Simultaneous Digital/Physical Game Delivery For NGP

The combination of digital and UMD software has proven problematic for those seeking to build a permanent PSP library.

But Sony has often said they've learned many lessons in the portable world, so when it comes to their next handheld (currently named the Next Generation Portable), things are going to change. SCEE president Andrew House delivered some good news via MCV:

"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."

As for the current state of the PSP and its downloadable and physical-media games, it might be best to look towards the future. The NGP should be quite the unit, and while I will always have a preference for physical media, perhaps that's just something that shows my age.

Simultaneous digital/physical releases for games, though? We're down with that.

Tags: ngp, next generation portable, ngp software

3/18/2011 9:20:34 PM Ben Dutka

Put this on your webpage or blog:
Email this to a friend
Follow PSX Extreme on Twitter

Comments (47 posts)

Toggle Scrolling | Reload Comments

Dealnightfire
Friday, March 18, 2011 @ 9:43:29 PM
Reply

They said the same thing for the PSPgo though. As long as they back up their words this time.

0 up, 0 down

WorldEndsWithMe
Friday, March 18, 2011 @ 10:28:14 PM

How could they have simultaneous physical and digital releases for the PSPGo when it only does digital games?

4 up, 3 down

Teddie9
Saturday, March 19, 2011 @ 12:19:22 PM

I think he means physical releases on the reg. psp would also have a digital counterpart for the go. That wasn't the case with KH -birth by sleep.

0 up, 0 down

Dealnightfire
Saturday, March 19, 2011 @ 1:07:41 PM

Yes that is what I meant. They stated digital downloads and physical release would be on the same day for PSPgo and PSP3000 but some games didn't even bother with a digital download.

1 up, 0 down

WorldEndsWithMe
Saturday, March 19, 2011 @ 2:52:50 PM

I blame that on Square Enix.

1 up, 0 down

Dancemachine55
Friday, March 18, 2011 @ 10:18:35 PM
Reply

Fantastic!! That means no more confusion over whether someone's PSPGo will support games like Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep, which currently is not on PSN, well, at least not in Australia.

I think when I do get the NGP (launch or 2 years from now), I at least know that I have a choice as to which medium to get the game.

I'm thinking big games over 2 GB, save for retail release. Anything smaller, digital download. Save space on the HDD for music, photos and videos.

This also means that people with poor internet or tiny download limits at home aren't restricted to digital release only, and can still get their favourite games without finding someone with good internet. So many positives over this bit of news!!!

In other news, 3DS got a pretty average review. The hardware just doesn't hold up to the high standards Nintendo is quite well known for, and is actually a bit of a letdown. Lucky Nintendo has all those franchises to fall back on cos games is all they've got. If that was Nintendo's aim (cheaper hardware, better games), they're not off to a good start at $250 US.

If the NGP is between $50 and $100 more than the 3DS and has a strong game lineup for adults and kids, Nintendo may have some serious competition on its hands. Plus, we already know the NGP will be a powerhouse compared to the 3DS, so tech junkies won't have a hard time deciding which is clearly the better piece of hardware.

Last edited by Dancemachine55 on 3/18/2011 10:22:07 PM

3 up, 0 down

WorldEndsWithMe
Friday, March 18, 2011 @ 10:32:48 PM

I'm not surprised, Ninty's handhelds are overrated.

2 up, 0 down

Bonampak
Saturday, March 19, 2011 @ 1:25:21 PM

I don't think having the best tech is a factor in deciding what sells. You saw that with the PS1 beating the crap out of the N64 despite being a silicon graphics based system. And also with the PS2, despite being underpowered compared to even the teletubbie handbag called GameCube. And presently, the weakest console is dominating the market overall (you can take yer pick over the 2 who are the PS3's competition. They both would fit that description).

Fact is, Nintendo's hardware has always been iffy. Both in looks and in technology.

The Wii has last gen technology. It didn't matter. It sold. Its also made with the cheapest looking plastic. One that would melt down once you turn it on. Yet apparently, that didn't matter either to consumers. It flew off the shelves.

Most negative reviews for the 3DS, seem to be coming from sites that cater to Apple's products.

It's easy to notice that when they start to complain about how archaic it is to use a stencil instead of their fat, stubby fingers to play games. They say that because they're used to playing Angry Birds and other time-wasters that are not that complex as a regular 3DS game. And they give it low marks because they're convinced that game handhelds are suppose to follow Apple's lead on how to make mobile gaming systems.

And I bet that they'll give the same treatment to the NGP.

3 up, 0 down

Minishmaru
Saturday, March 19, 2011 @ 2:27:46 PM

I guess there aren't too many hardcore gamers out there...compared to casual that is. I mean think of it this way in terms of sales, kids get the ds(every iteration) and they buy a game that they have no idea about reviews except that their favorite character is on there. How long do you think they'll even play that game before a colorful balloon comes by to make them lose their interest in that game? Nintendo doesn't care about loyalty to their consumers, they're more about selling everything they can before they bring out something else and repeat the cycle.

0 up, 0 down

Bonampak
Saturday, March 19, 2011 @ 4:26:44 PM

People are giving Nintendo too much credit.

Do you really think Nintendo is the one calling the shots in the mobile gaming world these days?

Michael Pachter said it best: Nintendo is DOOMED.

At the Game Developers Conference it was made clear that traditional companies like Nintendo are becoming irrelevant in the mobile gaming market.

Sony is not even looking at what Nintendo does or doesn't do.

Hell, Nintendo doesn't even believe in digital distribution of games. They're once again falling behind the times.

That's why I believe that Sony isn't wasting time trying to see what Nintendo are up to.

Based on their current strategy with the NGP, it seems like they're after their real competitors:

APPLE and social networks such as Facebook.

Last edited by Bonampak on 3/19/2011 4:28:05 PM

0 up, 0 down

WorldEndsWithMe
Friday, March 18, 2011 @ 10:36:39 PM
Reply

I'm glad they've learned some lessons. I much prefer physical media too, but with something like a PSP I'm not as much of a stickler about it. It's meant to be portable so it doesn't make a ton of sense to haul around the games with you anymore. Though I do like buying the UMDs cheap, hopefully games won't stay full price forever.

As long as you have your PSN account you can always have your games backed up on your PS3.

I wouldn't even want to start a non-physical collection of full price PS3 or PS4 games without a hard drive of many many terabytes.

1 up, 0 down

kraygen
Saturday, March 19, 2011 @ 1:32:54 AM

That's my big worry with all digital distribution, no more bargain bin. Psp games on psn rarely go on sale and when they do, it's never as cheap as I can find them in stores on umd.

2 up, 0 down

Cesar_ser_4
Saturday, March 19, 2011 @ 4:31:20 AM

what i still cant get through my head is how is it that a game digital game costs just as much as the physical media but does not go down in price nearly as low. just like with the itunes hd movies... its not like they're the highest quality or the newest movies, but they still cost the same 20 dollars wether it is a recent release or a 20 yo movie... digital media should at least go down in price faster than physical... but then again, as long as people keep buying it regardless of price...

1 up, 0 down

WorldEndsWithMe
Saturday, March 19, 2011 @ 5:02:06 AM

me too, imagine paying full retail price on all games. My collection would shrink in its scope very fast. I do like to buy certain non AAA games for low prices just to check them out. If they were always full retail then there's no reason to buy much that doesn't get a 9 or above.

2 up, 0 down

kraygen
Saturday, March 19, 2011 @ 11:39:01 AM

Totally agree, I have several games that are just ok, not great, but I got 15-30 hours out of them. Which is fine because I only paid $10-$20 for them.

2 up, 0 down

A2K78
Friday, March 18, 2011 @ 10:49:10 PM
Reply

"If the NGP is between $50 and $100 more than the 3DS and has a strong game lineup for adults and kids, Nintendo may have some serious competition on its hands."

The same thing was said about the PSP/DS, years later the DS is outselling the PSP by a factor of at least 10 to 1 and still continue to do so.

Looking at the NGP it will not be any different. Why is that? Nintendo actually give the consumer a reason as to why they should invest in a 3DS; Sony on the other still have not made a convincing case for the NGP other than that the fact it does everything the PS3 does. To further add the very fact that PS3 ports will show in masses on the NGP will hurt the NGP in the long-run.

2 up, 4 down

Dancemachine55
Saturday, March 19, 2011 @ 12:07:53 AM

Ummmm.... Sure, 10 to 1. Where on Earth did you pull that figure from?

If you're looking at quarterly sales of PSP and DS' over the last 6 months, than yeah, DS has outsold PSP quite a bit.

Overall though? 128 million DS' sold Vs. 60 million PSP's sold? And you say that's a 10 to 1 ratio? You may wanna check those calculations again, A2K78.

BTW, since when was 60 million hardware units sold considered a failure? I reckon that's a huge success considering it was Sony's first attempt at a proper handheld device. (Not including the 1999 Pocketstation released in Japan only and used PSone discs with mini-games installed)

Let's not forget, Nintendo has owned the handheld market for decades now, with Sega's Game Gear being the last major handheld in the competition. Just cos DS was a runaway success like the PS2 does not mean that everything else was a failure.

4 up, 1 down

Dancemachine55
Saturday, March 19, 2011 @ 12:13:48 AM

And have you considered N64, Gamecube, PS2 and Wii ports might hurt the 3DS in the long run?

You're just shooting yourself in the foot here. NGP showed off Little Rascals, an NGP exclusive and brand new IP.

What was 3DS' last new IP? Not including sequels. Nintendogs + Cats? No. Lego Star Wars 3? No. Super Street Fighter 4 3D? No. Pilotwings 3D? No. Steeldiver? Yes, actually. Wow, I found one!!

But look at the 3DS launch titles and NGP's. You claim NGP is all about ports. That's fine, there are quite a few. Just do not use it as an argument to support 3DS when the biggest game for it is a Nintendo 64 port.

5 up, 0 down

wiiplay
Saturday, March 19, 2011 @ 2:45:11 AM

I must actually agree with A2K78. It's unlikely for the NGP to sell more consoles than the 3DS.

Most people will buy the 3DS, just because it displays 3D content. Kids don't care if the games are good, as long as they can see the picture pop out of their screen, they're happy.

Video games were originally designed to entertain kids, not to entertain us adults. As long as the video game has some kind of screaming monkey, the kid will be happy.
I see the NGP as an adult-oriented video game console. Yes, there will be some games on the NGP that kids will enjoy, but overall, the NGP is a 'hardcore' platform, with hardcore games.

As for the sales. There's just not as many hardcore adult gamers, as there are kids who enjoy screaming monkeys.

3 up, 1 down

sawao_yamanaka
Saturday, March 19, 2011 @ 2:50:31 AM

I would never agree with a2k78 because he seems to speak out of his ass sometimes. Again considering that everyone and their grandma has a DS do you think parents are gonna wanna buy their kids a 3DS when hey look a wii is 50 bucks cheaper maybe even more by the time it releases. 3DS has so many ports so dont go playing the blame game on Sony when Nintendo has very little new ips for launch.

3 up, 1 down

AnonWTF
Saturday, March 19, 2011 @ 9:16:42 AM

I think people forget why the ds was so dominant. It actually was able to appeal to everyone and not just kid gamers. If it only had a library of ports and kiddie games then it wouldn't have out sold psp as much in consoles, video games, and accessories sales(love how customizable my ds is). Lets face it folks, it doesn't matter how powerful your system is if it doesn't have the games to back it up. Sales# > outrageous opinions.

I don't know where you got 10 to 1 or w/e from (I'm guessing you were being sarcastic), but I do remember everyone talking about how psp is such a more powerful system than ds and it was going to outsell it. deja vu anyone? But most likely it won't be as much as a landslide this time. Anyways, once again we will see ;)

Not that I'm a sony hater. I only dislike microsoft and will never lay a finger on their xbox. I've always love nintendo's handhelds and sony's home consoles.

1 up, 0 down

BikerSaint
Friday, March 18, 2011 @ 10:55:47 PM
Reply

I hope they just put the physical games on little individual flash drives or memory sticks

Last edited by BikerSaint on 3/18/2011 10:56:29 PM

1 up, 0 down

Lawless SXE
Saturday, March 19, 2011 @ 12:49:29 AM
Reply

Good to know. At least they'll continue to support physical media, and neither format will be disdvantaged.

1 up, 0 down

Lawless SXE
Saturday, March 19, 2011 @ 4:59:45 AM

Why did I only just find out that Sony is aiming for a holiday release for the NGP in America and Feb-Mar 2012 for Euro? Makes me sad.

0 up, 0 down

kraygen
Saturday, March 19, 2011 @ 1:34:48 AM
Reply

I prefer physical media, I prefer to be able to open my booklet when I get home and read through it to see what I might learn that the game won't ever tell you or might wait until your 10 hours in to tell you.

Granted some digitally distributed games come with a digital book, but it's just not the same as seeing the collection on my shelf.

2 up, 0 down

A2K78
Saturday, March 19, 2011 @ 2:10:05 AM
Reply

"Overall though? 128 million DS' sold Vs. 60 million PSP's sold? And you say that's a 10 to 1 ratio? You may wanna check those calculations again, A2K78.'

It doesn't matter what my calculation might be, the point is that the DS have been the PSP by grand canyon size margin.

"BTW, since when was 60 million hardware units sold considered a failure?"

Where exactly did I say that the PSP is failure?

"Nintendo has owned the handheld market for decades now, with Sega's Game Gear being the last major handheld in the competition."

You're right on the fact that Nintendo have owned the handheld market and guess why? Its obvious that Nintendo have a strong case by both making them developer friendly in terms of investment and secondly giving consumers a different experience, both are something Sony have yet to catch onto.

0 up, 4 down

Lawless SXE
Saturday, March 19, 2011 @ 3:39:31 AM

2:1 is hardly a 'grand canyon sized' margin. Unless I'm mistaken, the Wii holds a similar margin over the current gen consoles, and the PS2 was similarly dominant, but MS managed to put out another console anyway.

Sony has caught on to dev problems, which is why numerous devs have come out saying that Sony asked them what they wanted implemented into the device. Besides which, from what I understand the architecture is built similarly to the PS3, so any experience on that front should help devs. Finally, Sony are also understanding that they need different handheld experiences, which is proven by games like Smart As, Patapon, Invizimals and LocoRoco. I'm sure that they have even more lined up for the NGP, and that those others will take advantage of the input devices on the device, ie, touch screen, dual camera, mic, etc.

Just because you seem to need to have everything spelled out to you, doesn't mean that that just about anyone that follows gaming can counter any point that you can manage to pull out of ****.

2 up, 0 down

___________
Saturday, March 19, 2011 @ 2:23:33 AM
Reply

sure, thats also what they said about the GO!
and we all know how that turned out..............

0 up, 4 down

Cesar_ser_4
Saturday, March 19, 2011 @ 4:46:27 AM

dude, the go was just a test to see how would people like a digital media only device...

1 up, 0 down

___________
Saturday, March 19, 2011 @ 7:39:19 AM

and that changes what?
point is sony cant be trusted!
if i had a cent for every time they said they would do something, or would not do something, then did or did not, id be a multimillionaire by now!
anyone remember kaz promising BC and linux would never be removed?
......... yea, how did that turn out?
o, and how did the service they promised to redeem UMD games that way us go users did not loose our games?

1 up, 3 down

kevinater321
Saturday, March 19, 2011 @ 9:54:15 AM

I thought they didn't promise the service. It was only rumored.

1 up, 0 down

sawao_yamanaka
Saturday, March 19, 2011 @ 12:24:49 PM

They never said anything about linux at all. Linux was never advertised as all the naysayers may say. Considering how many people tried to sue sony for that nonsense and guess what? They got no money off of it because many of those people did not actually install another OS except only one person.

1 up, 0 down

leatherface
Saturday, March 19, 2011 @ 3:43:05 PM

If i had a cent every time Mr. negative complained about a Sony product, i'd be a multimillionaire by now!

Last edited by leatherface on 3/19/2011 3:45:04 PM

4 up, 1 down

___________
Sunday, March 20, 2011 @ 7:50:57 AM

they promise us a feature and not deliver.
what am i suppose to do?
send them a bunch of flowers?
O, and for linux.
no its not a advertised feature, so thats why it was on the original box, and in the manuals?
and no one has got anything from the suits yet because they have not had there day in court yet!
last thing that turned up for that, were some submitted papers saying sony did not remove linux because of a security risk, they removed it because IBM were miffed at them!
sony cost IBM millions, the air force bought ps3s instead of IMBs blade servers which were so much more expensive.
so this was a way to weasel out and stop the coming sh*tstorm IBM were going to throw at them.

0 up, 1 down

Cesar_ser_4
Saturday, March 19, 2011 @ 4:40:38 AM
Reply

talking about how its the discovery's last trip to the outer space... does anyone know the res the cameras will have? because id be offended if the rear camera were to be less than 3 megapixels...

2 up, 1 down

Lawless SXE
Saturday, March 19, 2011 @ 4:57:45 AM

NGP camera related to space shuttle? But I don't think it's been officially announced what the specs for them are. I'd imagine they'd comparable to the PSPGo!Cam, which was 1.3Mp. Although... the camera on my phone goes up to 3 and it's a Sony Ericsson.

0 up, 0 down

Cesar_ser_4
Saturday, March 19, 2011 @ 1:49:50 PM

sure why not? but it would be cool if you could take some beautiful pics with the ngp wouldnt it?

0 up, 0 down

Excelsior1
Saturday, March 19, 2011 @ 11:49:13 AM
Reply

the retail flop of the psp go is an expensive way to test out the digital market. it was handled very poorly by sony, so i would hope they learn a lesson. the market absolutely rejected that overpriced nonsense.

i'm very happy to hear the ngp will support physical media, and has 2 analog sticks.

blank line is right. kaz, and jack tretton both said backwards compatabilty was a core sony value, and would always be a part of the ps3. the ps3 was on life support so it had to go to lower the price.

Last edited by Excelsior1 on 3/19/2011 11:57:16 AM

6 up, 1 down

sawao_yamanaka
Saturday, March 19, 2011 @ 12:23:09 PM

That was rumored they never said any of that. Their response was something along the line of people already having a ps2.

2 up, 0 down

Minishmaru
Saturday, March 19, 2011 @ 2:29:41 PM

My bad Excelsior1, I accidentally clicked you for "Spam" instead of the post above you :/

0 up, 0 down

AcHiLLiA
Saturday, March 19, 2011 @ 1:30:10 PM
Reply

Does that mean u will be able to play the PSP GOW and MGS games etc on the NGP?, or whatever they will call it in the future.

0 up, 0 down

Excelsior1
Saturday, March 19, 2011 @ 1:53:23 PM
Reply

jack trenton did absolutlely say that. that quote was in the playstation forums for months. he said it more than once, too. not the linux part, but the backwards compatability being a core sony value. now they say different, but that's not how it started out.

2 up, 0 down

Excelsior1
Saturday, March 19, 2011 @ 2:15:40 PM
Reply

here are a few of jack's qoutes from an engadget interview.

"backward compatability, as you know from the ps1, and ps2 is a core sony value we believe we should offer. and access to the library of games that people have accumulated over the years."
"if you can find a ps3 a year from now that's been on the shelves more than 5 moinths, i'll give you $1200."

3 up, 0 down

Lairfan
Saturday, March 19, 2011 @ 2:32:52 PM
Reply

Why do we always have to turn these posts about the NGP into arguments about why the PSP sucks and the DS is so great, or vice versa?

0 up, 0 down

Cesar_ser_4
Saturday, March 19, 2011 @ 4:27:00 PM

you know how these apple fanboys are

0 up, 0 down

Beamboom
Saturday, March 19, 2011 @ 8:27:39 PM
Reply

Wonder when info about the first titles will start ticking in... I know the shots from the videos reveal some titles like Uncharted etc, but what titles will be available at launch?
Do I dare dream about GTA:SA Stories being one of them? ...!

0 up, 0 down

Nynja
Tuesday, March 22, 2011 @ 2:39:50 PM
Reply

I'll believe it when I see it. Sony made the same claim with the PSP Go and I'm still waiting for some games.

As much as I want the NGP (very badly in fact), I will have to wait and see because of Sony's history to exaggerate features or promote features before they are concrete.

0 up, 0 down

Please login or register to leave a comment.

Playstation 3

Playstation 4

PSP

Playstation Vita

Playstation 2

Playstation

Other

PSX Extreme

Site Stats

Simultaneous Digital/Physical Game Delivery For NGP

Comments (47 posts)

Leave a Comment

Latest Updates

Popular Cheats

Recent Reviews

Recent Previews

Popular Sections

Extras

Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories cheats	PSP
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas cheats	PS2
Tomb Raider Chronicles cheats	PS1
Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped cheats	PS1
LEGO Batman cheats	PSP
Jackie Chan's Stuntmaster cheats	PS1
SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos cheats	PS2
Bloody Roar 3 (import) cheats	PS2
Def Jam: Icon cheats	PS3
DiRT Showdown cheats	PS3

Grid 2 review	PS3
The Last Of Us review	PS3
Remember Me review	PS3
Call of Juarez: Gunslinger review	PS3
Fuse review	PS3
Resident Evil: Revelations review	PS3
Metro: Last Light review	PS3
Zombie Tycoon II: Brainhov's Revenge review	PS3
Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon review	PS3
Star Trek: The Video Game review	PS3

South Park: The Stick of Truth preview	PS3
Murdered: Soul Suspect preview	PS3
The Bureau: XCOM Declassified preview	PS3
Time and Eternity preview	PS3
Ride to Hell: Retribution preview	PS3
Call of Juarez: Gunslinger preview	PS3
Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon preview	PS3
Spartacus Legends preview	PS3
Payday 2 preview	PS3
DUST 514 preview	PS3