Playstation Vita, UMD transfers and Why People Will Have To Pay

Lots of rumours and corridor conversations are circling the web today about Sony's plans to have UMD PSP games transfer to Vita and what it means for the consumer.

While I'm sure many people would love to think they will get all their games for free its far more likely that if you want your UMD's on the next Playstation portable your going to have to pay to get them and here's why.

There is no definitive way to tell if you've owned that title

This was one of the biggest issues to when UMD transfers were originally discussed for the PSP-Go. While I'm sure everyone who's reading this is as honest as a new born baby, there is nothing stopping the scum of the earth all pretending they bought their friends games and Sony would have a hard time trying to pair up figures with scammers.

Sony have no idea if you bought the UMD new or pre-owned

When I first bought my PSP, 4 years into the machines life cycle, I bought a copy of Crisis Core new and then 4 or 5 other titles pre-owned for under a tenner each. I'm confident many of us would say that we should get copies regardless of whether it was pre-owned or not but Sony wouldn't agree.

To keep the publishers happy

I cant say for sure but its a safe bet to say Sony have the final word when it comes to the content up on the PSN right now. Where they lack authority is trying to force publishers to upload PSP games with the sole intent being to give those copies away for free to customers who cant prove they own a title. Sony would (all an assumption at this point) get a far better response from publishers if they asked for Playstation Vita owners to be given a discount on older PSP titles for the first week of them going up.

Other companies have been selling you old digital titles you've owned for years

Nintendo made a mint when the Wii was first release with its Virtual Console program, and while its now died down on the WIi its now taking flight on 3DS. At no point did anyone ever say "hang on, I already have a copy of Mario Kart 64! WHY ISNT THIS FREE!?" so why do people think they have the right with UMD's?

Microsoft has also been selling titles like Halo on the Xbox 360 for a few years now. Pricing the titles between 10 to 15 dollars/pounds. all of the titles on XBL can still be played if you have a disc copy but no one expected Microsoft to transfer the content over to a digital copy.

Does the idea of paying for the right to have a title you enjoy on a different platform seem so wrong? Do gamers really think they feel entitled to these titles for a second time or do you think that paying a low price seems justified?