Poll: Digital Distribution and Consoles

[LooK iTz Jinjo]

Digital Distribution seems to be the way gaming is headed. PC gaming is already there, everyone I know who games on a PC uses Steam and doesn't bother with physical copies. What I don't get is, Microsoft have a section on their market called "Games on Demand" a place for people to download retail games, but why does it take so long for these retail games to get released on there? It can take months for games to appear on this list of downloadable games, so basically if you want the game day one you have to buy a physical copy, from a retail store.

Why does it work this way? Why not have Skyrim, MW3, Gears of War 3, why not have them up for download day one? They can (should) be cheaper than a retail store, it gives directly to the developers rather than to EB Games (Gamestop) as well as a whole other list of conveniences. Obviously some people still want a physical copy, a disk they can feel and see. That's fine, they can still get that, why not accommodate to both?

 

[Swyftstar]

I think it should and it will probably head that way. When you look at a slew of gaming companies putting in online passes to keep you from buying their games used it would seem that getting the product directly from them would be the logical progression.

 

[TPiddy]

Two words: Collector's editions....

 

[Something Amyss]

This generation of consoles really wasn't set up with DD in mind. Not on this scale, anyway.

I think next gen we will see more.

 

[spartan231490]

I don't particularly care one way or another, because I like my physical copies. I like having a physical game that I can hold, that I can see on my shelf, not just on some list on my xbox, I like the feeling of anticipation that I get from fighting with the 27 layers of protection I have to get past before I open my case, I love the smell of a new game, and the feeling of turning the pages as I read the game manual first, getting more and more excited by everything I read, I love being able to lend a friend a game, I love being able to sell the game if it's shit, or if I've played the shit out of it, I love looking through my collection of games and seeing my childhood. Hell, I even like standing in line on day 1 for 3 hours for a good game.

I love everything about physical copies and I honestly forget about the 2 games I do have digitally(I couldn't find hard copies) more often than not. I will never support a medium without physical copies. I suspect that contrary to the popularity of digital here on the escapist, most console gamers share my feelings, I know all my friends do, and in that case the lack of demand may explain why they don't offer day 1 downloads for a lot of the hit titles. Too much effort when most people are just gonna buy physical copies anyway.

 

[willsham45]

I see many reasons why this may be so but the main one I think is the market.

Almost everyone I know who has a PC or laptop has the internet.
Those I know of who have a console a lot less have internet setup on it.
So I see it being a smaller market than the PC. That is probally why digital games are not made available so hastally. Infact I would not be surprised if they started bringing PC games out digital first then weeks later disk virtions...I think I have seen that with some games come to think of it...

I have no idea how much effort goes into digital distibution but I can guess some thinks will probally have to be tweeked. I see surver space needing to be bought. And I am sure there are licencing issues somewhere.

 

[Epona]

I prefer to buy my PSP games digitally so that I know they will be playable on the Vita. I wanted to play Final Fantasy XIII on the PS3 but I remember that people had problems with it killing their PS3. I wanted to buy it digitally to avoid using the Blu-Ray player and perhaps avoid the problems that other people had.

If you have a huge hard drive in your console then buying digitally is great as it saves wear and tear on the blu-ray/DVD/UMD drive and it usually increases load times. Further, it saves shelf space. However, the XBOX 360 doesn't have a huge hard drive (I bought a 60GB Pro) and therefore I would never buy a full game digitally for it. All my PSP digital games are stored on my PC.

 

[Qitz]

I voted no simply because consoles aren't going to be up to the spec enough for full digital distribution to be a positive thing. Games will require more and more space / ram / whatever and consoles will still be getting the short end of the stick.

Now Cloud gaming on the other hand, I can see that being far more beneficial to consoles than any form of "DD." Adding OnLive to the next gen consoles, like OnLive wants to, would be of greater value.

 

[Worgen]

Ultimately digital distribution isn't good for consoles, it takes the one advantage of consoles and throws it away, being able to easily trade in your games.

 

[Y_P]

Bring digital renting to consoles.

 

[feebstalicious93]

i think digital is cool, but for some reason i prefer the retail copy.

 

[Jakub324]

I'm trying to switch to digital, but all I have right now is Crysis and New Vegas, the rest are corporeal, so I just look like really indecisive.

 

[Kvaedi]

Really, why shouldn't they be? I have yet to see a single compelling reason, aside from you eventually being unable to trade in the game. Steam is absolutely great; when I travel, I can just install my games where ever I am, AND I CAN'T LOSE THEM. Digital copies don't get scratched, don't get stepped on by careless siblings, the manuals with CD keys can't get lost, rendering the game useless if you ever switch to a new computer. I've probably bought Age of Empires I and II six times in my life as it's been lost in moves, scratched beyond repair, lost, or for other reasons. With digital copies of games, that's all irrelevant.

The only issue is the small hard drives of most consoles-which I hardly find as a deterrent from releasing the games for digital download at the same time; If anything I would expect companies to love this, it would give consumers an actual reason to buy a console with more space. Also though, I don't see actual disks being phased out soon. Eventually, it's bound to happen, sure. But as long as people have the option to pick up a disk, I don't see there being any downsides at all to the game being released for download at the same time it is sold in stores.