I recently bought 3 new PSP games on Amazon. I didn’t think to check the PlayStation store first because I prefer to have games in their hardware form, like UMD’s. Of course, I guess it doesn’t really matter if I download a game or if I have the UMD. If a SD card fails, I can download the game again.

The 3 games that I recently bought were fortunately a good price to buy the UMD as opposed to the digital download, so I’m not stressing out on that. I went through my Amazon PSP Wish List and found several that are actually cheaper to download. Games like Dungeon Maker: Hunting Ground which is $19.99 on Amazon, but the digital download is only $9.99. Sonic Rivals in UMD format on Amazon is $24.89, but the digital download is only $6.99. Had I bought the UMD and then found out it was much cheaper to download, I probably would have beat myself up over that.

I counted at least 5 games on my wish list that were way more expensive in UMD format, but there are a few that are not available as a digital download, so those games I can buy in UMD format, like Assassin’s Creed: Bloodlines. I had no idea that was even available for the PSP, PS Vita sure, but PSP? Who knew?

It is actually a better idea to buy the digital download of some games anyway because if I eventually do decide to upgrade to PS Vita, I will be able to download and play these games, because they are compatible, but I won’t be able to use the UMD on a PS Vita. So much for being Universal (UMD = Universal Media Disc).

The only unfortunate thing is the security protocols on my home’s wifi cable modem/router. I cannot connect to the PlayStation store directly from my PSP. That’s actually not a problem because I can buy the games from the PlayStation Store website, then use Media Go to download them onto my PSP via the USB cable. It sucks that I have to do that, but it gives me the chance to back up my game data to my computer anyway, so it’s actually a win/win.

I currently have 3 new games to play, plus some new games that I bought from a pawn shop, so I have more than enough to keep me busy, but I still wouldn’t mind buying a few of these digital games because I still want to have the option to play them. I will when I have some extra money.