Windows 8.1 Plus and Minus

So the PSPgo is out for awhile now and I saw reports that show that the PSPgo isn’t selling to well, no surprise there considering the fact that it’s 100% digital media since they removed the UMD feature and battery pack.  What does this all mean?  It means whatever games you currently own on UMD is not playable and if your battery is completely dead, you can’t replace it without voiding the warranty (which means you either send it into Sony to replace or you break the warranty to fix it yourself).

Originally Sony was planning on releasing something that allows you to port your purchased PSP games that are on the UMD format to the digital format for the PSPgo but then Sony decided not to pissing everyone off who was actually thinking about getting the PSPgo.  So what does that mean? It means you need to repurchase all your PSP games using their PSP Store.  It’s a win for Sony because they get more money but it’s a lost on consumers who already owns a PSP with UMD games and movies who was thinking about getting a PSPgo.  Thankfully, Sony will continue production on PSP-3000 models so you still have the UMD format (and something for resellers to continue to sell).

With that said, let’s get to the main topic about digital media.  Digital media is now, now is digital media.  You may not believe it (or don’t want to believe it) but digital media is everywhere.  How it’s incorporated, though, is the main question.  Steam (for an example) allows you buy full games and as long as you’re logged in you’ll be able to download it to any computers.  If you purchased a box version of a game that’s on Steam it’ll automatically add that key into your Steam profile and so you don’t have to worry about having to put in the key again.  You would call this something as a successful way of doing business as retailers has something to sell still and you can purchase games directly as well if you want.

Unfortunately, not all places that offer digital media are like that.  Such example will be the PSPgo being able to only purchase games from the PSP Store.  Only thing that retailers can sell is the PSPgo itself and can’t resell the games because the games are only available online.

Another such example would be the Apple App Store.  Sony has locked down there iPod Touch and iPhone like it’s in jail so only its own software will work, nobody else’s.  And Apple goes through all the Apps that get submitted like a fine comb to make sure it’s within its terms of service.  It’s not an open community unlike the Google Android Store where it’s a free market and anyone is free to post anything they’ve created (as long as it’s lawful).

Probably what hurts retailers the most with digital media is the fact that consumers is unable to trade in or sale the media they purchased online.  Pretty much the age of media that you can sell or trade is coming to the end as we know it.  With that said, why? Why is the digital media going to be the end?  It doesn’t have to, though.

Wait, wait, wait, didn’t you just say that digital media will be the end of it all for any sort of trade ins or anything of that sort? I didn’t say that per say, it’s just that the way things are going it could be that but if the companies are smart enough I’m sure they’ll incorporate a way so we can trade in or sell the media we purchased from there legally.  The only question is, when?  Only time will tell in this manner.  Also, in a way, I highly doubt digital media will fully take over the market from actual physical media anytime soon for the sure fact that A) not everyone has an internet connection and B) knows how to even use the technology (or any technology in that matter).

Over all, you pretty much want to get used to seeing digital media as it’s going to be more and more common to see further down the line but don’t expect to see physical media disappeared anytime soon either.

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Tags: Digital Media, Game Reviews, Gaming, News, PSP, PSPgo