I think we're slowly edging towards the future business model for video games, if only at a glacier's pace.

This is a good baby step. I'd like to see weekend sales on all Sony games every month or something like that before I consider going all digital. That, and I like boxes on the shelf. You could say I'm kind of shelfish that way.

It's a step in the right direction, but as we've seen with the PSN now, not every publisher recognizes that games depreciate over time and still have them for full price. If this is the case, this only benefits day one purchasers.

Barring the last couple of sentences, this reads like it was written for Jessica Chobot, then read by Jessica Chobot, and then written down from her words to make an article.

@Dany said:

@vaportra1l said:

They do realize that people can buy most mobile games on smartphones from around $0.00 to $5? Noone wants to pay 50 bucks for these things.

Those ios games are not in the same leage as the types of games on a vita or 3DS, graphics, gameplay, actual buttons. They each hold a different audience.

You make a valid point, but I tend to agree with him; $50 is outrageous for a handheld game. Even with quite a bit of disposable income, I simply can't justify that much cash. The competition is too fierce in the mobile market to pay a 1000% premium for a Vita game when I can buy one of the many excellent $5 games that I will always have available because it's on my phone. The 3DS suffers from the same problems, although not to quite the same extent (younger market with less purchasing power, more kid-friendly and recognizable exclusives, etc.).

@RenegadeSaint said:

@Dany said:

@vaportra1l said:

They do realize that people can buy most mobile games on smartphones from around $0.00 to $5? No one wants to pay 50 bucks for these things.

Those iOS games are not in the same league as the types of games on a vita or 3DS, graphics, game play, actual buttons. They each hold a different audience.

You make a valid point, but I tend to agree with him; $50 is outrageous for a handheld game. Even with quite a bit of disposable income, I simply can't justify that much cash. The competition is too fierce in the mobile market to pay a 1000% premium for a Vita game when I can buy one of the many excellent $5 games that I will always have available because it's on my phone...

That's the question each consumer has to ask himself. Can you get as much or more enjoyment from one $50 game as you can from ten $5 games? Those $5 games are going to continue to evolve, so it might not be an easy answer for even devoted handheld enthusiasts soon enough.

Good on Sony by releasing this soon after I get my tax refund money back. Not sure I would have bought this at any other time.

I wonder if you do buy it digitaly if you can play a single player game without being connected to the network

Five bucks. It's a start! Baby steps.

I don't understand the comparison between vita/3ds and iphone /android mobile games! To me we have 3 types of platforms that can all thrive in consoles, portables and mobile. Comparing them to each other doesn't make sense. If you want a mobile platform then go and buy those games, don't compare them to portable games.

@Dany said:

@vaportra1l said:

They do realize that people can buy most mobile games on smartphones from around $0.00 to $5? Noone wants to pay 50 bucks for these things.

Those ios games are not in the same leage as the types of games on a vita or 3DS, graphics, gameplay, actual buttons. They each hold a different audience.

I couldn't agree with you more they are two different platforms that should be treated that way!!!!

Admittedly, this news story frustrates me because I believe this should already and always be happening. Unfortunately, it isn't, according to the iBooks store.

@vaportra1l said:

They do realize that people can buy most mobile games on smartphones from around $0.00 to $5? Noone wants to pay 50 bucks for these things.

what mobile game cost $50?

The only mobile game that I found was worth and could have been worth more and I wouldnt mind are the Zenonia games on the android market,, Those little rpg's are awesome and pretty indepth as they keep evolving and they even started to release them as free downloads :D! The only problem i see with this crappy 10% for DL over physical is that things like steam discount way more,, They already start at 10$ cheaper then the average multiplatform and then they have priceing's of 10-90% off at times which is why the company is so profitable.. I dont think paying 5$ less to DL vs just going into a store and having the game ready to play + not paying for those expensive memory cards is worth it.. 50$ is to much for a handheld game and will make the vita as popular as the original psp due to the pricing. Sony needs to rethink their way of dealing with consumers in this market. Ps3 is one thing to charge alot but handhelds are not in the same category so they need to be priced as so.

Or, you know, we could just wait for the prices of the physical copies of the games to drop to less than $44.99 and buy them then, thus saving the money we'd waste on $99 memory cards to store huge games and their saves.

Still not on board with this "digital revolution" thing they're constantly trying to shove down my throat.

I'm legitimately excited about the Vita. Dual analog! Right guys!? Guys...?

Thats a really good idea but only 5 dollars less is kinda disappointing.

Don't forget that you get to save the tax vs. retail in most states and now there is nothing to lose if you want to play it anytime in the future. So for me with my local 9+% retail sales tax the price difference is now almost 20% and you can buy them at any time. So if I want I can always get any Vita game on Day 1.

Personally I like having the choice and I think that in the end I will purchase more Download titles like I did for the PSP.

They also haven't announced anything for Playstation Plus and I expect them to offer additional discounts on Vita titles there as well.

@PenguinDust said:

@RenegadeSaint said:

@Dany said:

@vaportra1l said:

They do realize that people can buy most mobile games on smartphones from around $0.00 to $5? No one wants to pay 50 bucks for these things.

Those iOS games are not in the same league as the types of games on a vita or 3DS, graphics, game play, actual buttons. They each hold a different audience.

You make a valid point, but I tend to agree with him; $50 is outrageous for a handheld game. Even with quite a bit of disposable income, I simply can't justify that much cash. The competition is too fierce in the mobile market to pay a 1000% premium for a Vita game when I can buy one of the many excellent $5 games that I will always have available because it's on my phone...

That's the question each consumer has to ask himself. Can you get as much or more enjoyment from one $50 game as you can from ten $5 games? Those $5 games are going to continue to evolve, so it might not be an easy answer for even devoted handheld enthusiasts soon enough.

You're spot on. While it's true that Uncharted (or whatever the best Vita launch game ends up being) will likely be better than any one iOS game (or Android game), it's unlikely that it will be better than 10 great iOS games put together. I might get ten or twelve hours of fun out of Uncharted, but for $3.99 I can get Game Dev Story and have just as much fun for at least that long and have $46 left to buy other games. Hell, I had a great time playing Jetpack Joyride for about five hours and it was free. As iOS games get better and more substantial, as they do all the time, $50 for a Vita game is going to get harder and harder to swallow.

"I can buy ten iPhone games for the price of one Vita game!"

WELL:

I can buy four pounds of hamburger for the price of one pound of filet!

I can buy a set of 5 katanas on cutlery corner for the price of ONE Global chef's knife.

I can buy like three SU-27s for the price of ONE F-22 Raptor.

I can...

@aceofspudz said:

"I can buy ten iPhone games for the price of one Vita game!"

And a frighteningly large percentage of those people will also play those iPhone games for about 1 minute each, and then move on. I can't find a single iOS game that can hold my interest for longer then a half hour. For how "cheap" iOS software is, with the cost of the iPhone/iPad, its actually been the biggest waste of money for me considering how much I use them. But, lesson learned I guess. Besides, last I checked there's been a lot of controller peripherals coming out for iphones and its obvious why.

@RenegadeSaint

Except there's only one game that will be $50, most will be $40, and some are even $30, and the best thing you can do for all games is wait for price drops as they generally come pretty fast now-a-days. You can almost always get games half off if you wait a few months on amazon, or even buy used, but thats pretty unnecessary imo considering how cheap they can get even new.

For 3DS: Street Fighter, Pilotwings, Ghost Recon, Monkey Ball, Nintendogs, and some others are all being sold for $15 on amazon right now. Madden is like $9, and there's even one of the Nintendogs being sold for $8, as well as the sims game.

Then there are steam sales... My friend got about 30 games over the holiday sale event for $100 or so, thats $3 a game! Then we also won a bunch of free games from the contest achievements.

If you buy smart and have patience you can get around the ridiculous prices of games, easily.

Cool... but it will take about 5 games to offset the price of the memory card big enough to have those downloadable games on it though.

@Floppypants said:

Uncharted: Golden Abyss Week 1: Amazon $50, PSN $45 Week 5: Amazon $40, PSN $45, eBay Used $30 Week 16: Amazon $30, PSN $45, eBay Used $20Week 52: Amazon $20, PSN $45, eBay Used $10

Hehe, so true. Hope they can actually get it right.

seeing as xbox digital store is never under £15 fof games i can get for £6 and games like infamous 2 on the store are i think still £44 on the psn when i can get it for £12 at my local gamestation i will beleave it when i see it

It's early so I read the title as this

Vita Titles Will Cost Less When Downloaded Vita the Online Store

and was shaking my head in disappointment. Now, I kind of wish that was the title of the article.

I hear some of you guys like VIDEO GAMES?!?????!!!!

I think the 10% is a good start. You take the money you have saved and you buy a bigger memory card up front and over time you will save some money which is a good thing. Remember once you have played a game you can delete saved game from your card but you can keep your game data and saves on your card. Here is where Sony can help us out by improving download times from the PSN, which will make this process more desirable.

Second, Sony needs to stay on top of the retail market and the price changes, when they occur in retail they have to take effect immediately. I know this hasn't happened with the current list of PS3/PSP games but i am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. If these 2 things happen I think Sony could be quite successful and I hope they are because I am really looking forward to the Vita and can't wait for the 22nd!

This is 10% off the RRP. So if this % is the same for the UK then Uncharted which is £45 RRP will cost £40.50 on PSN. But ive pre-ordered Uncharted from Zavvi for £35. :(

Looks like ill be going 90% retail for the Vita.

Digital distribution is a complete joke, and something i dont ever want to replace discs for gaming consoles.

e.g.

Red Faction on PSN is £57(WTF) at retail its now only £5.

Space Marine on Steam is £30, on Amazon its £8

Assassin's Creed Revelations on Steam is £30, on Amazon its £22

If Steam didnt have them crazy deals i wouldnt use it.

Digital prices never go down alongside retail.

Seems fair, I guess. 5$ for the box. Hell they should have said it's an eco-discount for not buying a box that'll eventually occupy some landfill somewhere.

Better than how it is now. I like having options.

@gringbot: Just wanted to second your comment about how easy it is to get games on the cheap nowadays. In 2008, I lost my job and decided if I was going to make it through the year playing games, I would have to stop buying them at full price. Since then, and without resorting to buying used from Gamestop, I've had a backlog at least five games deep. Discounts happen far more frequently today than any other time in gaming history. Just as an example, I live in Michigan and in most stores, you can get Assassin's Creed: Revelations, Rage, Dead Island, Dark Souls, and Battlefield for under $40 brand new. It's just a matter of being patient and keeping your ears open.

Considering how overpriced the memory cards are downloadable games would have to cost 20-30% as much as their cartridge cousins to make you save any money.

@bsavvi said:

This is 10% off the RRP. So if this % is the same for the UK then Uncharted which is £45 RRP will cost £40.50 on PSN. But ive pre-ordered Uncharted from Zavvi for £35. :(

Looks like ill be going 90% retail for the Vita.

Digital distribution is a complete joke, and something i dont ever want to replace discs for gaming consoles.

e.g.

Red Faction on PSN is £57(WTF) at retail its now only £5.

Space Marine on Steam is £30, on Amazon its £8

Assassin's Creed Revelations on Steam is £30, on Amazon its £22

If Steam didnt have them crazy deals i wouldnt use it.

Digital prices never go down alongside retail.

While I support the digital download revolution for games, you raise a very good point. You can get some boxed retail versions of games that came out 3 years ago for less than 10 dollars sometimes, but yet the digital versions are still 30-40, if not full price.

Either way I like that Sony is offering both for every game, a great shift for the future.

The used prices will still be far cheaper, so real penny-pinchers won't bother with this.

It's a bit odd being in situations already where I'll have to pay more for the digital version. Amazon sells WipEout for $5 less then the digital version will cost, but games like that I really want on memory for whenever.

Plus, don't need any UMD type transfer issues when formats change, as digital will always be good.

@gringbot said:

@aceofspudz said:

"I can buy ten iPhone games for the price of one Vita game!"

And a frighteningly large percentage of those people will also play those iPhone games for about 1 minute each, and then move on. I can't find a single iOS game that can hold my interest for longer then a half hour. For how "cheap" iOS software is, with the cost of the iPhone/iPad, its actually been the biggest waste of money for me considering how much I use them. But, lesson learned I guess. Besides, last I checked there's been a lot of controller peripherals coming out for iphones and its obvious why.

@RenegadeSaint

Except there's only one game that will be $50, most will be $40, and some are even $30, and the best thing you can do for all games is wait for price drops as they generally come pretty fast now-a-days. You can almost always get games half off if you wait a few months on amazon, or even buy used, but thats pretty unnecessary imo considering how cheap they can get even new.

For 3DS: Street Fighter, Pilotwings, Ghost Recon, Monkey Ball, Nintendogs, and some others are all being sold for $15 on amazon right now. Madden is like $9, and there's even one of the Nintendogs being sold for $8, as well as the sims game.

Then there are steam sales... My friend got about 30 games over the holiday sale event for $100 or so, thats $3 a game! Then we also won a bunch of free games from the contest achievements.

If you buy smart and have patience you can get around the ridiculous prices of games, easily.

Yes to everything you said.

This is fantastic news.

Everyone is discussing the discount versus the price of memory cards as though the pricing is the only incentive to go digital. Digital copies are infinitely more convenient for handheld gaming. The number one reason I don't take my 3DS everywhere I go is because I can't safely carry more than one game (in my system) without needing a case, and even then, swapping them out in the fly is annoying. Sure, it's not THAT annoying, but we're talking about options here, and the digital option is far easier. Plus, it's not like when you buy your digital Uncharted, you've doomed those ~5GBs for all eternity. Delete your old games you don't play anymore to save some space; it's not like you can't redownload them later if you want to play them again.

@Floppypants said:

Uncharted: Golden Abyss Week 1: Amazon $50, PSN $45 Week 5: Amazon $40, PSN $45, eBay Used $30 Week 16: Amazon $30, PSN $45, eBay Used $20Week 52: Amazon $20, PSN $45, eBay Used $10

This is my favorite post.

I am not big on digital copies as without the physical copy it is to easy for the value for of my money IE the game itself to be lost in the void of digital space. With a physical game as long as I do not lose it I own it forever. Also I am a collector when it comes to games so digital is a turn off for me in that respect as well. However when its a game I have no intention of collecting and its extremely cheap I can usually be pressed to make the purchase. A whole 45 bucks for a fake game is not going to have value to me as a consumer when I can pay 5 dollars for the real thing.

Vita has Mortis written all over it.

@oppai2 said:

I am really curious how the Vita sales pan out. Sony isn´t in good shape at the moment.

I tested a PS Vita at a store last week the touch screen is really smooth. I'm not 100% on the layout yet as the one I tried was chained up to a stand making it hard to get a full experience of the unit. The layout for the analog sticks seems to be a little restricted based on how big your hands are, but that's not to say that it cannot be something that you can get use to. I tried a fighting game and wipe out. The screen and graphics are amazing quality with no real lag that I could see. I would like to test a FPS and some more fighting games like Capcom x Tekken. If those games play well and the control system is tight I'll defo purchase a Vita no question about it.

How do you sell back your virtual games?