Editorial: Why the PS Vita Benefits from Having Both Physical and Digital Downloads

The PlayStation Vita is a hybrid console, one that marries the best of the old portables like Sony’s own PSP and takes cue from the likes of Apple and the AppStore juggernaut. While some may have criticized Sony for not going all digital with the PlayStation Vita, I retort that and say why? Unlike the PSP which for the most part was purely based on physical media, seeing how Sony could never properly ensure the digital availability of UMD games on PSN, the PlayStation Vita has had no problem offering all physical games on PSN on the same day. In fact, PS Vita owners can also download PSP and soon, PSone games on their Vita as well, giving them a vast library to choose from. Furthermore, Sony has also discounted priced of games on PSN, versus their physical counterpart. These steps have aligned the PS Vita much more with Apple and their take on content delivery which has the iPod Touch, iPhone, and iPad download new content, only in a digital form.

Still, Sony realizes that for various reasons like slower network connections and the lack of ability for those around you to easily gift you, there is still a need for physical media as well. Chances are that for your grandma and aunt, it will be much easier to stroll to Target or Best Buy and grab you a PS Vita game then to have a PSN account and gift you (much like you would in iTunes) which currently doesn’t even give such an option. In fact, unlike digital distribution which exists only in the cloud, Sony and developers can ensure market awareness of their games by having their titles available in retail locations. Those with vast libraries will also attest to the the benefit of being able to lend and borrow games from friends, something that isn’t available with games bought on PSN.

So while the idea of physical media might be dead to some and the likely hood that the PS Vita being the last portable console with physical media as an option very high, it’s still a winning strategy for Sony to support both avenues and let the consumer decide what they favor best. If you prefer to download Uncharted: Golden Abyss digitally and have it get magically pushed to your PS Vita, then Sony is able to deliver while those who wish to wakeup to their Christmas or birthday gift wrapped with such a title will not be disappointed.

Let’s talk, after the jump.