PSN pricing

[daan]

I got the new list of games released today on the PSN. One of them in particular stood out for all the wrong reasons.

Downloadable Games (PSP)

Pro Cycling 2010: Tour de France (£31.99/€39.99) Rating: PEGI 3

Yes, that says £31.99. 32 quid for a game you can get on Amazon for £17.91! Amazon also says the RRP is £24.99. Are Sony having a laugh? Considering that Amazon has to employ someone to go and get the game and put it in a box and send it out to you, and the PSN is all done automatically via digital download, surely the PSN download version should be cheaper?

I quite like buying games through the PSN as it means I don't need to carry a load of UMDs around, but that's just ridiculous.

EDIT: Just emailed Sony, so we'll see what their excuse is.

 

[Coxis]

This is the issue with several PSP games. Try and look up the price for Parappa the Rapper...

 

[Golfman]

Best value for money on PSN? The PSone Final Fantasy's 7, 8 and 9. Only £8 each. And each one has over 50 hrs play time. I'm getting them for my PSP.

 

[Sureboss]

I got the new list of games released today on the PSN. One of them in particular stood out for all the wrong reasons.



Yes, that says £31.99. 32 quid for a game you can get on Amazon for £17.91! Amazon also says the RRP is £24.99. Are Sony having a laugh? Considering that Amazon has to employ someone to go and get the game and put it in a box and send it out to you, and the PSN is all done automatically via digital download, surely the PSN download version should be cheaper?

I quite like buying games through the PSN as it means I don't need to carry a load of UMDs around, but that's just ridiculous.

EDIT: Just emailed Sony, so we'll see what their excuse is.

Though that difference is laughable (evil laugh, that is), server space can be expensive, how big is that download going to be?

 

[NLxAROSA]

It always pays off to shop around for games, both on and off PSN. I've seen games at half the price in my local store, while it was still full price on PSN, but also exactly the other way around, where a game was half-priced on PSN and still full-priced in the store.

 

[FoolKiller]

This is my biggest issue with digital delivery for most anything. With the exception of PC-based games there is almost no competition.

In this case a guy with a PSP Go doesn't even have the physical store option. Similarly, music and movies containing DRM to lock them to the device you purchase it with/for don't have to worry about competition. Before sites started offering non-DRM music do you think Apple worried about price competition on songs for people who already had iPods? I'm not price comparing on the Zune store.

Then, even when there is physical media competition digital distribution doesn't act to keep pricing parity with retail stores fast enough. The PlayStation Store has been trying with weekly sales and regular price drops, but their bread and butter are things only available through them and their incentive to offer reduced prices is to increase overall sales after a product's popularity has dropped, not take marketshare from a competitor.

One thing this generation of consoles has taught me is that digital distribution has a long way to go in pricing parity, DRM management, and product availability before it can even attempt to take the majority of the marketshare from brick and mortar retail shops.

 

[Golfman]

It always pays off to shop around for games, both on and off PSN. I've seen games at half the price in my local store, while it was still full price on PSN, but also exactly the other way around, where a game was half-priced on PSN and still full-priced in the store.

It's interesting that Wipeout HD + Fury expansion pack is available to buy on disc for around £20-25(depending where you go), yet on PSN it is only £17.99.
Personally, I have a problem with the PSN cards you can buy in stores. They are only available as £20 or £50. Annoying if you only see something you like for £5-10(like the Psone FF games, or some of the MINIS). I think they should start at £5 and go up in denominations of £5, 10, 15, 20, 25 etc.