Pricing for Gran Turismo PSP in Japan is raising a few eyebrows after a German website connected the dots, revealing the PSN download version is considerably cheaper than the UMD disc. The UMD will cost ¥5,480 (€40, $57), while the download will be just ¥4,400 (€32, $46). Curiously, the game is also going to be released one week later (October 8th) in the Land of the Rising Sun than the rest of the world (October 1st). Of course, there is no guarantee if the variable pricing structure will also be applied to the United States and Europe, but it just might explain the unusual pre-order promotion which revealed Lamborghini and Bugatti’s arrival to the series.
Obviously, you can only pre-order a physical copy from a retailer – guaranteeing them lots of sales before you find out about the cheaper PSN price. This is just a theory, of course, but it would be a logical compromise that allows Sony to promote their PSN service while still catering to retailers. We’ll keep a close eye on pricing for other territories as it’s released – stay tuned!
the price difference is logic, they know umd and physical discs in general are from the “old” generation and the future is DLC via internet…so to stimulate customers to get the dlc instead of umd (which also requires plastic discs and distribution in stores…$$$) they lower the price of the downloadable version
The good news “Jas”, and I’m with you on the topic of gt5, is that after Oct 1st, K.Y has no other choice BUT TO TALK about GT5 seeing as there is no DLC to mention or anything else.
I dont understand why there is so much talk all directed toward GT PSP? Fair enough its great its coming out and all but why is there hardly any news on GT 5 where the majority of the interest is? This is so annoying it seems to me that there is more effort going into GT psp than the full on ps3 game!
a lot of games are getting launched in USA/ Europe before japan, it used to always be the other way around for so so many years, and was never a 1 week difference, I remember GT3 was Japan got it 3 months B4 everyone else, the Europe, then usa/Oceania
Quick check on Yahoos currency converter tells me 40Euro/$57 is £34. That’s pretty steep for a PSP game.
For those who dont know that picure is a mock up UMD for GT4 mobile when it was mentioned years ago.
As for PSN vs UMD I always go for a physical / tangible item if possible, its just nice to have the box and game and not worry about it geting deleted. However the game might load and run smoother on the download version, that is, unless it installs the whole game to the internal memory anyway like GT5P did.
Which will deliver the best gameplay? The current PSP with UMD disc or the comming PSP One with downloaded content?
I have to question the prices for both, aren’t PSP games normally $40.
I think that’s because it is a really old picture of the UMD. It was shown at the launch of the psp. GT Mobile was at that time heavily advertised as comming to the psp.
The showed actually also psp boxes of the game. White with the bleu-red GT logo on it with a wireframe model a steering wheel.
We know know that GT will arrive in a black box showing the arty Corvette :P
Its says on the UMD… Gran Turismo 4… i know GT PSP is based on gt4 but still :S
Mustangmiha, I hope you will continue to do your slavery job without getting paid for it.
I just pre ordered my physical copy of Gran Turismo PSP for 4,658￥ from amazon.co.jp. So the pricing surely depends from where you order it
Makes perfect sense to me. No disc, no packaging, no printed instruction manual and no shipping should make for a cheaper retail price. And in Japan you cannot rent games which means that there is a big market for used games. People who download their copy of GTP presumably won’t be able to resell it.
whats the difference? both are expensive, i will rather download it from torrent sites.
im actually considering it. a game shop by me is getting rid of a 2nd hand psp for £64 which is a bargain! but i dont have the cash yet as im 17 and my money went on an electric guitar, and until i go back to 6th form ill have to wait til next month for some dosh. but there is 2 months to go yet.
don’t wait, get the psp that is now in store. Bigger screen ;)
@ mc959
thanks, it makes sense now! ill have to wait for the psp to come out
@ Walsall FC
You need to be connected to the PSN, but if you have a ps3, you already have an account
if not you need to create one with PSP…
@ Walsall FC
You need two things:
– a credit card(or maybe they will have some kind of pre-paid card at gamestores by then???)
– to wait for october 1st
i mean do you have to create an account and enter your bank card details?
ok so how do you actually download it? i mean how do you actually pay for it if your downloading it! help me please someone to make it clearer!
There also will be something extra for the PSN version they told on the PS Blog :)
It indeed makes sence, but I doubth this will actually happen. Look at Wipeout Pure and Pulse. You can get those way cheaper than the UMD version from you local retailer. Strange, yes.
PSN green? Hell no, if you’d only know what one e-mail or on google search cost. …. it polutes a lot more than you think.
Actually, typing anymore letters now heats the earth even more so I stop know. ;)
it makes sense. costs dollars to print a umd. plus, downloading from psn is more “green”
sly dogs…