Here’s some bad news for PSP owners who want to upgrade to the PSP Go when it’s released. Sony has killed the UMD conversion plan. The idea was that PSP owners who had original UMD copies of their games would be entitled to free PSN downloads of the title, so that they can play it on the PSP Go when they upgrade.

But sadly “legal and technical reasons” put the axe on this plan. Which really sucks for PSP owners who have games they absolutely love. It sure doesn’t encourage PSP owners to upgrade and must feel like a slap in the face.

According to Acclaim developer David Perry, the new Playstation Portable won’t feature a UMD disc drive.

“I hear Sony FINALLY has the PSP 2. And thank goodness, they’ve removed the stupid battery-sucking UMD disc drive. I’m excited!” Perry wrote on both his Twitter and Facebook accounts.

Whether or not he has actually seen the rumored new Playstation Portable himself is not clear. He may just be hearing rumors through the development community. Ditching the UMD wouldn’t be a surprise as it would cut costs and make the device slimmer. It fits with the other rumor, that the new PSP will be a slider, but have the same guts as its predecessor.

This guy got sick and tired of waiting on a real honest to god PSP phone, so he took matters into his own hands. He integrated what looks like a HAIER mobile phone with a touchscreen to the back of the PSP, getting rid of the UMD drive. He gets props for doing it and I don’t want to rain on anybody’s PSP parade, but um, well I have to say it’s a tad fugly isn’t it? Still, at least he’s doing something to birth a PSP phone into the world.