10 tech trends to watch for in 2012

[rocketpig]

pezus said:

rocketpig said:

pezus said:
#7 is wrong.

Boxed software will never die entirely but it's going to become more and more marginalized over time. I haven't bought a piece of boxed software (PC-related) in years. My last purchase was probably a copy of Windows 7 about two years ago.

Yeah but aren't they talking about boxed software overall, PC or consoles or handhelds etc. I've bought two boxed PC games this year, Shogun 2 and BF3. BF3 mainly because Origin prices suck and Shogun 2 because it was cheaper at the time in the store than on Steam.

I agree that their point was overly dramatic but the general sentiment is correct. The next generation of consoles will strongly push full-length game downloads. Steam and app stores are already very strong in the PC segment. Dedicated handhelds will move in that direction someday.

It won't entirely spell the death of boxed software in 2012 but it's been happening for years and the trend will continue.