Shopping PS4 games for Christmas? Your wallet will thank you if you buy physical rather than digital
It might not be a surprise to most of you, I’ve switched most of my gaming hobby from physical to digital. I grew tired of my shelves being filled (space is a huge problem in Tokyo), and I started to really like some of the benefits of digital purchases (I think it struck me the day I discovered I was able to play some of my old PSN games – from my PSP era – on my vita, at no cost). Sony is trying hard with cross buy functionality, and the PSN being convenient in general; to make people switch to Digital.
But another thing I try to do a lot is optimizing my gaming hobby from a financial perspective. See, my wife isn’t particularly fond of my gaming habit, so I want to make sure I’m not spending too much on the hobby.
Recently, I wanted to purchase “Just Dance 2015” to play with my kid, as it was on sale for black friday. With the shipping costs involved from US to Japan though, I had to give up (temporarily. I actually have a trip scheduled to the US soon and I’ll be sure to catch up on cheap games). But what impressed me is the price difference with the PSN.
Other PS4 AAA titles, such as Wolfenstein, Last of Us, Diablo 3, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, Watch_dogs, etc… are available at a significant discount compared to the PSN prices.
I’ve compiled a tiny list here:
| Game | Physical Price | Digital Price (PSN) |
|---|---|---|
| Diablo III | $29.99 | $39.99 |
| Watch_Dogs | $24.99 | $59.99 |
| Just Dance 2015 | $29.99 | $49.99 |
| The Last of Us Remastered | $29.99 | $49.99 |
| Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare | $39.99 | $44.99 |
| Wolfenstein: The new order | $35.33 | $59.99 |
| The Evil Within | $24.99 | $59.99 |
| Just Dance 2014 | $24.95 | $49.99 |
| The LEGO movie Videogame | $14.99 | $49.99 |
| Little big Planet 3 | $44.99 | $59.99 |
(Some of the retail prices above are valid until 12/21!)
And these are just 10 of the most popular games, but there are dozen more where getting a physical copy this Christmas could save you quite a lot. I’m kind of shocked that Sony sells “Just Dance 2014” at exactly the same price as “Just Dance 2015”. You’d assume there’s some benefit in getting the previous generation… In general I have found that Sony’s PSN “holiday sales” are not that great compared to what physical retailers are doing. Even in the digital world, I feel Sony has a long way to go before becoming competitive compared to platforms such as Steam, which have the reputation of having great sales, before and after Christmas.
Incidentally, the result is that I didn’t buy “Just Dance”, neither in Physical nor digital format. This is clearly a lost sale for Sony, because I know the game exists for much cheaper elsewhere, so I won’t bring myself to get the digital version.
What do you think justifies such high prices on the PSN? The convenience of digital downloads? Or is it something else?
Disclaimer: the Amazon links above are affiliate links. If you buy through these links, you don’t pay anything more but I get a percentage of the sale.
“What do you think justifies such high prices on the PSN?”
Yeah, I guess the convenience is cool.
Cool enough to pay almost double?
No, not at all.
I do not consider it convenient having to substitute the space to store on the HDD versus $10 less than retail price
I keep buying the physical version, for ‘show-off’ purpose tho…
“What do you think justifies such high prices on the PSN?
The convenience of digital downloads?
Or is it something else?”
G.R.E.E.D.
Grifters Ruining Everything for Everyone’s Dollars.
ha ha ha …just bought metal gear rising on steam for 6 bucks!!!!!!!!!!
looks just as good if not better on my pc compared to console.
and ur point is?
The point, rather obviously, is the same point the article is making. There’s no reason to pay these overinflated costs when it’s easily available at a much lower cost elsewhere.
.. yeah, keep waiting for those 1st console exclusives until you drop dead, lmao
Unless the game in released in seriously limited qualities even console exclusives usually drop significantly in price.
@lmao
>implying anybody cares about console exclusives.
That you can play Knack, The last of Us, LBP 3 and others on your PC :v
Damn, i remember i began to buy digital games because they were cheaper, but this is BS
Im tired of sony and their overpriced ***… i think its time to buy used games again, you get the most for $5 or so and they are more valuable if you want to sell your stuff later
I collect games, so I never sell them… But being able to go and get a bunch of used games for $2%, to add to my collection is nice… I don’t sell anything, because its nice to go back, and play something again after you haven’t played it in a while… Kinda like watching a movie over again… You know the outcome of it, but you wanna either enjoy the story again, or see if you missed something… Kinda why I like physical, beside saving HDD Space… But your right… You can get a bunch for $5 or more…
I meant $25… Accidentally tried to capitalize a 5… lol…
Right on thats how i feel to bud!!!
I have played Gta 3 at least ten times and i just get better and better
Only Ps4 doesn’t save any space using physical copies…the whole game is still put onto the HDD..I was going physical at first for the reason of HDD space but once I noticed it takes the same space as a digital copy I’ve just been getting digital :/ sucks sony try to squeeze the most money they can out of us, if it’s on sale physical it should be on sale digital in my opinion..
that is why sony hackers attacked. the interview movie film
did my picture change yet?
Yeah: ruka it means “pollas con peluca” great LOL
I refuse to buy dlc version vs physical. Dlc has no resale value. Physical you have and can resell, regift or keep always.
Dlc vs physical is a no Brainer for me.
DLC is 90% of the time Download Only. Except the few Game of the Year editions that included it on the disc.
I prefer physical purchases in general, and this is one of the reasons. Hehe, also because I can have them sitting like a boss in my desk shelf 😀
Obviously someone who was vor Is watching jacksepticeye in yt 😀
Whaaat? It usually is the other way around, retail games are more expensive because of the physical format and the fact they don’t benefit from sales. In fact, i’m always for retail, but cannot resist buying digital games at 2 euro cost on Steam. But seriously, if a game is more expensive in digital format, that’s close to being a stupid scam. There is totally no excuse for that unless is some shop-specific sale.
Believe it or not, many retailers that specialize in games complained to Sony, Microsoft and the like that they would not support them if the digital copies were cheaper than physical as they would loose sales. I know it sucks, but it’s all about the almighty dollar.
i belive it will be chip on next 2 week as digital vertion so you can buy digital .
digital vertion is bether then phisical vertion
After you sell the phantom account off from your digital game, you usually end up with a cheaper price going digital. 6 months later you can do it again, though you probably won’t be able to get as much money for a phantom account.
Well it’s easy to change the price of physical games whenever, but digital games are kinda hard to have their prices decreased, since many people would have already bought the game from the old price & have it in their download lists.
And about Just Dance, 2014 has the same price as 2015 because 2014 is still like any game from last year, nothing changed in 2015 but the songs & a few other things. So they’re like 2 independent games. I’ve seen the same for FIFA.
You can always try mail forwarding services, like shipito. Recently I order from us to Russia and it was about 6 bucks for 5 games with cheapest shipping option.
what’s that sony? i can’t let my friends borrow my copy? … i can’t borrow from them? i can’t sell my games?
Don’t tell us what we can and can’t do.
i can’t sell my digital copies of the game and borrowing would mean that we would have to exchange consoles.
me and my friends prefer the physical copy. I buy a game, i let them borrow when i’m done or not using and vice versa. unless it’s a multiplayer then we all buy our own copies. and if the game sucks we sell it.
C’mon, you’re just being selective with your evidence. Digital The Last of Us PS4 is like $20 on Ebay.
tanga post…tanga ina mo wololo
this means stupid post…..wololo your mother is so stupid
for those that just thinking about buying a console, especially a ps4, Amazon is giving a away the bundle at the same price you buy a console for $399.99: PS4 (include controller) + The Last of Us Remastered + a free game (Destiny, NBA 2K15, Far Cry 4, or Little Big Planet 3). Destiny is physical discs while the rest are digital.
and in this age and time, 1tb has already been enough since games are nearly 45 gb just digital…not to mention, you probably won’t play as much, so you probably just delete them, since you can redownload them at a later date.
but i still perfer physicals because if the game doesn’t live up to it, i just trade it in for a different game within a week. remember, there also those redbox game rental, which is $2 per day.
Depends on where you live, in australia you dont want to “just redownload” a 45gb friggin game cause that’ll take 2 days.
When internet speeds are viable worldwide then i can see digital distribution as an option but physical media will always be No.1
Considering you need to install the disc based version of a game to me it’s not much difference than getting the digital version. I mean you need to have the disc in the tray to play it but at least there is resell value. I purchased a ps4 Black Friday bundle and I got The Last of Us digital code. I sold the code on eBay ($24) and my wife got me the physical copy for my birthday.
On the other hand, I just got me a Playstation TV bundle with digital game code, dual shock 3 controller, and 8gb vita memory card for $99. Well $89 if you subtract my $10 reward zone certificate. Why? Because I purchased so many digital psp and ps1 classics from psn over 4 years ago (when I had a psp go) and now I can play those on my Playstation tv. Remote play was another seller…
So digital is nice when it comes to stuff like that but I still prefer physical copies. Maybe I’ll sell my vita game code and get the physical one
well i think if u would buy physical playstationtv vita for christmas that it should have same charger as psvita thus allso having usb slave
When there’s a sale on digital copies, there is no competition. Plus, the standard pricing is not taxed with Digital. Well, any pricing is not taxed when digital. The PSN Store does not tax. So….Yeah, I see there’s a deal currently on those such games, but I expect there to be a Last of Us sale for the holiday digitally soon. And then, yes, it’s a better buy.
I can give you an example from Poland.
God Eater Burst: PSN: 40 PLN , UMD:Unavailable.
Phantasy Star Portable: PSN: Unavailable, UMD: Release Announced many years ago, price set at “preorder”, not a single UMD was actually released.
Tactics Ogre PSN:84 PLN , UMD: Unavailable
Fate Extra: PSN: 125PLN, UMD: Unavailable
DoA paradise PSN: 144PLN, UMD: Unavailable
Fifa 12 PSN: 169PLN, UMD: I dont even care!
An shipping UMD versions to Poland from abroad is very cost-inefficient due to the currency value…
If you compare game prices with the average salary, life expences, taxes etc, etc – you reach a conclusion that even an old and “cheap” psp game on PSN is 10-30% worth of a monthly salary.
Probly a bunch of reason. copyright. digital format has to be like customs Sony eboot. phisical jus a bluray disk with load code. pc games r cheaper cuz it’s jus Windows or mac install.
Androids games r cheap mainly cuz opean source.
the physical store thanks u to 😉
I bought a physical copy Infamous: Second Son today for $20. It’s $40 digital in the PlayStation store. Nice discount.
Best site for a few games with big discount. Bought a few already. They email you the code for the psn to redeem.
ex: LBP 3 $32.xx, Far Cry 4 $37.xx etc.
http://gamedealdaily.com/
Clearly you dont look at the Aussie PSN, $120 for a game thats been out 6 months
my spec for a new playstationtv worth ,100$ would be psvita charger, magic gate and memmorycard saves only, audio out, and special 2tb satan 2.5inch ontop on what it allready has , maybe a popular mediaserver instead of a non dhcp networkmediabrowser only
dubbed playstationtv media edition
and maybe new revisions psvita and playstiontv 4g models called call to make local subnet calls and sms send recieve and viber and softap option… but the 4g looks handy if ur somewher without broadband.
But me and my Buddy can share Games if we buy them in the store.
And the loading Times Are faster
usermode.php
a php script that runs firefox with greasemonkey usermode plugin just right in the browser
phpmode.php
a php module to create bogus javascript
python webkitplooit + phpmysqllamp
+namservers client for custom domain or dom
and
and phpterm and phpsh and castlevania phazer tut etc intro
I have Sly Cooper 4 Thieves in Time, on my PS3 and vita. I believe the game is also cross buy.
I don’t quite remember buying both games nor do I understand cross buy too well. To my knowledge it is just a party option where e.g. you can connect your vita and ps3 to the game so you can use your vita e.g to view a map as you play the main game on your ps3 for example.
What I want is to buy a physical game, but to also have a digital copy too. This is mainly for my vita. I like a physical copy because I have multiple accounts and it is a pain to switch to the correct account to play. That said, I also dislike physical copies because they take up space so it is nice to have have the game linked to an account, so you can download it back without having to bring your physical games with you wherever you go.
The point of this post is. I assume I have two versions of the game because of cross buy, is it possible to get a physical version of cross buy games? i.e. have a physical copy and a digital?
If you store your entire game/movie/retro collection via DLC and your account happens to get permanently banned, then say goodbye to all of those games. Sure they’ll stay on your console, but when the hard drive fails, or you accidentally delete a game, then its goodbye forever to that title.
Huh? My pc games are way cheaper in digital, then again they’re way cheaper than console games.
Guys you forgetting plus the cost of downloading the huge digital copy, it really makes no sense and you can even still share your physical copy.
Sony grew up please.
and a psp jspspemu and a fropbox memstick and a fropbox savedata copy tool
and a fropbox game backup/copy
and a psinstaller javascript that concludes around jspspemu
you also need to think a little… the last of us and lbp3 are cheaper on ebay if you buy the dlc code from someone or eve sony… they had last of us on there a little while ago for 20 bucks… they would send you the code and thats it… and lbp3 was 39.99 for quite a while before getting a price drop on the physical copy to 40 bucks…
heck you can get them cheaper if its a regular person selling that got it in a bundle…. just ask what the want for it