Speaking in an interview with MCV, SCEE President Andrew House has spoken about Sony’s plans for their upcoming PSP successor, the NGP. Commenting how ditching the the much-maligned UMD format in favour of Flash cards was a decision fuelled by a desire to reduce bulk, weight and the device’s power consumption, House also has spoken about how, in terms of the digital distribution revolution, Sony are planning giant strides. House states:
One thing we learnt from PSP, is that we want to have simultaneous delivery in digital and physical for NGP. Just to clarify that, all games that appear physically will be made available digitally. Not necessarily all games have to be made available physically. And having the option of a digital-only method affords more creative risk-taking, and that’s because you don’t-have that in-built risk of physical inventory.
What I’d like to see is a hierarchy of different games of different sizes. So at the high-end you’ve got these big, premium games, which by and large will be available physically because that is the most convenient way to access them. And then there’s an opportunity for digital-only, where we might see more experimentation.
Of course, House has been singing from this hymn sheet before, though it is interesting to hear the reiteration about how all games will appear digitally, a feature that the original PSP has not enjoyed.
House goes on to touch upon the logic behind PlayStation Suite and how opening up the platform should not damage the attraction of the NGP. He also reveals that, in terms of PS3 connectivity, 92% of all PS3s in Scandavavia are online.
Source: MCV
Aquastyle
Generally speaking, I’ll always choose physical games over downloadable ones as long as there’s an option.
Nothing beats the feeling of picking up a game you’ve been psyched about for months in your local gamestore, head home with your baby securely located in your backpack, unwrapping the plastic and sniffing in the lovely aroma of the booklet.
I also love collecting games, practically never rent or trade em in…
dnlgee
Agree 100%
Dange
I am soooo getting the NGP day 1. Hopefully the digital releases are more reasonably priced than the current standard on the store for PSP games.