One of the core differences between Sony's upcoming PSP Go and previous generation is the lack of a UMD drive. This inherently means that users must download digital copies of games and other content. For most new customers this is a non-issue, but things aren't that simple for those who already own physical PSP media.

By upgrading from an older rendition of the PSP, you would effectively lose access to all of your UMD titles – unless, of course, you're okay with toting around both consoles. Acknowledging this months back, Sony revealed plans to offer some form of "good-will" program, which would allow UMD games to be somehow transferred to or traded for a digital copy. Unfortunately, the company has since scrapped that initiative.


Yesterday at the Tokyo Game Show, an SCEA spokesperson told Kotaku, "We were evaluating a UMD conversion program, but due to legal and technical reasons we will not be offering the program at this time." To kick US adopters while they're down, Europeans who upgrade to the PSP Go will be eligible for three free games via the "PSP Go Rewards" promotion.

The PSP Go is slated to debut on October 1, and downloadable material consists of 225 games, 2,300 films, and 13,000 TV show episodes. For those of you with an extensive UMD library, is this news a deal breaker?