Well, it's certainly nothing to celebrate. It's not like consumers demanded that the Vita not come with a UMD drive. They are already charging $250 or more for the thing and requiring that you buy a proprietary and expensive memory card and this is just another means of gouging us.Originally Posted by Frankie_Says_Relax
There are not massive legal or financial complexities standing in the way of making this happen. If Sony was serious about doing something for their loyal customers, they could simply have established a registration program before the PSP Go was released where you registered your games on-line or via postcard and then you are entitled to download the digital version either free or for a very nominal amount (a buck or two to cover bandwidth/server space to get you the digital version). Many other media companies bundle digital and physical media all the time including vinyl albums that come with a free digital download of the full album, DVD/Blu Ray/Digital bundles, etc...It's simply a matter of getting those rights from the developer and publisher which is done every single day.
Instead, they are viewing this as another opportunity to charge almost full price for the same thing we already paid full price to purchase once before. The point is, this is of zero benefit to consumers and it really is just another example of an old line company holding on to outdated ways of doing business just like they did as the music industry collapsed. It's sad, but as much as I hate to admit it, we may actually be nearing the end of the console and dedicated handheld business if Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft keep focusing on the same outdated gimmicks to squeeze every penny from consumers. Apple, Google and other more nimble competitors will continue swooping in and literally drive them from the market.
