After almost eight years of service, Sony Computer Entertainment announced they will be shutting down their Japanese PlayStation Store on the PlayStation Portable on March 31, 2016. Even though you won’t be able to make purchases through the loveable handheld, don’t fret for you will be able to continue purchasing PSP titles through your browser, the PlayStation Vita store, and even the PlayStation 3 store.
Afraid of deleting a game to make space on your memory stick? No need to fear, for you will still be able to directly download that game in the future. Subsequently, the PlayStation Store’s closure on the PSP will also affect the UMD Passport Service – which served as a way for physical PSP games to be registered on your PlayStation Vita for a fee – thus meaning the Passport Service will also cease operation on March 31.
Despite moderate support from Sony with first-party titles, like the perplexingly addictive rhythm game Patapon, the PlayStation Portable was met with an overwhelming, collective war cry from third-party Japanese developers and publishers with new games releasing well into the lifespan of its successor, the PlayStation Vita which debuted in December 2011 in Japan. The PSP knocked on Nintendo’s door for a respectable amount of time with an intimidating 80 million units sold and an unbelievable ten-year stretch before finally being discontinued in 2014. It would appear that, with this recent move to shut down the PlayStation Store on the PSP, this is Sony’s final step in securing the PSP’s legacy and allowing the PlayStation Vita to truly shine as its successor.
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Source: Gematsu
