This may be a topic I've already discussed, but since I can't think of anything else to do a post about barring some sort of iMac/iPod Touch discussion (I'm trying to limit that to 1 post a week) I figured I'd comment on some of the latest developments. I've been thinking about it a lot lately, and this article pushed me over the edge. Personally I think digital delivery of video games (Steam, Xbox Live, Playstation Network) and media (iTunes, Miro, Amazon MP3) is awesome. I'm not the kind of person who is too concerned about having a physical copy of my media because, in general, I interact with the bulk of it through digital devices anyway. As a result what it really boils down to is the convenience factor of being able to get games and media over the internet instead of from a store.

About a week ago on the 24th of July a brand new full-length game was released on PSN that I've been eagerly anticipating. A follow-up to a cult classic for the PS2 that never really hit it big in the US, is the survival horror game Siren: Blood Curse. Because it didn't sell very well in the US, Sony has opted to offer it online only instead of putting out a physical copy. I know at least one person who was also looking forward to Siren but was turned off because of that. He's a bigger collector than I am, so for him to get a game but not be able to add it to his physical collection was a letdown. It bugged him so much that he nearly imported the game from Japan but after calculating the cost found out it would be too expensive.

That's one way to view it, but on the other hand what if Sony just decided to not release the game to the United States at all? Before digital distribution came along that might have been the outcome. That's one great advantage, it allows games that might not have the popularity or funding to get a full physical release to make it to fans everywhere. Not only that but the digital versions are generally cheaper - in Siren: Blood Curse's case the full 12-episode game is available on PSN for $40 (you can also purchase 3-episode chunks of the game for cheaper). The blu-ray version, as is the standard, costs $60. Not bad if you're like me and never look at game manuals and usually just put a game into storage only to resurface every few months when you get the urge to play.

Sony had kind of a lackluster conference at E3 this year but one thing that impressed most of their fans was they showed that they're making a serious push to bring original content to PSN. Not only full-length games like Siren, but smaller arcade games like PixelJunk Eden, Fat Princess, and Flower. All are original IPs that haven't seen the light of day on consoles until now, and all are hotly anticipated after being demoed at E3. So as gamers we get new, unique content while the publishers have an additional income stream which is becoming pretty successful based on the article I linked in the first paragraph. If you don't have time to read it I'll give you the cliffsnotes: EA was able to make $90 million in the first quarter through digital distribution of their games. Not bad, eh?

Steam has been working under the same model for years now, so the medium is proven. Now with Netflix offering a streaming service for their movies, Apple rolling out the App Store to delivers games and applications directly to their mobile devices, and all of the major consoles offering some sort of digital distribution for games, it seems this is the wave of the future. I approve, how about you? Leave a comment and let me know!

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A Perfect Circle - The Nurse Who Loved Me
Halo 2, Trism