Poll: Digital Distribution: The non-ownership era begins?

[Nurb]

Anyone else worried about gaming slowly getting to the point where there's no physical disk in your hot little hands? Or at least, the information you purchased isn't even in your state?

Games have already been 'licensed' since the early days, but with steam and that new console where you play games on a company server, its getting where all your hard earned money is spent on something that you can't physicly control anymore.

Imagine if your entire NES, SNES, N64, dreamcast, Xbox PSX, PS2, and PC libraries just didn't exist anymore because you don't play them! This is the first time we're facing that prospect. If you bought Halflife 2 on steam, you can't just whip it out years down the line and play for a nostalgia fix like we do with Deus Ex.

Your games on another's servers, internet tethers, net connection required to install a single player games. Does this worry anyone else? What if valve collapses at some point, what if the console you're paying monthly fees to play games online goes out of business? your entire library could vanish for whatever reason. (and anything is possible with the economy and nutty games industry)

Maybe I'm old fashioned, but I still prefer to have physical backups of things I sink 50-80 bucks into. Sure, some services let you download the game to your computer, but when it requires their servers to setup and play, it misses the point.

you guys?

 

[Pandalisk]

I never bothered to go into detail on the subject matter, i dont fear the consequences, but yes it can be a big problem, my friend got his account hacked on ps3, and now all his ps store downloads are void.

How does steam deal with their downloads? are they the same as the store?

 

[Anarien]

I feel exactly the same way. Consumer rights disappear with digital distribution and licensing in this manner. Tired of your game? Sell it. Oh wait, you can't.

 

[Nurb]

I never bothered to go into detail on the subject matter, i dont fear the consequences, but yes it can be a big problem, my friend got his account hacked on ps3, and now all his ps store downloads are void.

How does steam deal with their downloads? are they the same as the store?

a friend gave me steam copies as a gift for HL2 and episode 1, but my account was hacked and now I can't access them,, its a big long process to get it back that I never went through, and I'd be pissed if I paid for them.

 

[Pandalisk]

I never bothered to go into detail on the subject matter, i dont fear the consequences, but yes it can be a big problem, my friend got his account hacked on ps3, and now all his ps store downloads are void.

How does steam deal with their downloads? are they the same as the store?

a friend gave me steam copies as a gift for HL2 and episode 1, but my account was hacked and now I can't access them,, its a big long process to get it back that I never went through, and I'd be pissed if I paid for them.

well then.. *ahem* Fuck Online distribution!.

at least until they make it more secure.

 

[Sewblon]

I usually prefer physical copies, my hardware dies with unusual frequency for unrelated reasons so I enjoy having a physical backup of the software.

 

[jboking]

I get paranoid when I have only a digital copy of a game. I need a hard copy.

 

[CymTyr]

I'm neutral on this. I enjoy having the box, specifically I enjoy the smell of freshly printed books and booklets the most. However, as long as I'm guaranteed that I can download a game any time I want if I purchase it online, I don't see a problem.

It's possible Steam will cease to exist in 10 years' time. If that day comes I'm sure they will allow one final download in such a way that you can burn it to disc if you desire.

Either way, I've purchased games using both methods and while for something like an mmo digital distribution is fine, if you have to upgrade your OS with a clean install or reformat your HDD then having to redownload 2-10+ gigs of information per game is a bummer.

 

[MarsProbe]

I definitely prefer hard copies of games. Besides having the physical box (along with any goodies that may come along with a good special edition) it just does feel more secure. I don't mind downloading a small indie game but a "full" title, I will need a physical copy.

 

[teisjm]

Box or i'm just gonna DL it from pirate bay or something.
If i don't truly own it i'm sure as hell not truly paying for it. At least not full games.
Might download something from the Wii store or PS3 store, as long as it's small and inexpensive.

 

[Nurb]

Box or i'm just gonna DL it from pirate bay or something.
If i don't truly own it i'm sure as hell not truly paying for it. At least not full games.
Might download something from the Wii store or PS3 store, as long as it's small and inexpensive.

thats how a lot of people think. Though I personally hate all microtransations and don't pay for them.

I remember when xbox LIVE was all free DLC.

 

[Kiutu]

Digital Distribution will never be the only way.

 

[Worgen]

the only game Ive paid full price for on digi dist was l4d since Im fairly sure steam will be around forever and thier boxes tend to be empty aside from discs but usualy Ill only do d2d if its a rare title that I cant really find any other way and/or is cheap

there is no reason d2d should be as expensive as a physical copy

 

[quack35]

Basically all games are sold in physical copies still, digital distribution is really just an alternative.

No one's forcing you to buy a digital copy.

 

[Nurb]

Basically all games are sold in physical copies still, digital distribution is really just an alternative.

No one's forcing you to buy a digital copy.

for now.

Digital copies should be cheaper since they don't have the costs associated with physical copies, but the usual dodge is "we don't want to make the retail people mad", but anyone who has worked in retail knows the stores hate having games because they make so little off them, and often lose money. They're only around to get people in the store to buy high markup items

 

[Jandau]

I wouldn't mind the loss of consumer rights if they came with a corresponding drop in price. Digital Distribution means almost no distribution costs, fewer middle men for retail, ZERO manufacturing costs (it's just raw data, no medium or packaging), and you can't claim loss of profit due to second hand sales.

However, DD hasn't lowered prices at all. In effect, I lose something without gaining anything. Hence, I consider the current incarnation of DD to be a ripoff and refuse to support it if I can avoid it.

 

[Nutcase]

Anyone else worried about gaming slowly getting to the point where there's no physical disk in your hot little hands? Or at least, the information you purchased isn't even in your state?

This is not an issue of digital distribution vs physical copy. The issue is DRM on both distribution methods. GOG.com is a digital distributor, but you fully control the game you buy and can burn it onto any number of physical disks if you want. On the other hand, Valve games are sold in stores as if you were getting a physical copy, but what you actually get in the box is exactly what you get with Steam: an indefinite-length rental.