While the PlayStation Vita allows users to purchase the same games either at retail or digitally, Sony confirmed today that online customers in the United States will receive a bit of a discount.
According to a Sony representative speaking to game blog Shacknews, Sony has chosen to mirror its strategy in Japan, and will offer discounted pricing for U.S. PlayStation Vita titles downloaded via the PlayStation network.
Sony has not yet announced official pricing details, though a user on the online forum NeoGAF uncovered Best Buy database entries noting that download codes for PlayStation Vita titles would retail for 10 percent less than their physical equivalents.
With this new pricing structure, Sony will be able to more easily encourage digital purchases on its new handheld, while still giving users the option to buy games via physical media.
Previously, Sony tried forcing users to make the digital transition with the UMD-less PSPgo, though that platform quickly flopped, and has since gone out of production.
The PlayStation Vita is set to launch in North America on February 22.
This has always been up to the publishers - Aksys, for instance, has pretty much always priced their PSN games $5 less than the retail version, and Xseed has done it on some occasions.
Of course the thing is, the retail games will likely be a lot less than 10% off in a few months, while PSN prices sometimes don't drop even years after the title was released
good idea! great insentive for gamers to buy new instead of used. if the digital version is $10-$20 bucks less, that puts them at the same price as a used hard copy that probably required some multiplayer-code that the first owner alread used up (like Mortal Kombat). they might as well as just buy it new.
Yes this is a very very interesting dynamic.. we can practically see the major console platform holders dancing around this issue gingerly.
IMO (not at all an original one), the writing is on the wall for physical distribution of software. Store Retail is still the stronger arm of distribution for sure, but we are seeing this steadily wear away for numerous reasons (digital download, used game sales, piracy, online retail etc).
I figure Sony, Nintendo, Microsoft (obviously Apple with their App Stores) all know the inevitability yet they have to make good with their retail partners or else how will they distribute their hardware?
This struck me as especially clear in Iwata's comments during Nintendo's conference call last week. Along the lines of "Yes Wii U and 3DS have the infrastructure in place to offer retail titles digitally...we plan to explore the feasibility of this model and we sure as heck will be consulting closely with our cherished retail partners".
First off, there isn't a single Vita game yet that takes up 4 GB. The biggest game is 3.18 GB (BlazBlue) and there are many games that aren't even a full GB.
Second, you don't need to keep a game on the memory card permanently. A 16 or 32 GB card could easily serve someone well for the entirety of their PS Vita ownership if they just move games on and off as they wish to play them. You can store the games when you're not using them on your computer.
"You can store the games when you're not using them on your computer. "
True, but this kills an important advantage of digital distribution vs. retail, the idea to have the games available on the machine wherever you are, without the need to switch cartridges or transfer GB of data from you computer to the Vita.
In fact, if I have to transfer the files over from my computer to the Vita, digital distribution has a major disadvantage over retail cartridges. I can easily take 20 cartridges wherever I go, but right now, it seems, I can't take 20 digital download games with me, unless I invest in an expensive 32 GB card.
From what I've googled, most games are bigger then 1 GB, not all are 4 GB, true, but for every game that is 2 GB and up, the memory card storage is still more expensive per GB, then the discount Sony is willing to give.
Edit: By the way, from what I have read now, Sony forces the Vita users to use a program called content manager to transfer data, a clear no-go for me.
I simply refuse to use such a software, because it's annoying, often bug ridden (iTunes Windows anyone?) and completely useless.
Besides it seems, there is only a Windows version to transfer the data right now, another disadvantage of the Vita for every Linux and MacOS user.
Of course the thing is, the retail games will likely be a lot less than 10% off in a few months, while PSN prices sometimes don't drop even years after the title was released
Anyway, I hope the best for VITA digital/retail distribution, I still like physical input for my mobile gaming.
IMO (not at all an original one), the writing is on the wall for physical distribution of software. Store Retail is still the stronger arm of distribution for sure, but we are seeing this steadily wear away for numerous reasons (digital download, used game sales, piracy, online retail etc).
I figure Sony, Nintendo, Microsoft (obviously Apple with their App Stores) all know the inevitability yet they have to make good with their retail partners or else how will they distribute their hardware?
This struck me as especially clear in Iwata's comments during Nintendo's conference call last week. Along the lines of "Yes Wii U and 3DS have the infrastructure in place to offer retail titles digitally...we plan to explore the feasibility of this model and we sure as heck will be consulting closely with our cherished retail partners".
Every 4 GB game will cost an owner of a 16 GB card $15 worth of memory card space, but the discount will be more like $5.
Second, you don't need to keep a game on the memory card permanently. A 16 or 32 GB card could easily serve someone well for the entirety of their PS Vita ownership if they just move games on and off as they wish to play them. You can store the games when you're not using them on your computer.
True, but this kills an important advantage of digital distribution vs. retail, the idea to have the games available on the machine wherever you are, without the need to switch cartridges or transfer GB of data from you computer to the Vita.
In fact, if I have to transfer the files over from my computer to the Vita, digital distribution has a major disadvantage over retail cartridges. I can easily take 20 cartridges wherever I go, but right now, it seems, I can't take 20 digital download games with me, unless I invest in an expensive 32 GB card.
From what I've googled, most games are bigger then 1 GB, not all are 4 GB, true, but for every game that is 2 GB and up, the memory card storage is still more expensive per GB, then the discount Sony is willing to give.
Edit: By the way, from what I have read now, Sony forces the Vita users to use a program called content manager to transfer data, a clear no-go for me.
I simply refuse to use such a software, because it's annoying, often bug ridden (iTunes Windows anyone?) and completely useless.
Besides it seems, there is only a Windows version to transfer the data right now, another disadvantage of the Vita for every Linux and MacOS user.
This is a major fall-back behind the PSP