I am sure this question has been visited before in previous forum threads, but I wanted to revisit this issue to get all of your thoughts on the matter: VGChartz is able to track the Physical sales of Game consoles and physical game media. It however dosn't seem that they are or will be able to track digital purchases unless they were able to make some kind of agreement with the console makers for their digital sales data. So this is more of a question/discussion thread on the topic, but its obvious that next gen will go even further into digital game purchases.
We know that the Xbox One and PS4 will release digital copies of games on the day of their physical releases. This will be the first generation where that will occur for all retail games. If thats the case It will almost surely split the numbers greatly between those purchasing physical copies and those purchasing digital. It may not be as apparent at the start of the generation, but its obvious that as digital versions become more attractive/convenient to consumers that they will outspace physical game sales in this next generation for day 1 purchases.
So the question is...How will VGChartz deal with that? What if the ratio of digital sales vs physical sales is more lopsided from one console to the other? It will skew results and physical sales data will surely no longer be reliable. With only tracking physical sales this will make it extremely difficult to judge who is winning in game/software sales war for the coming generation.
I just wanted to get other VGChartz user's take on it...veterans, new comers...whoever you are...what is the solution for VGChartz sales data to stay relevant in an increasingly digital environment? Maybe this has already been answered, but if so..spill the beans to me.
