PlayStation’s next-generation consoles are less than a day away from release and gamers are getting hyped.
If you are one of those gamers planning to pick up a new Playstation over the holidays you need to make sure you aren’t making a terrible mistake.
Sony is offering the Playstation 5 in a $500 version and a “digital-only” version for $400 or 20% less.
Seeing as both versions are basically identical from a graphics perspective, it probably seems like a no brainer to save the $100 bucks and buy the digital edition.
You would be so wrong.
We are here to explain why the Playstation 5 digital edition is a terrible deal for everyone but Sony.
Its All About Used vs New
By going digital you are cutting yourself off from the used games market completely.
Game makers hate the used market as it operates largely out of their control.
Sony would love for nothing more than you to buy your games exclusively from the Playstation store where you can’t buy your games used or sell games you’ve purchased once you are done with them.
The flexibility to buy new or used, adds up to hundreds in savings over the life of your system.
With the digital edition, Sony has you locked into their digital ecosystem giving them total freedom to set the prices you pay for new and old games.
Historically with the PS4, digital downloads were always more expensive than buying the game used from EBAY or through Facebook and this is highly unlikely to change.
Sales were scarce and Sony never provided a way for gamers to sell their digital downloads.
You buy a digital game, your stuck with it for life, unless you sell your entire system.
An Example: Ghost of Tsushima
Ghost os Tsushima is the last and greatest blockbuster for the Playstation 4.
The game is still wildly popular, benefitting from recent updates and a vibrant player community.
Even with all this popularity and the game still relatively new, you can already buy the game disc used from EBAY for around $40 including shipping.
Ghost of Tsushima Costs $40 Used
Source: EBAY.com
A savings of $25, (40%) off the brand new price of $64, which includes sales tax.
In contrast, check out the Playstation Store, where the game is still being sold for the original price of $59.99 + tax, 4 months after launch.
Still Costs $59.99 plus tax on the Playstation Store Website
Source: Playstation.com
So you’ve saved $25 if you waited a bit and skipped the digital edition, but the savings aren’t over yet.
What about once you’re bored of the game?
With the physical disc, you have the flexibility to sell the game after your done, something you can’t do with the digital edition.
Even if you kept Ghost of Tsushima and played the hell out of it for the next year, its highly likely you could resell it for at least $15 after shipping costs.
If you bought it on launch day, you wouldn’t save the $25 by buying used, but this also means you would be selling it sooner after release, getting $40 for a used copy instead of $15 a year from now.
Any way you slice it, buying a physical copy of Ghost of Tsushima can save you big money over buying the digital edition.
And this is just one game!
The Discount on the Digital Edition is Peanuts
Sony is offering gamers only $100 off the PS5 digital, which is basically a payment so you agree to be locked into paying top dollar for every game you will ever play on the system.
$100 is peanuts.
Considering you can save $25-$40 on every physical copy you buy, you gain back the extra $100 you pay for the PS5 disc version in less than 3 games.
Sony should be offering gamers at least a $200 discount off the PS5 disc version for us to even think of recommending the digital edition.
To sum it all up, if you plan to buy a PS5 during the console’s lifecycle, stay far away from the digital edition and stick with the old fashioned disc drive.
Your wallet is going to thank you.
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