There's no question that the PSPgo was probably one of Sony's worst-kept secrets, especially in the days leading up to E3 2009. While many of us drooled over the sliding screen and thinner design, the lack of a UMD had many scratching their heads. One of the big questions Sony faced after the PSPgo's big reveal earlier this week was, what would happen with existing PSP games? Without the UMD drive, gamers upgrading to the newer PlayStation Portable will have no way to play their favorite games without hanging on to the older model, or purchasing the titles again--in digital format--from the PlayStation Network Store.



"We're in the midst of putting together a good will program," said John Koller, Director of Hardware Marketing for Sony while speaking with Gizmodo. "We'll be unveiling that soon [because] we actually think there's a significant group that will be upgrading from the 1000. In the past, we've seen a 20-25% trade-up factor, and I assume that's going to be the case here. We've modeled that. So we're looking at a good-will program--a short term good-will program that would continue for years afterward."



According to Mr. Koller, the method would be similar to Portable Copy, a means to insert a Blu-ray disk into the PlayStation 3 and transfer the movie over to the portable device's memory stick. In this case, consumers will not be "ripping" the UMD disks, but rather use a PlayStation Network digital distribution model in which users must register to use. It's also possible that consumers will be required to enter the game's UPC number listed on the box in order to "unlock" a digital version.



And because Portable Copy is free, it's easy to assume that the UMD service will be free as well although that bit of info went unconfirmed. Mr. Koller also added that the company was currently looking at what kind of games will be offered through the service, indicating that not every UMD title will be available for digital download. Currently the PlayStation Network offers "UMD Legacy" titles, a library of 39 classic UMD-based games including LocoRoco, MediEvil Resurrection, Ratchet and Clank: Size Matters, Untold Legends: The Warrior's Code, and more.