/dropmic

Na, it's just the normal copying over here. Mainly schoolkids.
Back in the 90s it was copied Amiga discs and later on copied Playstation discs. I'd guess it isn't that much different everywhere else.

PC is digital for the most digital today, though you still can by tons of PC games pretty much everywhere. It's still the single biggest gaming platform over here.

As for consoles, Xbox One until now primarily was bought by die hard Xbox fans. But Otto Normal, the german Joe Average, just goes with Playstation. It's actually not unlikely that it will get harder and harder for Microsoft when the actual Xbox fans have bought one.

Nintendo is somewhat out of direct competition. They have their die hard fanbase. But at the same time they are appealing to a little different type of consumer.

It's no surprise, the PS4 is just so dominant in Europe. In order for other consoles to compete, they need huge discounts.

I think you need to look at the PC software sales for Germany which are the highest in Europe.  Also its a well know fact that Germans pirate more content then any other Western Europeans.

Eh no one was discussing which is the biggest platform in Germany, the topic was whether Germany cared about consoles at all, which I proved they do but whatever.

Yeah, right.

It seems like sony have got the germans by the balls.

As a 360 owner, a barrier preventing me from wanting an Xbox One were the hardware failures I had to endure from Microsoft's previous console (the 360); it's a trust thing. Another barrier, but to a lesser degree, was the milking of the Forza franchise along with Bungie leaving Halo in Microsoft's hands. Plus, they weren't doing what they did when they entered the console market and build a more powerful console. If I had to chose between the Xbox One and the Playstation 4 I would go with Sony.

Perhaps these factors are changing other peoples' minds as well.

The Forza franchise isn't being milked its always has been on a two year development cycle.  Forza Horzion is a totally different game.  Also before PGR got canned it also was on a two year development cycle.  The only way that Forza and Horizon will go to a longer development cycle is if MS brings back PGR if that happens I could see each franchise going to a three year development cycle.

I use the term "milking" in the sense that it is on any kind of development cycle and that they sell a lot of DLC.  I didn't find the changes they made from game to game worthy of a new release so many times and would not want to have to purchase more content to get cars I already had on a previous version.  This is just my opinion and not, by any means, a statistical representation of what the Forza fanbase wants.  It is a successful business model and makes many people very happy, however it is not for me.  Again, I stress that my first statement, I am simply referring to my own sentiments and not trying to make any general claims.  I apologize for using the term "factors" but that is how viewed them.  Please don't allow my personal thoughts on the Forza franchise to, in any way, prevent you from enjoying, what I consider to be a great racing game.