Sony has just released details for the next PSP firmware update, 5.00, and this one comes with a very significant and frankly well overdue addition; a PlayStation Store with the PSP.
The PSP has always been a very functional little device; access to the PlayStation Store on the PSP will finally give gamers the means to directly download official content for the machine onto their handheld, including demos, themes, and game videos.
Best of all, you will be able to buy first pary Sony titles directly from the store and download them to your SD card, which is great if you’re having trouble finding them in your local game store… or you’ll simply too lazy to go and get it.
Confirmed titles that will be available for digital dowloading include Bleach Soul Carnival, Ratchet and Clank, Patapon 2, LocoRoco 2, Remote Detective, Diamond and the Sound of a Gunshot, Sarugetchu Piposaru Senki, and Resistance Retribution. No prices have yet been revealed.
The penned released date for the Firmware Update is “soon”, so make of that what you will.
PSP Firmware 5.00 details from Sony Blog
Let’s start with the v5.00 update for PSP. In this version, you’ll notice the addition of the PlayStation Network icon on the XMB. You can now sign up for PlayStation Network, manage your account and access PlayStation Store directly from your PSP – meaning you can download games directly to your PSP while connected via Wi-Fi. Getting games, demos and trailers while on-the-go has never been easier! Check out the screen below.
The current PlayStation Store on the PC will be down in the interim as we take some time to revamp. Don’t worry, it will re-launch soon after we’ve made some tweaks. Please keep in mind, if you already have a PlayStation Network account, simply sign in on your PSP using your existing information. The same account and wallet can be used on PS3 and PSP. You will be able to check out the PlayStation Store on the PSP soon, as we’ll have a video demo featuring Grace Chen posted soon on the Blog.
Update v5.00 adds a sleep timer option that can be used while you are playing music on your PSP. In addition, we’ve added a full screen keyboard option for text entry and have redesigned the background of the XMB. You’ll be able to find all of the information on Firmware v5.00 here once it goes live.
That took long enough, Really…
I can’t wait for this. Hopefully they can ramp the speeds of downloads so they are at least close to what you get from the PC. What surprised me the most though was that Resistance: Retribution is on the list of PSN games. A little strange. Wonder if they are abandoning the UMD format yet or merely pulling a Warhawk.
Also, that confirmed game list is for Japan only. Most of them I imagine will make it over much later.