There are multiple reports (on
IGN and
Siliconera) of pre-orders being canceled for NIS America's upcoming PSP game,
Holy Invasion of Privacy, Badman! What Did I Ever Do to Deserve This?. When we contacted NIS America for comment, the publisher noted that "the game will be coming out," but didn't provide specifics. Today, we can report that
Badman will be releasing exclusively as a PlayStation Network download for $19.99. Considering the unique pick up and play nature of
Badman, coupled with the upcoming digital-only PSP Go, it makes a lot of sense why
Badman will release as a downloadable title.
While
Badman makes sense as a downloadable title, we're a little surprised that the UMD version had to be canned. NIS America told us that "we wanted to make UMD for it, but Sony doesn't allow dual release (UMD & PSN) until Oct. 1st. We are super bummed about it!" Well, now you know who to blame.
Check out gameplay footage of the unusual game after the break.
{ Jun 24th 2009 at 4:15PM } 
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Heavytoka @ Jun 24th 2009 4:24PM
I'm not at all surprised, I'm sure they will be doing this with a bunch of games to push the PSP Go
Darklighter @ Jun 24th 2009 4:34PM
Well this sucks I had this game reserved. I guess I will use the funds toward another game. One that is good enough to get an actual release. If even the developers think this game is complete garbage (as evidenced by the fact that it's not coming out) I am glad I found out before I was unable to return it.
sicsided @ Jun 24th 2009 8:24PM
It IS coming out. Just not on UMD, but download only.
DarklighterPS3 @ Jun 24th 2009 9:57PM
If a game does not get an actual release in the region I live in I don't count it as being released. This game looked good but I am not going to bother importing it from a region where it does come out.
David Black @ Jun 25th 2009 10:03AM
You don't consider a release on the PSN as an "actual release"?
DarklighterPS3 @ Jun 25th 2009 1:53PM
I only consider a game as getting an actual release if I can walk into an actual store and purchase it.
ryanpaulmcgowan @ Jun 27th 2009 7:57PM
That's kind of stupid broseph.
Don @ Jun 24th 2009 4:45PM
Boooo to "download only"... how does that even make sense that Sony wouldn't allow a dual release because it's BEFORE the date?
Roddy @ Jun 24th 2009 5:02PM
It makes even less sense when you consider that we've been getting simultaneous PSN and UMD releases for ages in European territories (hence why I own Patapon 2 on UMD).
sony boy @ Jun 24th 2009 4:55PM
if it's going to be released as download, can't you make it a bit cheaper?
Jack Spicer PSN: watsuke @ Jun 24th 2009 4:59PM
That will teach me for pirating games!
Jason B. @ Jun 24th 2009 4:59PM
How about releasing the UMD as planned and release the download version on October 1st? Makes sense, no?
Sounds like someone at NISA wasn't thinking too clearly when they made the rash judgement to can the UMD version.
Kill a mans jiro @ Jun 24th 2009 5:02PM
Thanks joystiq, you know with a comment like that:
"Well, now you know who to blame."
Your just putting fuel to the fire for arguments to start, i realy do hope joystiq doesnt become like N4G.
Kid Chemical @ Jun 24th 2009 5:03PM
Sounds pretty phoney to me.
That would be like a developer saying "Oh, we wanted to put in trophies. But Sony wouldn't allow us to do so before January 2009" this time last year.
ecco6t9 @ Jun 24th 2009 5:34PM
Of course it's the same price.
xit @ Jun 24th 2009 5:52PM
Why are people crying for umd? just buy a card, download the game in there and done.
umd was the worst thing sony did with psp, getting rid of it was the best thing ever. psn is way more efficient and cheap to distribute games today.
get over cry boys, go back to 80´s and buy cartridges for old sega and nintendo games...
Kill a mans jiro @ Jun 24th 2009 6:46PM
+1
Nobledevil @ Jun 24th 2009 10:39PM
+1 from me too.
anarkhy @ Jun 24th 2009 5:56PM
Why are people still crying for umd, download the game put it in a card and done.
UMD was the worst sony made with psp, and was the format that was killing the console. now with the psn and direct distribution there will be a lot more games.
go back to 80's cry boys and buy cartridges for sega and nintendo consoles. or buy a DS and enjoy collecting dust for weak games.
Angel Mass @ Jun 24th 2009 6:25PM
You are one angry ghost
Tyler @ Jun 24th 2009 6:42PM
While I am excited for the game, NIS just saved a crap ton of money by going download-only. The PSP is sub par in sales and the cost for making a UMD release happen sometimes doesn't justify the outcome. I believe that only smaller games should start going download only, like games less than 1GB. Anything higher should require a UMD version.
Scuffles @ Jun 24th 2009 6:46PM
I do find it considerate of sony for continually saving me money.... mainly on the fact I have no interest in download ONLY games.
.... and you know what the thing there is I can go back and buy Cartridges or CDs of the games I enjoyed from my youth. Sony still has the acid test of time to pass... in 15-20 years am I going to be able to get a copy of Holy Invasion of privacy, from the PSN will the Playstation store even support people who still have a PSP? ... or are the only remaining copies going to be locked down to someone elses PSP?
Planned obsolescence and DRM FTL
no the games don't seem to phone home like regular drm tends to ...yet ... but they are still physically locked to your account and its PSPs which means if they stop offering the game your SOL, not until you can find a copy but flat out FOREVER.
oldmanpip @ Jun 24th 2009 6:52PM
Yeah I love how everyone cries about UMD, it's the worst thing ever, I wish they would just change it.
They get rid of it and now everyone cries it's download-only and not on UMD.
Must be hard to do research at Sony for what their customers want if they just keep changing their minds and whining all the time. $20 for a download-only game sounds fantastic compared to $40 or $50 for another game, and the game itself looks really fun.
Scuffles @ Jun 24th 2009 8:18PM
Eh I think a good portion of the people crying that UMD was the worst thing ever were the people who were ripping their games to ISO and playing them off the memory stick anyhow as justification for what they were doing. Not that I find anything specifically wrong with that if they actually owned the game in the first place.
maskedrose @ Jun 24th 2009 9:43PM
I want my PHYSICAL disk, art work, and case... this just became a NO BUY!!
ThekonamiMan @ Jun 25th 2009 2:54AM
I loved the demo for the Japanese version of this game and was really excited when I heard a US version was finally confirmed, I was ready to get it on release day. But now that it’s become a download only title I’m going to have to skip it. For one, in my opinion, $20 is too much for a download title. I also can’t spare any space on my memory stick for the game. I skipped Patapon 2 for the same reasons. I only hope that after October 1st when Sony allows for same day UMD and PS Store released for PSP games we get UMD versions of this and Patapon 2 in the US. If not I might just have to import, which I’d rather not do since I like supporting PSP releases in the US.
Tic-Tac @ Jun 26th 2009 1:42AM
Why would Sony sabotage people who prefer UMDs like this just to support that piece of trash PSPgo? They said at E3 that UMD is going nowhere, but that's not exactly what they do. Everyone should be given a choice between a hard copy and a download, Sony shouldn't force the hell out of us just to show how 'popular' downloads became, mostly because of the games you can't get any other way. Badman looked fantastic, but a download just won't do. Hopefully they release it over here in Europe.
TheDread @ Jul 10th 2009 8:44AM
But will the game get a box release like Patapon2? That was a good way of letting people get the game. At least for those who can't use PSN.
aristokrat @ Jul 19th 2009 10:52PM
Meh, I'm downloading it, no questions asked. $20 is not enough money to stop me, and I love having all the games with me in digital form (I always switch back to Patapon 2). Just make sure you download to your PS3 and then transfer to PSP just in case anything goes wrong or you want to share it.