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Sony and Game let you pay for downloadable games in-store

So let me get this straight -- you go to a shop and pay for a downloadable purchase and then go home and download it? Genius!

Joe Svetlik Reporter
Joe has been writing about consumer tech for nearly seven years now, but his liking for all things shiny goes back to the Gameboy he received aged eight (and that he still plays on at family gatherings, much to the annoyance of his parents). His pride and joy is an Infocus projector, whose 80-inch picture elevates movie nights to a whole new level.
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Joe Svetlik
2 min read

In a bizarre move, videogame retailer Game is offering you the chance to go into town to download games and extra content from the PlayStation Store. The PlayStation Store you can access online from home. Huh? Allow us to explain.

The deal is you wander into a Game or Gamestation store, and pay for the downloadable content over the counter, just like a physical product. They then send you a 12-digit PIN code via text message. You enter this when you get home on the PlayStation Store, and then you can access your purchase.

Of course you could just buy it straight from the PlayStation Store and save yourself a trip, but then where's the fun in that?

It might sound completely slightly pointless, but if you're a parent and you don't want little Jimmy using your credit card to pay for DLC, he can save up his pocket money and go and buy it himself.

PlayStation 3 games are available, as well as subscriptions to PlayStation Plus (giving you discounts, trials and classic PS One titles), maps and other downloadable content.

At present the games are just Sony's, such as MAG, God of War Collection and WipEout Fury, but it promises to extend to eventually include all PS3 downloadable games (over 50 in total). Add-ons currently available include the Killzone Steel Rain Map pack, and the Uncharted 2 Siege Expansion Pack. So, good news for shooter and adventure gamers, not so much for the committed Street Cleaning Simulator fan.

The pricing varies for each title, a spokesperson told Eurogamer. God of War Collection will cost £24.99, while the Killzone 3 Steel Rain Map pack will set you back just £3.99.

The deal starts today in 42 Game and Gamestation stores, and should extend to all the company's 620 shops nationwide by the middle of September, so no matter where you live in the country, you'll, er, be able to buy downloadable games.

Don't like the idea of going to the shops to download something? Well, the deal will eventually extend to Europe, so theoretically you could hop on a ferry and go abroad to buy something you could get from sitting in front of the telly. Though that would be ridiculous.