PSP Go; the benefits of digital distribution

It has come time for the PSP to have yet another annual update, this year’s model being the PSP Go.

That’s right, in the past 4 years since the PSP launched it has seen 4 different designs. There was the original design. The Slim, last year’s marginal upgrade to the Slim 3000 and now the PSP Go. One thing that can be said about the Go is that it is a huge change for a system that has seen only small tweaks in the past 2 or three years.

First of all the UMD drive? The current PSPs primary method of playing games and movies has been dropped entirely. In its place is the mass internal storage. The Go will have 16 GB of internal memory with a Memory Stick Micro port for expandable memory. Basically they plan on making future PSP games digital rather than on a disc. But this raises a few interesting points.

First of all, this would be the first time I can think of where a console or handheld has switched media types half-way though its life-cycle. Abandoning UMDs entirely for the new model means that there is a sizable back-log of PSP games that cannot be played on the PSP Go. Since Sony has said they plan on continuing support of the PSP-3000 even after the Go has launched it leaves people who haven’t purchased a PSP yet but plan to with the choice of the more compact, digital-only PSP Go or the more versatile PSP-3000 with its readily available UMD library of games.

But there is a bigger issue here than just a PSP with no disc drive. What does the PSP Go mean for the future of videogames at large? The PSP Go may be one of the most important gaming platforms this generation for one simple reason; digital distribution. I mean, fine, the iPhone/iPod Touch predates it with its digital-only distribution for games and applications. The difference is that the iPod Touch is not meant to be a machine solely for playing videogames, the PSP is.

Digital distribution has been around for a few years now with the Xbox Live Arcade, Wii Ware and the Playstation Network, but this would be the first time that a gaming platform used it for its primary gaming media.

Why is it so important? For starters, the used game market has been a thorn in publisher’s collective sides for a long time now and digital distribution seems the logical way to counter it. Assuming the method takes off it makes the most business sense. Since games don’t need to be printed, an unlimited number of units can be sold with no manufacturing or shipping costs to publishers. That coupled with the fact that digital games can’t be resold to the used game market and you have a solid business model. It even benefits gamers too. You never have to worry about a game being sold-out or being discontinued. Game availability will also be immediate since there is no need to wait for the games to be shipped to retailers. Theoretically games prices in digital form will go down since there are no shipping, packaging and printing costs to the manufacturer. All this can be yours if you are willing to give up the shiny new packaging of games on disc.