensive, then the memory cards are stupid expensive. Games are around $40, and now you have to repurchase your PSP games if you want to play them on your Vita. I know when this thing will start to sell really well though: When they enable custom firmwares and homebrew that allows you to play game backups. Just like with the PSP.

Though, there will definitely be a large bump in sales as soon as it releases here. But I think it'll be like the 3DS. Only the people really interested will get it initially, the rest of us will wait till the price drops. But, it's here to stay, that is for sure. People act like it's going to fail and they are just gonna abandon it. That isn't gonna happen. Perhaps everyone forgets Sony's projected bottom line for this fiscal year (it's down across the board). And the idea that they plan to lose money on the system for at least 3 years before starting to turn a profit. I'm relatively sure that is why they keep saying things like, "this is expected", about system sales.
 

daftnoize

New member
Aug 23, 2010
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I love my psp and have a ton ofgames for it, jrpgs really flourished on the system and ive played dissidia more tahn any other game ive ever owned. There where some great quirky puzzle games on there too. I want a vita alot, but sony keeps on giving me reasons not to get one, its so expensive and tbh I want to know that my large investment isnt gonna go pear shaped because no one else buys one and games stop getting made for it. A 3ds looks intresting although i have no care for the 3d. I just want one portable system with a hardcore experience. In short damn you iphones although you brought out some intresting ideas andbroadened the market you destroyed the thing I love handheld gaming
 

Rheinmetall

New member
May 13, 2011
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Ninedeus said:
Do they really want to make the Vita increasingly unappealing to PSP owners?
No UMD support: check
No improvements in battery: check
Single PSN/SEN account: check
Proprietary Vita Memory cards: check
No video out: check
 

FalloutJack

Bah weep grah nah neep ninny bom
Nov 20, 2008
15,489
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Heh, I don't see the point then.

They don't have much in the way of games for it. They don't have backwards compatibility for it so that old games can make up FOR the lack of new games. They don't have certain titles which I'm reliably informed would allow the Vita to take off like the PSP did... If we already have a stable handheld device in the PSP already, why should anyone want to dedicate more money to a new one? Can you honestly say that whatever it DOES have is worth it, plus the burning of the PSP bridge behind you? I don't see it.

Actually, this is something that's been bothering me since the PS3 models were changed that way. I don't care if you can buy titles online. Classic gaming and the nostalgia curve is a trend that can only grow in power, due to the fact that these games don't go away...but accumulate. Do people always hope online to buy the classics? Hell no. Assuming they are paying ANYTHING for whatever it is, the money is going to people who build and/or pass around the classic stuff, the hard copies. All that stuff is slipping by like sand through your fingers because of no backwards compatibility. When you basically...create a market against your own product, you've failed.
 

Artemicion

Need superslick, Kupo.
Dec 7, 2009
527
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That's too bad. Any reason why they aren't bringing such a feature to the US? Doesn't really seem to make sense not to - from a PR position, anyway.
 

Rainboq

Elite Member
Nov 19, 2009
16,620
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Alright, Sony, time to go back to business school. Rule one of business is BE NICE TO YOUR CUSTOMERS. Honestly, how the fuck do you expect people to want to give you their hard earned money on a LUXURY item if they don't like you? Valve knows this, hence why Steam is such a great platform, and why Nintendo handhelds have backwards compatibility.
 

Quiet Stranger

New member
Feb 4, 2006
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This will kill the chance of Sony EVER making any game related thing in the futurue (it seems that way to me) cause of this. I won't be buying a Vita now.
 

omicron1

New member
Mar 26, 2008
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Here's what Sony thinks is going to happen: people buy extra digital copies of all their games. Moneymoneymoneymoney.
Here's what's going to happen: people keep their bloody PSPs! (and, in the process, lose a certain amount of interest in the console that would not replace their original system, but would vie for their interest with a fraction of their old library and no way to transfer the stuff not already there.

Sony really needs to learn the power of an existing library. They're losing so many opportunities - even if it's only an option to pack all our games in a big box and send them to Sony to be transferred to our PSN accounts, an official method would work wonders for public perception. Too bad one of the head muffs in Sony America HQ is such an idiot...
 

GeorgW

ALL GLORY TO ME!
Aug 27, 2010
4,806
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Wow, that's really stupid. Hopefully, if you Americans complain enough, us Europeans might get it. So, go on, attack!
 

neonsword13-ops

~ Struck by a Smooth Criminal ~
Mar 28, 2011
2,771
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I don't really care about the backwards compatibility thing.

All I really want to know is if it can play ps2 games released on the playstation store.