We’re extremely excited to announce that starting tomorrow, on December 21, MAG will be available in its entirety as a full game download on the PlayStation Store.
Priced identically to its boxed “Greatest Hits” counterpart, the downloadable version of MAG (4.7 GB) will run you a mere $29.99 and come complete with all the bells and whistles found in our patches up to v2.10.
To celebrate its release, PlayStation Plus users can try MAG out for free with an exclusive full game trial! Members can play the game and any of its original modes at no charge for as long as their PlayStation Plus membership lasts, with their only limitation being a level 8 character cap. However, members will continue to earn experience as long as they play the game, allowing them to automatically receive credit for time played once they’ve purchased the full product.
Membership has its benefits, yes?
i feel these download versions of games should be atleast 10bucks cheaper. otherwise im just gonna buy the disk cause i dont feel like i own stuff i download
Digital products have zero material cost, negligible transmission (the analogue for Shipping and Handling), have no physical counterpart and do not participate in second-hand markets (GameStop, eBay, etc).
I want to make it clear that the IP and all the work that went into it is certainly worth something, but it is not worth the same amount of money as a fully produced, tangible product, and to charge the same rate is ridiculous and a poor treatment of one’s audience.
One would think that Sony would jump to create a market of very fairly priced digital offerings, considering they will never be on the Used shelves and are virtually pure profit since they’re nigh infinitely reproducible and cost fractions of a penny in bandwidth to transfer.
Monumentally bad business model, basically.
@100 Hooligantuan MAG is for EVERYONE! Just Spend the $20 bucks at Amazon and Own MAG!!
Man this is great!!! Plus has really paid off since I signed up when it first came out. I already own MAG, bought it when it went to greatest hits, and love it. Hopefully this free level capped trial will help bring in more daily players. This game really is good, especially organized for 256 players in one match.
Thank you Sony for making Plus well worth it with everything you have given us it seems dumb not to sign up.
Sold
Please someone tell me, will this be available in EU / Australia?
Thats great, I have definitely wanted to give this a try.
Ok, I love the idea of Mag probably selling like crazy on PSN Download with a brand new LARGER player install base. Now wouldn’t it seem prudent to move up the release date for The new PS Move Sharp Shooter weapon for all of us MAG fans to enjoy by say the beginning part of January. Considering it is a joint venture in design between Zipper Interactive and Guerilla Games so we can play MAG with it? I mean I saw the one with the Killzone Branding but I would pick one up with Raven Branding over KZ any day! Just an idea from a fan, I mean I checked out all the other rifles on Amazon and they just don’t compare with what I saw on the PS Blog Interview a few days back.
just seen that if i wanted to i can pick this game up from walmart for 20bucks so the download version should only be 10 to 15bucks
Mag Vets PLZZZZ goe easy during this time as not to have new players be frustrated with getting owned, The key is to increase the players for MAG. The most revolutionary game to date.
That’s genius! I’ve been a MAG player since dayo one but this is still great news because it’s an awesome way to get people to try the game out and increase the number of players. Good stuff guys!
Very nice I still play MAG and with some of RLF coming to PSN this is pretty sweet … for them as well as myself.
First: When are people going to learn that the word “fail” is NOT an adjective, and not a noun. It’s a verb. Something can’t “be” fail.
Second: Stop whining about all the perks PS Plus subscribers get. We DID pay extra, you know. Besides, it’s not that great anyway.
Third: To those “subscribers” who just rave about how great PS+ is in their posts, tone it down. You’re a little too obvious. I’ve had it since the beginning, and …meh.
Now, with all that said: This announcement is definitely a step in the right direction. With Sam & Max and now this, we’re FINALLY starting to get there.
…STARTING. Still have a ways to go if you want me to re-up when Plus runs out. But you’re getting better. Minis do not constitute value. Those should be free to everybody. Stuff like this is more like it. Thanks, and keep it up!
never ever would i pay for plus!!!! Thats just crazy!
Already have MAG but I’m happy to see things like this happen.
What people do not understand in digital distribution vs retail release is that digital distribution requires post-production work that adds to the cost of making the game available for download.
They make a disc and ship it to walmart or amazon then they are done with it, it’s walmart and amazons option to offer a sale or discount and possibly break even or lose money on what they original bought it for from the distributor.
Digital outlets require resources to make it available to download. The bandwidth they send it to you on (which is quite expensive when you factor in 4gbs times however many copies sold), the server it is hosted on, the salary of a technician to make sure it all works, ect… they all cost money that would otherwise not be spent with physical copies.
So if walmart has the game for $15 they are losing money on it but they’re hoping you buy enough overpriced christmas candy or other useless junk to make up for it. You’ll notice that gamestops up-selling is relentless and they push you hard to pre-order, buy something used, or whatever else to make up for the profit margin lost on the discounted sale.
@103
I was in the open beta and was a preorder buyer. I’ve been enjoying MAG just fine, thank you.
This trial is not what MAG, the PSN, or Sony actually needs. Not to a mere 8 levels, and not just for PlayStation Plus.
Now this is what i’m talking about.
GREATEST HITS PS3 GAMES ON PSN.
…a big thanks to all the guys at Zipper for making this first big step.
Ball is in your court now sony *cough*MGS4*Resistance:FOM*cough*Ninja Gaiden Sigma*Uncharted*Killzone 2*cough*cough*
:)
Really haven’t played the game since beta, money has been tight. But will definitely be downloading the game trial. I have to say that Playstation Plus is awesome! Keep up the great work Sony and bring on more great content.
I am seeing a lot of comments on here people say “it fail” that it only for plus members. That the purpose of Playstation plus you pay for premium account status so you get stuff others don’t. Also why people complaining about about price if you can buy it cheaper in the store then go to the store and buy it.
This is one of the greatest Plus offers outside of the free Sam and Max full game, and all those free Mini and PSOne games for my PSP.
Thank you Sony. I have regreted not getting this title after the beta due to various other gaming commitments.
Is it coming to the EU store?
This is great news. I’d been wanting to try out MAG for some time now and just hadn’t managed to convince myself to drop the cash for it. Now I can try it out for a few days first. BONUS: no disc to pop in if I do end up buying. Thanks guys! Great call on splitting up the localization content, BTW.