Say what you will about the various Summer of Arcade lineups that Microsoft has put together in the years since the company launched the promotion, but one thing is undeniable: those games sell. Getting a coveted spot in that Summer of Arcade program means a hell of a lot more marketing than your little downloadable game might otherwise get. It's a huge perk, and it's helped spur the ever-growing downloadable game market on consoles.
Now, Sony has its own answer to the Summer of Arcade, in PSN PLAY. No, I don't know why the title of the promotion is SHOUTING AT YOU, but I do know that PSN PLAY aims to push four big titles launching on PSN from mid-August to mid-September by offering both marketing, as well as promotional perks for each game.
The four titles officially included in the promotion include Capcom's upcoming fighting remake Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike Online Edition (August 23); Hothead Games' DeathSpank sequel, The Baconing (August 30); Majesco's 2D reboot of the BloodRayne franchise, Betrayal (September 6); and Sega's top-down shooter, Renegade Ops (September 13). In addition, players over the age of 18 (Sony repeated that part like three times in its announcement) who purchase all four titles will receive a voucher code to download Payday: The Heist, Sony Online's bank robbing first-person shooter, when it releases.
The interesting thing about this promotion is that, with the exception of Payday, none of these titles are exclusive to PSN for any announced window of time. They're all multiplatform titles. Perhaps due to this, Sony's marketing is less focused on discounts (though any PlayStation Plus member will get a 20% discount on any of the above titles), and more on pushing pre-orders. Anyone who buys one of these titles gets a free piece of DLC for each title, but those who do pre-order also get a separate theme for their console's dashboard, as well. While the notion of pre-ordering downloadable titles has always struck me as akin to preemptively hoarding oxygen in jars for fear that supply may someday run out, if you're into PlayStation 3 themes, then I guess there is some incentive.
Should you feel in a pre-orderin' kind of mood, the PSN PLAY titles officially go on pre-sale starting August 9. All four main games retail for $14.99, while Payday: The Heist will go for $19.99 when it officially releases.