Burnout Paradise on PSN... as a downloadable title

Written by Ryan Hewson

Friday, 15 August 2008 03:41

From Ye Olde PlayStation Blog, we learn that Criterion is going to be making the entire Burnout Paradise retail game available for download. I didn't see that one coming. At least, not quite as quickly as this. It's an extremely aggressive move into "full" digital distribution. From the blurb:

The download will be $29.99, but it’s not the disk version of the game we originally released back in January. This is an all-singing, all-dancing version complete with all the free packs so far. Here are some of the highlights. All new game modes, like Online Marked Man and Online Road Rage. Awesome new vehicles, including the Hunter Olympus and Nakamura Rai-jin Turbo. 70 all-new challenges featuring against-the-clock gameplay and leaderboards plus the in-game calendar and news page. Check the details on our website.

I've mentioned before how impressed I am with Criterion's ongoing hyper-support of Paradise. This really is a steal. No mention of how big the whole thing will be in bytes – I'm guessing somewhere between "pretty big" and "fucking huge" – but hey, that's what user-swappable harddrives are for, amirite?

What do you guys think of this move? The 360 will be getting the ability to install any game to the HDD in the fall as well, albeit with the disc still in the drive. Is this an attempt to mirror that functionality somewhat on the PS3 side, or is it part of a larger push on Sony's part, to finally put the retail shops under the digital-distribution sword? Or, is it just Criterion kicking ass as usual, a unique one-off? Hit the comments and tell us your theory.

Comments (7) Add Comment

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written by tratch, August 15, 2008

So when you install a game on the PS3 it doesn't require you to have the disc in the drive to play it? Or did I misread what was written up there?

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written by Dan Zuccarelli, August 15, 2008

Right now when you "install" a game on the PS3 it's not copying over the entire game, just a bunch of data to smooth over install screens and stuff like that. You still need the disc in the system cause it's still using it.

That's different from the proposed 360 update that will let you install the whole game to play it from the HDD (still needing the disc in the tray cause DRM bitches are assholes).

This here is a full-blown game packaged up for DLC, no discs required!

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written by tratch, August 15, 2008

Okay, I misinterpreted the article--that's "my bad" as the kids say.

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written by eudaimo, August 15, 2008

Tratch, burnout won't be "installed from a disc." It will be fully downloadable like an xbox live arcade title.

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written by Dan Zuccarelli, August 15, 2008

no harm, no foul

oh and kudos to the comment above for saying in one line what took me 3 paragraphs to explain XD

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written by Xerxes3rd, August 15, 2008

I'm sure the next console generation will see every game available in download form, even if some are also available in disc form. Cool, indeed.

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written by TheBBPS.com (Bits, Bytes, Pixe, September 25, 2008

[...] have shipped thus far – will be available as a direct download on PSN for $30. When I posted this a little while ago it didn’t garner much attention (at least here), but I think it’s a sign of things to [...]