As store closures mount up, is there hope left for physical games outlets?

[DonFerrari]

TranceformerFX said:

Intrinsic said:

Lets make this simple.

It doesn't matter what part of the world you are in. Chances are you are getting "more internet" for the same amount of money today than say you would have been paying 5yrs ago.

Thats how it is "in my part of the world" and how it is everywhere else. Nothing arrogant about that. Its just how it is. It may not be as good as you want it to be, or you may be paying for 20Mb/s what others in other parts of the world are paying for 80Mb/s; but at the end of the day... the internet in wherever you live has improved over the last 5-10yrs. 

If it hasn't then where you live is an anomaly or the exception and shouldn't be used as grounds for a debate.

Just 3 years ago $50 got me 6Mb/s. Now it gets me 20mb/s. Tell me which part of the world you live and I will probably be able to show you similar improvements over the last 10yrs.

Here https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/internet-speed

That shows internet speeds in NA for the past 10yrs. Going from the average of 8Mb/s in 2008 to around 20Mb/s in 2017. That is proof that internet speeds are getting better and that they will continue t do so at the same cost of entry.

You didn't answer my question. Where are you from.

 

I live in Utah, United States. My area has three providers. Comcast, CenturyLink and Google Fiber.

Comcast is cable internet. Our apartment is signed up for their most expensive package. We average $30 Mbps. But depending on traffic on that coaxial line - it can go as low as 10 Mbps. We pay $80. CenturyLink is a DSL internet company. This is the one who services most of the city, but being a DSL company - their services are limited and more or less boils down to one option - 10mbps/$35 a month.

 

Now, I don't know about YOUR "area", but here in the United States, 10 Mbps speed is dog shit. Both in download AND upload speed. Have you tried playing peer/peer online games like Call of Duty? It doesn't work, and if it does it's only for a few minutes.

Dedicated servers aren't any different. Sure, the ping is more stable, but you're bandwidth is still dogshit on 10mbps and you'll inevitably get disconnected. I experienced this playing Titan Fall 2 on a daily basis.

Google Fiber is the best option. But its servicable areas are extremely limited and there's a giant waiting list for them to come out to your house.

American internet is shitty and unreliable for many reasons. A few are obvious ones, like archaic copper tubes, intentional bandwidth degredation, and the fact that you'll receive about 40% - 50% of advertised speeds regardless of who the provider is. (Our Xfinitity package lists 70 Mbps)

 

Couple this with the fact that internet companies arent regulated and answer to nobody, while ALSO buying rights to service certain counties and cities. Which in turn creates a monopoly. Unsatisfied with your internet or said company's business practices? Tough shit. Those are your only options, internet companies are buying whole businesses from movie studios, streaming services, and many others - which will inevitably create more monopolies.

 

Trust me when I tell you this - majority of Americans ARE NOT SATISFIED with their internet, and the stability of it is questionable at best. So that's why I say that the video game industry shouldn't rush into online only territory.

Looking at the speeds you posted it seems to be much better than 5 years ago in your country and much better than even today in Brazil (which have been continuously improving in the last decade as well). So basically you agreed with his point that internet is improving, even if not at your desired speed or being currently on ideal state.