Philly H says: "We'll always do retail"
by Ed Stasick 
{ Apr 12th 2007 at 10:30PM }
While Sony is quick to acknowledge their new love affair with digital distribution, they're also adament that they'll never leave the old ball-and-chain that is the retail channel. When asked the question "how long until Sony does away with retail?", PS3 posterboy, Philly "Cheesesteak" Harrison replied, "Never - we're not going to do away with retail. A game that somebody buys at retail is the beginning of our relationship with the customer, not the end."
Translation? Sony will use the retail channel to make the initial sell and then milk that investment with micro-transactions out the ying-yang. Of course, if Sony were to begin the transition to full-on digital distribution, they're probably not going to go and upset the apple-cart by admiting it... yet.
[Via Gameindustry.biz]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
mccomber @ Apr 12th 2007 10:43PM
"Sony will use the retail channel to make the initial sell and then milk that investment with micro-transactions out the ying-yang."
Ah yes, the ol' 360 business model. I guess they are copying them afterall. Kidding... sorta. I'm sure Sony won't be giving away content that we would be charged for on Live, at least as soon as they start getting that additional content. What's up with not getting ripped off on new characters in Marvel: UA like our 360 friends are? I wouldn't buy it, but I do want the option to not buy it.
More on topic, there is a section in the latest EGM about "Gaming in the year 2027, and part of it is of course about digital distribution. Chris Satchell, who works for MS, doesn't seem to think it will be a major part of this console cycle, but pretty much everyone agrees that episodic content and "build your game" elements, ie: micro-transactions, are going to be what we see in the next few years.
Taylor B @ Apr 12th 2007 11:22PM
Paid content beyond the initial purchase isn't anything really new. It's new to consoles, I'll concede that, but to long time PC gamers like myself, this is an old tune. When games go online and have a static environment, having any type of digital possesions is almost inevitable. Given this situation, you're options to fund this venture are either through a paid subscription, or on a PPP (pay per product) basis i.e. microtransactions.
The only way around such a situation would be community based approach allowing users to create their own items and distribute them freely. This in itself presents a parental moderation issue (Second Life and digital anatomy come to mind), and continuity issues. Sony COULD (and possibly should) allow a monthly contest allowing users to create / submit / vote on user submitted items, and then selecting a top few, and distributing it freely. (Thus allowing users to weed out the garbage, and creating a very limited amount of items to scan for continuity / parental issues).
But I digress, I have no beef with micro-transactions as I fully realize that most of the time the product goes beyond the original game, and the cost is somewhat reflective of development time.
John @ Apr 12th 2007 11:31PM
No one is moving to straight digital distribution. A vast majority of people either still don't hoook up their consoles to the internet or just plain enjoy going in a store kinda like a bookstore, only with videogames, to browse, interact with other customers, get out of the house, etc.
naggs @ Apr 14th 2007 1:54PM
digital distribution is the future. before the ps3 lifecycle is over you will be able to download a free demo and buy every game without leaving your couch. keep in mind that it will be like 2010 before this is fully realized but once it is available to the consumer sony will have no choice to cut out the unnecessary middleman, the retailer. the market will determine how quickly this happens, not sony or the retailers or the contracts that they have together.