Speaking to popular trade mag MCV, SCEE President Andrew House has said he wants to sell PlayStation Network games at retail.
In a move that would follow in the footsteps of Microsoft (GAME are already selling Xbox Live Arcade titles in-store) and SCEA (Gamestop sell some PSN content already), Sony Europe would shift the likes of Flower through the usual retail outlets like GAME and GameStation.
Not that this would be particularly new for a minority of titles – some retailers already stocked the likes of WipEout Fury – but it sounds like House has bigger plans.
“We would like to work with the right retail partners in Europe under the right model,” he said to MCV, “to undertake the same sort of activity [as SCEA].”
The beauty for some users is that downloaded games reside on the PS3’s hard drive, and are thus quickly accessible. This, we presume, would see the games being disk-based, even if they only took up a small portion of the space offered by Blu-ray.
Would you be interested in owning physical copies of currently PSN-only games?
Update: it’s not clear whether House was talking about boxed disks or codes that you’d enter online.
Peco
I was thinking the same thing. If they included the Flower soundtrack in a physical release then I would definitely buy it. I bought it off the PSN anyway but having it on cd too would be nice.
Lordfloyd
This (selling PSN codes in store) was the exact idea I mentioned on another thread last week.
Huddy
I buy very little off PSN, so visiting a bricks and mortar store to purchase a PSN title would not interest me. If I did I think a hard disk upgrade would be in order if disk space was an issue. I’d rather just download any titles I was interested in.
If this does go ahead I wonder if Sony would allow titles to be sold cheaper at retail, although this is mute as Game would slap RRP straight on any titles anyway.
cam the man
If there not cheaper I don’t see much point myself. If you have space issues with the hard drive your better off upgrading anyway as you’ll always need more space.
eye8have9you3
I’m pretty sure some competition would do the psn some good, if there was a site that sold codes for psn games at better prices then sony would have something to respond to and we might get more price drops. It’s ridiculous that games like wipeout are still so expensive
jacklum
If the US is anything to go by, having PSN games available to buy on Amazon, or XBLA game codes in Gamestop has done absolutely nothing to increase competitiveness in pricing.
Youles
I think DL games on disc is a good thing – firstly, its always good to have the choice. I had Siren Blood Curse as a downloaded game but then picked up the disc version for a couple of quid as it saved me 9GB of hard-drive space!!!
Also, your disc version has a second-hand value whereas downloaded data has none!
Purchasing a code from a highstreet retailer seems like a waste of time. But there is always an upside…you can buy it as a gift and the recipient has a physical object to open….slightly more thoughtful than a PSN Store voucher perhaps.
Dange
Not sure really.
I wouldn’t buy stuff on Blu-ray that I already own on PSN.
If content was released on BR and PSN at the same time as at a similar price I would consider the BR.
E8_BALL_
Would You Buy PSN Games At GAME?
Only when they are pre-owned.
TSBonyman
I can’t see them ‘stocking’ any games before they release on PSN so i’ll probably stick with that. Of course buying a game cheaper has it’s attractions – just as long as the game isn’t slashed to half price the following week on PSN but i guess even just using PSN that can happen anyway.
fattyuk
NO sodding way!!
I’m proud that my money goes to PSN, no way in my life would I want GAME to receive any of my money when possible! Don’t get me wrong I buy from GAME when I have to, but I will go out of my way as much as possible to make sure GAME does not get any of my money!!
fattyuk
What next!!
Preorder pre owned PSN games at GAME!
F.u.ck off