Minis and transfer

Dec 9, 2009 09:58 GMT  ·  By

Sony has confirmed that it will be bringing the PlayStation Portable Minis program to the PlayStation 3 home gaming console with the upcoming 3.15 firmware update, which is set to arrive at an unspecified date only referred to as “very soon.” The move was rumored for a few days and Sony is also mentioning that the 3.15 firmware update will be optional to those who own a Sony console.

Starting with December 17, all the PSP Mini releases will be required to work on both the Sony handheld and the home console. All those players who have bought a game using the program for the PSP will be able to download it again free of charge for the new platform.

The Mini program was started by Sony in an effort to compete with the games launched on the Apple App Store for the iPhone. The idea is to deliver videogames that are limited in sales, sell for a lower price than normal releases and can be easily played on the go. Titles like Fieldrunners, Kahoots and Blast Off will be among the first available on the PlayStation 3, thereby enlarging their potential audience and bringing in more sales for the developers and Sony.

And with the Minis now confirmed as coming to the PlayStation 3, it would not be surprising to see that Sony also relaxes the no online multiplayer rule that has been attached to the releases, allowing for developers to make the gaming experiences they deliver even more appealing.

The 3.15 firmware update for the PlayStation 3 is also set to introduce a feature allowing for data transfer from one console to another, which enables saved data to be moved. The main idea is to cater to those players who are interested in taking the content from their old PlayStation 3 and move it to a new Slim device.