Sony Pondering Downloadable Game Rental Service For the PSP

Joystiq has brought attention to a recent survey commissioned by Sony to gauge interest in a rental service for PSP games that would operate by downloading the games to the console. The plan, as Sony puts it, "will enable you to download a fixed number of games during your subscription period ... you will be able to change the games you have chosen for the download once your subscription term renews." The survey goes on to gather opinions on various details such as pricing, the number of available games, and how games are added to the catalogue.

Comments

Arcade games and MMORPGs

[tepples]

Sounds awesome, but surely this is a risky sort of business move for game designers?

Video games first appeared as coin-operated machines, and the arcade model isn't too different from the rental model. Nor is the MMORPG monthly fee model much different from the rental model.

Re:Maybe

[flows]

I've had my PSP for 2 years now, daily companion of a 15/25 minute bus ride to work. I can recall a couple games that made me walk into my office still playing, none had me dedicate that time for fear of losing a save game or having to replay some area. Suspend works every time unless you turn the device off while it's writing to the memory stick. I can pick it up on the way back home, right where I was.


On topic, I rather have 1 good game at a time and play it to exhaustion (any good game, from Puzzle Quest to God of War) than having to play a bunch of them just so I feel like I'm leeching my monthly rental fee.

Re:Is it only a rental service?

[that IT girl]

That last sentence was my first thought--how long would a rental period be? I also am uncomfortable with renting software in the first place--just too many ways it could go wrong.

Also, I'm just waiting for the DRM to be cracked (you know, about a day after it's released) and then the bitch-and-moan fest begins. They're just setting themselves up for it at this point.