If you can’t access Wi-Fi, don’t bother buying Patapon 2

People who can’t hook up their PSPs to Wi-Fi should prepare to weep now. Sony has confirmed to Ars Technica that Patapon 2 will be a UMD-less release. Actually, people with small memory cards should probably start lamenting their fate as well – and start saving up for bigger memory cards.

Patapon 2 will be released May 5, 2009 in both the PlayStation Store and retail stores. People purchasing it on the PlayStation Store will pay only $15 and directly download the game to their PSP’s memory stick, while people who preorder or purchase it through a store will pay $19.99 and receive an empty Patapon 2 game box containing a voucher code to download the game from the PlayStation Store. It’s a foreboding announcement, and one that should have been made before Patapon 2 preorders were accepted in stores. No one is going to want to pay an extra $5 for an empty box.

Let’s make a brief list of the people who won’t be able to play Patapon 2:

• People with memory sticks smaller than 1gb. They probably could, but it might mean deleting saves or music that are already on the card.
• People who are unable to connect their PSP to Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi isn’t readily and freely available in all areas, and in some areas it is too slow to download games.
• People who have connected their PSP to a Japanese or Asian PlayStation Store account. Unless they transfer to a US account, rendering their previous purchases unusable, they can’t play.

I’d be interested to see exactly how many people go for Patapon 2 after this decision. A controversial move on a widely popular game like this is sure to upset fans of the series. I know that this announcement means I can’t purchase and play Patapon 2 – I’ll have to wait and hope for a UMD release.

So readers, what do you think? Will Sony’s digital distribution plan for Patapon 2 prevent or dissuade you from helping the Patapons on their musical journey?

Read [Ars Technica] Via [Siliconera]