Jimquisition: Welcoming A Digital Future

[GeorgW]

Ah, the day when we'll get rid of publishers...
You just had to show off your Vita, didn't you? >.<

Pandemic - Destroy All Humans, Mercenaries, and a few other titles.

How dare you call Star Wars Battlefront 2 "a few other titles"??

 

[CaptainOctopus]

As I see it new game developers today have two basic options...

Alternative A:
Step 1. Create one or many simple low budget game(s), release for free or for low cost and build a fanbase.

Step 2. Avoid major parasite companies also know as publishers, ex EA, Activision, Sony, Microsoft, Ubisoft, Nintendo etc.

Step 3. Use the money you earned, kickstarter and/or alpha/beta payment to fund your next big project.

Step 4. Make a great title.

Step 5. Do the happy dance.

Step 6. Profit

Step 7. GOTO 3



Alternative B:
Step 1. Create one or many simple low budget game(s), release for free or for low cost and build a fanbase.

Step 2. Sellout to a major publisher.

Step 3. Forget about your dream projects and start working as slaves on the next generic casual shit game.

Step 4. Get fired, kill yourself or GOTO 3.

 

[Nurb]

I want a physical library one way or another. It means I can save it and play it again later like with my Atari, NES, Genesis and "Golden Age" PC games. If I pay for a game, I should be able to burn a physical copy and not lose access should I stop using a service or a service goes out of business.

My Steam library dwarfs my physical collection and cost me significantly less per game.

For me, the digital age is already here and it is good.

What happens if say, in 10-15 years, Steam or Valve is out of business, do you still have your library of games that can be installed and played without needing steam servers to be up? Is this library completely dependent on a company being in business in order to have anything to show for it when you get older? If so, people may realize they've flushed their money down the toilet

 

[omicron1]

Digital distribution will make perfectly clear, once and for all, the untenable nature of the $60 price point.

Just watch what happens when customers suddenly find themselves with no choice but to pay full dosh for their games - instead of buying 5-7 games for $300, selling them back for $100 more, and buying another 2-3, suddenly they can only buy 5 games for $300, end of story.

No used sales, slower descending price point (watch what EA does with its $20 digital copies of five-year-old games!), fewer sale opportunities, no money back - ever... and much harder/less attractive gift giving.

What will happen as a result of this?
1. Sales turn down (slowly at first, but faster over time as retail dries up) for all but the biggest games as people are forced to choose which purchases to cut.
2. Consumers play fewer games and have less fun for their money.
3. In an attempt to stem the leaks, lesser companies and lesser games from major companies will switch to offerings at lower price points,
4. making the big games look just as overpriced as they are, leading to either
5a. the big games being forced to lower their prices to survive, or
5b. the big games simply dying off.

And throughout this charade, the B-list publishers will keep selling their $20-$40 titles - mostly on PC - which will be looking more and more attractive to a cash-strapped populace. And, of course, the Steam sales will continue.

 

[LilithSlave]

Oh Jim, stop being so sexy and right all the time and giving me a fat fetish. All that oiled up gaming manflesh and those oiled up gaming gears lying on a bed just for you, oh~. Wait, what am I saying?!? OH GOD, DON'T LOOK AT ME. DON'T LOOK UPON ME IN MY SICK, PERVERSE SHAME. I DIDN'T SAY THIS. YOU SAW NOTHING. DON'T LOOK AT ME! DON'T LOOK AT MY SHAAAAAAAME!

Ehem, I pretty much agree with what's said therein. Unlike the piracy videos where my opinions are slightly different but similar. This pretty much shows a good portion of my opinions of why I want us to move to a purely digital age. Hopefully, the old age won't be able to hold on for very much longer. Because this current age, at the very least, is better for gaming. At least, in terms of distribution. Has indie gaming ever prospered as well as now? Certainly not.

Many indie developers are in fact, now being revived from more dead than Grey Fox. And many are prospering more than many major publishers. I may miss the 16-Bit era, but this part of the future is looking bright.

 

[Vault101]

I havnt seen the Video yet

but NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

I dont want to have to download my games to play them

I dont want to have to be connected to the internet while I play

my internet is crap, alot of others people inernetis crap and it expensive if you want enough data to be able to download games of that size

I just want to play my games, I dont want to fuck around to do so

 

[LazyAza]

I bought my 150th steam game some months ago and it is glorious. I've been on the digital bandwagon since 2008 and I'm honestly quite annoyed now when a game doesn't get a steam release.

 

[loudestmute]

My main concern with a move towards increased digital distribution isn't one over funding or publisher rights or anything covered in the video. It's infrastructure. Quite honestly, broadband penetration rates aren't as high as they need to be for an all-digital system to be as effective as Jim's making it out to be.

Some handy charts if you're into reading. [http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=us+broadband+penetration+2011&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CCEQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.websiteoptimization.com%2Fbw%2F1107%2F&ei=gKQ5T577K_Sr2AX-64iFAg&usg=AFQjCNH-TmQ5MFMogWItlpgWmw6MZv4dDg&cad=rja] If not, here's the short version: While nearly eight out of ten US households enjoys broadband access, that's still less than 30% of the population as a whole with "proper" access.

Yes, wireless networks are helping to distribute internet services where it's economically or technologically infeasible for large scale cable networks, but even the "best" wireless companies still leave huge patches of empty space in areas like the southwest and the Dakotas. Not to mention that availability of access does not correlate with affordability.

I like the concept of digital distribution, I really do. But the fact remains that current systems capacities aren't strong enough to handle that idea in this country, much less the rest of the world. And since this is an election year, five bucks says not one candidate (presidential, congressional, or otherwise) will place "I'll get you online!" over "I'll cut your taxes!"

 

[12th_milkshake]

man i miss looking at a ton of boxes of a shelf and finding a classic buget game that i'd never seen. Warm happy memories of buying Legend and Future Wars.... Sad pandas all round but the future is online. As long as i live long enough to see EA burn i'll take that future. I have to buy ME3 on the xbox now!

 

[CardinalPiggles]

Issue: What about console sources? If the major hardware companies go digital only we will pretty much have prices dictated to you. Frankly, who the fuck wants to pay £55 for Bodycount because the publisher said so and SCEE don't give a fuck about us?

EDIT: Before I'm told to get a PC instead, I simply can't afford to get my PC up to snuff and won't be able to for a good 3 or 4 years. So yeah.

Simply don't buy the game, passively boycott any game/franchise/developer/publisher that sells their mediocre shit at extreme prices. This is why I am choosing not to buy Mass Effect 3, because it will not be on Steam and I don't like EA/Origin or even Bioware anymore.

 

[girzwald]

I too welcome a digital future. But the fuckhead corporate assholes wont let it happen like it should. Digital distribution should have happened a long time ago but everyone wants their cut of whats in my wallet. Everyone wants to make everything (seem) more expensive so they charge much more than it should cost.

i fight back by almost never buying new.

 

[Vault101]

AAAHHHHH I saw femshep, I was hoping to avoid that untill I actually played ME3

but...DAMN I think my heart skiped a few beats...Im PUMPED for ME3!

OT: he makes good points...but I still want physical copies

 

[Duskflamer]

I like phyisical copies of games because I know I own them. If something happens and I do, say, get banned from Xbox live, I can sell my copy of the game to another. That brings up my biggest fear with the digital age... it's giving publishers an incredibly amount of control over the consumer. In ways they really shouldn't be able to if you ask me.

The best example of this is something even the beloved Valve does. Taking away your ability to play all of your games for doing something that breaks the ToS. Or for some services *cough*Origin*cough* it's more like whenever the company feels like it. Now you can say that most companies would use it sparringly, but there is always margin for error. And the fact they have the power both legally and technically to just take away things that you legally purchased without any compensation seems wrong to me. And that's just one example of the kind of power companies will have with digital distribution.

There's two things you have to consider when making that argument though:

First, there's a flip side to what you're saying there. Yes, if you get banned from Xbox, you can sell the intact disk, however if that disk breaks your out of luck. With digital distribution, you have to be more careful to not get yourself banned yea, but there's no way short of the digital distribution service going out of business for you to actually lose your game (as long as you're not banned).

Secondly, when most people talk about digital distribution, they're talking about PC games, in which case your scenario is a non factor. Thanks to limited-use CD keys being fairly common in PC games for verification, no reputable retailer will buy a used PC disk from you anymore, so you don't even have that recourse of selling the game you got banned from.

 

[Redd the Sock]

God, where is that pink guy with the bent nose and cigar from? That's going to keep me up all night unless I remember

That's Cyril Sneer from a Canadian animated show: The Raccoons.


OT: Less digital distribution than the existance of the internet itself. The amount of even legal crap on here for free or dirt cheap has been an issue to the business world for years. We;ve already seen the majority of the death spiral of newspapers and magazines, while things like porn, music, books, and yes video games struggle to make the business model work. Why buy a bad Star Trek book when I can read bad Star Trek fanfiction, read a comic book when so many web comics are out there, or pay money for what's in a web browser game? Heck, I have more interest in Moviebob's Game Overthinker story segments than just about anything on network TV right now.

In the long run, it isn't piracy that's going to hurt businesses the most. It is that cheap competetion we get so much of online. Of course, that's going to be for the best in the end and monopolies are rarely good, but it's going to be a long fight.

 

[cookyy2k]

The United States is full of companies so profit driven they will cap usage and ban people for too much internet rather than improve infrastructure. Comcast, one of the largest ISPs in the nation, has not laid new line in over a decade. In some regions, it's actually been fifteen years or more since there was any infrastructure increase.

Now, I cannot prove a negative. There's a chance that things will change in the future, but there's also a chance that if I think positive thoughts, I will become a millionaire. You're talking about things changing away their normal progression in this country, not toward it and that shifts out of your favour.

Exactly, this is a problem that people keep glossing over. Where I live for $60.00 a month you get 5 gig internet cap. For over $100 a month you get unlimited no cap internet. So if the PC market, and it seems to be going this way goes to a pure digital distribution model, then people like me will be ignored because we suffer due to internet caps. The only other way for us to game is by consoles since you can play them without being connected to the internet.

Wow, didn't realize it was so bad in the US. The download cap went the way of the dinosaur here when companies started doing more or less without and to compete you had to get rid. I get 4.5 Meg download down my line with unlimited download/upload for £10 (around $15) a month!

OT: I just signed up to PSN yesterday and have gone mad with the digital content, it's brilliant to be able to get games without having to pay for parking and put up with crowds of the unwashed masses.

 

[Kapol]

There's two things you have to consider when making that argument though:

First, there's a flip side to what you're saying there. Yes, if you get banned from Xbox, you can sell the intact disk, however if that disk breaks your out of luck. With digital distribution, you have to be more careful to not get yourself banned yea, but there's no way short of the digital distribution service going out of business for you to actually lose your game (as long as you're not banned).

Secondly, when most people talk about digital distribution, they're talking about PC games, in which case your scenario is a non factor. Thanks to limited-use CD keys being fairly common in PC games for verification, no reputable retailer will buy a used PC disk from you anymore, so you don't even have that recourse of selling the game you got banned from.

For the first: That is true. But if you break one disk then you're only out one game. And some places do offer insurance against breaking or scratching the disk for a year (namely Gamestop). Most people don't buy them but they do exist. And it's not only a matter of selling either. If you have a disk, then you can normally start another account if it was only your account to be banned. If it was your system, then there's always the option to buy another. It might cost a lot, but will grant you access to all of the games you still have on disk.

Second: that is true. But with buying individual PC games, you aren't connected to a service that requires them all to be on a single account unless that game is activated on Origin or Steam. That is a growing trend I'm not very fond of overall. Though I do like the option is presents in buying from multiple places. You can still get banned from individual games you buy of course. And frankly, I have no problem with that. Most the time you'll still be able to play single player since most single-game bans seem to be online only from what I've seen. Single Player is my focus anyways.

Of course, for the second, you could always argue that you can still buy from places like Direct2Drive and the like. But the problem is that those places can normally cut you off from the file download, your keys, or both. With a physical CD of the game, you can always install it (as long as you don't break/lose the disk or key of course) and many games seem to work fine on the same system when you use a CD key again. At least that's my experience with them. That's changed a bit with publishers tying CD keys to accounts like Ubisoft, which is basically the same form of problem as with Steam and Origin.

I really don't mind the idea of being banned from a single game if I do something wrong. But if something goes wrong on services like Steam where my bank or Paypal issue a chargeback I'm not aware of, the game in question isn't just removed. My entire account is locked and I have no access until I can get things fixed. If I can at all that is. So banning itself isn't necessarily bad, just the extent it can be done by those who control the bigger services.

 

[Strain42]

The closest I've come to jumping on the digital band wagon is with my iPod Touch and my hundreds of games that I've bought (many of them I got for free thanks to temporary deals)

But the main problem I'm seeing with this is that it seems like it's catering mostly to the PC Gamers.

As much as I enjoy having my physical games proudly displayed on my shelf, I'm not entirely opposed to digital distribution, especially if it means knowing more of my money spent will go towards the developers, but it would certainly need to be fine tuned to apply more to consoles as well as stuff like Steam.

A lot of PSP games these days for example are released at the same time on PSN as they are in stores, and since hindsight is 20/20 the Sony Market has evolved to where that's the right idea since PSN games are backwards compatible with the Vita.

Physical copies of games isn't something I'm willing to give up cold turkey, but complete digital distribution is certainly something that I could see us evolving into over the next 5-10 years or so.

 

[daxterx2005]

"aren't I brilliant? Alright fuck off...."

I died laughing

 

[Duskflamer]

Most the time you'll still be able to play single player since most single-game bans seem to be online only from what I've seen. Single Player is my focus anyways.

With a physical CD of the game, you can always install it (as long as you don't break/lose the disk or key of course) and many games seem to work fine on the same system when you use a CD key again. At least that's my experience with them.

I really don't mind the idea of being banned from a single game if I do something wrong....

The parts I didn't quote I have no issue with, the post was just long enough that I picked out the spots I wanted to respond to.

To the first part, if you don't play a lot of multiplayer, then you're not likely to get banned, just in general, a vast majority of things you can get banned for have to do with player interactions to my knowledge (which may be limited in this field).

To the second part, I'd not be willing to bank on that after what happened with Anno 2070.

Third, if you don't mind the idea...why are you complaining? Unless you don't think that failing to properly manage your paypal funds constitutes doing something wrong.

Also, Steam locking accounts for that reason is most likely to deter fraud, if a hacker has a method of downloading a game from Steam, modifying it so that it's separated from Steam and doesn't need it to run, there's not much stopping him from just buying a game, hacking it, and canceling the charge to essentially get the game for free if all it would do was remove the game from his account.