DD = DLC.... nuf said

Ahh, I never would have thought that 

I actually prefer Hard Copies. But the way M$ has laid out thier DD service has given me hope in the idea. I love the idea of purchasing something on the 360 then being able to use the same content on Zune, PC, eventually cell phone. Purchase once, use on all of your devices.

Also not having to carry games around is a plus. Just downlaod the game at a friend's house and play.

What they should do is sell hard copies of the games and include a digital distribution code with that game. You then use that code in your console to register that game as you owning it. You then get DD rights to that game also. Then for the people that just want DD, they can just purchase it online for a little cheaper than a hard copy.

This method of sales would also give people incentives of buying new, instead of used.

"I own data" just feels ripped off. I need the physical copy.

Well based on this, the retailer gets 1/4 of the cost of each game and its another $4 for distribution/packaging.

So if life was fair a digitally distributed game should only cost $40, and if this were true I'd be a DD fanboy. But since DD games cost the same as hard copies of games, I'll stick with my disks over a file that could get corrupted or erased or whatever.

For consoles, I don't quite see the point of Direct Download. On PC however, there is Steam. I will never buy another PC game at retail again.

Pro's with Steam:
All games gathered at one place
Easy to install games
Keeps track of how much you are playing
Achievements
PRICE!!!
Even easier to uninstall
No need to go outside the house to get the games
Friend list
Easy to play online with your friends
NO CD CHECK! (and often no DRM!)
Well stocked store.
Automatic patching (not everyone likes this)

Cons with Steam:
You don't own the games
Downloading takes a long time
Sometimes weird pricing.

The clear winner here is the price. I'd put up with all the cons just to buy games at the prices I'm getting them for now. I have 70 steam games installed on my PC right now, and yet it's so easy to keep track, install, uninstall and doing anything else I'd like to do with them. It keeps track of how long I've played them, how much I've played in total, what achievements I have managed to get for each game, how many percent of owners have gotten what achievements and tons of more cool stuff.

I bought 50 games last year. 50! That's more than I had bought before in my entire life. And it cost me less than 250€. I would have gotten 5 newly released retail games for that price. And if I had to choose between having a game on Steam and having a hardcopy, I'd choose Steam any day.

Digital distribution WILL kill the hard copy!

Always hard copy.

I bought some games off steam, when they made the christmas deals (Probably the only time I've ever seen a game cheaper on it than on retail) and I regret it quite a bit.
I would gladly pay much more for a game when I can hold the copy in my hands and put it on my shelf.

Do you regret it only because you cannot put it on the shelf, or are there other reasons?

If it are small games like PSN/Xbla games I have no problem with DD but for full games I prefer to have it on disc...Probably something Nerdy but I like to see my collection on the shelves :);...Not only for games..Also for music and books.