I knew I was missing something.

 Prison rape>Physical>Digital>Streaming>No games>Dreamcast

You've got your own set of priorities, I guess.

I'll be around shortly. Be sure to drop the soap.

I don't like the fact that I have no control over what Netflix offers me, yet I'm a law-abiding citizen. Sadly, it takes non law-abiding citizens to stick it to companies who play God on the games you buy... So, ultimately, DD and streaming, though convenient, make us lose alot of the benefits of retail, like second hand games and keeping old games for a long time. The only solution to bully companies in the future will be pirating, and I would support it.

while i understand the all control concept for games.... i don't get your netflix comment... why would you have control over THEIR content?? you don't have control over their DVD catalogue either.... heck you don't have control over retailers catalog too

try to buy a 6 years old game in store or even dvd...

the real issue here is if they stop providing access to game or content you payed for after X year because they drop it.... but the day DD and streaming becomes standard they'll need to follow technologically and cyber law need to evolve.... we will eventually be able to store libraries permanently in the cloud in the future.... I'm sure of it....

you have a bad notion of time.... if you take 15 to 20 years in major cities.... the US are in major trouble... but there is no way it'll take that long...

Netflix has proven the worth of blu-ray to me. Sure it's very convenient but even on the highest streaming setting it's still nothing compared to how blu-ray looks on a 92" screen and nothing compared to how good a DTS HD-MA track sounds. When I put on a blu-ray after watching netflix it's like getting a new set of glasses and going from tv speakers to dedicated surround sound.
The other problem is you only get a bare bones movie, no extras, no original language tracks and most of the time not even subtitles for night time viewing. Plus I constantly have to watch my internet usage, currently I only have 12gb left out of 60 until the end of the month. Nor is my internet stable enough, macro blocking and stuttering still happen more frequently then I like.

Downloading full games, or streaming games is a long way of here in rural Ontario. I like having the extras on the game disks, and browsing through a physical collection can never be replaced by a list on a computer screen. Unpacking the box of The witcher 2 with all the extras inside and browsing through the books is a lot more fun then downloading a bunch of PDF files.

My wife recently found an Intellivision at a garage sale with a big box of games for $2. Lots of fun hooking up this 32 year old console and competing against eachother in Frogger, Burgertime, Astrosmash etc. It still look surprisingly good on 52" LCD after splicing the rca lead into a coax cable. How are your digital downloads going to work in 30 years?

There is a good and bad side to this for me:
Good: I don't have to go to GameStop! YESSSS!!!
Bad: I love mah BoxArts. :O

I still think digital distribution and/or streaming is a good 10-15 years off. The internet providers in the US either cap their download speeds/usage for people, or the speeds aren't fast to the point where you can download huge games online. Let's take the recently offered selection on PSN+ during E3 week. Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One is a whopping 14GB download on PSN, and it took me a good couple hours to download it (I feel I have a decent-good internet connection). Let's not mention that I have a 320GB HDD in my PS3, so that would leave me with a lot less space. I could have went to a store and gotten the game (I wouldn't have because it was free, but that's besides the point), and came home to play it in a matter of less than an hour.

I think we won't see something like this until the US companies get to the speed of some other countries, and even then, it might not completely negate retail copies of games. While digital distribution is a great thing for smaller companies like NIS America, or even smaller developers, I wouldn't want to be buying every single game through a digital service. Unless a game is either free (or a huge discount) or only offered through digital means, I will most likely be buying the retail version and I never want that going away.

having a physical copy and especial ed. with lots of art etc. is the reason many people buy games, i dont see the companies giving up on that...theres a market for that and there will be in the short- mid- term........but far ahead in the future i can see only digital or any new technology replacing it completely tbh

I'm fine with DD. Always online isn't a very nice proposition in my mind, however...