One of the big questions fans started asking once Sony announced the PlayStation Vita was whether it would be backwards compatible with PlayStation Portable games that aren't available digitally. A solution was promised, and now it's here: the UMD Passport program.
Launching on December 6, shortly before the Vita's December 17 Japan launch, UMD Passport involves downloading a special UMD Registration Application from the PS Store onto your PSP, Andriasang reports. You'll then use that to register your game so you can download it to your new handheld... at a discounted price. What, you thought this would be free?
The program will support roughly 200 games from 40 companies; Sony's posted a partial list online, but be warned that it's all in Japanese. The price for downloading a registered UMD game averages between 500 and 1,500 yen ($6-19).
The question now is whether or not you're willing to pay to bring your old UMD-based games to the Vita. It's not hard to see things from Sony's perspective -- how is anyone to know if a registered UMD is owned or just borrowed? -- but the idea of re-buying a game that I bought only a year or two ago is a hard pill to swallow, even at a discounted price.
Source: Andriasang
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Jax009
If I had to choose one or two games, They would be Monster Hunter Freedom Unite & Dissidia 012. After that, I wouldn't look back.
dpersad978
If they charged a one time fee to buy an adapter that allowed you to play UMD's on the PSVita for anywhere between $50-$100 that would be OK ... I suppose, either way, however, I am keeping my current PSP so it's not a majour issue for me.
rallywgn7
I don't understand why so much hate about this. I think it should maybe be just 5 bucks, anything higher will be ridiculous, but it is a smart way to keep people from just borrowing tons of umd disks from their friends. But who really plays last gen games? I've gone from ps1 all the way to ps3, and only once have I used the backwards compatibility. With the launch list the vita has, crying about this seems just seems asinine. But hey, if out dated games are your thing, then just keep your psp. I mean, if you got imd's then you've probably got a psp, or maybe your just pissed cause sony won't let you steal their games.
TurtleDogg
BIG SURPRISE HERE FROM SONY! (SARCASM)... THE GREEDIEST COMPANY ON EARTH... THIS GREEDY RECYCLING OF CONTENT IS EXACTLY WHY PEOPLE HACK THE CRAP OUT OF YOUR CONSOLES AND NETWORK! I HOPE SOMEBODY TAKES DOWN YOUR NETWORK AGAIN!... AND I WILL CONTINUE TO USE CUSTOM FIRMWARE ON MY CONSOLES SO I DON"T NEED TO PURCHASE MY GAMES OVER AND OVER AGAIN...SONY, YOU ARE THE REAL PIRATES! I CAN"T WAIT UNTIL PIRACY PUTS YOU OUT OF THE GAMING BUSINESS...
theantigzus
as old as some of these games are they should be about $5 by now anyways : /
ValkyrieRyu
thaaaank goodness I never bought a PSP. one less thing to worry about. :P for new users this is great since we will be able to buy the old games that were on the PSP still for the Vita huh? :P
mtlhead420
yep good idea sony just keep pissing people off and charging more for inferior products. i have been done with sony for about the last 2 years and by the looks of it thats not going to change anytime soon.
Ashilyn
Man, people will complain about anything. Really, a few bucks to reget a game on a new console that doesn't support the original format isn't that bad. I mean, no one complains about the Virtual Console, and I'm sure a lot of those games had been previously bought by people. We should be glad Sony's doing something at all instead of just leaving people in the lurch. I'll gladly pay a few bucks to port over some of my favourite games.
cloudMAN75
i wanna transfer ff dissidia to psvita
neko_baka
SO how many of us bought FF7 from the PSN and so forth huh?
Same deal as just that, someone needs to get paid simple as that.
Besides you could always just rip the UMD and throw it on your MSD then play play away for "free" if you will. Think out side the box O.O
woodchuck1992
Hasn't anyone realized yet that 1) Sony is notorious for screwing buyers of their new consols with a lack of backwards compatibility then to make it worse they make classic HD collections to get more money and 2) they always always always have a new memory format for a product launch
Atrineas
Doesn't really effect me too much. I'm planning on getting a Vita, but I never owned a PSP so I have no UMD's. But it does suck that I can't buy any PSP UMD titles I missed out on for the Vita.
SoulEaterGrim
that is so dumb -__- so im going to have to pay AGAIN to download the game i already have thats pretty much like extortion
Mr_E_Meatshield
So the thing they said they were going to do when the PSP Go came out is what they're doing for the Vita. On top of that, they're going to charge for it. Boy, that ain't right I'll tell ya what.
Well, good thing I still have my PSP, so I don't have to go through all that. UMD's on PSP, digitally downloaded stuff on Vita.
DPsx72
While nowhere near as bad as M$, this is another stupid idea from Sony. Find a way to prove ownership of a game, don't charge us twice because we'll just find a way around it. If it was a one time fee for the program I'd consider it, not that I have much for the PSP to start with. Anything over $5 for a transfer is too much.
erob90
It's not too bad considering I will be able to get a digital copy of my UMD games for my sweet Vita and PSP and still keeping the UMD which I can give to my nephew... it's not that I have a lot of UMDs anyway. After the PSPgo release, when it was obvious SONY was taking down the UMD format, nobody was dumb enough to continue getting UMDs... except apparently for the guy who wrote the article... made me LOL.
Completist
This makes me glad I have both digital and UMD versions of some of my games.
djspinal
If u say "I expect a small fee" or "sony needs to be profitable" with having to RE-buy something u already bought, and having to register the disc as proof of a previous 40+ dollar purchase, then y would a brand new movie release b $19.95 on blu-ray ( the more "expensive format" or so were told ) come with a digital copy as well as cloud storage to b accessed anytime online, and a dvd?! http://0.mk/db36c c'mon!
Imo this should b a courtesy, considering i switched to a psp go (my own fault) , how can i get my umds, i still have, registered? Also do i have to buy the vita to do this? Can i just get the digital version for my go?
To me, the vita looks to b the biggest waste of money since laserdiscs, and the titanic, considering how support for the psp has basically completely fallen of the rails.
This is the kind of news that really proves the cheaper hardware is to manufacture, the more ways they try split it up and make u pay more for what u already had. :'(
Cartridges...really?
New memory card format...again?
How many memory cards has anyone ever had to buy for an iphone?
rear touch panel...y?
2 cameras...the better 4 china to spy on u?
ppl really dont mind paying for games, they just want to b able afford them. ( hence, the companies will make more money, when they stop trying to rob you )
NocturnalX
Really? What a slap in the face to fans and consumers. I don't have to pay to play DS games on a 3DS. Four years of financial loss doesn't excuse it either. I can't see this helping the situation either.
macross2012
Honestly this is just pure garbage. SO wait, I paid full price for the game and if I want to play it on the PSP2 (which is what it really is) I get to pay for it again..
SCREW YOU SONY!
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