Is it just Europe or does PSP have a ton of Digital Download only games?

[Tanukitsune]

There are few games I've been waiting for on PSP.... I first found out Persona 1 was released in Europe as digital download only...

But now I've noticed more and more games that aren't for sale physically, all of them niche Japanese games, most of them JRPGs.... Cladun, Z.H.P., Fate Unlimited, Neogeo Ultimate Shooter....

A part of me is sad that I don't even have the option to get them physically, but if that's the only option, it's better than nothing... (I know you can import, but doing it when the game is available in your region seems wasteful)

But frankly, I think it's a great idea to have games that probably won't sell well enough to come out as a physical game can come out as digital downloads... I wouldn't mind if ALL systems did this, except... the PSP is the system for niche games (the 360 gets a few too, but the PSP is the "King")

Does America have any download games for PSP?

What do you think of download only games for consoles?

[JonCole]

I honestly have no idea what's going on with the PSP, though I just wanted to ask... what do you mean by digital download-only games for consoles? Isn't that exactly what XBLA/PSN are? And it's not like the old days when games didn't offer a "full console game" experience on those services; stuff like Costume Quest, Shadow Complex, Limbo, and others clearly are well worth it.

[Irishjohn]

The only ones of which I am aware are the Playstation Minis. There was one zombie one at one point and now Angry Birds. Otherwise I don't notice them.

As for downloadable games, I love them. I love the format. Steam has ruined my life by drawing me back into playing PC games in a big way!

[Tanukitsune]

I mean download versions of games that on disc in other regions, Playstation Minis and XBLA games don't count (do the PSN counterpart games have a name?)... I mean something like having Bioshock 2 only available on Games on Demand?

I think maybe Europe is the only one where this happens because these games are on UMD in the US?

[CaptainFish]

Developers sometimes don't release UMD versions at all because they're easier to pirate than downloadable releases.

I don't think this is a case of different releases in different regions, but I don't know for sure.

[Raff]

I almost bought a PSP recently but my research concluded that it wasn't worth the hassle and doubt involved in getting games for it. Masses of popular games don't seem to be released in Europe at all (like it's 1997 or something), and the PSN store seems to offer an absolutely paltry subset of what's available on UMD.

[JonCole]

I mean download versions of games that on disc in other regions, Playstation Minis and XBLA games don't count (do the PSN counterpart games have a name?)... I mean something like having Bioshock 2 only available on Games on Demand?

I think maybe Europe is the only one where this happens because these games are on UMD in the US?

That seems like an arbitrary differentiation, when you're talking about the viability of the format. I imagine that XBLA/PSN games don't come out at retail because they probably wouldn't make it on disc despite their size and regardless of the market.

Anyways, I think that MP3 downloads, Steam, and Netflix has totally desensitized me to the whole physical vs digital argument. I only opt for physical if the price becomes a factor (disc is cheaper than digital download, which is the case for most games on demand for 360), otherwise the price and convenience factors tend to push me towards downloading shit.

[Tanukitsune]

Developers sometimes don't release UMD versions at all because they're easier to pirate than downloadable releases.

I don't think this is a case of different releases in different regions, but I don't know for sure.

I don't think that's it, the games that are being released as download only are, like I said before, the kind of game that won't sell enough to be worth releasing, but popular enough to be missed?

It's usually the bigger companies who are afraid of piracy and I only saw "niche" titles from smaller companies.

I almost bought a PSP recently but my research concluded that it wasn't worth the hassle and doubt involved in getting games for it. Masses of popular games don't seem to be released in Europe at all (like it's 1997 or something), and the PSN store seems to offer an absolutely paltry subset of what's available on UMD.

Most of my favorite games are on the PSP. if they asked which system I'd bring to a deserted island... I'd say .... A PC with every emulator ever, but if that didn't count, I'd ask for a PSP!

That seems like an arbitrary differentiation, when you're talking about the viability of the format. I imagine that XBLA/PSN games don't come out at retail because they probably wouldn't make it on disc despite their size and regardless of the market.

Anyways, I think that MP3 downloads, Steam, and Netflix has totally desensitized me to the whole physical vs digital argument. I only opt for physical if the price becomes a factor (disc is cheaper than digital download, which is the case for most games on demand for 360), otherwise the price and convenience factors tend to push me towards downloading shit.

I'm just trying to define the right of kind of games so people will know what I'm talking about, I'm talking about games that are retail games in some regions, but digital only in others? Should I use another wording?

[Cigol]

I've only bought one UMD game as it is and that was a forced import. The whirring drives me nuts! If you can get a game digitally it's preferable by far, since it loads faster, you don't have to swap discs, it uses less battery power and it's less noisy.

As far as the UMD selection over here goes I've no idea how the retailing of these things works but my guess would be the process for Europe is a lot more complicated (and expensive) than for North America or Japan. Would a game like ClaDun or Z.H.P. benefit from impulse sales in a retail space that considers the PSP to be dead? I only know about these games because of obscure internet forums, and I only know they are good because of them.

But what do I know, every game of Capitalism I play ends in bankruptcy.

The problem with digital only on PSP/PS3, especially when it concerns third parties, is that the pricing is not consistent and can often veer into the ridiculous. Up until the sale yesterday a copy of the digital version of Peacewalker would set you back around £31 as opposed to the £17.99 UMD version

I almost bought a PSP recently but my research concluded that it wasn't worth the hassle and doubt involved in getting games for it. Masses of popular games don't seem to be released in Europe at all (like it's 1997 or something), and the PSN store seems to offer an absolutely paltry subset of what's available on UMD.

Any games you can't get over here can be imported and played region free and it's not much more expensive. I'm not advocating piracy or anything either but you can now effortlessly download games from any region, along with emulators, onto the official firmware of all PSPs including GO. You can't do everything the guys on custom firmware can do but the important stuff like emulators is there.

PSP is still an amazing device.

[Tanukitsune]

I've only bought one UMD game as it is and that was a forced import. The whirring drives me nuts! If you can get a game digitally it's preferable by far, since it loads faster, you don't have to swap discs, it uses less battery power and it's less noisy.

As far as the UMD selection over here goes I've no idea how the retailing of these things works but my guess would be the process for Europe is a lot more complicated (and expensive) than for North America or Japan. Would a game like ClaDun or Z.H.P. benefit from impulse sales in a retail space that considers the PSP to be dead? I only know about these games because of obscure internet forums, and I only know they are good because of them.

But what do I know, every game of Capitalism I play ends in bankruptcy.

The problem with digital only on PSP/PS3, especially when it concerns third parties, is that the pricing is not consistent and can often veer into the ridiculous. Up until the sale yesterday a copy of the digital version of Peacewalker would set you back around £31 as opposed to the £17.99 UMD version

Any games you can't get over here can be imported and played region free and it's not much more expensive. I'm not advocating piracy or anything either but you can now effortlessly download games from any region, along with emulators, onto the official firmware of all PSPs including GO. You can't do everything the guys on custom firmware can do but the important stuff like emulators is there.

PSP is still an amazing device.

Like I said before, the PSP is the last bastion for niche games...

I think the pricing thing is happening for PC games too, I've seen a few games that are 19.99 digitally and 9.99 on online stores, I don't know why... maybe because digital shops have more pressure from publishers?

[Patters]

Like I said before, the PSP is the last bastion for niche games...

I think the pricing thing is happening for PC games too, I've seen a few games that are 19.99 digitally and 9.99 on online stores, I don't know why... maybe because digital shops have more pressure from publishers?

Digital distribution doesn't have stock, whereas a company selling physical copies may have ordered too many copies compared to the demand and due to this are lacking shelf space. So physical retailers will decrease the price drastically, sometimes to the point where they are making very little to no profit, so they can get newer and higher demand products to sell.

I also completely disagree with your position on "niche" games as would my friend Mr. PC.

[Tanukitsune]

Digital distribution doesn't have stock, whereas a company selling physical copies may have ordered too many copies compared to the demand and due to this are lacking shelf space. So physical retailers will decrease the price drastically, sometimes to the point where they are making very little to no profit, so they can get newer and higher demand products to sell.

I also completely disagree with your position on "niche" games as would my friend Mr. PC.

Niche and indie are not the same thing, a niche game can be indie, but an indie game doesn't have to niche...

Although I guess you're right, the PC does have quite a few niche games, it probably has more niche games than the PSP because it's been a system for over two decades!