As many of the readers (mostly dudes) will remember, Xbox Live was recently graced with a complete downloadable of Tomb Raider: Anniversary. And even if the game had to be divided up into two episodic packs, the move demonstrated XBL's capabilities as a digital distribution medium.

But according to Crystal Dynamics' Riley Cooper, Sony's PlayStation Network may offer less constraints for developers trying to bypass retailers altogether. As Cooper elaborated during last month's Game Developers Conference at Lyon:

I'm very, very interested in digital distribution and the potential it has. PlayStation Network is extremely interesting because it's a more flexible space.

We made an in-road with Anniversary on 360, and it was a full game essentially, but Microsoft is only slowly increasing requirements and opening up the constraints of Xbox Live. It's been a slow process, whereas PSN hasn't been restricted by size, they've just done Warhawk for example.

The additional downloadable content for titles like Guitar Hero is making a lot of money. As well as that, digital distribution isn't just about how to get a game but how to stimulate communities after the game has been released. Once users have bought into the IP you can continue to keep that community alive and get revenue from it.