I would argue that Skyrim is one of the most hollow gaming experiences I've had to date. Even more hollow than whatever time I put into a multiplayer game.BooTsPs3 said:
Your move.
Jimquisition: Don't Charge Retail Prices For Digital Games
- Thread starter Jimothy Sterling
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Your move.
Well that was quick.girzwald said:
Onto the next problem!
That made my post lunch work day.Jimothy Sterling said:
Aye. And that's exactly why EA and everyone else seem to have pretty much already decided to favor digital distribution of game data and 'licenses' over those pesky physical copies. They're hell-bent on destroying or at least severely crippling the second-hand market, eliminating trading or other after-market consumer oddities and random flukes in their equations.anthony87 said:
On one hand, it's a really modern and reasonable thing to do, and be it just because we have the infrastructure to do it; on the other, it's the end of a lot of what made gaming fun. It also gets rid of collectables and the very concept of our current market and distribution outlets. We're bound to see how that plays out - I personally don't like it.
Jim you took every word out of my flapping mouth. This is the reason I've bought one game in four years. The only reason I even bought Starcraft 2 was because my demo (which allowed me to download the full game online AKA I bought a $60 key code) ran up and I had a $50 gift certificate to walmart. The entire argument is the truth. I'd say the only argument that allows retail practices to continue is the boobs who complain about their crappy internet connection which always baffles me that someone would bother buying a $1200 gaming juggernaut computer knowing full well they have poor digital access but I digress. it is a glorious future that could cut out all the gamestops of the world. Literally the wet dream of capitalism of cutting out the middle man.
Not to mention anyone who raves about the green movement, this is a holy grail of efficiency and saving of resources.
All around it would be a good push for developers. Thank god for Jim
Not to mention anyone who raves about the green movement, this is a holy grail of efficiency and saving of resources.
All around it would be a good push for developers. Thank god for Jim
I would expect a random, but well prepared common excuse to go like this:dangoball said:
"Distribution in Europe, that is EU member countries and other, non-EU member countries residing on the European continent, requires special attention and preparation for multiple languages and sometimes rather different legalities and sensibilities. To accommodate for all our customers best interests, we have established legal and business presence in virtually all these countries, or at least many of them, and we have opted to print multilingual booklets on eco-friendly toilet paper. In order to prevent customer confusion from an overabundance of choice, we are dedicated to deliver them only software titles (and licenses) that have been released in their region and are in accordance with their local laws; we are dedicated to eliminate any and all cross-pollution and grey imports and have already installed measures to disable and blow up any consoles that are used to illegally run game titles the customers have bought themselves that are not within the scope of what we have decided to want to offer them. We are currently participating in talks with other software ("games") developers, hardware manufacturers and internet providers to establish an efficient zero-tolerance framework to ensure maximum gaming performance, game title reliability, utmost "fun" value (see scientific definition of the term and study results in appendix F) of the customer experience and a well optimized customer experience resulting in "happiness" and "satisfaction" (see EU regulations in accordance with (IP/08/310) et al).
Would you people bloody stop it with the bad puns? We've already reached Godwin point before the video ended, so no need to go on and play with words...
Shh, Jim, don't help the publishers on this one! Them being completely idiotic about this one is a good thing. The longer they fail at converting everything to digital distribution, the longer we can actually buy retail copies that are available for cheaper, come with more stuff, and are ours to loan to friends, bring to parties, sell if they suck, and other wonderful things digital doesn't offer.
Don't help publishers take away our consumer rights faster by giving them advice! Let them rot while we enjoy the benefits of their incompetence.
Don't help publishers take away our consumer rights faster by giving them advice! Let them rot while we enjoy the benefits of their incompetence.
I'm glad someone said it... The big corporate publishers are making the consumers bend to their will rather than listen to their consumers.
And what do they and their corporate whore fans say when consumers actually tell them what they want? "STOP BEING AN ENTITLED WHINEY ****, BE THANKFUL YOU'RE GETTING ANYTHING AT ALL"
With what EA is doing to Sim City 5 after it was modders alone that kept the franchise alive all this time, they can go fuck themselves and I hope pirates really do have have an effect on their profits. I have no sympathy for them over such arrogrant bullshittery and they deserve bankrupcy for ignoring consumer demand and proper business practices and trying to eliminate game ownership.
Seriously, what other industry would survive running things this way? Telling customers to fuck off whenever they have a product request or legitimate criticism, attacking customers for practicing thier right to resale, and making purchasing outside of retail more inconvenient and less rewarding.
And what do they and their corporate whore fans say when consumers actually tell them what they want? "STOP BEING AN ENTITLED WHINEY ****, BE THANKFUL YOU'RE GETTING ANYTHING AT ALL"
With what EA is doing to Sim City 5 after it was modders alone that kept the franchise alive all this time, they can go fuck themselves and I hope pirates really do have have an effect on their profits. I have no sympathy for them over such arrogrant bullshittery and they deserve bankrupcy for ignoring consumer demand and proper business practices and trying to eliminate game ownership.
Seriously, what other industry would survive running things this way? Telling customers to fuck off whenever they have a product request or legitimate criticism, attacking customers for practicing thier right to resale, and making purchasing outside of retail more inconvenient and less rewarding.
Agreed. Digital distribution is the end of game ownership and game libraries free of online accounts and servers that are required to play.mjc0961 said:
I believe Jim had a bet with someone, that he could make an entire video talking about digital distribution without uttering the word "Steam" or make any reference to said service.
Also mentioning On Live would have been nice. Last I heard it was dirt cheap sometimes.
Also mentioning On Live would have been nice. Last I heard it was dirt cheap sometimes.
Can't say I agree with him on this one. As a consumer, I of course want cheaper games. It's why 90% of my game purchases are through Steam sales these days.
From a business standpoint, it makes no sense to sell your digital and retail games at different prices from day 1. Everyone knows there's a greater markup on the digital product. That's not the point. It's not good business to undercut yourself.
From a business standpoint, it makes no sense to sell your digital and retail games at different prices from day 1. Everyone knows there's a greater markup on the digital product. That's not the point. It's not good business to undercut yourself.
like music i will never go digital and anyway if the games industry goes digital ud still be able to aquire games for free from torrent sites
For me personally I don't like digital distribution. I hate the idea of one day not being able to have a solid physical copy of the game I purchased in my hands. The only time I ever download games is when there is no physical copy like with Minecraft and a few others. If I want a video game I go to a shop and buy it.
That said, I do agree that if something is cheaper to make is should be cheaper to buy. But that's never going to happen. I mean just look at the shops full of clothes made in China that probably cost 20cents to make and yet are being sold for $50~
And as for retail shops threatening not to stock stuff if somewhere else is selling it cheaper something smells ratty right there. Since when was it okay for shop A to demand that shop B match their prices or else they'll throw a big old sulk until the creator of the product makes them.
I mean seriously can you imagine if this was the case in other situations? Where I live EB Games sells most new releases for $20 for than JB does, can you imagine if EB threatened to stop stocking that game until the publisher forced JB to put their prices up?
I understand it's a bit different when you're comparing retail to online purchases but, seriously the idea that shop A has any influence over the prices in Shop B makes me really uncomfortable.
That said, I do agree that if something is cheaper to make is should be cheaper to buy. But that's never going to happen. I mean just look at the shops full of clothes made in China that probably cost 20cents to make and yet are being sold for $50~
And as for retail shops threatening not to stock stuff if somewhere else is selling it cheaper something smells ratty right there. Since when was it okay for shop A to demand that shop B match their prices or else they'll throw a big old sulk until the creator of the product makes them.
I mean seriously can you imagine if this was the case in other situations? Where I live EB Games sells most new releases for $20 for than JB does, can you imagine if EB threatened to stop stocking that game until the publisher forced JB to put their prices up?
I understand it's a bit different when you're comparing retail to online purchases but, seriously the idea that shop A has any influence over the prices in Shop B makes me really uncomfortable.
It's not undercutting yourself. When games are sold at retail, a portion of the profit goes to the retail establishment that sold it and the cost of manufacturing and shipping the physical copies - people that are not the publisher. All they have to do is pass that savings off to the consumer when sold through a digital storefront. They don't even have to pass of all of the savings, just some of them. Say for example, Battlefield 3 comes out digitally and in store at the same time. Would it be that ridiculous to charge 8 to 10 dollars less because EA is their own distributer and didn't have to pay to ship it somebody else and lose a small portion of the profit to them? A lot of consumers would argue that there is numerous disadvantages to not owning a physical copy and would like additional incentives towards the digital ones. And even a slight bullshit incentive like an extra map or five dollars is nothing compared to the savings the publisher gets by selling it through its own digital storefront.babinro said:
Hell, amazon does this all the time. They know damn well that they are at a disadvantage for game sales because shipping direct to the consumer takes slightly longer and is more expensive. You know what they do? They occasionally skim 5 to 10 dollars off of their profit margin to offer an incentive to customers to use their shipping programs like Amazon Prime, or just to get them in the habit of ordering through them. Kmart did this for awhile too through their brick and mortar stores while they were restructuring their games section.
Digital sales are just crazily advantageous to publishers and their inability to realize this is astonishing. Nintendo selling game codes to retailers? WHY? It's practically a charity to places like gamestop and Target. Why give them some of your profit and waste even a nickel on a piece of paper when every single person with access to the internet can easily buy the games without having to leave the house. It's insanity.
You'll have to be a bit clear as to what exactly is that "holy grail of digital distribution" you think other people see Steam as. While I don't think it has the proportions of some fictional holy artifact (It's not fictional or holy and most definitely not a vagina), I do see it as my preferred place to buy games.Ishigami said:
Yes, cheap sales are intended to make you buy stuff, which is not surprising since this is an online store. You can't blame them for wanting to sell stuff.
It might cost more than retail if you live in North America, where games cost the least for some arbitrary reason, but even buying at the regular NA price is usually cheaper than what I can get in retail stores.
Steam is way cheaper than the alternatives some people have. Especially if you consider the sales.
this is just full fletched retarded. the practice that is. No matter what way you look at it the money that goes to paying the guy behind the counter, the owner of the shop, the guy driving the truck, the disc and it's creation.
That now all goes to the publisher. Cutting out those, what, 5 middle men should make it cheaper to get the product to you so paying the same is just them getting more.
shops should be able to compete with stuff like soundtracks and books with art and all that included in the purchase. I used to, and still do, love reading through the books with all the art and backstory in it.
Asking same prices for digital and hardcopy is like demanding supermarkets charge restaurant rates for beef. It's by it's very concept, stupid.
That now all goes to the publisher. Cutting out those, what, 5 middle men should make it cheaper to get the product to you so paying the same is just them getting more.
shops should be able to compete with stuff like soundtracks and books with art and all that included in the purchase. I used to, and still do, love reading through the books with all the art and backstory in it.
Asking same prices for digital and hardcopy is like demanding supermarkets charge restaurant rates for beef. It's by it's very concept, stupid.
What would be really funny and quite in line with the current style is to use goatses for video thumbnails. Thankfully, I won't find out, if you have taken up on my advice, because:Jimothy Sterling said:
Code:
escapistmagazine.com##div.filmstrip_video > a[href*="jimquisition"]
