Only yesterday we had yet another digital sale announced, in the form of the “Mega Minis” sale from Sony. It seems we get these kinds of sales and general price cuts almost continuously. Microsoft brings out new deals every week, and it seems that Steam is perpetually in some sort of sale cycle. Of course as a consumer, I absolutely adore the deals available. In a recent Steam sale I got every single game Valve has released for just £14.99.
I think these kind of sales are something that certainly define the new era of digital content, and one of the things that we’re going to see more and more going forwards as developers assume greater control over their content, rather than being forced to go through publishers, distributors; and brick and mortar retailers to get their product out, sacrificing a huge amount of control over pricing and special offers.
Of course it’s not just control that allows for developer’s to offer special pricing on their products, the low costs involved in the distribution of content through digital channels almost certainly plays a part. Even it were possible to convince anyone in the chain of companies involved in getting a game into a store to lower their price, there still simply wouldn’t be the ability to cut a price by some huge chunk simply due to the costs involved.
It costs money to press a disk and print a case, more money to ship a product to a store that’s, potentially, half way around the world, and yet more money to run the stores that sell the game. Everyone in the chain of sale has to cover their costs, so it’s just not possible for the a product to get cut hugely in price.
Whilst sales may be great if you want to get your hands on something cheap, there are those who see them as simply a way to draw you into a site with low prices before you realise they don’t have anything you want. This is essentially how all retail sales work, although I’m not sure how effective it is in the online space. Firstly you can’t easily bait and switch with digital downloads, there’s no limit on product numbers (except for those imposed artificially).
Secondly I’m not really sure it’s as easy to convince people to buy something ‘just because’, like you can do when you’ve got them in a physical store. If you’ve just clicked onto Steam because you heard they had some cheap games going, you’re unlikely to pick up a game you don’t really want because you were already on Steam. There’s no investment of time or energy like there is if you actually have to leave your house to go shopping.
Anyway, that’s enough of me waffling on about my opinions. That’s not the point now is it? What we really want is to hear from you. Do you like sales on digital content, or just sales in general? Do you think they’re worthwhile, or do they frequently leave you feeling disappointed at the offers available?
dpb135
I always fall for the xbox live gold deals, cant resist a bargain. Have way to many arcade games I’ve yet to play. Bought the hydro one last night as its only 400 ms points. Got Joe Danger to & not played that yet
DrNate86
I was disappointed with the January sales on PSN, but I thought the Xmas ones were fantastic, I spent nearly £40 on bits and bobs. Sales do tend to pressure me into buying things I wouldn’t normally due to the time limit on them, I feel like I have to grab them before they go. On the whole though, I love the fortnightly sales the PSN has, I’ve grabbed some stuff I’m really pleased with. Sometimes it just takes that extra few pounds off to hit the magic mark where something feels worthwhile.
cc_star
The PSN sales (or any discounting) always seem quite PSP biased to me, which is great for PSP owners but not so good for others.
Although the 3rd party entries weren’t PSP biased the prices weren’t great and to be honest most of those items were old and should be reduced to the sale price as their standard price anyway.
DrNate86
Yeah that was my biggest issue with the Jan sales, it all seemed to be PSP stuff! The Dec sales had some fairly recent games though, stuff like Sonic and Deathspank. I like the discounts on release for PS+ as well, so you can get brand new games a bit cheaper.
Grey_Ghost13
I love and loath sales in equal meassure. Love picking thins up chepa, but hate it when I see something I paid full price for reduced less than a month after release.
Still can’t see digital sales being cheapre than retail, my local blocky b’s just had a pre-owned sale with some great bargains.
The smaller digital releases are over priced as it is and DLC in general needs to be cheaper, and don’t get me started on full title download prices!!!
cc_star
I got my gaming laptop just in time for the Steam sale and missed out on the complete Valve pack for £14.99, but managed to get it for £24.99, which was still amazing.
The PSN sale just doesn’t compare with 10 or 20% off occasionally and this is generally off older products which should have a more generous pricing reduction as standard.
For me digital pricing just doesn’t compare to physical its usually far dearer and this is because of the lack of competition, so even when they have a sale its still much dearer than a physical copy, and don’t forget the physical copy has a resale value which subsidises another new purchase.
So, kind of obviously I’m in favour of sales – Steam shows how they should be done and the PSN (generally) shows how they shouldn’t be done.
jacklum
“10 or 20% off occasionally”
This is completely inaccurate. Obviously PSN sales don’t compare to Steam sales, but there’s no need to misrepresent what actually happens on the PSN store to make your point. Games on sale on the PSN store are regularly 50% off and also include many games that are fairly new. Honestly now, when was the last game you saw that was reduced by just 10%?
beeje13
The PS+ sales seem to be just 20% ish on very recent titles and special bundles, but for some reason, while i’m downloading the other stuff for free, it seems weird paying, so I don’t usully buy anything off of there.
The PS store does has a fiar amount of over 50% sales, but like cc said, its generally older products.
Mass effect priced at £48 just somes up how not to do it!
jacklum
He wasn’t talking about PS+ discounts, he was talking about PSN sales. Plus, they’re not all old games as the festive sale featured loads of recent games (Alien Breed: Impact, DeathSpank, Joe Danger, Space Invaders: Infinity Gene, Pac-Man Championship Edition DX etc… etc…). Strange criticism in any case considering that the Steam sales regularly feature positively ancient games in comparison (sometimes 10 years old or more).
asparagushunter
I disagree that the Steam sales don’t draw you to buy things you wouldn’t anyway as it’s happened to my friends on countless occasions.
But Steam is the exception. Digital sales seem to just not be worth it compared to physical copies.
jimmy-google
I like the sales but on the downside i have about 20 psn games I’ve bought and not played, 6 un-opened ps3 games and about another 10 unfinished.
And typically, be me, I’m currently playing DC Universe and LBP 2 both rented from lovefilm.
When I see something in a sale I think I have to buy it as I might not see it that price for long time. Which is even more likely with digital sales, though it may still appear on ps+.
Foxhound_Solid
I hear ya Jimmy – BACKLOG CENTRAL hahaha.
I have the same problem, although I am putting time aside to get these games completed. Currently tip toeing through Dead Space 2 which is a real cracker, once thats done Mass Effect 2, LBP2 then rushing back to start on Assassins Creed : Brotherhood. Needs to carve some time out for GT5 and NFSHP which I havent played for a while :-(
jimmy-google
The problem is that I generally buy games in the sale I didn’t plan on buying and I already have a list of 30 games to play/buy this year (and I’ve only got 2 done so far due to finishing christmas presents)
Foxhound_Solid
Yep, same for me. Just done BlOps, Got MOH, The Fight, God of War Ghost of Sparta to do to name a few.
At this rate, gaming wise ill have to take on an assistant to help clear my backlog.
Sony havent even started yet as Infamous 2 and KZ3 are incoming….
simplebob
Having Playstation Plus seems to mean that I’m not too fussed about digital content sales. I tend to prefer physical media anyway, and with PSN+ its very easy for me to skip sale stuff (unless its stupidly cheap, or something I must have) as it may come up at a later date.
mynameisblair
I’ve talked before about how I love the Steam sale – it’s just great. People get great games (that they’ll never get around to playing) and the developers make some money without having to worry about losses from disc production etc.
PSN and Xbox Live rarely (if ever) compare to the the Steam sales.
bunimomike
Same here, fella (and have agreed with you elsewhere too).
Person678 popped onto Steam when I was signed in and mentioned Mafia II being just £5.99 in one of the “day sales” over Christmas. I wouldn’t have given it a second glance but with a little coercion, he’d won me over. I read a few reviews and thought “rude not to at that price and I’ll try it out in a couple of months time when I’ve finished all the other Steam games I purchased”. So there we go.
Digital sales can be terrific! Especially when internet shopping is already just a click of a button.
wick15
Personally I love the digital content sales that clients like Steam have to offer. On many occasions I have found that I have bought games for really no other reason than they are so cheap. Saying that though, I did think the Christmas sale on Steam was fantastic. Got quite a few games I really wanted out of it for next to nothing.
At the end of the day I do like physical media sales that you have to go to a shop for, but because of where I stay it makes it not worth the bother as the cost of getting there can mean I’ve basically paid retail for the game over travel and the game itself.
asparagushunter
Talking of Steam sales, I’m reminded of how Introversion Software were pretty much saved from going out of business by a Steam sale. Some great games and a safe games company; therefore sales are awesome.