You Must Pay To Transfer PSP UMD Games to Vita
Posted by James Newton
Here's how it works
Sony already had one crack at the UMD-to-digital transfer with its PSPgo, and now with Vita on the horizon it's having another go, revealing exactly how you can turn those plastic discs into downloadable delights.
First, keep your PSP, as it's crucial to the whole process. You need to download the UMD Registration Application to your PSP, load it up and put the UMD in your machine. This will register the game to your PlayStation Network account, proving your ownership and opening a digital download version to you. It'll only be one PSN account per UMD too, hopefully preventing — or at least limiting — piracy.
The process isn't free though: if you want to download it to your Vita, there's a fee, which varies between 500 yen (£4 / $6.45) to 1500 yen (£12 / $19.35) depending on the title. In fact, one title — genre classic Pachi-Slot Simulator: Treasures transfer Daito Giken Official enclosed Goddess ~ ~ PORTABLE — weighs in at a whopping 2,400 yen: that's £19.45 or $30.97.
Not all games are supported either: the current list stands at 40 games, with the final number expected to weigh in at about 200 titles.
[via eurogamer.net, jp.playstation.com]
#1
Cowlauncher said:
Very excited about this, but really? Only 1 UMD per PSN account? I have like 30 UMDs.
#2
James said:
haha, whoops, that should have been "one PSN account per UMD"
#3
PatrickElliot said:
@Cowlauncher James is saying a UMD can only be "owned" by a single account, so you can't endlessly upload your UMD to several accounts.
If you're willing to pay I'm sure you can transfer as many UMDs as you like.
#4
turtlelink said:
Good news. I hope I can transfer Megaman Powered Up and Birth by Sleep...
#5
GameLord08 said:
Coming from someone who's never owned a PSP, I'm surprised people are actually willing to pay an average price of £12 per title just to transfer their PSP titles to Vita... To me, I think Sony's messed this thing up inevitably. This would have been better if the Vita had a slot for UMDs, to be backward compatible, or if they had kept to cartridges from the beginning on all PSPs. Plus, this download process will take up quite some space if you ask me; another problem with Sony's branded memory cards.
I suppose it's a good thing they're expanding the final transferrable titles list to 200. That sounds like good coverage anyhow.
#6
linkster55 said:
More money to transfer games over? Forget it! I knew they had to make up the $250 unit price some how. I think I'll just keep my PSP :3
#7
michiganurse said:
It kind of sucked that I was going to miss out on so many great PSP games but now that the Vita is coming out and all of my PSPgo games are already downloadable I can transfer them for free! Ha!
#8
pntjr said:
Well it's better than nothing! Now time to transfer some LBPPSP and MNR. Exited!
#9
gustave154 said:
Hope all PSP games support this. i have tons of UMDs xD