PSP Wi-Fi Store coming in Fall, new PS3-Infrastructure mode announced

PSP will be seeing some major updates to its networking capabilities later this year. Sony Japan offered preliminary details today on what players can expect from future firmware updates.

This Fall, PSP will gain direct access to the PlayStation Store. This long promised feature will allow for PSP users to download demos and more directly to the portable without having to go through the PS3 or PC.

In addition, Sony has announced that a new feature will allow players to connect their PSP to their PS3 systems and enable a new Infrastructure mode for certain games. For example, Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G will be online-enabled through the PS3. In addition, players will be able to add text and voice chatting capabilities through this service. Additional details will be revealed at a later date.

Perhaps more significant than both these developments, Sony will be offering PSP players some new connectivity options thanks to a new service that further ties the portable with the PS3. This Fall, select PSP titles will allow players to go through the PS3 to take their ad-hoc multiplayer modes online. When playing in this fashion, the PS3 can be used for text and chat messaging and also for matching.

Currently, Sony has confirmed that Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G will be compatible with this new service. In Japan, this is big news, as that title has sold over 2.4 million units.

Both these features will be compatible with all models of the PSP, from the original up to the new PSP-3000.

A supported infrastructure mode will bring new functions to ad hoc PSP games by playing them through the PS3. Assumably using the PS3 as a dedicated multuplayer server, options like voice and text chat will become available through the console, along with (improved?) online matchmaking.