There’s a bit of bad news for PSP owners. Well, for PSP owners who are eager to ditch UMDs and only collect downloadable games. Remember the exciting news about Atlus releasing Shin Megami Tensei: Persona on the PlayStation Store and on UMD on September 22, 2009. The Atlus Faithful email newsletter just issued an update stating that isn’t going to be happening.

The UMD version of SMT: Persona is still on time. You can pick it up in stores, with the two CD soundtrack, on September 22, 2009 for $39.99. The downloadable version, which will be available via the PlayStation store for $39.99 – sans soundtrack, has been bumped back to an October 1, 2009 release date…

Revelations: Persona orginally debuted in North America in 1996 on the PlayStation. At the time it was somewhat revolutionary. It was a dark RPG set in modern times, where high schoolers fought demons with personas that represented other aspects of themselves. The game was difficult to find. It also was noted for its less than stellar localization, which changed characters’ identities, altered the setting and totally removed an additional storyline called the Snow Queen quest.

Now, 13 years later, after the success of Persona 3 and 4, the original Persona getting is getting its due. Atlus has ported it to the PSP as Shin Megami Tensei: Persona and has gone to great lengths to fix all of the inaccuracies and faults of the original game. Finally, North American audiences get to experience this fantastic game the way it was meant to be played…

It’s been a long time, but finally people in North America are going to get a second chance to experience the first game in the Persona series. True, the opportunity happened once before with the PlayStation release Revelations: Persona, but that was a limited release and the localization was fairly poor. Now, we get a chance to see a remastered and complete version of the game. Gamertell recently got the opportunity to test drive Shin Megami Tensei: Persona.

I decided to go with the beginner difficulty level, though normal and hard were also available. When I played the original PSX version of Persona back in high school, I gave up near the end. I don’t want to spoil anyone, but let’s just say that the incidents happened that caused the “world map” to become maze-like, and that, combined with frequent and sometimes difficult random battles, caused me to ditch the game. I was less patient back then, and heard Atlus had fixed those issues for the rerelease, so I look forward to a more pleasant experience this time. Still, to be safe, I decided to go with the easy mode.

If you’d played the original PSX game, things are going to look very familiar…

Atlus is going to debut the remastered Shin Megami Tensei: Persona PSP remake on September 22, 2009. There’s even more good news for PSP owners. Those who are big on digital downloads to avoid having to carry around UMDs will be able to purchase the game from the PlayStation Store. It will be released online and in stores at the same time, so there’s no need to wait. This also means that PSP Go owners will have one more reason to consider adopting the newest incarnation of the system.

If you’re not planning on picking up a PSP Go, I’d recommend getting the UMD release of Persona. It’s part of the Atlus Spoils program, which means that for $39.99 you’re getting the game and a two-CD soundtrack filled with all the music from the game. So for the same price, you’re getting a great bonus…