Brick-and-mortar stores may be struggling in the 21st century, but online retail is as vibrant as ever. Just yesterday, Sony launched a new store that sells  physical copies of PS4 games as well as PS4 hardware and peripherals directly to US customers. Please note that this store is strictly for the sale of physical products: you can still buy digital copies of games at the PlayStation Store.At the moment, prices on the new store appear comparable to other online retailers. Days Gone costs $39.99, and on Amazon it costs $36.93, for example. However, PlayStation Plus members can login to the new store to receive free express shipping, which could mitigate this slight price differential.Additionally, since we are buying directly from Sony, it seems like there will be some opportunity for better deals. They may not exist now, but perhaps in the future there will be more exclusive discounts on games and peripherals.

The initial run of games on offer is by no means exhaustive. Currently, only 18 games are for sale. However, Sony does have plans to "expand down the line."

I'm most interested to see what this "expansion" will mean for the launch of the PS5. Sony might be aggressive and limit the PS5's supply at other retailers. This would boost the store's significance and visibility, but it would be a bit combative from a business standpoint. Their other option will be to maintain this website as an additional option for consumers. We'll have to just wait and see how they want to play it.

In any case, though, the launch of this store is pretty cool (if you're a US customer). Nintendo has long offered all sorts of physical products on its store, and Sony appears to be taking a page out of their book. For more on the launch of new store, check out PlayStation's blog post on the matter.