Conina said:
Prices could go either way... up or down. There are collectors and there are people who just want to play the game. In the past you needed the retail version to play the game, even if you weren't a collector. These people can now buy a much cheaper digital version instead of the limited supply of retail versions. So not only the supply will be lower (fewer printed copies), the demand for physical versions will probably also be lower (gamers+collectors >>> only collectors). Supply and demand determine the price. |
I definitively see your point. But I think an interesting fact is too look back at SNES or N64 games value for instance after the release of Virtual Console. I was expecting the prices of physical copies to go down at the time. But since then the prices only skyrocketed. Retro gaming have become much more popular since then and a huge amount of people prefer physical copies over digital. Demand for physical copies of games has thus increased, even with the virtual console. Plus since the question ask about the relative value of software, the same trend that you mentioned is likely to affect other consoles equally.
Additionaly, in 20 years, someone might buy a used WiiU and look for a certain game. The problem with digital is that it reduce the "liquidity" of the games market. Games become tighted to a specific console while all physical releases can end up on the market. Finally, I noticed that nowadays games go out of prints much faster since they can still be bought digital. Hence the ratio of physical copie of games that can potentially be available on the market compare to the total amount of console will be much lower in the futur that for past consoles.
