If a console went fully digital I wouldn't buy it simple as that the internet in my area simply isn't up to the task of downloading 20-30GB games.

I am glad Sony is on the boat with retail.

retail = eventual price drops
eventual price drops = cheaper games
cheaper games = happy gamers

:D

Yeah, I don't know what's up with that, I don't know if SONY are being awkward or just plain greedy. Maybe it has something to do with read speed? Anyway, 32gb would be enough for a lot of games, very practical too.

The manuals in my games aren't that large or small, they are just as big as they were last generation for me, 50-ish pages of crap about menu's and control layout etc. Some have been a lot smaller than others though.

As for Gears of War, it probably is, I can't really check because I'm not sure how to. I guess the reason why Steam games are missing is because developers make their own downloadable service, or it ends up on Windows Live like you said.

Some games have manuals that are pretty much non-existent, too, with only a few pages that really don't offer much in the way of anything.

A factor many are forgetting is that it may be nice to get digital distribution for profit margins and usability. But one huge flaw in Go's arrangment was actually getting the hardware into the gamers hands.

I remember at launch several retailers refused to carry it, honestly can you blame them I mean if gamers are going to buy all the software from Sony and not a spend a dime more in their store why would they sell it? Sony had to sweeten the deal and managed to convince many mainstream retailers to carry Go.

However even after Sony convinced many retailers to Carry Go, they were over priced (According to users in this thread due to retailers). Retailers also often had one unit on shelves and dedicated as little space to it as possible. I remember I was going to buy one and realized that it was behind the counter and out of sight. Only HMV had PSP:Go out on the shelf (At the time) later when it was put on the shelf retailers dedicated like 80% of the PSP's hardware shelf space to the PSP 3000. Retailers did not want consumers buying PSP:Go.

I remember retailers initially saying "Why would we advertise and sell a competitors product" its an easy question. When your store makes a living selling games why would you sell a product that encourages consumers to avoid your store and its products? With game hardware this way more difficult then say film or music. You can get digital distribution models for television and movies from your cable provider which you hire anyways. Retailers that don't rely on movie sales for a living also sell digital devices forcing some retailers that actually do survive on film sales to put a nail in their own coffin by doing likewise. Similar with music, but you'll notice that retailers continue to fight DD in music to the bitter end. Problem is every phone pretty much is capable of playing MP3's anyone with access to the internet can download them on almost every electronic device.

But for games, DD is reliant on game specific hardware. You may have a great DD model for games online but if you can't get the hardware into the hands of the consumer, then it isn't a smart idea. I agree with Sony there are way to many factors that make digital distribution impractical. Yes DD can be done but not with the success required for Sony or any of the other major players to maintain their success.

Exactly I agree with all you mentioned, both steam and psn are stores so from that side  Sony and Steam can be seen as being the same  ,So what are the differences ? One thing is in Steams case PC games being that's what they sell and it's history with piracy and multiplat games selling  at a lesser rrp compared to console at retail plus unlike consoles no real hardware sales link at these same stores,so even though they are competitors with retail  it is in a segment that retailers have pretty much pushed into the corner, Sony though need retail to sell its hardware and it's 3rd party licensees want their games sold to as wide an audience as possible and speciality retail see digital as killing there most lucrative revenue streamused games, i went into a store and bought a game brand new 25% off and was told that they could sell so many new games under RRP because of second hand sales underpinned it ,but back to Sony really they and MS. Nintendo should have looked at entering  a retail joint venture years ago.

You seem to have an excellent grasp on THE RAZOR BLADE BUSINESS MODEL for consoles.

That's a super major factor in why Dig Dist. only might never work for dedicated video game systems......Said system will get locked out of retail.

That's exactly why no one in the US has ever seen ONLIVE's console version in any brick and mortar store, and ever will.

I agree. I would gladly buy a digital only console *if* there was: 1) day one content 2) weekly sales, or bi-weekly sales along with current price drops 3) Other good incentives.

I bought Dead Space 1 on Games on Demand for the 360, but in general It's hard to root for a digital format outside of steam.

That would work as long as physical formats remained around to lower software sales. Look at the reason software sells so cheap these days, game prices are dropped by retailers most often or at the request of retailers. Very often its to get rid of stock which is taking up valuable shelf space at a retailer. Another reason is the manufacturer made too many copies and those copies aren't selling well enough meaning the manufacturer has to get rid of the stock fast.

The only two reasons I can think of for dropping software prices on a DD model is competition from physical formats which the retailers will drop prices. Publishers or developers are frantic to break even and there software has been severely underselling.

There are many reasons that if digital distribution actually took over the industry entirely (All game console went DD) prices of software would not drop like it does today. Developers and publishers would make much larger profit margins. Meaning they would need to sell far fewer copies of the game to break even, meaning the desperation that some manufacturers and publishers have will be greatly diminished. A publisher would be reluctant to lower the price of there software as long as it continued to perform alright, a much lower level then would be required by today's physical market.

In fact developers and publishers wouldn't worry as much about selling to a wider audience as much as they do now. Sales figures wouldn't mean as much if the game was profitable. Look at Activision for example right now, they kept CoD4 at 49.99$ for years in fact last Christmas I remember seeing it that expensive. Now that the game has been dropped by many retailers and stock is becoming harder to shift the prices have finally plummeted. Another perfect example is Nintendo, the company doesn't reduce software prices unless they have to do so out of necessity.

In the end publishers wouldn't have to worry about liquidating stock. A smaller amount of sales over a long period of time is worth maintaining a price rather then cutting prices to increase downloads. There wouldn't be as much pressure on the publisher to reduce prices.

Example the yearly games like NHL, NFL etc...etc... the reason these games prices implode each year is because the next version is coming out or is out and retailers need to clear shelf space. EAGames and other companies know that the older product is no longer worth supporting and try to sell off remaining stock. But if the physical market was gone EA would either be tempted to pull the old game altogether to encourage gamers to buy the new one, or maintain a much higher cost.

Competition drives sales, remove competition for shelf space and the fact that stock need to be sold and their is far less reasoning to cut prices!

As someone who owns 75+ titles on Steam, I can say I still prefer and purchase more retail games than Steam games, and have it mean something. Most people still prefer owning a physical copy, because a well-cared-for physical copy is eternal, but a digital copy is only good for as long as it's supported. A few XBLA titles say hello.