UMD Passport Program for Vita Announced with some details

[Hop2089]

Sony shared details today on how it plans to let owners of PSP UMD games play their lineup on the PlayStation Vita.
The program is called UMD Passport. Available from December 6, just ahead of the Vita's December 17 release, UMD Passport will give you access to download versions of your UMD games at discount prices.
The UMD Passport program consists of the following steps:

• 1. Download a UMD Registration Application from PlayStation Store to your PSP
• 2. Boot up the UMD Registration Application from your PSP's XMB menu and insert the UMD game you want to register into the system.
• 3. Follow the prompts to register your UMD disc with your PSN account
• 4. You can then download the downloadable version of your game at discount price.

The program will support around 200 titles from 40 companies. Sony posted a partial list of compatible titles with pricing today. Access it here.
Pricing in the list centers around the 500 yen to 1500 yen range. Major titles like Gran Turismo, Persona 3, Phantom Kingdom, and Akiba's Trip are included. While companies like Square Enix, Falcom, Capcom, Konami and Sega haven't announced titles, they are on board with the program, Sony says.

Second news is about the number of accounts a UMD can be used which is 1.

Thinking about cheating Sony's system to get some cheap PSP games through the UMD Passport program? Based off Sony's official press release announcing the program, you may not be able to.
The fine print in Sony's press statement (see it here in Japanese) says that once you've registered a UMD with a PSN account it can't be registered with another PSN account.
Sony has not provided details on how it can determine if a UMD has been registered or not.
The official announcement also clarifies a couple of additional issues:
The downloadable game you get through the Passport program can, like other PSP games, be used not just on Vita, but on your PSP or PSP go.
Sony announced 40 compatible titles today, but said that it has around 200 planned for compatibility. The full list of titles that will be compatible at the start of the program will be announced at the PS Vita promotion site in mid November.
The program will begin on December 6. Of course, Vita doesn't actually see release until December 17.

Final bit of news is on compatability

Joining its announcement of the UMD Passport program (details here), Sony has shared specifics on what players can expect when playing a PSP game on PlayStation Vita.
Boot up a PSP game on Vita, and you'll see the following screens:

The screen to the left is the LiveArea for the PSP game. If the game has a digital manual, you'll see an icon for the manual here.
To the right are some play options. You can toggle bilinear filtering, change settings for the right analogue stick and switch the color space to match the color of the PSP. For games that use the system's camera, you can switch between the front and back camera.
You'll be able to transfer your PSP saves to your Vita. The transfer can be done through the PS Vita Content Management program on your PS3 or PC. In the case of a PC, you'll need to install a program called "Content Management Assistant for PlayStation." This will be released later via the PlayStation.jp site. (Sony didn't say this, but the PS3 content management program will presumably be added to the system via firmware update).
If you have a UMD copy of a game, you'll need to use Sony's UMD Passport program to transfer it to the Vita (assuming it's supported by the program). For download versions, you can download the game directly from PS Store, or download it to your PS3 and transfer it from there to your Vita.

Sources

http://andriasang.com/comyxo/

http://andriasang.com/comyxt/

http://andriasang.com/comyxp/

1 account will be a disappointment for those who switch PSNs to different regions a lot, this means you need to pick the region with the best gaming experience for your situation. I'm sticking to Japanese PSN. I hope Armored Core Silent Line Portable or Gundam vs Gundam Next Plus gets in eventually.

 

[s4mid4re]

To the right are some play options. You can toggle bilinear filtering, change settings for the right analogue stick and switch the color space to match the color of the PSP. For games that use the system's camera, you can switch between the front and back camera.

Great, so we can map some controls to the second analogue?

 

[chris888222]

I believe Guild posted something similar, no?

Anyway, this is a great alternative for those still have UMDs. I didn't expect Sony to do this.

 

[SifJar]

I think it would be best if there was a set price regardless of how many or what games you wanted to transfer e.g. you pay something like £10/$15/whatever yen (probably more I guess) to actually download the transfer program then once the UMDs are registered, they are added to your account for "free".

I'm thinking of possibly registering your existing UMDs, getting them on my account, downloading them on my PSP, then selling my UMDs for more than or equal to the discounted download price.

Also: I wonder if it will let you register imported games? For example, I have a US PSP with some US games and some EU games. I wonder if it would let me register them all?

 

[Hop2089]

I think it would be best if there was a set price regardless of how many or what games you wanted to transfer e.g. you pay something like £10/$15/whatever yen (probably more I guess) to actually download the transfer program then once the UMDs are registered, they are added to your account for "free".

I'm thinking of possibly registering your existing UMDs, getting them on my account, downloading them on my PSP, then selling my UMDs for more than or equal to the discounted download price.

Also: I wonder if it will let you register imported games? For example, I have a US PSP with some US games and some EU games. I wonder if it would let me register them all?

I agree with you on the need for a one time price for the program.

No, it will only register games from the region the account comes from so for example if you want Japanese UMDs on your Vita, you will need a Japanese account and since they are limited to 1 account only you will need to make a decision on which account to stay with.

To the right are some play options. You can toggle bilinear filtering, change settings for the right analogue stick and switch the color space to match the color of the PSP. For games that use the system's camera, you can switch between the front and back camera.

Great, so we can map some controls to the second analogue?

Pretty much.

 

[Jolan]

So,..the games will be limited to 1 per account...and they won't be free..

>.>

 

[Guild McCommunist]

So,..the games will be limited to 1 per account...and they won't be free..

>.>