Sony To Close Comic Store On PSP

If you like to get your comics downloaded onto your Sony PSP, then you may not like the bit of news unveiled earlier this week by Sony. According to a press release, the Comic Store for the Sony PSP will no longer be available from the Playstation Store after October 30th of this year. That means that those of you who like to purchase your comics and read them on the PSP will no longer be able to purchase or download comics or the necessary app to do so. This comes as no surprise considering the current state of the one-time giant which posted a $312 million loss this fiscal year (according to their August 2012 report).

So what does this mean for readers who have previously purchased and downloaded their comics from the Comic Store to their PSP? Well, it basically means you can't purchase new comics or download previously purchased comics any longer. According to Sony, previously purchased comics will not be available for download after mid-January, 2013. This means that unless you back-up all of your previously purchased comics by mid-January using Sony's Media Go and you lose your comics, they are essentially gone forever.

While this in itself is bad news for those of you that read your comics via the PSP or the Playstation Vita, it also brings up one of the primary concerns that readers have with purchasing and reading their comics digitally. For example, if you use Comixology and something were to happen to the company, readers with digital comics collections could be left in the dark. What would happen to digital collections? What happens when the digital reader would need an update? What would you do if you lost your digital collection due to computer hard drive failure? The decision to close the PSP store is likely not an omen of things to come for those of us who read our comics digitally, but it certainly makes us think.

Do you read your comics on the Sony PSP or Vita? What will you do now that Sony has decided to close the doors on their Comic Store? How will you buy your comic books now?

Source: Sonyand Engadget

ive never been able to get into the digital comic thing really. 'sall about hard copies! as far as comics go

Let's hope this never happens to Comixology. I've probably spent over $100 with them and it would suck tremendously if they were to shut down.

Thankfully, I don't have a PSP that has all my comic books on it.

there are several digital readers i use, I read on my galaxy and laptop but i back up everything.

It's just sad we're going to loose one extra venue regardless of what sells here. Too bad.

Indeed, Comixology should step it up and offer an APP for the Device. :D

ive always thought that way. The bottom line with Comixology and the like is that the comics are being Licensed to us, not sold. Licenses can expire or be revoked. A Physical comic is yours as long as you can keep it.

It's good you're getting the word out in this article, Sara. It would be horrible if people lost their purchased comics. At least hey have the chance to back them up.

Right here is a rather dramatic example of what digital comic readers absolutely fear. A digital service that closes and the comics that you bought are lost to you. That's one of the things that really makes me not want to go too deep into digital.

This is the PSP. video game consoles, especially handhelds, tend to have an extremely short life span. Sony's handhelds just don't do nearly as well as Nintendo. Notice how X-Box wont even go there? This is also a good warning to not support the Playstation Vita comic reader. It's too easy for this to happen again to you.

I use Comixology on my Kindle Fire. It's great to use becasue it can be very hard to find back issues of my favorite comic series, GOLD DIGGER. Comixology has been filling out more and more on this series, and it's awesome. I hope it goes well for Fred Perry. A smaller publisher doesn't have the ability to put out as many trade paperbacks. Comixology gives me the ability to read all the issues I've missed, support the comic officially, and hopefully send some profit to the creator - though I have no idea how much goes to them.

(I'm listening to the Comic Vine podcast from last week on my Kindle Fire as I read this article and wrote this comment. =D)

this is why they need to just let you download the book completely to your hard drive as a .cbr file or something similar...that way when something like this happens you can use a program like cdisplay to view the books that you've purchased

I'm pretty sure it isn't a sign to come for Comixology at all. The PSP is just an old system now, and why bother with a system that isn't thriving in the US anymore.

I dont think ill ever buy digital comics, i mean sometimes ill go on the Comixology to download previews and freee isues and what not. but i Just Prefer them in print. i like turning the pages myself, i love to bag and board them after im done reading them i like to organize them in my boxes and boxes of comics. label them and what not, its just a fun experience. I like going down to my local comic shop talking to the guy who works there and other customers. supporting theyre business. and I When i have a rare copy of an issue i like to get it graded and stuff...so yaa Dgital has its benefits, but it doesnt have enough to make me switch! :p

Also, the Vita is getting a new comics reader this month, according to their TGS information.

@zackattack529: I felt the same exact way, until I messed around with an iPad. I don't regret the switch at all.

TENS of people are really pissed right now.

@jurrysnow said:

ive never been able to get into the digital comic thing really. 'sall about hard copies! as far as comics go

hmm I almost emailed you about this story yesterday @Babs guess I didn't need to :P

Even DC can't fix this situation with a reboot.

This is part of the reason why I'm so wary to switch to digital.

This isn't really surprising. With new technology or gaming systems, the older ones get less support or that support ceases to continue. At least people are able to back them up, if they know about it.

@FoxxFireArt: you should look into the Gold Digger GD-ROM collection, over 140 issues of Gold Digger including mini's and spin-offs on two DVD's (in version 1), all the comics are both pdf's and loose jpegs for complete ease of use. I got version 1 like six years ago and they are up to version 3 now for $41 with way more stuff in it. There have been four versions (including 2.5). Way better value then Comixology and it is yours to own and do as you please with.

Edited to add contents:

• GD-ROM 1.0 - Collects Gold Digger vol.1: #1-4, vol.2: #1-50, vol.3: #1-75, and Ninja High School #54-57.
• GD-ROM 2.0 - Collects Gold Digger vol.1: #1-4, vol.2: #1-50, vol.3: #1-100, and Ninja High School #54-57.
• GD-ROM 3.0 - Collects Gold Digger vol.1: #1-4, vol.2: #1-50, vol.3: #1-125, and Ninja High School #54-57.

I've got a couple Thor comics from J.M.S's run on my PSP and as much as they're good stories I don't really like reading them so much digitally. Hard copy is much better and this is one reason why hard copies are better, you lose your digital data of the comic and, well, you just wasted some money.

But this can be a sign or something to give other digital comic suppliers a heads up on what to do if and when something like this happens.

There wasn't many comics on this program anyway and the ones I want I can easily get in a collection book, so no big loss...

Didn't even know there was a comic store on the PSP.

@Fantasgasmic said:

TENS of people are really pissed right now.

HA!

Just put it on the PS3.

@carnivalofsins00:

What makes you say the psp isn't thriving in the US anymore? Or is that your opinion? Do you have a link?

Don't own a psp didn't know they had this

@Cyborg6971 said:

@carnivalofsins00:

What makes you say the psp isn't thriving in the US anymore? Or is that your opinion? Do you have a link?

It's a last gen system, no? The Vita is newer/better and even that system is struggling in ways.

Well that's poopy.

@Xanni15: I'm just saying that's a blanket statement with nothing to back it up. And so what if it's an old system. That just means the fanbase is big,

This was dead as soon as marvel and comixology released their digital libraries. I still love trades and singles more than digitals but digitals have their uses. If you have friends who buys the 3.99 Marvel books, just ask nicely for their codes. It saves me alot of money not buying 20 plus series a month and it allows me to try out more indie books.

@Cyborg6971 said:

@Xanni15: I'm just saying that's a blanket statement with nothing to back it up. And so what if it's an old system. That just means the fanbase is big,

I could find some links for you, I thought it was pretty common that Sony is not doing so well these days. They've had to lower expectations for their gaming department, the PSP and Vita are selling less than just the PSP did this time last year, price cuts aren't helping, and the PSP market in NA has dried up.

@carnivalofsins00 said:

Also, the Vita is getting a new comics reader this month, according to their TGS information.

Pretty sure it's for Manga and available in Japan only. ;)

@Xanni15:

Sony's gaming dept. is what keeps them alive. And makes them money. So go ahead and find me the links. You must be an xbot.

I use Comixology on my Kindle Fire. It's great to use becasue it can be very hard to find back issues of my favorite comic series, GOLD DIGGER. 

Cheers to another Gold Digger fan.
 
Reguarding the whole issue of longevity of digital with services like Sony Store or Comixology where you view the media online but do not own a hard copy or a digital copy, I have to say I do not have very much faith in the the long term stability of services like this cause if the company goes under all the comics you 'bought' disappear into the ether of the internet. For me to really trust digital sales of comics would be either for the big comic book companies gurantee your digital purchase for as long as they remain in business, or to follow the iTune/music distribution model and after you pay for the file you download it and then you are responsible to save the media for future use. For now I am sticking with single issues and trades.

@Cyborg6971 said:

@Xanni15:

Sony's gaming dept. is what keeps them alive. And makes them money. So go ahead and find me the links. You must be an xbot.

I don't know why you resorted to name-calling, I never attacked Sony or said anything untrue.

As far as their gaming industry keeping them alive, well I don't know how accurate that is. This is from August and related to Q1:

http://www.siliconera.com/2012/08/02/sony-post-q1-loss-lower-playstation-vita-and-psp-sales-forecast/

The Vita could be one of the worst selling units ever unless it improves:

http://scrapetv.com/News/News%20Pages/Games/Pages-2/Sony-surprised-by-lack-of-support-for-Vita-because-they-are-delusional-Scrape-TV-The-World-on-your-side-2012-10-01.html

Sony is not doing well as a company:

http://www.cnbc.com/id/49098529

"Even combined, PSP and Vita sales were less (1.4 million) than what PSP managed alone during April-June last year (1.8 million)."

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-08-02-sony-sales-highlight-playstation-vita-struggles

Ah well, no big loss to me since I don't have a PSP so it doesn't matter to me one way or another. Sad for those who have them though I suppose.

@YourNeighborhoodComicGeek said:

Thankfully, I don't have a crappy Sony product.

Fixed. >_>

Although I don't own a Sony handheld device, this does make me worried for my purchases, as I'm exclusively digital for new releases. Digital comics are great for people like me, foreigners with no physical store in my area. I'd also like to believe that it would be more costly to import because of custom-tax or the like, and also a small cut to the retailer I'd order from. So it just feels cheaper and quicker to get. But now, I'll have to look for ways to back up those already-made-purchases before I buy any more. Just to be sure.

@Mercy_ said:

This is part of the reason why I'm so wary to switch to digital.

QFT i only ever get the digial free copies i get from buying a hard copy for exactly this reason.

I thought this had already happend, i first started collecting digital comics on the psp 3 years ago and around 2 years ago i heard they had plans to abandon the service and not bring it back on Vita (NGP at the time). I have quite a few good comics on there too as i used to have to travel from Glasgow to London quite a lot for work so id read them on the way, its a pity because the screen on the psp was pretty good for comic book reading. Its one of the reasons that i only buy digitally from sales now and the other digital issues i get are the physical comics that come with the digital codes so i cover both bases. The thought of a fully digital world scares me a little...which is weird since im IT Support, i just dont like how a service can go away and with it everything you ever bought from them.

This was a bad idea from the start, considering how A) the sales for the PlayStation Portable have been less than stellar and B) No one has cared for the PSP since early 2010 when Peace Walker was released.

It's not surprising they shut down a comic store for a console that has (For the most part) disappointed.

Since I started reading Comic books again last year, I am about 95% digital. For me and where I'm at in life, nothing beats having it on my tablet(s) and reading away. I do understand that something someday could happen to Comixology or even Dark Horse, but I don't fret about it, and I doubt either would just disappear without having some way to save my purchases. Sorry to see the Sony service shut down though.

I use Comixology on my Kindle Fire for new releases. Mostly because there are no shops close enough for me to visit weekly. I could set up a subscription box, but I am fickle about which books I read month to month. I like being able to instantly access the back issues and not have to search and search. If I particularly like the book from reading the digitals, I pick up the trade. I do worry about the company going under and losing the issues I have "purchased." That's why I take advantage of sales whenever they have them (which is often.) I at least have the opportunity to read them on the cheap.

Having gone the digital route for about a year now, I think that if I had the opportunity I would go back to physical copies and only use digital to fill gaps in my collection.

@dcfox said:

Let's hope this never happens to Comixology. I've probably spent over $100 with them and it would suck tremendously if they were to shut down.

They are like the Walmart of digital comics. Tough to see that happening.

I tried to read them in my psp...... FAIL