If you’re a PS3 gamer with bandwidth to spare, you could have easily avoided last week’s Borderlands 2 stock fiasco by pre-ordering the game on the PSN (SEN just isn’t sticking, is it?) – pre-downloading the game, ready to play at launch time. Now now, Steam users don;t laugh at console gamers and point out that you’ve been doing this for years; day 1 digital downloads of AAA retail games on consoles is a relatively new thing – but Sony seems to be embracing it.
This week, Tecmo and Team Ninja’s Dead or Alive 5 is also available to download digitally – but it looks like that might be just the start. Sony’s unveiled a new digital content program for the US called “PSN Day 1 Digital,” giving PS3 gamers the the ability to download new games and play them the same day they become available in stores.
It’s only been announced for North America so far – but I’d expect it to extend to European regions soon. Starting October 2, US PS3 gamers will be able to download the following games, bypassing retail stores for their gaming fixes (and some of them even coming with discounts for PS Plus members0:
- Resident Evil 6 (Available for download on October 2 – $59.99)
- NBA 2K13 (Available for download on October 2 – $59.99/$53.99 for Plus members, with pre-order) (available for pre-order)
- Dishonored (Available for download on October 9 – $59.99/$53.99 for Plus members, with pre-order) (available for pre-order)
- DOOM 3: BFG Edition (Available for download on October 16 – $39.99/$35.99 for Plus members, with pre-order) (available for pre-order)
- 007: Legends (Available for download on October 16 – $59.99) (-10% off for Plus members)
- Medal Of Honor: Warfighter (Available for download on October 23 – $59.99)
- Need For Speed: Most Wanted (Available for download on October 30 – $59.99/$53.99 for Plus members, with pre-order) (available for pre-order)
- Assassin’s Creed III (Available for download on October 30 – $59.99) (available for pre-order)
It’s pretty neat – though I personally still prefer a physical product that I can trade in to offset the cost of something else – especially seeing that the digital versions cost the same as their retail counterparts.
Last Updated: September 26, 2012
