Digital Content vs Physical
Digital content vs Physical
You can call me old fashioned if you want, but I like to have something I can hold in my hands for the money I’ve spent. For me, having a parcel arrive in the post with a book or a game in it, is infinitely more satisfying than clicking a button and suddenly having another file to save.
Another large factor for me is the price tag that accompanies digital purchases. Frequently, the price is the same as the physical product, or even higher. Which truly, makes to sense.
Lets pick a couple of examples to illustrate this.
A newly released novel, for arument’s sake let’s have a look at the prices of Rivers of London, by Ben Aaronovitch.
Amazon.co.uk
Hardback: £8.44
eBook: £6.99
Paperback: £5.99 (pre-order)
Waterstones
Hardback: £8.49
eBook: £6.99
Paperback: £5.99 (pre-order)
Now, I realise that the publisher will want to protect the sales of the hardback books, by not making the ebook too cheap, but can they really justify a £6.99 price tag? I know that they have costs to make up, a small proportion will go to the author, various people involved with the editing, marketing and production costs, but still… it’s a bit steep. After all, you can wait a year and get the paperback for £1 less.
When we come to look at the games side of the digital market, that’s when the prices seem to a bit screwy to say the least.
I can’t comment on the Xbox Live equivalent of the following, as I don’t have access, so I’ll just keep this to the Playstation Network Pricing.
Lets see, how about Assassin’s Creed?
The game was first released in 2007, and is now available as a Platinum Game of the Year edition. The RRP for this is £19.99, but can easily be found approximately £13.
On Playstation Network? £23.99 (although is was discounted to £15.99 during their January sale.) Hardly comparable is it?
The prices aren’t set by Sony, but by the publishers, they need to sort out their pricing so that it is competitive if they wish to make a significant amount of digital sales.
