<rant> Just got my PSP... very cool stuff... but im confused about the game packaging... 1: WAY to big... if they wanted a good size manual in there, why not just make it CD size... 2: What's with the logo in the top left.... is that ment to be a outline of a dual shock pad?... if so, WHY!? What the hell has that got to do with anything! 3: Why is the UMD disc protected with a case if you can just touch it through a little window... surley thats like making a bucket with holes in. </rant>
Case...dunno, but I wouldnt be suprised if US/UK/Other got a completly different case design anyway. As far as the logo, it denotes that it is a 'UMD Game', one assumes 'UMD Video' and 'UMD Audio' will have different logo's in the same place. Maybe Sony was too lazy to have the PSP laser read through the plastic? Dunno. But it still protects from scratches pretty well. Dust might be a bitch to get out if you leave it lying around too long tho.
Yeah logo = for game Disk is that size namely think back to the CD CADDY's..keep em protected, as it only needs part to be read, and people on the go = tend to drop em etc...it will keep em safe! Box is big yes, but the US launch it may change (who knows!)
Except...if I recall...with CD caddies, there was a spring loaded cover that opened when you put it in the drive. Meaning there wasn't a huge gaping hole in it.
Perhaps(just my humble opinion): Shelving in stores is built for CD/DVD/Video cases - why not create a PSP game box that's the normal size and increase the 'marketing'/shelf space for the game(as opposed to a small box which will have loads of spare space on a normal game shop shelf). As for the lack of a guard on UMDs - CD's and DVD don't have guards, neither do game cube disks...the design might only have been to limit handling of disks (not to eliminate it) OR They perhaps never wanted a case for the UMD disk in the first place but were forced to because the only drive door mechanism they could design for the space requirements meant that a person would HAVE to handle the disk unless they put it in a case - think of it - the only way to get a disk out of a PSP is to handle it....
good point about the disc... i just wondered if the format needed to be kept away from fingerprints etc... and im sure they could have made a slim loading drive... pretty sure they made the MD style loading because of the required case around the disc... and not the other way around. after playing around with the software on the PSP, i notieced that logo for games... its cool, and i fail to think of a better icon for them... I wonder if sony artists will also offer their music on UMD? )
Is your GC a portable system with media that should be pocket-friendly? Mine isn't. The ridiculous hole in the UMD is an utterly unbelievable design failing. The disc is only a little bit more protected than a bare disc would be. Try changing discs in the dark without slapping a greasy print on the disc. And then, where do you put it when it's not in the machine? Back in the case? That'll be really convenient on a trip.
I hate to think what would happen if a grain of something hard got inside the UMD case, and you played it in a PSP. Nasty noises and a screwed disc probably.
I love how everyone here seems to think that they can design things better than Sony's top designers. You should all go for high paying jobs at Sony, you seem to have this design thing sussed. Lol, I'm sure there was good reason not to include a guard. We had portable CD players for 20 years and everyone managed to deal with that. Optical discs are usually way more robust than people presume. As long as you don't mess up the top side, everything tends to be ok. Any way, is it to much to ask that you keep on game in the PSP and another in it's box? Surely if you are taking your PSP anywhere you have a bag to put it in? And I'm sure you can squeeze a little case in there too. ;-)
How about this: they knew they'd be making 20million of them over the next few years, and those 20million extra metal sheaths were going to cost more than the cost of replacing the games for the people who actually bother to take them back under warranty.