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Forums - Gaming - Digital Distribution may kill gaming.

Xen on 22 August 2008
smbu2000 said:
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.

 

Good touch there :)

 



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Jo21 on 22 August 2008

HD games i doubt it.



Undying on 22 August 2008
Jackson50 said:
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.

 

My point being that there are many state that barely get 1mbps.

 




Times Banned: 12

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BottledSpringWater on 23 August 2008
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.

 

 +1 for being the first to mention that middlemen take a cut!

That's what I'm talking about.



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360 IS OPERATIONAL AFTER 37 DAYS!

SJGohan3972 on 23 August 2008
Words Of Wisdom said:
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.

 

 The next ones could....

 

OT

anyways, as long as there are people who want to buy hard copies of games (myself and obviously quite a few people here included) then most companies who value money will still make them, so you have nothing to worry about.



Currently dreaming of: DKC4 or Sonic the Hedgehog 4 (classic 2D platformers) for WiiWare, Smash Bros. for DSi, New Super Mario World for DSi, a Wii remake or true sequel of Final Fantasy Tactics.

One down, hopefully more awesomeness to come.

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Kasz216 on 23 August 2008
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.

2) Not every console is connected to the internet.

3) While some adult are fine with downloading their games kids would rather get their games at store.

4) I beleive most people would rather own a hard copy that they can trade or lend to friends.

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?

6) Hard drive space. HDD space will run out really quick if you are installing a bunch of games to it.

 

The ideal time for DD is when most of the consumers have super fast internet speed and really big hard drives. This will not happen in the next 5 years. Some people still have dial up in parts of the US. I myself just got DSL 2 years ago.

In conclusion; if digital distrabution happens soon it needs to only be an alternative to hard copies and not a replacement.

 

IMO DD needs to never be the norm period.

1) Which is only a problem if there also isn't a VOD option.

2) True, though that's not needed du to the response in 3.

3) This can still happen in a DD situation.  You could go to a little kiosk machine.  Much like those video rental machines.  Stick in a zip drive.  BAM it downloads to your Zip.

4) Most companies would perfer this to not happen however, and the consumer doesn't care enough about it to quite using the product.

5)  Your opinion... as said downloads aren't needed.  There is always VOD with an option to download... or the flash kiosk which would be easier and quicker then a store.  No worries about shipments or having to track down old games.  Never again would software be shortstocked or sold out.

6) Hence the usefullness of VOD but honestly, HD are cheap and only getting cheaper.   The aforementioned flash cartdiges could always help as well.