Hardcore Gamers Sticking to Retail

[Nurb]

people want to OWN what they buy, and they want a library they can see and keep. I don't understand what's so hard for them to understand about this.

DD comes with restrictions and server dependent activations that mean a business has to still exist and opperate its hardware for people to play and install their games. Companies are trying to force digital inconvenience on us because it's good for them, not the customer. I want to know I can have a game I can play in 10-15 years like my existing library

Also, people are paying for older games on XBL that they can never keep, you're only renting those games because if their servers go down for whatever reason, you just lost that part of your library. They want an industry where gamers pay fees for access to games and extra content without any real ownership so they can control every single aspect of the entertainment

 

[carpathic]

This meshes with my observations, and personal feelings.

Digital downloads are all about removing costs from the publishers and pushing ever more of them on to the consumer. That is not a game I'm gonna play. Plus I like to have the copy to touch and look at.

In addition, I'd rather eat metal flakes than pay a monthly fee for ANYTHING, this is why I am an xbox silver member, and will probably skip the next console generation - as they seem to all be headed to more "user pay" and DLC focused models.

 

[theaborted]

This is nothing but political grandstanding.

The retail industry is reeling from the effect of GAME closing in the UK and it's put the willies up them.

In my opinion, this survey is nothing more than a shoddy attempt to quickly throw some spurious information out to get the market flowing and appease investors (who care more about profits than supporting the games industry).

The truth is, I prefer boxed games. I prefer boxed games that DON'T come with an online activation and DRM that means I can't play when I don't have internet (mentioning no names yEAh?)

If retail really wants to be truly competitive in what they sell, they should sell products which are free from content being locked in to a particular companies server.

I also want to see their evidence for the PC market considering GAME in the UK had the crappies selection of PC software I've ever seen in a shop.

Flatter your ego's with whatever survey you will to endorse and pay for so your investors don't run away - we the gamers know the truth.

Also, I would like to see WHO you call HARCORE in terms of gaming because I'm pretty sure your definition has a different meaning to gamers all together.

 

[Starik20X6]

I'll stick to retail if there is any incentive to do so, i.e. can't exactly get a collectors edition statue via digital download. Otherwise, why not digital? Provided there's none of that "because it's digital you don't really own it" bull, digital would be a better way to go. Not having to pay to produce zillions of copies means the price of games could come down, and there'd be no need for regions because nobody's gotta pay shipping on anything.

 

[agiganticpanda]

Please, as soon as Microsoft & Sony start making games direct download similar to steam and 10 bucks cheaper, it will wreck the gaming stores as a whole. I can't wait.

 

[Akisa]

Perhaps by hardcore here they mean 'anyone not playing on Facebook or App store?'

Nope they left out PC.

 

[Irridium]

Would be nice if they included pc in those numbers...

PC gamers say, "Who the *#$% goes to a store?"

I do. I vastly, vastly prefer sticking a disk in my PC then downloading it.

Same here.

Plus, downloading a 10+ gigabyte game on my connection makes my internet weep and plead for death.

 

[theaborted]

Perhaps by hardcore here they mean 'anyone not playing on Facebook or App store?'

Nope they left out PC.

Exactly what I was thinking

I also think even if they sold the games cheaper as digital distribution, the fact that you only 'license a game' still irritates.

 

[Woodsey]

Doesn't seem to suggest WHY certain gamers are sticking to retail. I'd be curious to know that. Further study needed, perhaps, unless the reports haven't picked up on it.

That's the interesting question, definitely. A lot of it ties into the definition of "hardcore" as well. For me it's a question of ownership: A game isn't "mine" unless it's in a box, on my shelf. I suspect that's the case for a lot of gamers. It's not particularly rational, since even most retail games are dependent on some kind of online component these days, but the games I "own" are the ones I can look over and see. Games on Steam, GOG, Origin, etc., don't fit that bill.

I think for console gamers its a mixture of that and the obscene prices on the PSN store and XBL. For PC gaming though, you would seem to be either in the minority, or quickly-approaching the minority; I think most of us got over that physical-media only inhibition a while ago (perhaps by necessity).

 

[Noswad]

*Looks at Game

Are you sure?
Anyone know where on-line retailers fit into this? the article seemed to largely concern Digital vs Shop based sales. If the article was trying to tell me people still buy games from shops, I'd ask it to tell it to my friend who used to work at Game, however if we lump sites like Amazon in there, yeah it's probably got a point, the majority of my games come from Amazon nowadays.

Actually it's starting to look like a poorly researched article, as many people have pointed out the exclusion of PC from the equation makes no sense, as does designating Hardcore and casual to certain platform is almost impossible. Also it brought in core gamers in the last paragraph, are they a different demographic or did they mean hardcore. I consider core and hardcore to be different, but can't quite find the definitive difference, how do they judge it.

Actually i genuinely consider core and hardcore gamers to play casual as well as "hardcore games", hell more than a couple of casual titles grace my library.

 

[Azuaron]

Would be nice if they included pc in those numbers...

PC gamers say, "Who the *#$% goes to a store?"

I do. I vastly, vastly prefer sticking a disk in my PC then downloading it.

Okay, but do you go to a store, or do you buy it online at, say, Amazon?

 

[Azuaron]

Really? Because I live for a future with zero retailers and matter compilers.

Perhaps that is a noble goal, But you live for a future that would see media centric companies reach unmitigated levels of greed and basically obliterate entire industries and cripple the entire economic structure. So unless your suggesting you live for a future devoid of money and commerce, then your living for a future of economic annihilation.

Yep. Diamond Age [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Diamond_Age] ftw.

 

[Your Fearless Captain]

Would be nice if they included pc in those numbers...

PC gamers say, "Who the *#$% goes to a store?"

I do. I vastly, vastly prefer sticking a disk in my PC then downloading it.

Okay, but do you go to a store, or do you buy it online at, say, Amazon?

I go to my local game store that stocks PC titles, which would be local chain Game Box. While I do prefer to buy it locally, if I have to I will order from Amazon or a similar online outlet.

 

[xXTheParadoxXx]

Dear God I hope digital distribution isn't the future. The closure of GAME and Gamestop in the UK has completely fucked me over. My house is incapable of getting broadband. As of right now I am piggybacking on the neighbour's wifi. One neighbour gets internet from the North the other from the South and neither company felt the need to extend the cable the tiniest bit to cover my house. I have to buy games at £50 each from fucking HMV now.

 

[FoolKiller]

Because of that, the report says the "packaged goods business" should be viewed by the industry as two distinct sectors: hardcore games, selling primarily on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, and casual, which focus on the Wii and DS.

Well this is the first problem. They speak of hardcore gamers playing 360 and PS3 and casual as Wii and DS. I would argue that many so-called hardcore gamers love games no matter the console and would, over time and finances permitting, acquire a broad variety of consoles and games.

As for why those happen to have many stick to physical vs. digital, it has to do with the way things are worded in EULA and TOS for Sony and Microsofts digital distribution. I have games from the Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA) that are no longer on the marketplace. If my 360 dies, I can never play those offline again and god forbid if I run out of space on my hard drive and need to temporarily delete something and not be able to get it back.

Both of those companies are so protective against piracy that it locks you down in options.

Also, and this is just current gen bitching, but I have over 240 X360 games on disc. The max that a 360 hard drive can be is 320 GB. I can't even have all my games on it. Not to mention the fact that my ISP has a 60GB cap per month, so if I game hop as much as I do, I would need to pay huge overage charges for just playing.

Then there is the problem that I can't just pop the game in and play. I have to install it when I get it.

A lot of these problems would have to be ironed out before I say yes to a primarily digital distribution service.

PS
If it's all digital, then why not stick to PC gaming. It already allows controller support for most games and I can find most 360 games on PC at this point. If that's the case, why should I have a console?

 

[medv4380]

I'd have to disagree with their thesis.

It seems primarily based on Wii sales figures dropping faster than the PS3 or XBox at retail. Then saying that it correlates to the rise of free to play and social games. Well I can also correlate the recession to the rise of free to play, and social games as well, but that doesn't mean that they caused the recession.

In my view a more plausible explanation is the one that happens every gaming cycle. Nintendo announced their next system first and their WiiU is closest to launching. As such most AAA Nintendo titles have been shifting to the WiiU instead so that they can try to make launch because they are aware that a portion of the fan base will hold onto cash to try to have enough for launch, and the diminishing volume of AAA games detracts from sales. This is what usually happens with the console cycle, and since it's happened before between other console launches I have no reason to blame free to play or social games for it.

If you want to know if "Hard Core" gamers are retail junkies or not then it might be better to see some data on which games sell digitally vs which games sell in retail.

 

[Roboto]

And... PC gamers aren't considered Hard Core now?

If you give more than 400 dollars for a machine you ain't hardcore enough.

Hey!!! I resent that. Anti aliasing is expensive

 

[Pumpkin_Eater]

Doesn't seem to suggest WHY certain gamers are sticking to retail. I'd be curious to know that. Further study needed, perhaps, unless the reports haven't picked up on it.

I would speculate that collector's editions are one of the main reasons.

I, for one, buy used games console games retail, all my PC games through Steam and Indie Bundles.