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PSOne Classics and other Game Archives won't work on Vita at launch
There's no more confusion about whether or not the PS Vita will run PSOne Classics and other "Game Archives" games (that's the umbrella term used in Japan for Sony's retro games -- PSOne and PC Engine/Turbografx-16, along with, presumably, PS2) at launch. Unfortunately, the answer to that lingering question is a firm, and bewildering, no. The Japanese Vita FAQ, which initially noted that the Vita will play all downloadable PSP games except for Archives releases, cemented that in an answer to the direct question of whether or not the device will support old downoaded games. According to the FAQ, Game Archives games will not be compatible with the device at launch. "Plans for future measures will be announced shortly," the (Google-translated) FAQ notes. There's no reason to suspect that there's a technical issue with running old PlayStation, PC Engine, and PS2 games on the powerful Vita. It's more likely that Sony's figuring out how to square the existing PlayStation Store for consoles with the PlayStation Suite version of the store, which offers a different and smaller selection of PSOne games. That hasn't been a problem so far ... because there hasn't been a device that could theoretically use both stores yet.
Sony looking into UMD download discount for Vita, hedging about PSOne Classics support
It wouldn't be a PlayStation system without complicated backwards compatibility issues. A new Japanese-language FAQ posted by Sony offers some new wrinkles, both potentially good and bad. The FAQ notes that Sony is "considering" a service to offer PSN versions of the UMD games users own for a "special price." This isn't a confirmation, but at least Sony is looking into some method to make it possible to play the UMD games you bought on your Vita. "Details of this service will be announced at a later date." That's the good news. The bad news: the FAQ says that the Vita will play all downloadable PSP games ... except for Game Archives, which is the Japanese label for PSOne Classics, Neo Geo games, and other retro downloads. Sony will have more details about this limitation later, but the fact that there's more to it than "they all work" is troubling. We really hope we'll be able to play the PSOne games we've already bought ... and that we won't have to buy them again in their Android/PlayStation Suite incarnations.
PSN classics archive numbers over 600 games ... in Japan
Sony recently celebrated the considerable size of its "Game Archives" on the Japanese PlayStation Store, which now warehouses more than 600 titles of yesteryear. Siliconera took note of the achievement (er, Trophy?), pointing out that the collection spans a modest assortment of TurboGrafx-16 and Neo Geo games, but for the most part it's made up of PS1 titles. Comparatively, the North American Store carries a considerably lighter load of 127 "PSOne Classics," 13 "PSOne Imports" and 10 Neo Geo games, according to our count. The EU Store is lighter still with just 96 Classics and 10 NeoGeo titles. So, yeah, Sony's a little behind on hitting that 7,000 milestone (by the end of 2007), but it's complicated, right?
Look out PS3, it's raining ... PS1?
You know how Nintendo's Virtual Console Monday has become like this totally reliable weekly retro-release date? Well, apparently Sony's keen on catching up. Tomorrow, the Japanese division will release a PS1 title for every week PlayStation 3's been on the market, and then some; 25 games in all. While the list is cluttered with oldies you've never heard of -- Marl Oukoku no Ningyou Hime, Yaku Tsu Noroi no Game, etc. -- the massive outpouring is perhaps a sign that Sony's ready to settle into an e-Distribution rhythm. (Hopefully one not marked by random bursts of content.)It's possible that Sony sat on this stockpile in anticipation of PS3's firmware 1.7, which unlocks the system's "virtual console." But then, only 11 of the releases are actually compatible with PS3. Seemingly odd, until you consider that maybe Sony really has locked these downloads away for tomorrow's discharge; that is, perhaps the 14 games only playable on PSP are of the old, profoundly incompatible sort that will be straightened out by May. One thing's certain, working on PS3 or not, all 'Game Archive' titles are now subject to a new tax-inclusive price, bringing the cost per download up from ¥525 to ¥600 (about a 63-cent hike).[Via PSP Fanboy]
