Reports: Sony mulling game rentals, music downloads for PSP?

Sources are saying that Sony in early talks with the big music labels about a music store for the PlayStation Portable, while a recent survey raises the possibility of downloadable game rentals for the portable console.

First up: CNET News reports that Sony is in "preliminary" talks with "some of the major recording companies" about offering music downloads on the PlayStation Network, and specifically for the PSP (which already has a music player).

The chatter comes from "music industry sources" who caution that "no deals have been struck," according to CNET.

Meanwhile, gaming blog Joystiq got its hands on a recent survey that includes relatively detailed questions about a rental download service for the PSP.

The survey reads, in part, that the proposed service "will enable you to download a fixed number of games during your subscription period," and that the service would offer "access to an extensive existing catalog oaf PSP games that can be downloaded."

The survey asks readers to consider a range of possibilities about a PSP rental service, including the length of the subscription period (ranging from a week to a month or longer), the monthly price, how many games you'd be allowed to rent each month, and whether you'd be able to rent new titles on the same day that they're released on stores (or be forced to wait three months or so).

Interesting stuff, especially given the buzz that we might see a revamped PSP at E3 next month, minus the UMD optical disc drive (for both games and movies) on the current PSP.

Personally, I'm not that excited about the prospect of a music download store for the PSP, given the fact that you can already side-load MP3s to the console. Then again, I've never been much for downloading tunes while on the go, anyway.

However, the game rental service sounds exceptionally cool to me, especially if the rumored PSP Go! (or whatever it ends up being called) doesn't have a UMD drive—something that would render game rental services like GameFly (which sends UMD games through the mail, à la Netflix) useless for the new PSP.

[Side note: I've also been wondering about what'll happen for those of us with UMD collections if there is indeed a new, UMD-less PSP on the way. Will we have to (essentially) re-buy downloadable versions of our UMD games? Will Sony come out with an optional, external UMD drive? Or will we be able to, say, trade in our UMDs for downloadable versions? Questions, questions.]

So, what do you think of a music store or game download rentals for the PSP? For the rental service, how much would you be willing to pay a week/month—and how many games would you want to be able to download at a time?

Full disclosure: My lovely, talented wife happens to work at Sony Music, but her lips are sealed when it comes to the goings-on at the company.

Related:
Sources: Sony considers music downloads for PSP [CNET News.com]
PSP survey hints at game rental service [Joystiq]