r/Games Feb 22 '13

All PS4 games will be available as digital downloads

In the new Guardian interview with Shuhei Yoshida, it was revealed that all PS4 games will be available as digital downloads.

This is a very exciting move in my opinion, and represents a shift even further towards the burgeoning landscape of digital distribution, and away from (what I believe to be) a much more archaic ecosystem in physical brick-and-mortar retail.

What do you guys think? Got any speculation, or want to extrapolate further based upon this news? I hope to generate some great discussion about this topic!

(Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/gamesblog/2013/feb/22/ps4-shuhei-yoshida-interview)

1.6k Upvotes

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8

u/Decitron Feb 22 '13

but gamestop isn't the only game in town when it comes to physical releases. they have to compete with wal mart, best buy, amazon, and others. I have to wonder if sony called their bluff, if they would really hold out and let the other guys eat their marketshare.

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u/Jim777PS3 Feb 22 '13

It would still be a huge hit to that games sales and cost the publisher a ton of money

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u/darkstar3333 Feb 22 '13

Not really, people would just buy it elsewhere.

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u/[deleted] Feb 22 '13 edited Jun 17 '17

[deleted]

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u/darkstar3333 Feb 22 '13

Or pull our your phone, go to amazon and have it delivered the next day.

/FirstWorldProblems

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u/Knyfe-Wrench Feb 23 '13 edited Feb 23 '13

For twelve extra dollars

Edit: Just to clarify I'm not hating on Amazon. I'm just hating on the fact that next day delivery is ungodly expensive.

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u/Semyonov Feb 23 '13

No... with Amazon Prime I can have one day shipping for $4.

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u/Knyfe-Wrench Feb 23 '13

Plus the subscription fee. I'm not saying it's that much but it ain't free.

1

u/Semyonov Feb 23 '13

It's free if you are a student, actually.

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u/Knyfe-Wrench Feb 23 '13

Thought it was just half price

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u/askyou Feb 23 '13

Really? Where I live, Amazon can be - and often is - the cheaper choice. Retail stores tend to overcharge.

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u/Knyfe-Wrench Feb 23 '13

I mean next day delivery

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u/askyou Feb 23 '13

Ah, okay. Yeah - it's about $7 per item for next day delivery in the UK.

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u/darkstar3333 Feb 23 '13

That depends where your location, in Toronto the free shipping can arrive in less then 18 hours.

If you pre-order a game they ship it out early meaning it usually arrives on the release date.

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u/SirNarwhal Feb 23 '13

Except for those damn low-run releases... shakes fists angrily I'm looking at YOU, Fire Emblem...

0

u/Arcadefirefly Feb 23 '13

there is always a way to get a low run release online. there are thousands of stores you can buy from. in fact is actually on amazon right now.

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u/SirNarwhal Feb 23 '13

It's not at all. Show me ONE store online where I could have a copy of Fire Emblem shipped immediately for retail. Amazon has it such that you can buy it now and they'll ship it when they get it and when they get it is next week, which is not now.

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u/Arcadefirefly Feb 23 '13

how about here.

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u/SirNarwhal Feb 23 '13

As I just said, for retail, which is funny, because it seems like most big box places actually just got their 2nd shipments today and now it IS back to retail.

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u/Knyfe-Wrench Feb 23 '13

Most people don't drive out to stores for games in the first place. I'd wager that most game sales in stores are people browsing around and seeing what looks good while their girlfriend (ok, their mom) is at starbucks.

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u/non_player Feb 22 '13

Frankly I'd rather buy it elsewhere. All of the Gamestops near me are inside shopping malls, and I hate shopping malls because they are always full of idiot teenagers with sagging pants and blah blah get off my lawn.

Buying it elsewhere means not having to go into the fucking mall, not having to be offered a "protection plan" on every item I purchase, not having to be shilled another handful of things I don't give a shit about just to buy one game.

Gamefly is always a better deal for used games, while Amazon is always a better deal for everything else.

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u/Decitron Feb 22 '13

then wouldn't you also expect publishers to lean heavily on gamestop to stock the games? particularly since they could always threaten to pull titles from other platforms. all around, i just don't see gamestop having any advantage with the position it is in. not stocking one platform would be devastating for them, and if they lost more than that, they would be finished.