im totally for digital distribution. Why do we need a middle man storing and selling games and taking a cut? We don't... get the games directly to me from the publisher and pass the savings on to me...save on the packiging too.
Agree with your premise but the devs won't like your pessimism. Hard copies take a large chunk out of a studio when it comes to budget.
I'm sure it's a long way off, the infrastructure necessary for the high-speeds necessary simply isn't there yet, at least not for everyone.
When and if pure digital distribution happens, I wonder if it'll save us any money without physical manufacture and what not. My guess is probably not.
The downside of it will be no more purchasing used copies at discounted prices. God help us cheap bastards, the future has no room for us!
Obi-Wan: I felt a great disturbance in the Industry, as if millions of fanboys suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced.
| Undying said: I think if handled wrong digital distrbution will destroy gaming. DD needs to NEVER EVER replace hard copies of discs...at least not for many many years. Reasons why DD will fail if anministered in the next 5 years. 1) Not everyone has T3 lines. I don't know about you but it takes me many hours to download a gig or two. Maybe it's where I live, but it takes about 20-30 minutes to download 1GB on my Sprint Broadband card. 2) Not every console is connected to the internet. No. But as time goes by, more and more countries will have high percentages of broadband penetration. Not every country has running water, or electricity, but that doesn't mean video game consoles can't be sold in some areas of that country, does it? 3) While some adult are fine with downloading their games kids would rather get their games at store. Thats your assumption. A lot of moms & dads like ordering their kids' new play toys off of Amazon. 4) I beleive most people would rather own a hard copy that they can trade or lend to friends. Even more would like games to be cheaper - which is something DD has over phyiscal media in spades. 5) Its still easier to buy games at the store than wait for them to download. Who here wants to download a 50 gig game? How long does it take you to drive to the store, and buy the game? In a system where DD was big, you could always queue a game for download when you goto sleep, and wake up with the game downloaded. Heck. I remember doing that very thing for the demo of Return to Castle Wolfenstien (120MB) on a 28.8k modem connection a few years back - 8 hours. 6) Hard drive space. HDD space will run out really quick if you are installing a bunch of games to it. Hard drives keep getting bigger and bigger. I just saw a 5TB server array w/ processors and all the fixins for $2000. |
DD needs to get bigger and better. But it's very dobutful that it will truely become the norm - it would disrupt the balance of power too much....video game companies need points of retail for their products, and consoles are either loss leaders, or neutral. Retail stores make their profits from games, and it's always an important incentive for the retail stores to carry games to make profit.
Having said that, I think there are new, and better ways that video games can progress, utilizing the DD system, and retail outlets. IMO, it would be nice to see a hybrid system: Game Publishing on Demand. Allow retail outlets to print new copies of games, on demand, for consumers. With a proper system, it would be pirate proof, lucrative for the retail stores, and reduce prices since there would be a major lack of non-moving product, and your inventory would be virtual outside of printing manuals and DVD covers.
Back from the dead, I'm afraid.
Also, it should be noted that DD is having the exact opposite effect on the PC industry: It's revitalizing an industry that's been ravaged by pirates.
Man, I can't wait for Good 'ol Games to launch soon.
Back from the dead, I'm afraid.
OP: I pretty much agree with everything you said. While anyone who thinks that DD is anything but unavoidable in the future (10-20 years) they are just plain stupid, those who think it is ready to take off right now are just plain ignoring the facts.
We had two bags of grass, seventy-five pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high-powered blotter acid, a salt shaker half full of cocaine, a whole galaxy of multi-colored uppers, downers, screamers, laughers…Also a quart of tequila, a quart of rum, a case of beer, a pint of raw ether and two dozen amyls. The only thing that really worried me was the ether. There is nothing in the world more helpless and irresponsible and depraved than a man in the depths of an ether binge. –Raoul Duke
It is hard to shed anything but crocodile tears over White House speechwriter Patrick Buchanan's tragic analysis of the Nixon debacle. "It's like Sisyphus," he said. "We rolled the rock all the way up the mountain...and it rolled right back down on us...." Neither Sisyphus nor the commander of the Light Brigade nor Pat Buchanan had the time or any real inclination to question what they were doing...a martyr, to the bitter end, to a "flawed" cause and a narrow, atavistic concept of conservative politics that has done more damage to itself and the country in less than six years than its liberal enemies could have done in two or three decades. -Hunter S. Thompson
| disolitude said: im totally for digital distribution. Why do we need a middle man storing and selling games and taking a cut? We don't... get the games directly to me from the publisher and pass the savings on to me...save on the packiging too. |
I like the packaging. I collect games. I have a shelf of 250+ games. I don't want to collect data that i can't see or touch.
You must really hate your computer then....
Back from the dead, I'm afraid.
| mrstickball said: You must really hate your computer then.... |
all those music downloads are killing him
| mrstickball said: Also, it should be noted that DD is having the exact opposite effect on the PC industry: It's revitalizing an industry that's been ravaged by pirates. Man, I can't wait for Good 'ol Games to launch soon. |
Thats funny cause i can still pirate any PC game i want. If consoles go to pure DD i won't ever buy a game again. I'll just get a modded console and pirate all my games. Intangible items have no value to me. I've never even bought a song from itunes...heh.
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