Sony has said its portable PlayStation will soon be seeing a few of its major releases available as a download in addition to a UMD.

Two of its upcoming Japanese games (Yuusha no Kuse ni Namaikida or2 and Bleach Soul Carnival) will hit retail shelves as well as its [update: new] digital distribution service. It can be assumed these won't be available for download in regions outside of Japan, but nothing is impossible, right? In either case, Bleach is pretty popular and has seen release here on the Wii and DS, so that looks entirely plausible for a localization. Yuusha no Kuse ni Namaikida or2 is the sequel to a renowned puzzle game which puts the standard RPG fare on its head, having gamers control beasts who must get rid of dungeon-exploring heroes. Yuusha will see release October 16, with Bleach to follow October 23.

A downloadable version will be included with the retail versions of these titles, as with Gran Turismo Prologue. Quite happily, Sony will offer a discount to those who go the digital route (something other industries could really follow as an example), since manufacturing costs are eliminated and all. Yuusha no Kuse will cost 2,800 yen (about $25.47) to download, versus 3,980 ($36.20) in physical form; Bleach Soul Carnival will cost 3,800 ($34.56) versus 4,743 ($43.14).

Sony is yet to detail Memory Stick storage requirements and/or instruction manuals.

Now all we need is some downloadable DS games. Combine a service like this on either handheld with some Japanese language-learning titles and suddenly I bet you'd have a good number of Westerners suddenly speaking the language and playing those once-exclusive titles. Nothing like games to bring cultures together!

She wants you to learn.