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Forums - Gaming - Digital Distribution may kill gaming.

lolita on 22 August 2008

Umm little issue with that. I'm sure most of you never heard of this but where I live there's this thing called limited download. I can't get over 20Gb per month, plus it's expansive!



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smbu2000 on 22 August 2008
Xen said:
Digital Destribution blows IMO. I like my games on CD's, with boxes and manuals. I like holding something permanent and real.

So do you only play PS1 games? Though some early PS2 games were on CD's, too

lolita said:
Umm little issue with that. I'm sure most of you never heard of this but where I live there's this thing called limited download. I can't get over 20Gb per month, plus it's expansive!

Well that all depends on your connection/ISP. I have no limit on my connection and I can ul/dl terabytes of stuff with no problems. I pay about $35/month for my fiber optical connection.

 




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Lolcislaw on 22 August 2008

It wont kill gaming, no way. I do support Digital Distribution but it won't become a dominant form of distribution for ages, fast internet is popular but not popular enough to push for it.

Piracy would increase significantly, and downloading games that do have 50Gigs is a bit of a challenge, so i still do think that people that collect games in boxes are pretty safe.



Spankey on 22 August 2008

personally I like opening up a new game/movie box, makes it feel a bit special, like Christmas or something.
D/Ls just don't have that same level of excitement about them.



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Lolcislaw on 22 August 2008

Oh and New Games/DVD/Books and CD's Smell so Good!



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drpunk on 22 August 2008

I'm sure I read similar articles about downloads killing the music industry.



Undying on 22 August 2008
GlingGling said:

Digital distribution is the future. It's going to become popular. If it overtakes physical media I don't know. I do know that the gaming market is expanding and not everyone can distribute with hard copies.

Most of your points are applicable. Hard drive space is never going to be a problem. PC gamers have been dealing with it since 1980 (roughly).

It's also actually not easier to go to the store. You have a 30 seconds worth of clicking versus 5-30 minutes of driving in which you make multiple life critical decisions.

When they fix the copyright law in America (or where ever it is a problem) not having a "physical copy" won't be a problem.

Kids growing up today grow up with computer monitors attached to the their retinas. I think kids are plenty comfortable roaming the web and buying online.

They're rolling out fiber everywhere. I'm ahead of the curve but my max download speed is 1.7 MB/s. I rarely wait for things on the internet.

You're right about one thing, this isn't a 5 year plan. Digital distribution is gonna need more time than that to claim supremacy.

@Godat, No video game ever released or that is ever going to be released can justify uncompressed data. It's ridiculous that people think this. Nobody will ever notice the difference with proper compression.

 

I get like 200kbs on a good day. If i was to download an Xbox Original right now lets say Halo 1 which is approximately 4 gigs. It would take me roughly 35 hours to download. Only states like Claifornia get fast internet. Smaller states like Mississippi don't have that luxury.




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BenKenobi88 on 22 August 2008

I'm all for digital distribution.

I get to sit at home, find a game I like, pay for it right away, start downloading, and before long it's ready to play.

I support the developer better this way, since I skip the retail costs, and it's much more convenient for me...no discs to lose.

I never understand people who think they need a DVD and a cardboard box to own a game. If it's a physical disc that makes you feel good, then burn a DVD with your digital distributed game on it...Steam allows you to burn as many DVDs as you want, allows you to install it on as many PCs as you want...what's the con?

Yes, internet speed is a negative, but that'll change within the next 10 years to be sure...more and more people will have high-speed internet...and the average gamer already has at least 1.5 Mbps internet I'm sure.

And it's a little thing...but I'm so glad the days are over of trying to find a DVD and putting it in the drive and waiting for it load, just to play a game. There are a few that still do it, and it's annoying. I can double click a game and start playing within 5 seconds compared to a minute of searching and loading...everything about digital distribution is convenient.

Steam and digital distribution is the future.



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Jackson50 on 22 August 2008
Undying said:
GlingGling said:

Digital distribution is the future. It's going to become popular. If it overtakes physical media I don't know. I do know that the gaming market is expanding and not everyone can distribute with hard copies.

Most of your points are applicable. Hard drive space is never going to be a problem. PC gamers have been dealing with it since 1980 (roughly).

It's also actually not easier to go to the store. You have a 30 seconds worth of clicking versus 5-30 minutes of driving in which you make multiple life critical decisions.

When they fix the copyright law in America (or where ever it is a problem) not having a "physical copy" won't be a problem.

Kids growing up today grow up with computer monitors attached to the their retinas. I think kids are plenty comfortable roaming the web and buying online.

They're rolling out fiber everywhere. I'm ahead of the curve but my max download speed is 1.7 MB/s. I rarely wait for things on the internet.

You're right about one thing, this isn't a 5 year plan. Digital distribution is gonna need more time than that to claim supremacy.

@Godat, No video game ever released or that is ever going to be released can justify uncompressed data. It's ridiculous that people think this. Nobody will ever notice the difference with proper compression.

 

I get like 200kbs on a good day. If i was to download an Xbox Original right now lets say Halo 1 which is approximately 4 gigs. It would take me roughly 35 hours to download. Only states like Claifornia get fast internet. Smaller states like Mississippi don't have that luxury.

According to SpeedMatters, California ranks 25th in the nation in median download speed. California's median download speed is 2.47 Mbps. Mississippi ranks 43rd in median download speed. Mississippi's median download speed is 1.567 Mbps. The top 13 states for median download speed consists mostly of the original 13 states. The two exceptions are Pennsylvania at 27th, and South Carolina at 14th.

 



Words Of Wisdom on 22 August 2008
BenKenobi88 said:

I never understand people who think they need a DVD and a cardboard box to own a game. If it's a physical disc that makes you feel good, then burn a DVD with your digital distributed game on it...Steam allows you to burn as many DVDs as you want, allows you to install it on as many PCs as you want...what's the con?

Consoles don't have DVD burners.