If you are planning to upgrade to the PSP Go! this October, you’re probably wondering what will become of all those UMD games you’ve purchased over the years. Although the UMD format will continue, you won’t be able to use them on the PSP Go! unless you have digital copies of the game. Its looks like Sony has already come up with a solution. According to John Koller, “We’re in the midst of putting together a good will program. […] So we’re looking at a short term good-will program that would continue for years afterward.”
This goodwill system, further explains Koller, will essentially be similar to Portable Copy, wherein Blu-ray movies are ripped and converted from the PS3 to the PSP. However, you will not be ripping your UMDs. What will happen, actually, is that there will be a PSN-based digital distribution that you can sign up to. At least that’s what it sounds like.
Since Koller likened it to Portable Copy – which in case you didn’t know is for free – there’s then a possibility that this new service for UMD owners will be free as well. It’s highly unlikely that this service will be available for all games but you could very well see the popular games available on the service. Digital version of UMD games are already available to purchase from the PlayStation Store, though its been a while since anything new was added.
Koller says:
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.