NGP's backwards compatibility unveiled

By Martin Robinson Published 2 June, 2011

PSN's PSP titles to be given full support.

Sony's NGP will offer full backwards compatibility with the PlayStation Network's library of PSP games, and will offer an optimized experience for each one.

PSP games played with the NGP will be smoothed and upscaled, and the NGP's dual analogue sticks will also be supported.

Sony Bend's Resistance Retribution has been demonstrated working on the NGP, with the second analogue stick now being used to move the character's view in the third person shooter.

PSP games are run via a software emulator within the NGP, and the upscaling can be toggled on and off by the player.

The PSP backwards compatibility seems to mirror the efforts of the PSP Remaster Series, which allow optimized versions of PSP games to run on the PS3.

Picture of Martin.

About Martin Robinson

Martin is Eurogamer's features editor with responsibility for commissioning, editing and often writing our feature and preview content. He's also passionate about driving games.

Read more articles from Martin by visiting the Martin Robinson archive page.

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Comments (40) Latest comment 9 months ago

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  • JohnnyWashnGo #1 9 months ago

    But... All my UMDs

  • jonno394 #2 9 months ago

    Well this would all be swell if the Vita had a UMD drive, unfortunately it doesn't, and I highly doubt Sony are just going to give away the PSP games online, so does this mean having to rebuy (unless you've already bought them digitally for your PSP Go) the games through PSN?

  • niallymul #3 9 months ago

    But only the downloadable ones?

  • Waggy44 #4 9 months ago

    Siiick. My PSP digital library not gone to waste after I got rid of my PSP Go.

  • Hunam #5 9 months ago

    Monster Hunter 3 please.

  • -cerberus- #6 9 months ago

    The fools that bought the PSPGO! and its games might not be so inconvenienced after all... Sad but true.

  • IonOnion #7 9 months ago

    @JohnnyWashnGo
    Sell them.

    I thought it was universally agreed UMDs are shit.

  • Markitron #8 9 months ago

    Why are ppl bitching? This is good news, We all know it wasnt gonna have a UMD drive

  • EhrgeizVII #9 9 months ago

    That means the Vita will have an insane launch library available for people to easily browse through. This way, alot of underrated gems will get the second chance they deserve.

  • kaiser0001 #10 9 months ago

    i have 3 psps so its not a problemC i can still use my umds if i want to play psp games .

  • captain_Carl #11 9 months ago

    So pleased i started buying them all as downloads :D

  • Red930 #12 9 months ago

    Well that makes my PSPGo library seem a lot less stupid doesn't it? ;)

  • Shakey_Jake33 #13 9 months ago

    The usefulness of this will depend on how Sony price these. Here's hoping Sony have been keeping note of how Valve run Steam.

  • zedzee #14 9 months ago

    EG forgot to ask Sony whether this feature is for games that people have downloaded ALREADY or just for NEW ones that people want to buy and play on their NGP.

    I suspect it's the latter, so no matter how many games one has right now on a stick, Sony will expect you to buy them AGAIN when you migrate to the NGP.

    Can EG verify this please? I suspect that they won't bother...

  • shadowlp #15 9 months ago

    If the ps1 games work too and the introduce ps2 games also them ill be getting me a NGP with out even thinking about it, my ps3 is a waste of space now.

  • Flying_Pig #16 9 months ago

    @ zeedee

    Pretty sure you'll only need to buy 'em once, so if you've already downloaded a PSP title from PSN, you'll be able to d/l it again onto your NGP :)

  • Toothball #17 9 months ago

    Nice, I also got off the UMD train ages ago. Whatever you think about the PSP Go, it was a good sign that Sony were giving up on UMDs so I stopped buying them.

    @jonno394

    In theory you would have to rebuy your games on PSN. In practice however you won't need to, as most of them won't be on PSN.

  • Steroyd #18 9 months ago

    Good thing i've decided to go all digital now, only problem with that is waiting for the prices to drop on the newer released games will take months maybe even a year instead of weeks. :|

  • zedzee #19 9 months ago

    @ Flying_Pig:

    Your answer sounds much more hopeful than your nick name.

    Until there's a definitive statement from Sony, it's all rumour and conjecture.

  • Widge #20 9 months ago

    I wonder if that region locking that you got on the psp, I had to keep everything on the US store to play psone games.

  • SeesThroughAll #21 9 months ago

    So, my PSN games will be compatible. I could sell my PSP, along with a bunch of UMDs to recover some of the losses before I buy an NGP then. :)

  • Beano #22 9 months ago

    "But... All my UMDs "

    Just wait a few weeks/months after release and the NGP/PS Vita will be cracked allowing you to play your ripped PSP ISOs on the new unit :)

  • MatMan562 #23 9 months ago

    Having never owned a PSP the PSP2/ NGP/ Vita is quickly changing from a "I would like it but I probably wont have the money" into a "I must own one! I will sell my body if necessary" I just hope it comes out next year so as to avoid the ton of releases at the end of this year

  • Nuronv #24 9 months ago

    The backwards compatibility for the PlayStation products always works out well doesn't it....
    Edited by 1 at 02/06/11 @ 20:10

  • Dolly #25 9 months ago

    I hope all the comics I've bought on the PSN are going to work as well.

  • RawNinjaKid #26 9 months ago

    "PSN PSP" titles. - Does that mean PSone classics?

    I guess it can go 50/50 eithier way.

    Edited by 1 at 02/06/11 @ 23:09

  • jonsaan #27 9 months ago

    For heavens sake shutup about UMDs. Everybody said they were shit and the psp had no games. Why on earth would they cripple a new system with the very thing most people hated about the psp!

  • 32768Colours #28 9 months ago

    As someone who no longer has a PSP (but sorely misses it) this is great news. I just hope they don't remove the BC facility to bring costs down like they did with the PS2 BC for PS3. Probably they won't though.

    Also, this might encourage more publishers to re-release more PSP titles digitally, which again, for an industry that seems quite happy to merely junk its past, is great news.

  • Beranmee #29 9 months ago

    Sweet!! MoH 1 and 2 will be much easier to get to grips with with dual analogue, finally Sony are listening.

  • Mister-Wario #30 9 months ago

    "I highly doubt Sony are just going to give away the PSP games online, so does this mean having to rebuy (unless you've already bought them digitally for your PSP Go) the games through PSN?"

    This is assuming the games are released on PSN. Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep, for instance, never saw an online release.

    I suppose the best thing to do is simply keep your old hardware. Which I do as a matter of principle.

    Also, I don't really get it: what's so bad about UMDs? I haven't found them to be that objectionable. Yeah, they do whirr quite a bit when they're in the console, but every console does that to some degree. The 3DS would do it if it used disc-based media, I bet.
    Edited by 1 at 03/06/11 @ 00:25

  • IonOnion #31 9 months ago

    @zedzee

    With Psone and Minis you need only to buy once and you can play it on both the PS3 and PSP. Why shouldn't it be any other way?
    If you are thinking because of Xperia, Google Marketplace and PSN are to different networks so of course they are not linked.

  • Schiraman #32 9 months ago

    Good news for those who have download games for their PSP, but for the majority who have (at least some) UMDs it would be nice to hear Sony announce some kind of migration path.

    Of course nobody wants the NGP/Vita/whatever to have a UMD drive - but there's no reason Sony couldn't offer some kind of trade-in program whereby you send them your old UMDs and they unlock the appropriate game for you on PSN as a free/cheap download.

    Backwards compatibility is about rewarding loyal customers and ensuring that the investment they've made in your previous system(s) isn't wasted. Without some kind of ongoing support for UMD games, this particular form of backwards compatibility is essentially useless to most.
    Edited by 1 at 03/06/11 @ 08:18

  • jonsaan #33 9 months ago

    How do you determine which 'loyal' customers have bought their UMDs for 2 quid from CEX?

  • Toothball #34 9 months ago

    @Mister-Wario

    There isn't really a major issue with UMDs, but there are numerous minor issues that culminate into a larger one. Disc based formats require more power to run since the drive needs to spin them to read, so isn't a great option for a device that primarily runs on batteries. The UMDs themselves also aren't that resilient, as the plastic covers can start to come off after a time even if you're careful with them. Sony seem to have developed them as a portable media standard, and spent a lot of the early days pushing UMD movies and other content. It looked like they intended to incorporate the drive into other portable devices, but sales of UMD movies didn't seem to go so well so it stayed as a gaming format for PSP only.

    Now it's just another proprietary format, and people are irate that they can't use them on their NGPs. Something to keep in mind when NGP games show up physically in shops. The new flash memory based format stands a better chance of being supported, but don't take that for granted.

  • BartsBlue #35 9 months ago

    I myself am a little bit on the fence here: I have a nice UMD collection of PSP titles and I don't want to sell them. These boxes sitting on my shelf are memories. I will rebuy a few things online, though: Persona 3 Portable, Lumines (if it ever reappears), maybe God of War.

    There is an important thing here, though, that gets overlooked in the shouting about UMDs: contrary to the previous portable console launch, there will be a backlog of titles this time. PSP was left just with the launch lineup for a while, but this won't be that much of a problem with NGP: upscaled God of War (x2), Lumines (if they manage to secure the rights for digital distribution), Persona 3 Portable (brilliant game), Disgaea series, Tactics Ogre. There will be plenty of older games to entertain players in case there is a bit of a drought between big game releases.

    Another good move, Sony.

  • zedzee #36 9 months ago

    @ IonOnion: You're of the strong belief that there's actual PSP owners who have bought PSone and Minis off of PSN. I think this is a minuscule share; I'm more on about UMD and full-size digital PSP games.

    The opening paragraph and subsequent - confused - posts give me no reassurance at all.

    But I know Sony...

  • Quak #37 9 months ago

    I love the way PSP Go owners who have up until today kept their purchase a dirty little secret are all coming out of the woodwork and screaming from the rooftops.

  • oerhoert #38 9 months ago

    Very happy about this. The PSP is underrated.

  • half #39 9 months ago

    Didn't the PS3 have backward compatibility... then Sony took that away in a mandatory update. Not sure if it was for PS1 or PS2 games. So will be interesting to see how this turns out. Never liked UMDs took up space and battery power.

  • apoc_reg #40 9 months ago

    I assume it wont emulate downloaded games... not from PSN ;-)