An offer you can refuse - Mass Effect 2’s digital release.

The news that Mass Effect 2 was coming to Sony’s PSN was a welcome one. I like digital distribution as a platform when it’s done correctly, which makes it frustrating when the benefits of digital distribution are ignored.

Valve is doing a great job with Steam, it recognises how it can benefit the consumer, as well as the developers, and tries to keep everyone happy. Crazy Steam sales aside, the strength of Steam is that it offers new releases day and date with high street retailers at a price that is on context with the lack of overheads occurred through physical release. Some can argue that online retailers can sell PC games anywhere from £5-£10 cheaper, but this is usually a case by case basis. The basic point is that overall, Valve do a bloody good job with Steam.

When I found out that Mass Effect 2 was having a digital release I was more than prepared to avoid changing out of my pyjamas and purchasing it from my sofa. I’d even quite happily wait for the 10+GB file to download (pre-loading was too much to ask). The price wasn’t even much of an issue. I knew it would be roughly £40 on the high street and £35 online, so somewhere between the two made sense for a game that had very little overheads,right? I was prepared to stand up and applaud Sony for making a great move, a defining move on the console landscape.

I also held out hope that Sony would see the benefits of really making this an attractive offer to those interested in digital distribution. A ‘come and get me’ plea to those wanting to embrace the zeros and ones that would eventually make up our upcoming quest to save the galaxy.

So what did they do?

They shaft you, hard.

£47.99.

There’s no real reason that it should be that price. Why should you pay such a premium for a digital release? Especially when, by the time it downloads, you might as well travel from London to buy it at a store in Dundee, then come back and still have time to install.

More frustrating than the price, was that this was a great opportunity for Sony to do something very interesting. I guess I’ll have to wait around for that to happen, probably in the empty plaza of Playstation Home.