David Perry vs. John Koller – UMD’s are still important!
Sourcelink: Gamesindustry.biz
In an interview with Gamesindustry.biz, Sony’s John Koller talks about the importance of the UMD platform.
Excerpt from the interview: “We look to the tangible disc as continuing to be very important. I think there’s certainly a consumer out there who values tangibility.”
Brad’s Take: There are many ways to take the news of PSP and its venture into downloadable games instead of UMD’s. David Perry went on a limb and told people via a Twitter that he’s seen a UMDless PSP, and many tend to see it as a strong possibility.
That is everyone, except Sony. Now, either Sony’s trying its damndest to keep this a surprise announcement at E3 (which, let’s be honest, would it be much of a surprise?) or Sony did try a prototype of a UMDless PSP and may decide on not going through with it.
To me, a UMDless PSP would be an excellent idea…in theory. Battery life would be tons better, Sony wouldn’t have to make a whole separate format just for accessing data and they could reap all the profits. That, and costs to distribute would be cheaper to the developers of these games, making the platform more attractive.
This is also exasperated by the announcement that the sequel to the fan favorite PSP game Patapon 2 will only be available via download. Gamers who go to Gamestop or any other store to purchase the game will be presented with a voucher to download in online…and for $5 more.
