Q on Buying: Amazon, etc. vs. Direct

[rhomboidspace]

Originally Posted by Katar

You can buy this game from:

Amazon for $40 w/free shipping
or
NewEgg for $37 plus ship/tax
or
J&R

OR,

You can download it Direct from Atari for $40 which allows you to download it for the next 30 days. If you want it for 2 years, that's an extra $4.

Why, why, why isn't the direct download only $25 or $30? (Afterall, no printing/manufacturing costs, and no cut to Amazon/distributor.)

Crazy, why a $4 fee to allow you more than 30 days? Why don't you have the ability to download it for the lifetime of the product for not additional cost?

Other than having it instantly, why would you ever download it directly?

$40 is the cost of the game, the cost of the disks, and packaging is probably only about $0.50. the major difference between DD and a boxed version, is there's less middle men leading to more profit for the devolper, and depending on how they use it, it could allow more room in bugets for future games.