Sony see retail releases sticking around
Despite Sony's efforts to embrace a digital future via products like the PSPgo and the PlayStation Network, European gaming president Andrew House says that standard retail releases will still dominate for the foreseeable future.
Packaged releases will remain a focus, says House, who says firm's will need to learn how to move gamers over to digital releases, while working out how to market these titles.
"I think we were always fairly clear, as far back as the original announcements, that this wasn't a replacement for the current PSP-3000 offering, and that it sits alongside that and packaged media. It's additive to the business. The early sales numbers that we've seen bear that out - I don't think there's been a huge amount of cannibalization, and I think those sales have come in and lifted overall PSP sales," House explains.
"It's clearly demonstrated that there is a consumer out there, and it's validated that proposition in moving more towards a digital download as a preferred means of getting content.
"Make no mistake, when you're looking at PS3 games and you're seeing the shift in the sheer size of the data that's becoming available, the packaged media business is not going away any time soon."