Poll: Are You Ready To Ditch Disks?

[T-Bone24]

I think that discs will eventually be replaced by dedicated thumb drives.

 

[Cynical skeptic]

I trust the nearly infinite recursion of the internet far more than physical media.

 

[Queen Michael]

I like discs. I like having something tangible. I want to keep discs.

 

[Cid Silverwing]

They only asked console gamers, according to the article. Herp, derp.

Hear hear.

How retarded would you have to be to not want digital downloads? It saves money off production and distribution, and more importantly, saves space in your home.

 

[danintexas]

For the most part I keep my machines off line and connect them to grab patches and the like.

If they demand all time internet access and digital downloads that is when I stop buying games and just live with the mounds of "classics" I have now.

 

[Sneaky-Pie]

I go digital all the way.

I haven't bought discs for long time now. If I need a physical back up, it's as simple as dragging my Steam folder onto an external drive. No wasted space on boxes and other clutter.

 

[The_Graff]

i like my discs, i don't trust my HD enought to completely remove discs. not yet.

 

[Cynical skeptic]

I like discs. I like having something tangible. I want to keep discs.

Something tangible does not automatically mean discs. How about flash drives or SD cards? You do consider DS games to be physical products yes?

Oh christ, could you imagine the shitstorm if "physical copies" started costing more than digital?

Thinking of a situation where retail, desperate to remain viable in any way, shape, or form, starts cosigning the right to sell digital copies of games loaded onto SD dongles? A "service" which they'll attempt to charge?

 

[chstens]

For games, yes. I love Digital Distribution, for movies/books/silverware, I prefer a physical disc/bundle of sheets/suitcase of gilted forks and knives.

 

[Cynical skeptic]

Why would the retailer load games onto the dongle? Wouldn't the dongle come preloaded with the game just as carts/cds/dvds/bd have always done?

Games are about as high as people are willing to pay right now. The cost of the medium doesn't really set the price anyway.

Because SD media doesn't get cheaper the more you make of it?

Also, my little situation takes place after publishers just stop dealing with retailers at all.

 

[Russian_Assassin]

I hate digital distribution, because I don't feel like I've purchased anything. If I buy a game on a disk I own a physical object that I can put on a shelf with the other games and say: "I have quite a collection of games!". Also, no internet means no digital content. Disks are essential!

 

[TerribleAssassin]

Hell No!
Think Of The Downloading Times ^_^
Imagine Downloading Something Like MGS 4, On An English/Irish Internet Connection.... Exactly.

BT? Then again it would take half a day to download..



OT: The way to sell your game is to give it an epic box art, that's why disks are paramount.

Spoiler: epic boxart made me buy this game

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/bc/Arma-2-cover.jpg

 

[WaderiAAA]

I am ready to ditch disks and have all games be downloadable, but from a custimary viewpoint I realize it can never happen. While it probably takes less time to download a game than go to the store, and it also makes it easier to make a gigantic game world, it does leave some problems.

Marketing: Box art and such is important to attract people who want to buy games. Some might even buy a game as a spontanious decision. However, if you have a banner saying "download this game today" then many people will have forgotten it by the time they get home. Online adverticing might work though...

Price on consoles: If a console has to save all the data on how a game is played, it requires a massive memory, making the consoles a lot more expensive and thus less appealing to newcomers.

Fewer jobs: Hey, someone is payed to sell those games, right?

But the biggest problem is that so many gamers like the box art and having a physical copy (just look at this thread), so while I hope we will see more downloadable games in the future, they aren't likely to become dominant anytime soon.

 

[Spacewolf]

No i dont have any games digitally disributed since A. I dont trust anyone not to lose track of which games i own. and B.its ussually cheaper to get them off amazon or gameplay that steam.