Just a thought today, what is the relative value of a digital game to a physical copy of a game. I will go over some key points then give my estimate, I would also like to everyone's thoughts on this issue.

-Digital games have no resale value, physical games do

-Physical games require shipping, packaging, and store space, digital games do not

-Digital games require an internet connection and a credit/debit/pre-paid card to obtain, physical games do not

-Physical games are stored individually on a disc, cartridge, etc., digital games are stored on a single hard drive

-Digital games are difficult to transfer from one system to another i.e. activation limits, physical games can transfer system to system limitlessly

-Physical games have multiple retailers/competitors, digital games are very often monopolized (only exception is on the PC Digital market)

-Physical games come with game cases, game manuals, and sometimes bonus materials, digital games do not

-Digital games have download times (these can get very shorth or very lenghty based on internet speed/bandwith limits), Physical games do not

-Digital games can be purchased 24/7 (usually), Physical games and be (online orders) or at limited times (store hours)

All in all I feel a Digital download game is worth less than a physical game, my approximation would put it at about 10%-25% of the physical game's value (largely based on resale value i.e. cash back is good)

oh.....so....wat do u want?

Yes, there are a lot of costs and benefit differences between digital and physical. And even whether something is a cost or a benefit can be quite subjective. For example, most people like having a physical artifact to go with their purchase, but for me, a disc and case is something I have to find storage space for. A few games isn't an issue, but several dozen games and hundreds of discs full of music and video... and I want to just put everything on a few disc drives and throw the rest away.

I'd say your 25% reduction is value is a good estimate, and that's about how much publishers are going to have to cut game prices to drive adoption of digital services over brick and mortar.

Just to clairify, I ment 10% to 25% of the price of the physical game which is technically a 90% to 75% price reduction. Just making sure there is no confusion.

digital downlaods of game have the same worth as a retail game, the difference is in the packaging, travel costs of the product, etc. all in all both dd games and retail games are the same, they dont existe in a physical sense, the difference is the packaging

I like having physical copies of my games.

Digital games are worth zero. Goverment and Security increases the price

Okay...

I guess I'm impressed that you manage to recover 75-90% of your investment when you resell games.

Depending on origional buying price, supply, demand, and turn over time. Games can resell anywhere from 5% (bought overpriced and sell when demand is very down) up to 160% (bought very cheap game and sold when supply is severely low).

With digital downloads overpricing is far to constant for full market penetration. When i can buy a physical game from a store for 60$ the digital game should be somewhere between 6$ to 15$ to outsell its physical form. Even at 25$ the digital game would only sell even to the physical game because there are simply not enough benefit for the general consumer to LEASE digital games. It is key to keep in mind the digital purchases are only good as long as the company servers are accessable with the games available for redownload or as long as thereafter you manage to keep the hard drive working.

Bottom line: Digital Distribution is BULLSHIT.

What will happen to us retro gamers if DD becomes popular?

The avocates for DD are surely not thinking about gamers.