Oh yeah, there’s a PC-based PSP store

Have you checked out the PSP PC store? Yeah, I haven’t either. We were excited to hear about it at this year’s Tokyo Game Show, but I haven’t had a chance to check out the Web store since it launched a couple of weeks ago.

To be truthful, I totally forgot about it until I read MTV Multiplayer’s in-depth interview with Sony’s Eric Lempel, who is the PlayStation Network director and boss of the PSP store. The interview basically covers everything you’d ever want to know about the PSP PC Store.

If you’re wondering why Sony didn’t make a bigger deal out of the store’s launch, you’re not alone. Multiplayer wondered the same thing and asked Lempel why the launch was so “low-key.”

“We thought we would just get it out there,” said Lempel. “It was a different way to deliver stuff. We do have some original stuff like Syphon Filter: Combat Ops which is getting great reviews. But we felt like if we made a big splash there might not be enough there to make everybody happy now.”

That’s understandable. The store seems to be off to a slow start as it only offers two first-party UMD games. Sony has big plans for its future, but hasn’t rolled out the UMD-to-download program to the third parties yet.

Finally, Multiplayer asks if the PSP PC store points to an eventual goal to move away from the UMD format and focus on downloads.

“We’re at an interesting point in the industry where consumers know they can get things fast and they’re getting used to it with other devices from other companies. So it’s something we always wanted to do,” says Lempel. 

“I would say it’s a glimpse towards the future. Definitely just by releasing a UMD title in the store it definitely puts ideas in people’s heads, but no I wouldn’t categorize this as a shift in business model at this point.”