I really don't understand why their whole business model is partially touted as "keeping physical media relevant". Yeah right, for the tiny, minuscule amount of physical games they make per release, it's almost as if the game never came out in physical at all, for all the good it does.
But don't you see? The physical releases ARE relevant...to the scalper/flipper community!
If you need further proof, this came from the e-mail about the FireWatch/Stranger's Wrath release this weekend...
"The game will sell for $29.99 - only 4,500 copies have been produced! Our last Oddworld release on Vita sold out in under five minutes! It now sells for several times its original price - don't miss out on this one!"
It seems to be that they outright encourage the feeding frenzy mentality as well as doing nothing to deter the scalpers/flipper scene so that actual gamers can get copies to actually play/enjoy. I dare say they RELY on those people to help drive their business model.
But on the flip side, we're stuck with what's really kind of crappy about physical releases! Limited availability, and scalped prices that go way through the roof. Digital at least is more available and the prices are much more stable.
Digital may be more available but in some instances I don't see how it's a more viable option when it comes to pricing. As an example, I was previewing ads the other day and Meijer has Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash on sale for $29.99. I told my cousin about it and he mentioned that seemed high so I checked the price on Gamestop's and Best Buy's websites where it was $39.99 and $49.99 respectively. On both sites, they listed the digital download release at $49.99. Granted, some people just don't shop around or are willing to accept the price of digital because they don't need/want a physical release taking up space but if you're a gamer trying to save money, in this instance it doesn't make sense to go digital when 2 out of 3 places have it for less (or way less) than the digital price.
Anyway, I DO appreciate that there's a company out there that is willing to make physical releases of games that previously would only be limited to digital release. I just wish someone else would see what they're doing and 1-Up them somehow. Like go behind them and talk to the developers they've released games for and do a 2nd run for anyone/everyone who wants a copy. They could partner with GameStop so any unsold copies could be dumped on them and it could sit in their inventory.