Sony Announces “Cross Buy”

Select Sony titles will include both PS3 and PS Vita versions for no extra charge.

Sony announced a ton of new content for the Vita today, but the promotion dubbed “Cross Buy” seems like it’ll have the biggest effect on the handheld’s library. Under the new program, anyone buying select titles for the PS Vita will get a copy of the same game for the PS3 – and vice versa.

Both MotorStorm: RC and the recently-released Sound Shapes already offer pretty much the same thing, but those are relatively small, downloadable titles. This new initiative includes full retail games like PlayStation All-Stars, Ratchet & Clank Q-Force and Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time. Cloud saves mean you’ll be able to continue your gaming between platforms, and some of the titles will include cross platform multiplayer.

“Consumers want to interact with their content at any time, across any number of devices,” said SCEE president, Jim Ryan. “The game experience is no longer an individual pastime. It’s an always-on, highly connected form of entertainment.”

Currently, only first-party titles are being included in the promotion, but Sony would be wise to get big-name third party publishers on board. EA is the only publisher to respond thus far, and its response was predictably hesitant.

“We’re taking it under consideration, but we have no specific plans to announce at this time,” EA Corporate Communications told Forbes.

Cross Buy seems like a smart move on Sony’s part. For relatively little cost, the company has made the Vita far more appealing to PS3 owners, and has taken the first steps towards combating the handheld’s ongoing game shortage.

Source: Forbes