Download Old Games From the PlayStation Network Website While You Still Can
Sony plans to repurpose the PlayStation Network website for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 games after the launch of the latter. It’s clear. But in part, this change means that you will no longer be able to buy PS3, PS Vita and PSP games or downloadable content from the PSN website on your computer or mobile device, including classic PS1 games and the short-lived PS Minis collection.
In addition, the PSN Wishlist will be removed and all Wishlist items will be removed. Bummer. These changes will take effect on October 21st and will be fully implemented by October 26th.
Sony said the changes will only affect mobile stores and online stores. You can still buy games and download past purchases directly to your old consoles. However, the process is more complicated than Sony thinks.
The PSP does not have a dedicated storefront, so users have to buy the game online, download it to their computer or PS3, and then transfer it to the PSP via USB or SD card. The PSN app for PS3 can be slow and cumbersome, and the Vita does not display full store listings, even if you browse all entries in alphabetical order. You’re luckier if you find a specific game by name, but even then it doesn’t necessarily appear.
Because of these issues, many gamers probably choose to buy PS3, Vita and PSP games from the online store on a PC or mobile phone, but you won’t be able to do that once Sony launches the new PSN website.
This means you should take full advantage of the PSN Online Store to buy or download PSP, PS3 and PS Vita games while they still exist. Grab those legacy titles on your wishlist before the feature is removed and these games become a chore to find and buy. You will be grateful for that.
How to back up your old PSN games locally
You should also consider backing up all of your PSN purchases in case something suddenly disappears from your download list. The process is different for each console and can be time-consuming if you have a large digital library, but it’s worth it.
- PlayStation 3 owners can transfer data to an external USB hard drive using the console’s backup utility .
- PlayStation Vita players can back up their games and save them to PS3 or PC using the PS Vita Content Manager app.
- PlayStation Portable users can back up data to PC or PS3 using micro USB cable or by copying their SD card to PC. You can also download your PSP games to PS3 or PSVita via PSN .
To be clear, you don’t need to download and store all of your old PSN games locally before October 21; your PSP, Vita, and PS3 games will continue to appear in your PSN download list as long as they are available on PSN. However, it will be much easier to copy your local content than dealing with substandard PSN stores (or lack thereof) on legacy PlayStation consoles. And going through the process will now save you a headache as soon as Sony is inevitably cutting back any PSN support for those old consoles in the future.