Better yet, the sequel to the original Holy Invasion Of Privacy, Badman! will take advantage of all that space the UMD format offers, packing in two games on one Universal Media Disc. NIS America has announced that it will include the first game (Holy Invasion Of Privacy, Badman! What Did I Do To Deserve This?) on the North American release of the second. Holy bonus opportunity, Kotaku readership!

Holy Invasion Of Privacy, Badman! 2: Time to Tighten Up Security! [Official Site]

CVG cites an unnamed source in its report, pegging an external UMD reader that will let PSPgo owners play their hard copies and "make the PSP a little bulky." Bulkier than the PSPgo camera adapter?

Take the possibility of a UMD add-on as rumor for now, but someone would be wise to make the PSPgo more attractive to owners of the PSP-3000 and its ancestors.

PSPgo to get UMD drive add-on? [CVG]

We checked with four online retailers and online shopping services to see how their prices compared to the ones found in the online Playstation Store. The results? A little surprising.

With only half of the top-rated Playstation Portable games (shown in order of ranking) currently available online, it's hard to do a meaningful comparison. It is interesting that the inability to find a particular used title can drive up the price in a store, but doesn't seem to impact its price online.

While the difference for many of the available games online often isn't substantial, the Playstation Store's relatively high price for a game like Wipeout Pure, which has been around for awhile and will run you nearly half the price in a store, is troubling.

Methodology: We used Gamerankings.com to find the 10 highest-rated games on the Playstation Portable. Prices were checked Sunday night. For used games we used the "like new" condition prices when available or "very good" condition when the service didn't include like new as an option. In the case of Google, we used Google Shopping to find the best price of a used title from a retailer.

You can quibble about the when and the how of this happening, but the inevitability of games being sold online like music, free of their plastic prisons, is certain.

The first real sign of that step away from games sheathed in cardboard and plastic sold in a bricks and mortar store hit earlier this month in the form of the PSPgo.

Sony's latest Playstation Portable is a smaller, sleeker system that has no way of playing a physical game on it. There is no disc drive of any sort, instead there is internal memory, a wireless internet connection and a virtual store run by Sony.

"This is an interesting step to test the waters on a digital only product," Eric Lempel, director of Playstation Network Operations, told Kotaku. "We are thrilled and completely cognizant that this is the platform for a digital gamer.

"It's a really exciting time."

While gamers can visit the Playstation Store directly on their Playstation Portable or PSPgo, the PSP has to store its games on Memory Sticks, while the PSPgo has 16GBs of internal memory and still has the ability to store titles on Memory Sticks. Top-tier games can take up half a gig to one a half gigs of memory each.

The Playstation Store currently has about 100 PSP games available for download with hundreds more in the pipeline, Lempel said. To purchase a game, you just need to find it and download it directly to the device. The sale is automatically charged to a credit card or taken out of credit which can be purchased at retail stores.

Both the PSP and PSPgo can also display pictures and movies and play music. While the online store both rents and sells movies, it currently doesn't offer music. That's something that could change in the future, Lempel said.

"It is something we have considered and are looking at," he said. "It's a natural fit, but there is nothing to talk about right now."

Sony faced quite a few hurdles in launching their download-only gaming platform. Some retailers, which make a bulk of their money off of game not hardware sales, were reluctant to carry the device. And game publishers had to be convinced that the games, no longer on a physical disc, wouldn't be open to greater piracy.

Under Sony's system, games have to be "activated" after they have been installed on a PSPgo or Playstation Portable and can only be installed on a total of five different PSPs or PSPgos in their lifetime.

Those steps, Lempel says, helped convince third-party publishers that their device was a safe bet.

"We're seeing everyone on board with the PSPgo," he said.

While the $250 PSPgo is a download-only device, Sony isn't putting all of their eggs in one basket. Sony Worldwide Studios head Shuhei Yoshida told Kotaku that the company intends to continue its support of the $170 Playstation Portable, which allows gamers to download and play those same games or use the device's built-in UMD drive to play games.

Moving forward, he said, new games will be released in both the UMD and digital formats. Sony was sure to make it as easy as possible to release a game in both formats, Lempel said.

"It's not that hard to do, but there is some work involved," he said.

The hope is that games will hit both the retail store and Sony's online Playstation Store at the same time and for the same price.

The decision to not drop the price for a game that doesn't have the added cost of packaging and distribution may not sit well with gamers, but Lempel says Sony is comfortable with the decision.

"Right now there is no price difference," he said. "We feel (the games) are competitively priced and that there is a ton of content across the spectrum.

He added that a price drop for digital games in the future is possible.

"We're always looking at our business model."

The online store does have lower-priced, simpler games available for purchase. These "minis" cost $10 or less, take up less than 100 megs of memory and can't have multiplayer or network functionality.

Publishers can also decide they want to place their bigger titles on sale, Lempel pointed out.

"We've done a good amount of sales on the Playstation Network in the past," he said.

One stumbling block for the new platform could prevent current Playstation Portable owners from upgrading to the new handheld.

There is currently no way for a Playstation Portable owner to transfer their library of UMD games to the download-only PSPgo. Yoshida told us that Sony "seriously looked into solutions" but that legal and technical issues prevented them from coming up with a system that would work.

Lempel says that the biggest issue was not just about the games, but rather the game's music and other royalty issues.

To try and make up for that, Playstation Portable owners in Europe who upgrade to the PSPgo will get three free download games. Currently, there are no such plans for potential upgraders in the U.S., Lempel said. He did add that new bundles for the PSPgo could be heading for the U.S. in the future.

While the PSPgo gives gamers the convenience of instantly purchasing games online without having to leave their homes and the ability to carry many of those titles with them without the need of extra discs, the device is a much bigger win for publishers and Sony.

If successful, the PSPgo and it's download-only service completely kills the ability for gamers to sell off their titles or buy used copies of games.

A quick check of the top ten rated games for the Playstation Portable found that half weren't yet available in the Playstation Store and of those that were, only one was cheaper than the various stores and services that sell games used.

The PSPgo is driven by an interesting concept, and has a better design than its predecessor, but to succeed Sony has to drop the price of the handheld console and digital copies of games and should actively court publishers to have regular sales on their titles. Sony should also launch digital rentals of games and push gamer loyalty programs that reward frequent shoppers.

And why wouldn't they?

Used games, next to perhaps piracy, is a publisher's biggest concern. Moving gamers away from a system that supports the resale of titles, with nothing going into the pockets of publishers, is likely one of the video game industry's top priorities.

But to do so with little to no reward for the consumer will alienate gamers and inevitably kill this first test of a download-only platform.

Four publishers and a retailer did not respond to requests for interviews for this story.

Well Played is a weekly news and opinion column about the big stories of the week in the gaming industry and its bigger impact on things to come. Feel free to join in the discussion.

"We were evaluating a UMD conversion program, but due to legal and technical reasons we will not be offering the program at this time," a Sony Computer Entertainment of America spokesman told Kotaku.

The $250 PSPgo has no UMD drive, instead relying fully on an Internet connection to purchase, download and install games onto the system's harddrive or removable memory.

At this year's E3 Expo in Los Angeles, Sony Computer Entertainment officials said that they hoped to have a plan in place to allow UMD games to be transferred over to the PSPgo by the launch of the system.

"We are looking into programs for owners who have previously purchased UMD titles and want to exchange them for digital versions," Sony Computer Entertainment's Brian Keltner told Kotaku at the time. "It's something we are still hammering out the details. As soon as we have solid plans in place we will make an announcement."

One of the rumored plans involved Sony installing kiosks in retail stores which would allow gamers to turn their UMD games into digital ones. Recently a Dutch and Australian retailer said they would not be carrying the PSPgo.

While the ability to transfer already owned copies of UMD games to the PSPgo could likely have a large impact on whether current Playstation Portable owners would buy the system, it's unlikely it would impact gamers new to Sony's portable offerings.

During the Tokyo Game Show Sony unveiled new peripherals for the PSPgo, dropped the price of the Playstation Portable in Japan and announced the launch of a program that would free games to people in Europe who upgrade from the PSP to the PSPgo.

PSPgo buyers will be given three free games from a list of seventeen PlayStation Portable titles. That list is, as far as we can gather, comprised entirely of first-party Sony titles, including Killzone: Liberation, SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Fireteam Bravo 3, WipEout Pure, echochrome, LocoRoco, Patapon and more.

The rewards system will run from October 1, 2009 to March 31, 2010 in European territories. And according to the release, will require PSPgo owners to register for their three free games by accessing the PlayStation Network with their older PSPs with a UMD in the drive.

The PSPgo Rewards system sounds like a decent enough solution, should you have UMDs on hand and have a preference for the seventeen games offered by Sony. However, those will larger UMD libraries may see the offer differently.

What do you think? Enough goodwill to get you to upgrade to the PSPgo?

Again, the gripe isn't so much about the new handheld's cost - $250 in the U.S. - as it is the format switch from UMD to download only. It effectively robs these retailers of the margins they reap on game sales. ShopTo's pissed enough that it's grudgingly selling the device without any real push to its customers. "We do have it listed on the site, but we are not concentrating any big marketing behind it," ShopTo chief Igor Cipolletta told Eurogamer.

Sony has decided to cut publishers and retailers for the software of the PSPgo and deal direct with developers, giving them a 70 per cent margin for any items sold on Sony PSN. I believe if they had lowered that to 50 or 60 per cent, and given the opportunity to online retailers, it would have enjoyed greater success and retailers would attempt to promote the console to the market.

Everybody's Favorite Analyst, Michael Pachter of Wedbush Morgan, thinks those who boycott selling the PSPGo, or publicly support such an action, are behaving self-destructively. "Refusing to carry them subjects them to the risk that Sony will bypass them for Gran Turismo or Uncharted, in which case they lose," he said. "Retailers have to face the fact that games will be increasingly offered over Xbox Live and PlayStation Network, and cope with the outcome."

ShopTo: PSPgo "Almost Dead" on Arrival [Eurogamer via Game Stooge]

With the PSPgo coming out in October, it makes sense that Atlus would choose to release Persona PSP on the PlayStation Network simultaneously with the retail release. They're betting that early adopters of the new version of Sony's handheld will jump at a new-old roleplaying experience, while those of us still rocking the normal PSP might just be too lazy to get up off the couch. Fair enough.

Those of you with the motivation to leave your dwelling place will still be rewarded, however, with the 2-disc soundtrack remaining exclusive to the retail version.

The Wheel Country, LOVERS, Little Niece, Hypnotism 2 and Ways to Have Sweet Sex With A Childhood Friend are all coming to the UMD format.

The titles will be out this fall.

PalaceGame [NSFW Official Site via オレ的ゲーム情報]

But don't worry, Sony Computer Entertainment is hard at work on a solution.

"We are looking into programs for owners who have previously purchased UMD titles and want to exchange them for digital versions," said Sony Computer Entertainment's Brian Keltner. "It's something we are still hammering out the details. As soon as we have solid plans in place we will make an announcement."

Keltner added that SCEA hopes to have the plan in place before the PSP Go ships.

Sony's John Koller, Director of Hardware Marketing, told Gizmodo that the program was a "short term good will program that would continue for years afterward."

Earlier this year rumors surfaced that one of the programs Sony was looking at would put kiosks in retail stores that would allow gamers to turn their UMD games into digital ones.

Keltner declined to comment on the rumor.

No, Capcom will be sticking by Sony's beleaguered proprietary format, telling British trade site MCV:

We certainly do not intend to stop supporting UMD. Certainly for us PSP is very important – more so with Monster Hunter coming – than maybe any other publisher

That should answer any questions you have as to why they're sticking with it. There are millions of people who own Monster Hunter on UMD. Meaning there are millions of people who own PSPs that play Monster Hunter UMDs. If there's only one game left being produced on UMD in the dark, distant future, it will be Monster Hunter.

Capcom confirms digital PSP title for Europe [MCV]

No. Really. According to 1UP's report on the oft-rumored PSP-4000/PSP Go!, Sony will be releasing about 100 new and classic PSP games in downloadable form on the PlayStation Store when the new PSP launches. 1UP even writes that Polyphony Digital's Gran Turismo Mobile is "said to be one of the premier launch titles."

Announced in 2004, there's been little mention of the portable racing simulator, with Polyphony boss Kazunori Yamauchi saying the title was still "moving forward" last November.

With two alleged storage options available (8GB and 16GB), future PSP owners may have to budget their internal storage space wisely, unless Sony has something clever planned for managing all those downloads.

1UP says it expects Sony to announce the new hardware at E3, just mere weeks away. Keep an eye peeled.

New PSP Named And Coming This Fall [1UP]

According to Ars Technica's unnamed sources, Sony will release the Patapon sequel via the PlayStation Store as downloadable goods, bypassing a UMD release for the boxed version in North America. What will ship with the box is a voucher for the game, according to Ars' report, which can then be downloaded to the PSP.

A recently updated GameFly listing may confirm that rumor.

The online rental outlet's Patapon 2 page now lists the game as "Not Rentable," a very recent change. GameFly typically lists a title as "not rentable" due to peripheral restrictions, as in the case of Eye of Judgment or Time Crisis 4, which require bundled accessories to play.

While the shipping of what is essentially an empty box may sound unusual, it may simply be a model that Sony is testing at retail, if rumors of the UMD-free PSP-4000 are accurate. Doing so with a budget priced PSP game, one that's already likely to appeal to an established fan base, would be a generally safe bet.

The game has already shipped on UMD in other regions of release, with the U.S. release scheduled for May 5th.

And the sale of vouchers for downloadable games is not unprecedented. Rockstar Games apparently saw some success with the release of Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost & Damned by selling branded Microsoft Point cards at retail.

We've contacted Sony Computer Entertainment reps seeking comment, but have not heard back yet. We'd consider this an interesting rumor for now and will obviously update when we hear more.

New Sony PSP trend? Retail Patapon 2 rumored to be UMD-free [Ars Technica]

Sony's John Koller says that, by the end of the year, Sony will be making a lot more PSP games available over the PlayStation Network. So you won't need to go to a store and buy one of those clunky, noisy discs; instead, you can just download a game and store it on a memory card.

And we're not talking retro games, either. We're talking the simultaneous release of a game in a store (on UMD) and on the PSN (as a digital download). Sony have been pushing this with first-party games for a few months now - LocoRoco 2 and Patapon 2 (in Europe) were both available day 1 as downloads over the PSN - but we should be seeing it a lot more often in the months to come, from both Sony and third-party publishers.

Q&A: Sony's John Koller Talks PSP's Downloadable Future [Wired]

"I really have no clue what Sony's plans are," Ready At Dawn CEO Didier Malenfant told Edge Online, despite being a top notch PSP developer and a trusted second-party. But that doesn't mean he wouldn't like to see the rumored PSP-4000 go the digital distribution route, sloughing off the UMD format. In fact, he'd probably love it.

"I'd love to see anything that can help distribution move quicker toward a 100 percent online model," Malefant said. "It's not piracy but used games that are killing us." And, you know, it's pretty tough to trade in the games one buys from the PlayStation Store.

Ready At Dawn is rumored to be hard at work on a follow-up to Chains of Olympus, a title that would likely generate interest in a new PSP if it were offered as a digital download alongside a hard copy.

We're hoping that if Sony does opt to push for more digital distribution, the most recent management shuffle at the company means the PlayStation Store on the PS3 and PC, combined with some nice iTunes-style games management software, will make the medicine go down easier.

Ready At Dawn's Two Cents on PSP Rumors [Edge Online]

Earlier this week, Acclaim chief creative officer David Perry said that he knows a developer who is working on games for a Playstation Portable that won't have the UMD disc drive.

Although Sony's John Koller wasn't willing to discuss further the details of the rumor, he did say that Perry's comments about the new PSP does ring true in one area: Digital downloads.

"We are making a concerted effort for digital distribution," he said. "We've talked to developers about increasing their digital download content."

Currently publishers can choose to launch a game on UMD or go direct to digital through the Playstation Store.

"There is a delay right now because we want to ensure retail is respected and have their day in the sun," Koller said. "Retail has been concerned about the digital side of game purchases, but that conversation has changed in the past nine to 12 months."

That's because retail stores can sell Playstation Network cards and make a profit on them.

Sony is currently looking through their PSOne library and all publishers' back histories to see what can be placed on the Playstation Network, he said.

"I spoke to a developer who is working on it right now," he said. "I know this developer is already working on it, so that means they have a prototype. That would sound like a fall release to me."

Perry said he is excited about the news.

"I've been pounding on Sony for a long time to make the PlayStation Portable relevant and not to let Apple stroll away with the portable game market," he said. "Look at what Apple is doing now. Why are so many investors investing in Apple game development? Trying to pitch a PSP game to investors right now is brutal."

The idea of a UMD-free PlayStation Portable begs the question of how games will be loaded onto the device.

Perry believe it will be done through digital downloads and direct connect to a computer.

The ultimate goal, he says, is for the PSP to go 100 percent digital. Not only would that allow Sony to have a more direct connection with their customers and get a larger piece of the sales pie, it would essentially kill the used game sales market.

As a stopgap to keep retailers like GameStop interested in selling the PlayStation Portable 2, which they make little to no money on, Perry thinks that Sony would at least initially sell games for the device on Memory Sticks, as they currently do with some movies, or with pre-paid cards.

As for backwards compatibility, it stands to reason, Perry says, that all current PSP titles would show up on PlayStation's online store.

While Perry insists that the PSP2 is real, and already been developed for, a lot of the details about distribution and release are more speculative on his part.

It does make sense that games will one day go digital only, it seems inevitable. But is now too soon for something like the PSP?

Handy, even if one of those is a very odd mix of genres, but we thought we'd be seeing less UMDs, not more. No pricing yet, so try not to get too excited about the big big savings.

PSP PSN downloadable games get UMD collections [Siliconera]

"I think we definitely thought about it," he said. "I think that's the trend moving forward."

With the recently announced ability to purchase movies on a Playstation 3 and move them over to a Playstation Portable, and as the cost of memory continues to drop, the chance that a new Playstation Portable would include some sort of internal storage option is becoming increasingly likely, Tretton said.

New of the push toward digitally distributed movies through the Playstation Store is also like to impact UMD's already flagging movie sales, he added.

"I think the UMD has struggled," he said. "And that's an understatement. That's been a very frustrating thing. I don't think (UMD movies) were handled very effectively."

He said it seemed that studios said "lets see if we can get people to pay $20 or $30 for crappy movies with less content."

Digital distributed movies, he said, is either going to supplement the UMD movie's struggle or be the "stake in the UMD's heart."

Available now, at the more budget-minded price are MTV staples Beavis & Butt-head: The Mike Judge Collection (Vol. 2 and 3), Jackass (Vol. 2 and 3), Wildboyz (Vol. 1 and 2), Viva La Bam (Vol. 2, 3, and 4) and Aeon Flux: The Complete Animated Collection (2-disc set). Leave your brain and your big bills at the door!

MTV Hits PSP This Week [PlayStation.blog]