RolStoppable said:
We've already seen how these things go with the PSP Go. The reason why retailers accept the very low margins they make on selling consoles is that people buy games along with consoles. Since the PSP Go had no UMD drive, Sony couldn't get retailers to stock the console without a significant markup, so the PSP Go ended up as a more expensive SKU than other PSP models. Another example is from earlier this year when we got the news that Austrian retailer Gameware stopped stocking Xbox consoles because of Gamepass. Retailers don't take it lightly when they get cut out of the profitable portion of console sales. An Xbox One without a disc drive is bound to get retailers up in arms. PC hardware and video game consoles aren't the same thing. PC hardware itself has good profit margins, so it doesn't matter to retailers where consumers buy their games or if they buy any games at all. |
This.
And having worked at retail before, selling digital only titles is a pain. I hate to stereotype, but a lot of customers really are uninformed. And they always want to return EVERYTHING no matter the condition. Digital returns aren't an option. Plus there'd be less of a reason for customers to come to store to buy digital if they can just get it off the PS/Xbox store at home. I think the only reason they do that now is because the vast majority of retail shoppers purchase physical titles.
Disc-less consoles won't work yet but I wouldn't be surprised if Sony in particular tried that right out of the gate. They've been letting the PS4 success get to their heads, ignoring that Nintendo was basically a non-competitor most of the cycle and Xbox shat themselves right at the reveal. And the last two console cycles began with either Sony or Microsoft overestimating their appeal based on them "winning" the previous cycle.
