Sony Pondering Downloadable Game Rental Service For the PSP

Joystiq has brought attention to a recent survey commissioned by Sony to gauge interest in a rental service for PSP games that would operate by downloading the games to the console. The plan, as Sony puts it, "will enable you to download a fixed number of games during your subscription period ... you will be able to change the games you have chosen for the download once your subscription term renews." The survey goes on to gather opinions on various details such as pricing, the number of available games, and how games are added to the catalogue.

Comments

Rent vs buy

[Bifurcati]

Sounds awesome, but surely this is a risky sort of business move for game designers? I know we can rent games at the video store, etc, but that's usually very short term. Assuming the subscription period is of a significant length (i.e., the one month), then it would really negate the need to purchase games unless they have significant replay value.

I just wonder what sort of pricing structure you'd need to justify that.

Re:Rent vs buy

[rob1980]

I'd be interested to see in how the rental money is divided up once it's lifted off your credit card. Perhaps a larger portion of that will go directly into the hands of the designers as opposed going into Blockbuster's pocket. If that's the case, then a pricing structure similar to or slightly cheaper than any current rental service may suffice.

Is it only a rental service?

[Sparx139]

I smell a scheme that will end up causing many gamers to pay more than what they would if they were to buy the game. It would be better if you could 'buy' the game rather than 'rent' it. If you want to try a game, you check out the demo before making a decision. Or am I reading this wrong?

Also, what will their method of dealing with data loss, etc? Just what will the prices be, compared to going down to your local store? I personally like the idea of having a disk, as I can lend it to a friend if they're interested in the game, or trade it in to GameStop, EB Games, etc and recoup some of the money I spent on it, so that lessens the merit of the service for me.
And then, how long will it take to download a full game? Speaking from experience in the Xbox Live Marketplace, speeds can be agonizingly slow.

I mean, it sounds like an idea that could have great potential, but I wouldn't be jumping for joy until the details have been finalized and released to the public.

Re:Is it only a rental service?

[Xest]

That's the crux of it. To me downloadable and rental are two words that shouldn't be used in the same sentence.

In classic video rental stores you'd rent for a fraction of the price of buying because it meant the video store could buy the film for £10 and rent it out 15 times at £1 a time to make £5 profit. It had to be rental because it was a physical object that they could only allow one person to access at a time.

Of course, that limitation is gone with downloadable content, it's a limitation that has to be created artificially and of course the vehicle for delivering that has to be DRM. Quite rightly as you say, every rental service I've seen so far that creates this artificial limitation ultimately results in a bad deal for the user in that if they want to keep playing it they'll end up paying more than they would've if they could've bought it through classic means in a shop. The same goes for the likes of XBox live's video marketplace in that you might as well just buy the DVD if you're planning to ever watch it more than once and of course watch it at your own pace rather than their artificially imposed time limitation.

As an aside though I'm not sure what you mean about XBox live marketplace content being slow to come down - I've always had it come down at 240k/s which is the fastest my connection can download at. If you're having issues downloading from there the bottleneck is almost certainly your connection so may be worth checking. The same goes for other download services like Steam, Direct2Drive etc. - download speeds have just never been an issue as far as they max out my connection. I just wish I had a faster connection!

I have not and will not ever use a software rental service. If I'm paying for software or media I wish to use I want to pay once for that digital and keep it. I don't want to be billed over and over for it. After all, it brings all the classic issues with this approach such as what if they close the store down and I only got half way through playing it and can't re-rent it to finish it off? What if I buy a game that takes two weeks to complete, get half way through it in the first week when my rental expires then they bump the cost up to twice as much if I want to finish it off in the second week?

Re:Is it only a rental service?

[calmofthestorm]

Even if you buy it, the DRM will prevent you from reinstalling it on your new computer once it's activated.

On hte plus side, DRM has caused me to explore more smaller publishers, who still treat their customers fairly, and tend to produce higher quality games as well.

Re:Is it only a rental service?

[that IT girl]

That last sentence was my first thought--how long would a rental period be? I also am uncomfortable with renting software in the first place--just too many ways it could go wrong.

Also, I'm just waiting for the DRM to be cracked (you know, about a day after it's released) and then the bitch-and-moan fest begins. They're just setting themselves up for it at this point.

Arcade games and MMORPGs

[tepples]

Sounds awesome, but surely this is a risky sort of business move for game designers?

Video games first appeared as coin-operated machines, and the arcade model isn't too different from the rental model. Nor is the MMORPG monthly fee model much different from the rental model.

Re:Emotional bonding?

[sakdoctor]

1. I like to own good games.
2. I prefer to "rent" bad games.
3. I don't want to waste my time playing bad games.

Therefore...

Re:DRM?

[Sockatume]

DRM is the technology that allows the rental to operate, or rather, to not operate when it's not meant to. They are the same thing at the end of the day. What's "new" is that it's probably the first time a major games company has gone with download-rentals. There's been talk of it for ages but the closest I'd seen so far was one-day game licences for N-Gage Service titles.

Re:Emotional bonding?

[Sockatume]

Demos. Few companies will be willing to dig out and rewrite their old demos for MGS or whatever for download, whereas a one-day rental just requires the company approves the title for rental purchases with Sony. It's something that's more common in mobile phone gaming - the N-Gage service has mandatory demos, but they're usually very short, so £1-£2 for a 24-hour "pass" is a better taste of the title. And in the case of short, not-very-replayable games like MGS-Mobile, it saves you spending £8 on a title you'll clear in a lunch break.

Re:Maybe

[flows]

I've had my PSP for 2 years now, daily companion of a 15/25 minute bus ride to work. I can recall a couple games that made me walk into my office still playing, none had me dedicate that time for fear of losing a save game or having to replay some area. Suspend works every time unless you turn the device off while it's writing to the memory stick. I can pick it up on the way back home, right where I was.


On topic, I rather have 1 good game at a time and play it to exhaustion (any good game, from Puzzle Quest to God of War) than having to play a bunch of them just so I feel like I'm leeching my monthly rental fee.