Simultaneous digital launch for NGP games

Digital versions of NGP games will launch on the same date as boxed retail copies, Sony has promised.

Sony Europe boss Andrew House told MCV that the strategy was a reaction to mistakes made during the PSP era.

"One thing we learnt from PSP, is that we want to have simultaneous delivery in digital and physical for NGP. Just to clarify that, all games that appear physically will be made available digitally," he pledged.

The PSP was widely criticised for inconsistencies between digital and retail releases. A digital launch would often follow many weeks after boxed copies had hit shelves, or sometimes not at all.

House then went on to explain that while a developer will have to make a digital version of their game available, they will not be forced to release a boxed copy.

"Not necessarily all games have to be made available physically. And having the option of a digital-only method affords more creative risk-taking, and that's because you don't-have that in-built risk of physical inventory.

"What I'd like to see is a hierarchy of different games of different sizes. So at the high-end you've got these big, premium games, which by and large will be available physically because that is the most convenient way to access them. And then there's an opportunity for digital-only, where we might see more experimentation."

Still no word on exactly when we'll see the NGP in shops, though a late 2011 launch was originally mooted by Sony. An Ubisoft survey published earlier this week hinted that their will be two versions of the hardware available, with a basic model reportedly priced at $250 and a 3G-enabled version going for $350.