Sony Wants Simultaneous Download and Retail Game Launches on the NGP

Remember the PSP go? Me neither. However, one major downfall of the system was a lack of backing for the system’s download-only approach. Sony hopes to avoid the same mistakes with the NGP.

Andrew House, SCEE Chief, talking to MCV, said: “One thing we learned from PSP, is that we want to have simultaneous delivery in digital and physical [medias].”

House also talked about the size difference in games, and how that would affect the release method.

“Just to clarify,” he said, “all games that appear physically will be made available digitally. 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”.

He also discussed the reasoning behind replacing UMD with proprietary flash cards for the system.

House said: “One is efficiency from a power consumption stand-point. Secondly, it was a result of not having a disc drive built-in, which has the benefits of reducing the bulk and weight of the system”. He also said it was about “flexibility”, and that having discs meant a “a one-size-fits-all solution”. Sadly this means I can no longer play the one PSP game I care about: Lumines. Damn you, Sony!

This is nice Sony, it really is. I just need the price. Please, Sony. Do you want me to beg? I’ll beg. Just a ballpark figure, just make something up. Anything, just a number. It isn’t too difficult.

via: Gamasutra