There are plenty of benefits and consequences to digital distribution, but obviously the loss of video game stores could potentially be on the horizon. Sure, it is nice to be able to receive a game from the comfort of your home without having to waste time, money, and gas to travel around to find a game you want when you could just look it up on Steam or XBL or PSN. Of course, as long as that is the way the evolution is going, consistent tracking and receipts of digital purchases will become a much higher priority for security in the event of hardware failure or overall replacement in the case of PC games and unreliable console systems.
Look at it in terms of the parallel with music. Back before IPods took over the scene, there was a music store in almost every town. Nowadays, you might only be able to find physical discs in stores like Wal-Mart or Target. The digital revolution has claimed all the Sam Goodys across the face of the world, without many people crying out loudly for their return.
I appreciate the ability to download a hard-to-find game when it is difficult to track down a physical copy. It isn't that difficult to make a backup of the download onto a disc, if you find yourself in the habit of having less-than-reliable hardware. I have no problem acknowledging the work and effort that goes into developing and publishing games, but I fail to understand the consistent cost of games, even in digital form. Why must I pay $60 for a digital copy of a game when I'm not getting the packaging or a physical manual for said game? I understood it was easier and more cost-effective to sell games via the Internets, so why am I paying the exact same amount in some cases for a game I could buy at Wal-Mart in a box? I suppose the argument could be made that it costs service fees to maintain servers in which to download games, but it is really a mirror cost of producing a disc and a box?
Digital distribution will rack up many kills along the way. Video stores, video game stores, and music stores will be all but a faint memory for those of us old enough to remember when they existed. Sadly as we've all witnessed, the loss of these stores are visual reminders with the empty storefronts and aging signs still clinging to the sides of buildings, and one day we'll be able to tell kids of the "good old days" when we could go down to a store and buy games in person that came on a floppy, cartridge or disc. Frankly, if Gamestop continues to be so resistant to change, they will quickly find themselves lost in the digital dust of Steam and other companies that offer direct game downloads. They would serve themselves much better to embrace the change than to complain about it costing them their business. There is still plenty of money to be made in this environment, but they just need to pay attention to the way things are going.
