In the case of the PS3, just back up your entire system at once on a externall device. Reformat. Restore your system with your back up. Sign into PSN to reactivate any locked content that actually requires you to. Done.

It is change and mostly change for the good. Yes we have some issues to iron out but the thought that you somehow have better control with physical media is a limited view. What happens when the disk no longer works? What happens when you misplace it? What happens when all your media is damaged?

Digital distribution it not for everyone and physical media is here for some time to come so I think this discussion is to early if we are talking about losing physical media anytime soon.

For me it suits, I have fast Internet access with no caps and have an extensive home network covered by both homeplugs and wifi for convenience so moving digital information around for me is brilliant and hugely convenient.

My main media system is BT Vision this is an IPTV service and this means I rarely own anything I watch simply choosing to rent and have the content streamed to me. I use my 360 to stream movies from my PC  or watch films again rented. The "instant on" HD from the 360 is amazing and I simply cannot wait for my BT Vision box to catch up.

Is this for everyone, No.

I like Digital Distribution if done right, like Steam for instance.

I find it odd how all the industry insiders cite Xbox Live and PSN numbers as the reason for DD is the future.They forget the overwhelming majority of those games released on Live and PSN are B rate, indie games or great games from 2 generations ago re-released.

We will not know if DD is the future until a AAA game such as the next Grand Theft Auto, Metal Gear, God of War, or Mario is released DD only with analysis after comparing the first week and first month sales of the game versus how the past retail versions of the series sold.

Steam may work for the PC, but the PC gaming market is nowhere near the size of the console gaming market, which makes it an inapt, dubious comparison at best. Besides size, there are other differences between PC and console gaming. As a PC gamer, I tend to play the hell out of my PC games, while with console games it is all about expecting 3 to 5 big new titles every year. Furthermore, game development has really gotten away from the PC compared to the amount of developers, both big and indie, for the consoles. I could go on, but  the differences and similarities of PC gaming vs. console gaming is a whole 'nother thread in of itself.

I'd prefer Valve's way with Steam and being able to download my games and run them on any computer as well as a lot of support and free downloadable content for their games.

All this other crap of excessive DRM, charging high prices for a lot of downloadable content and even stupid stuff like costumes is not the path I wish digital distribution to tread down.

I think you have some way to go before you find AAA titles being made available only via DD. What you will see is more content being made available and also more content purchased that way. I would also suggest that the PC market is larger than you have given it credit and Steam in particular does a roaring trade but for the most part the games are all still available in Physical form. One thing Steam has done is hide the success of DD as they are very secretive and very successful. I currently have over 40 games through steam which is more than I have in physical form.

I am not sure just how far in the future you are referring but DD is already the future but as I keep saying it will be a long while before it physical dies away. It may go for certain types of games first but other mediums which lend themselves to DD will talk a lot longer.

Game development hasn't really gotten away from PC ,it's just that PC developers are now working more on multiplats and consoles than before. And seriously, more indie devs on consoles?

I may be wrong. I assumed there were more due to the Live and PSN content. Please correct me if I am.

Yes, games may stop working at some point, but that is still completely besides the point.  With DD, you do not own the game to any degree whatsoever, you are simply renting it.  When you purchase a game on disk format, you own the game, and have the right to sell this game to another user.  I would look for some other hobbies if this is the case for the next generation, but I really really don't think they will go that way, as a lot of people still don't want that.  Even once DD is more popular than buying a game in stores (if it ever gets to be), they still probably won't as the copies they sell in a store would still make them money.

Not to mention, if they do go all DD, there are a lottttttttt of ps3 games considered brilliant that I have yet to play...I current have MW2, Infamous, and LBP, and have put like an hour into Infamous and several hours into LBP, and lots into MW2.

DD is not the future is it will be bigger.

Only small developers use DD because they don't have enough make to pay to the big publishers who after some years killed them