I wanted to buy Gran Turismo 5 for my PS3, and I realized it is not available on the Playstation Store. Games can be as cheap as half the price of those in regular retailers, and that's why downloading them is an attractive option. Also, saving all the shipping + plastic and paper is ideal, environmentally speaking.
Why aren't all games available on the PS Store, then?
Best Answer
IMO The main reasons are
High profile AAA titles (like GT5) are very large and even with fast internet speeds would take a long time to download and put huge strain on the PSN infrastructure, as potentially millions of people would want to download it at once. Smaller indie and older titles are not so big and dont have the same huge release day pressure on the network.
Sony controls the PSN Store, has various rules in place and take a cut, publishers want to control their own releases and already have contracts in place with game stores to sell the physical media.
It is surprising how few people are tech savvy enough to use something like PSN properly as opposed to picking up a game from the shops, especially if it is a present or the purchaser is under legal age to perform online transactions. So there is still a higher demand for physical media (with the exception of small titles where the price and quantities doesnt justify this).
It is possible (and probable in the coming years) for them to go more the steam route (with pre downloads etc) but the console market is not structured around that sort of thing at present.