Analyst Predicts GTA V Will Be Digital Only

[The Last Nomad]

I can see it happening, that is triple A games being released as download only, but not from Rockstar. The last four (Big) games they released (GTA IV, Red Dead Redemption, Mightnight Club LA and LA Noire)were later re-released in disc form including all the DLC, and in the case of RDR and GTA IV, the DLC was released separately in Disc form. This proves that Rockstar are determined to get the DLC available to every one, even people with bad/no-internet connection with their consoles. To say they would release GTA V in digital form only goes against all that. I'm no analyst but even I can see that that is sorta obvious, but by no means 100% certain.
Still, a digital-only release seems really damn unlikely.

 

[karloss01]

That prediction is utterly ridiculous, the reason I buy games in store is because I want the disc! Why does it seem that analysts completely forget that servers do not have an infinite amount of storage? If they start to reach the maximum capacity they begin to throw out all the old data that no one downloads to avoid buying an entirely new server.

With a disc in front of me I know that I will have that copy for life (as long as nothing unfortunate happens) and they can?t take it away from me ever. Without discs some gaming classics (both now and in the future) will no longer be able to circulate to new owners through pre-ownership because everything is tied to a account.


I?ve had Pre-order DLC lost because GFWL decided it didn?t need the Dawn of War 2 pre-order DLC anymore after a few months, so when I re-formatted my computer I could no longer download the content which I expected to be there for at least a year.

 

[Nurb]

Yea the problem with that all-digital crap is the pile of third party programs that you need to install and run just to play the damn game

 

[hutchy27]

If there was no disc, it would cause an absolute uproar.

Not everyone has super internet. Besides, I highly doubt there won't be a disc. I can't see it happening anytime soon.

The internet in my local area is absolutely terrible I hardly get 1MB download speeds because the fibre optic doesn't go past here yet.

 

[YukaTakeuchiFan]

This COULD work on the PC, hell, I use Steam enough.

But on the consoles...?

I'm not the only one who remembers the recent fiascos with "Arkham City", "Battlefield 3", and I think a couple of others too, right? I REALLY don't think that extending the problematic whims of code-only DLC to ENTIRE DAMN GAMES is anything remotely resembling a good idea, even if only for that reason (if you'd like others, also consider how quickly console hard drives will fill up if this sort of thing were to catch on, or the woes of slow download speeds already mentioned by several others).

For consoles, this would be about the single dumbest thing a company could ever do for a game like this.

I can only hope that our analyst buddy is talking out his ass; I'd rather not have another reason to consider skipping GTA5, rather than just spending more time playing the upcoming Saints Row 3.

 

[Jegsimmons]

ive just about had it with 'experts' and 'analyst' completely pulling things out of their ass because they know they will get paid either way.


fuck them, NO BODY describe as an expert or analyst or professional is worth listening too because all they do is make shit up with no numbers backing it up. they'll make a theory without a hypothesis, they get conclusions, with no method.

quite frankly, the next one needs to be exposed as a liar on a national level and flogged just to teach those bastards!

 

[SendMeNoodz84]

I always find it hilarious just how wrong these so called "analysts" are most of the time. These old bastards that think they understand what the general gaming population wants. Pachter is a fucking joke. I don't think I've ever read a single prediction from him that has been correct.

 

[ph0b0s123]

That's one way to kill off the used market in one stroke. I so don't want this. People will think this is progress, but it isn't it is a round the back way for the industry to have even more control over games and their distribution and pricing. Not progress at all.

 

[thiosk]

I doubt its going to happen for GTAV. But its going to happen, and I will embrace it.

 

[joshperry94]

I myself wouldnt be too bothered by this, because I have a 60Gb hard drive on my Xbox. However for the people who only have the arcade version, it would cause a serious problem because they wouldnt be able to install it...

 

[babinro]

I'd like to see this...the sooner we shift all gaming to digital the better in my opinion.

The process will inevitably cost sales in the short term but I think it's best for the industry. We'd need a few big releases like GTA 5 to get people used to this practice anyways.

Realistically though I don't think this will happen. We probably wont see this until next generation consoles. Though for all I know GTA 5 is next gen.

 

[Arqus_Zed]

Nope, it don't see that happening.

Though I wonder...

How are things going to be for the X360 release?

I remember Rockstar saying that if MS didn't make sure the X360 had larger data storage devices available, the game wouldn't appear for that console. Now, we all know that neither Rockstar nor MS would run the risk of not releasing a GTA game on the X360... But how exactly is it going to work? Multiple Discs? One disc with a voucher to download the rest? Or are they really going to fuck up the audio and textures so it can still all fit on one lousy DVD?

Unless of course GTA V skips this generation and is the first next gen game to be announced. (Not gonna happen.)

 

[Leg End]

This sounds like a bad prediction and I will hate it if this game has this. I have 2 megabit internet. 200kb/s download speed. This is very bad by today's standards and I know, I fucking know, that this isn't the worst, that there are others with much worse internet than me.
Give me a disc, so I can load up, play and move on.

Well, my first connection was Dial-Up('nuff said), second was 1 megabit down half up, third was 7 down half a megabit up(damn Verizon >.>
) and my current makes me feel extremely bad about your situation. ;<
But, I also prefer discs.

Or, since I own a PS3 and not a 360, load up, wait about an hour for installations and updates, play THEN move on.

They are not that bad. XD
Or that long for most games. :L

Calumon: But isn't the shelf nearly full and probably gonna collapse soon?

Jack: SILENCE! Physical media is better because shut up!

Don't worry guys, you can visit my house anytime and leech off of my connection.

[http://www.speedtest.net]
Note: The ping is actually about 8, been around 14 usually since updating to Oneiric Ocelot.

Now...
OT: Simply put, this is one of the most bulltrip things I have ever heard. Not much else to say that has not already been said. :L

 

[WeAreStevo]

They won't do this simply because there would be more money in having both a disc option and a DL option.

For those who don't live in an area that has good internet service, or for consumers who just don't have internet in general, this would effectively prevent them from purchasing the game.

Therefore, because even the mighty Rockstar is about making money off their games, they'll offer both formats to increase profits.

Personally, I'd prefer a disc copy even though I have high speed internet and more than enough room on my HD for the game. There's just something about having the disc. And besides, I can swap games with a friend of mine if I have the disc, and I cannot do that with a downloaded game.

 

[The Random One]

This is ultra silly. GTAV being completely digital I might even say, 'well you know those Rockstar guys, they're so crazy they released a Driver game and called it GTAIV'. But having it entirely digital, then still spending the same amount of money for a useless box? That's just stupid.

 

[Jack and Calumon]

[http://www.speedtest.net]
Note: The ping is actually about 8, been around 14 usually since updating to Oneiric Ocelot.

Hmmm, I am sharing my network with others, perhaps I should check out this speedtest.net and compare?

O.O

[http://www.speedtest.net]
Not good. Not good at all. I didn't think it'd be that bad! Sure there are other computers, but most of them are inactive! Mine is the one doing the most right now!

It's a miracle I can even play online games...

Calumon: Does... this mean... I can't ever go back? : (

 

[Leg End]

Calumon: Does... this mean... I can't ever go back? : (

No, you came here by a speed about the same as Jack's, if not slower.

Though, imagine how many friends can also come through mine. ;P

 

[scar_47]

Its simply not feasible to expect a fully digital release game to do as well from a tech standpoint given the amount of people with the internet in first world countries and the connection speeds we have the only 2 countries that could really pull it off at this point are Japan and South Korea. No other countries have the infrastructure no our current consoles set up for this especially when your looking at a minimum of 20 gb of data that'll take the average person about 20 hours to download. Digital distribution works because its still small scale you don't have millions downloading 30 gb of data at the same time. Its not going to happen without a massive infrastructure overhaul.

 

[Matt Dellar]

[http://www.speedtest.net]

^And this is why I was so ticked at Diablo 3's always-on DRM. When this kind of Internet is the only uncapped 3G available, I wonder where, exactly, that analyst is looking.

 

[Your Fearless Captain]

I'm sure that every one will love downloading 15 gigabytes of data.