I like how it is now, DLC and other extra's are digital and the actual games are retail software. The way it is right now is almost perfect. I also like having the box arts...

Remember when DLC was at retail and called an Expansion? And it had to be big otherwise it couldn't survive on store shelves? My how things have changed.

Haha, yes I remember that. XD It was such a waste.

This is the kind of discussion that I had in the 90's about the music industry =p. So few believed that buying music would be popular and now they are even selling Itunes cards everywhere because downloading music is that popular.

I believe that all games can be available digital and that we will see an decrease of available games at the retail stores that again will give a boost for downloading games. Nothing is so nice as trying to find a game for months and then find out that you can download it on XBLA/PSN and have it in an hour :).

Lostplanet22 said:This is the kind of discussion that I had in the 90's about the music industry =p. So few believed that buying music would be popular and now they are even selling Itunes cards everywhere because downloading music is that popular.

I believe that all games can be available digital and that we will see an decrease of available games at the retail stores that again will give a boost for downloading games. Nothing is so nice as trying to find a game for months and then find out that you can download it on XBLA/PSN and have it in an hour :). 

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The reason you will NEVER have a fully Dig Dist video gaming console is because retail demands their software cut.

Retail cannot be cut out of the loop, because retail controls and manages the distribution of consoles. Ergo, no retail = no consoles.

The day when retail can be cut out of the console distribution role and can't demand software.....that will be the day we as gamers won't need consoles anymore for gaming.

Honestly larger retailers probably couldn't care that much about the lost of software, sure smaller ones are at risk of losing out of a lot of money but larger ones can take that hit. Retailers aren't able to threaten to not sell their consoles, because then they would just be out of even more money and lose out to the retailers that decide to. Even if they all did, which wouldn't make any sense, the console makers could sell the consoles online directly to consumer through shipping. The retailers are lucky that there are still retail titles available. Even Gamestop was quoted recently that "console makers could have cut them out of the loop a long time ago." (not exact quote, just as close as I can remember)

Chark said:

Honestly larger retailers probably couldn't care that much about the lost of software, sure smaller ones are at risk of losing out of a lot of money but larger ones can take that hit. Retailers aren't able to threaten to not sell their consoles, because then they would just be out of even more money and lose out to the retailers that decide to. Even if they all did, which wouldn't make any sense, the console makers could sell the consoles online directly to consumer through shipping. The retailers are lucky that there are still retail titles available. Even Gamestop was quoted recently that "console makers could have cut them out of the loop a long time ago." (not exact quote, just as close as I can rem

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Incorrect,

retail is in EVERY position to dictate shelf as they see fit.

Example: In America, You have NEVER seen ONLIVE's console version in any chain brick & mortar retail store...& you never will.

Many retailers refused PSP Go's too

DD only vid game systems = 0/2.

I like how you just flat out say I'm wrong. So what Dutch Nedgame and EB Australia are the litmus test? Plenty of retailers sold the psp go. Here's the thing with Onlive, they don't have to sell their console in stores. Like I said before Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo could easily cut storefronts out entirely. They could sell directly from their sites, pair up with large online retailers like Amazon and be done with it. Brick and mortar companies just sell stuff, they don't deal with the back end. Onlive does just fine selling its console by itself, since you need to interact with their online part in order to use the thing anyway. Sure you don't see their console in stores, but that's not stopping the rest of them pulling out. Any sense that retailers are in control with Onlive is because Onlive is an outskirt company, its not like one of the highly established game companies. Sure it'd might not be the smartest thing to work with Onlive if you run a store, you'd probably like to see them fail (and they could since they are a smaller company), but if the other companies decide to do something that cuts them out, then they decide to do something that cuts them out and they need to figure out what else they can sell or try to sell more of what still will. (like the digital codes talked about earlier)  The only thing that would prevent one of the big companies from making the plunge is if the other ones opt not to, because retail is where the majority of the market stands right now and they would loose out big time. Even if Sony and Microsoft made the jump together, Nintendo would practically have stores like Gamestop with a disclamer underneath it saying "owned by Nintendo".

You are mistaking retailer control with Market control, they are not the same thing.

Music doesn't compare. Picking and choosing your songs instead of the whole album is the biggest draw for downloading music. Buying 1 or 2 chapters of CoD for $2? Don't think so. I still buy cd's, love the cases, sounds better and is easier then connecting an ipod or pc to my sound system.

They can all be digital but it will be a while before downloading a 30gb game will be as popular and easy as downloading a 3mb mp3. And nothing is as nice as browsing through the discount section or 2nd hand section to find a game you forgot all about and taking it home for $10.

I also wonder how the selection of old games will be maintained on digital services. Movie services don't give me much hope. Every time I look for an older movie I can't find it on Zune, PSN, NetFlix or my local on demand provider. Luckily Amazon still has a big selection, shops don't stock a lot anymore either.

Lol, you know how big PS3 exclusives are? You know how big PS4 exclusives will get next gen? Don't think and hope so. HDD space is limited, even if you stick in 2TB HDD in your PS4 chances are it'll store around 20 full games or so. After 4 years I have 60 PS3 games, you get the idea.

Besides, download speed sucks, imagine downloading a 100GB game lmao