If games became only downloadable...?

[Drakmorg]

Well, I personally buy most of my PC games from Steam and GOG.com, so I'm a fan of downloading my games. Saves me from having to make the trip to my local retailer and worrying about things like keeping the disc maintained and trying to find space in my tiny apartment to keep the box and still be organized.

But while I like being able to download games, I don't think companies are going to only offer downloadable games. Some people don't have good enough internet connections to download games at a decent speed, and some people don't have internet connections at all. Then you have people who just prefer to have a physical copy.
If companies only offered downloadable games, they'd be alienating a pretty large chunk of their consumer base.

 

[Twilight_guy]

Meh, at some point that will be true. Things are moving towards the digital and hard-copies of stuff are being gradually phases out. It's not going to happen any time soon though. It would pretty much kill Gamestop (assuming they don't move into he online business) but CDs killed record stores so that's just part of "progress." It's still going to be a while before we're all jacked in and the internet is as prevalent as air though.

 

[Veylon]

It wouldn't affect me much. Most of my games I got online. On the other hand, I'm a PC gamer and I don't often purchase a AAA game. I also avoid Steam and other systems that require some sort of internet connection to be active all the time. I don't like attached strings.

 

[Scarecrow]

I would shoot myself.

 

[Vault101]

I'm in Australia... It would severely cripple peoples habits, trust me. Retail copies should always be around.

I second that, Im sure its awsome if you have the means but that fact is some of us just simply don't,

this is especially worrying for PC gamers like myself I dont belive I should have to get a console because of this and other things

 

[Dfskelleton]

But I like the pretty boxes D:

 

[Vault101]

It wouldn't affect me much. Most of my games I got online. On the other hand, I'm a PC gamer and I don't often purchase a AAA game. I also avoid Steam and other systems that require some sort of internet connection to be active all the time. I don't like attached strings.

Steam actually isnt that bad, the only bad part is when you buy/install a game (even retail)it has to update (depending on how new it is this is usually between 250mb to like 2gb+) once its updated then you can just switch back to offline mode and you dont need internet at all

the updating is really only a problem for somone with low dowanload limits (like me) and even then I can work within the steam systm

the only "constantly online" thing I know of is from Ubisoft and even then they did change that for their older titles (assins creed 2 and splinter cell)

 

[GrizzlerBorno]

Well, Piracy in Asia would increase drastically, for one. Don't believe me? You don't have to.

Many countries here do not offer the chance to buy games using local credit cards. So the most efficient way to get original games is to have relatives bring them over from abroad. and those are boxed copies. If you take that avenue away, the only other way left, to get originals, would be to have them paid by a relative and then download them from this end. Which will still work in most cases, except the net in many of these countries is retardedly slow, so you'd have to keep your PC on for 5 days straight. That may not fly with many people.

It'll be significantly easier to just walk into a local shop and buy a bootleg boxed copy with the game burned on Dvd's.

N.B. I am neither advocating nor denouncing the actions above. I am merely presenting them as facts that I have picked up through observation, during my stay here for the last, oh, 19 years. So, please don't suspend me.........I'm this close to getting the morpheus badge.

 

[SpAc3man]

I download games more than I buy boxed games. Steam makes it so easy. I get past my 40GB per month cap by doing any huge downloads on the last day before it recurs. The speed cap only kicks in at midnight so if its the last day it wont matter.

I happen to be downloading Bad Company 2 as I type.

 

[Ziadaine_v1legacy]

With the price of our games at retail stores, and the cost of Internet/Speeds, either way we lose.

 

[The Lawn]

As I have over 180 games on steam, it wouldn't affect me one bit.
I haven't bought a retail copy of a game in years.
Last boxed pc game I bought was Wrath of the Litch King, I got the digital copy of Cataclysm.

Honestly... I love not having to deal with a huge pile of boxes and disks I'll only ever use once.

 

[Javarock]

Well, I would like to see more games allow themselfs to be download-able... It would allow me to get my hands on more types... But I still love the boxs.

 

[Wharrgarble]

There will always be a demand for the physical, but the digital is so much more convenient to produce for the companies involved and situation depending, the consumer. CD's still exist, but most people have digital music. Why? Faster, quicker, only need one song, etc... I remember going through a phase in which I couldn't stomach the idea of not owning the actual CD, but now I can't remember the last time I actually bought one.

The trend towards digital will continue, but physical copies wont ever cease to exist.

 

[Talvrae]

that would eat alive my download limitarion
Canada we pay our Go a lot more than much anywhere else

 

[UltraDeth]

I don't have an online gamertag because I have no idea how to set it up or what to do. The day games become Download only will be the day my life is ruined

 

[KwaggaDan]

Considering the fact that South Africa has some of the worst ISPs and most expensive internet connections it would suck.

 

[Rack]

I know people like boxes, but from one thing and another those boxes cost 3 times as much as the game itself. If games went download only they could drop to $20 and still make more money. For all the fear that publishers would abuse the system competition between them would drive either prices down or quality up.

Yeah there are down-sides and at the moment outside of sales DD doesn't make a huge amount of sense. But once retailers are taken out of the equation DD can become a lot more attractive.

 

[LiudvikasT]

Piracy would increase beyond measure. The only advantage to buying a game is owning something physical.