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Opposable Thumbs / Gaming & Entertainment

PSP tests digital only releases, could lose retail friends

Sony has confirmed that Patapon 2 will ship without physical media in the US, …

Yesterday we broke the news that Sony was going to release Patapon 2 as a purely digital product in the US. That means that the cases sold in the stores will include a download code, or you could save yourself $5 and buy it online without leaving the house. Not long after our story ran, Sony sent us a statement calling Patapon 2 a test-case for a digital release, confirming the news. So what does this mean?

Right now, it doesn't mean much. Patapon 2 is sure to be a fun experience, but it's hardly going to be a blockbuster, making it a good game to test out the digital waters. Think of how many businesses this affects, though. Gamefly has taken the game from the site, and there will be no way to rent it through its service. How can you send a game that is only a download code through the mail? If Sony continues this trend, PSP owners may not be able to rent any of the PSP titles they're excited about.


The game may be sold at GameStop locations, that odd empty box with the code inside, but the game won't be traded in. The retailer will never be able to lock the game into the endless loop that makes them so much money (a player buys the game used, plays it, and then trades it in again). This is where GameStop makes its money; don't be confused by all the new product on the store shelves.

If this is a sign of things to come from Sony, or if the company decides to release that long-rumored PSP without a UMD drive, there will be many enemies made in the industry. Game rentals are big business, as is selling used games. Even more importantly, consumers enjoy the ability to rent their games. They like to put their used games on Amazon, or trade them into GameStop, or even just flip them to a friend when they're done. Patapon 2 won't allow you to do any of those things in its current form.

Depending on who you are and what stake you have in gaming, this could be a brave new world... or the beginning of a very annoying time to be a gamer. It could be in the next ten years we'll be reminiscing about when you used to be able to loan a game to a friend.

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