Sony’s follow up to the PSP, codenamed NGP, was officially revealed last week. But unlike the company’s original handheld, the NGP will have no UMD drive at all.
A large portion of the PSP’s library of games are UMD-only, meaning the NGP would be unable to play those titles. But Sony is working on a solution to the problem.
The handheld manufacturer has stated that it is currently working with third parties to re-release past PSP games on the PlayStation Store. In addition to the downloadable front there are plans to also re-release some PSP games on the NGP’s new card-based format.
The company did add that not all PSP titles will be getting the update though due to rights issues.
The PSP Go does not contain a UMD drive either, so this isn’t entirely new territory for Sony. They have re-released PSP titles on PSN in the past for that platform, so hopefully the transition to the NGP is a smooth one.