PS Vita game downloads cheaper than boxed copies in US [Joystiq]

[DP ServBot]

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.joystiq.com/media/2011/10/vita1013.jpg (http://www.joystiq.com/2012/01/31/ps-vita-game-downloads-cheaper-than-boxed-copies-in-us-too/)
Sony is offering a discount for game-starved shut-ins with PlayStation Vitas, Shacknews (http://www.shacknews.com/article/72250/report-vita-games-will-be-cheaper-when-downloaded) has confirmed. It shouldn't come as a surprise, since Sony has been talking about doing such a thing for (http://www.joystiq.com/2011/12/05/report-us-vita-games-will-cost-less-digitally-than-at-retail/) months (http://www.joystiq.com/2011/10/13/sony-looking-into-umd-download-discount-for-vita-hedging-about/) now, and has followed a similar pricing scheme -- favoring downloads -- in Japan.

There's no exact indication of how much you'll save downloading through PSN compared to purchasing boxed copies, but a NeoGAF thread (http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=34722770&postcount=4642) of supposed Best Buy SKUs suggests it'll be a ten percent discount.http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif (http://www.joystiq.com)PS Vita game downloads cheaper than boxed copies in US (http://www.joystiq.com/2012/01/31/ps-vita-game-downloads-cheaper-than-boxed-copies-in-us-too/) originally appeared on Joystiq (http://www.joystiq.com) on Tue, 31 Jan 2012 21:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds (http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/).

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[Gameguy]

Just a heads up, used games usually sell for less than new copies. I wanted to beat DP ServBot before it started a thread on that too.

[dairugger]

Just a heads up, used games usually sell for less than new copies. I wanted to beat DP ServBot before it started a thread on that too.

would it too have a link to joystiq????

[Gameguy]

would it too have a link to joystiq????
Most likely yes, and that Joystiq article will link back to this forum as a second source just as it linked to another forum posting as a source for that PSP Vita download discount. The main source for Joystiq will be another site that links to the same forum post here.

[Porksta]

Well this actually is newsworthy since downloadable games are typically the same price as their boxed counterpart.

[Bojay1997]

10% discount? Is that a joke? For literally a few dollars more you can get something with a case and on an actual card that can be resold. Who in their right mind would buy the download version of a game given this pricing model? It's not like UMDs that are bulky or can't be played on the PSPGO. These are tiny little cards that can easily be carried and work on every Vita. Sony just keeps blowing it.

[kupomogli]

Yeah, but the fact that you can have two Vita's on a single PSN account, paying $35 for a digital download and splitting the cost with a friend is $17.50 each. Also digital downloads on the PSN don't cost tax.

[Bojay1997]

Yeah, but the fact that you can have two Vita's on a single PSN account, paying $35 for a digital download and splitting the cost with a friend is $17.50 each. Also digital downloads on the PSN don't cost tax.

I doubt many people are going to share PSN accounts given how limiting that would be, let alone the security risk of doing so. While tax is a few dollars, there are always sales and 10% coupons for Best Buy and other retailers, so it's not much of a factor, especially given the fact that PSN downloads have zero resale value while physical games would if for some reason the game isn't great or gets boring.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

I doubt many people are going to share PSN accounts given how limiting that would be, let alone the security risk of doing so. While tax is a few dollars, there are always sales and 10% coupons for Best Buy and other retailers, so it's not much of a factor, especially given the fact that PSN downloads have zero resale value while physical games would if for some reason the game isn't great or gets boring.

To that end, while this is not a particularly significant discount and would likely not appeal to those who have a strong drive to typically re-sell games to recoup cost or lower the price of new game purchases, there are those (yes, minority share) who do not typically (or ever) sell their games for those reasons and would be more motivated to buy a digital game at a 10% discount for the sake of convenience:



not having to leave their home to get it

not having to carry around PSV game cards (I've held them, they're pretty small even for a portable game cartridge and could easily be dropped, lost, stolen, etc.)

having multiple games in the system memory


not to mention PSN frequently runs sales and discounts games, so, where a 10% discount at launch may not be great, there will be inevitable arbitrary price decreases as well as sales/specials that won't have a 1:1 parity with brick/mortar games. I'm sure PLUS members will be seeing some pricing benefits and free software down the line too.

I agree that 10% isn't spectacular, but it's something and this is launch pricing.

There's room for it to get better, and it almost always does, just give it time.

[The 1 2 P]

10% discount? Is that a joke? For literally a few dollars more you can get something with a case and on an actual card that can be resold. Who in their right mind would buy the download version of a game given this pricing model? It's not like UMDs that are bulky or can't be played on the PSPGO. These are tiny little cards that can easily be carried and work on every Vita. Sony just keeps blowing it.

While you make a good point I think that it's a small step in the right direction. It would be much better(and wiser) to go buy a used copy for that 10% off and be able to sell it to put money towards something else if you ever get tired of that game. This is probably just the cheapest Sony was willing to discount the digital versions.....for now. It's still a new product so they are counting on some people thinking that 10% is a good deal just because it's happening on a new system. But as time goes by, either Sony will have to significantly raise that discount to around 30% or risk having very few people being interested in the digital versions.