The "one/no-console" era.

[Happiness Assassin]

And we shall call it the Era of Good Feelings. Unfortunately, this new console could never have everything that people crave, whether it be hardware, interface, or even all the games people want. Any manufacturer could step in to the market and shake things up. Competition is the foundation of a capitalist society and one console would essentially be a monopoly.

 

[Sonic Doctor]

If that happens , i quit gaming and i become a retro gamer . Seriously , no more physical copies of my games? Fuck that! I want something tangible . I do not seek nor desire that future!

Just out of curiosity...... How many games do you have on your shelf; how many games do you have in your Steam Library?

Physical copies of games i have about 300+ going from NES to current gen. It's not a lot but i only buy games in genres i enjoy rather than collecting every possible game .

Steam i have 7 , one of which was gifted to me. All indy games that i couldn't have played otherwize + that 1 free copy of portal.

I'm 24 years old.

You sir, are most definitely the exception...... Not the rule.

Considering the retro game market on E-Bay which I have been trudging through as of late, the exception is getting bigger and bigger.

I already had a large back library of old console games, but by using a good deal of the money($322) I got for Christmas, my retro game collection grew by 32 games, 18 of which being NES(9 being 100% complete in box), 4 SNES, 1 Sega Genesis, 8 Gameboy, 1 N64.

I just haven't felt like playing or buying newer games. I've also been in a nostalgic/collecting mood.

I am surprised on how many NES games are still around that are complete and in box with everything, and cheap for the most part. The most I spent for one complete in box game was for Castlevania 2.

But whatever, I'm getting sidetracked.

What I'm saying is that the retro market is huge, and it is getting bigger. Many people are retreating back to the basics.

Oh, and Steam wise, I have around 30 or so games, though most of those are indie games from a few of the different Humble Bundle deals I donated to.

For right now, I think I'm going to keep buying old games. I've narrowed my collecting to NES in box, because it is so amazing having it in such a condition. While save the rest of my extra to get a new PC. But I for one hate this era of games becoming less and less physical.

I want my boxes dammit! With instructions and extra goodies! I'm pissed when I find that the new games I buy for my 360 don't have physical manuals. If I'm given a physical option, I will always take it, even if it is more expensive.

 

[Shadowstar38]

Monopolies are bad m'kay?

Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo dick slapping each other and trying to put out the better game is what drives the ambition to make sales.

 

[lacktheknack]

Game cloud streaming is beyond my limits, thanks. Internet bandwidth is expensive enough.

 

[lacktheknack]

Boohoo no more physical copies, deal with it. Music has.

CD's are still readily available.

Therefore your comment is a lie.

brb gonna go stick a CD in my ipod.

I just put a recent vinyl acquisition of mine onto my music player. Your argument has been shot twice.

Also, you're pretty dang curt and smartass-ish for someone with the Banhammer of Damocles hanging over their head.

 

[Snotnarok]

I don't think the streaming to devices will ever really take shape. Physical will probably stay around but as we know it from steam, buy and now it's linked to your account and now you can just download it.

How do I feel about all games on one device? ...I play most of my games on PC, so I'm already there.

 

[Dracthor]

I don't see something like this happening until fast affordable (hopefuly relable) internet is acessable to all. At that point I wouldn't mind seeing a cloud based gaiming system where all the hardware and games are server side. All one would need is a controller and a screen that can connect to the internet (or a small internet box to plug into the TV).
The bad side of this is that no hard copys would be avalable and if an account gets hacked then all the games would go with it (unless licenses are stored in the controller). On the plus side it would be harder for people to mod or hack the games makeing multiplayer better (for the non hackers). Another positive would be that one could freely switch the game between TVs, Monitors, Tablets, Smartphones, and anything else with an internet display.

 

[Rad Party God]

Happy PC gamer here with almost 350+ games on Steam, and some more in GOG.

Definitely not looking forward to any console and definitely not looking forward to return to physical copies.

Good riddance I say.

 

[MorganL4]

Just out of curiosity...... How many games do you have on your shelf; how many games do you have in your Steam Library?

I'll answer this one too!

On my Shelf: Counting only PC games, because you've said Steam Library and I don't own a console that can use digital distribution, over 100 games.
Steam Library: 10 games, 6 of which I have the physical copies of but which need to be tied to Steam thanks to DRM.

I don't have bad Internet or anything, its just faster to shove a CD in and install than it is to download 20-30Gb then install, and I'll go for practicality over novelty any day. I can spend half an hour going down to the shops, buying a game, coming back and then 5-10 minutes installing it, or I can take a few hours downloading it then 5-10 minutes of installing it. Its obvious which one would win out for me. Until I can download at 20Mb/s [Megabytes not Megabits] consistently for a game, its not going to be the digital version.

As for exception not the rule... No, not around here. Sure, Steam is great, but the people I know are smart enough to to get tricked into spending hundreds of $ on sales because they're cheap, and have worse Internet than me so that it'll take them several days to download a 20Gb game they want to play. They'll have a lot of games tied to their Steam Accounts, none of them will be installed via digital distribution.
Whether games stores are closing down or not depends on where you live. If you've got really fast Internet and live in an area where there's a lot of traffic so getting to the shops is a pain in the ass, you'll probably go digital. If you live in an area where the Internet is medium or slow speed, and its rather easy to head down to the shops, you'll take physical media. This is, of course, ignoring people who go the novelty route and buy CDs because they like CDs or download digital 'cause its a cool thing to be able to do.
Yeah, digital distribution is growing, its not at the point where almost everyone downloads all their games though, and it won't be for quite a while for very practical reasons; namely the billions of dollars it'll take to properly upgrade the Internet everywhere, and the fact that until that happens large parts of any games audience will be left out by digital distribution.

Yeah, I guess I forget about the geographical situation sometimes.... I live about a half hour drive from the Microsoft campus... and roughly the same distance from Valve.... So yeah, round here the network infrastructure is pretty solid.

 

[Sack of Cheese]

If that happens , i quit gaming and i become a retro gamer . Seriously , no more physical copies of my games? Fuck that! I want something tangible . I do not seek nor desire that future!

I'm with you, mate! It feels more connected, the physical act of owning it, and the scent, plus you can display it. It's more tangible than just having an icon on your computer.
I can't really describe the feeling.

 

[elvor0]

Fun fact: I personally write with a feather pen and an ink well when writing things around my house

So it is not as rare as one might think

Fun Fact: I once carved my name onto a rock, guess that's still a relevant form of media.

Apparently joking around goes clear over your head.

And rock carvings, that is quite the relevant media, its called Art! People carve on rocks to make statues all the time, guess thats not quite relevant though?

Well played sir, well played.

On topic: It seems nice in theory but in practice, doesn't end up that good for the consumer. Competition at some level breeds innovation, if nobody has anyone to compete with, nobody is going to try and outdo each other. On the topic on Physical vs Digital, it's a rock and a hard place for me, on one hand I love having the physical boxes, every game I've ever owned (with the exception of Rock Band 1, as it's existence is totally superfluous on my shelf) I still own, I've never sold, traded or thrown away a single game, they all hold memories and treasured moments, even Simpsons skateboarding, (ie the worst game I own) gets a place to the monument that it's the worst game I own. On the other hand, digital copies are much cheaper and I can get them anywhere I am without taking up any space.

I do however try and get empty boxes for the steam games I own, just so I can stick it on my shelf to the take its place with the rest of my memories. It's like having a library of books, of which I also have a rather large collection, and have yet to go to digital as I really don't like reading on an e-reader and I love everything about that new "thing" (be that game, movie, book) the smell, the feel, opening it up and looking at the doodads inside.

 

[The_Echo]

Do we have one brand of car? Computer? TVs?

... No? We... we don't? Huh.

There will always be multiple consoles. We may see a day where all games are digital downloads ,though I don't see it happening soon; we still haven't even done that with music yet.

Personally, I like consoles, and hard copies. The idea of a singular, digital gaming system is convenient. But... I don't want that. It wouldn't be the same.

There's a part of me that still misses plugging cartridges in. There was something... real about it. I dunno.

 

[Chimpzy_v1legacy]

I do however try and get empty boxes for the steam games I own, just so I can stick it on my shelf to the take its place with the rest of my memories. It's like having a library of books, of which I also have a rather large collection, and have yet to go to digital as I really don't like reading on an e-reader and I love everything about that new "thing" (be that game, movie, book) the smell, the feel, opening it up and looking at the doodads inside.

I completely understand.

There is just something about walking up to your shelves, bookcase, dvd tower (or whatever you use) and seeing your collection displayed before you in all its glory. You put on something new, another addition to your ever growing ensemble of entertainment. Then something catches your eye, you grab it and think to yourself: "Hey, been a long time since I've played, watched, read this." So you're off doing just that. And good times will be had.

Also, if hard copies were to disappear, I'll never get to finish my Wall of Games.

 

[Smooth Operator]

Well in a way and yet not, it is called Onlive.
Yes that had the potential to run any game regardless of build on any system, again regardless of build, but it was before it's time so they went bust.

Convenience factor of such a system once connectivity is solid would be through the roof, any phone, tablet, netbook, laptop, PC, mac, or whatever console would have the opportunity to play all games from your collection, in a perfect world that would be perfect.
But we are not in a perfect world, we do not like to be equal, we do not like to play fair and we do not like to share.

Ergo that system just turns around on itself, no closed platform wants to support it because they don't want money going elsewhere, developers don't want to play along because that system takes thing out of their hands, and everyone will try to make their own streaming system which means your game collection is as fractured as ever.
Most importantly your entire gaming experience relies on the good will of a single company, and with US law being bought and payed for by these very companies they have no real obligation to keep providing what you payed for.

 

[TehCookie]

Just out of curiosity...... How many games do you have on your shelf; how many games do you have in your Steam Library?

I want to join in on this too!
I have around 200 physical games and 25 Steam games. Out of those 25 Steam games I do have the physical copy of 6 while 14 are indie games that never had a physical release. That's just counting the ones on my shelf too, not ones tucked away in my basement.

Though I think it may be an age thing, it seems that a lot of people who grew up buying games want to keep buying physical copies while those who were older before they bought games are fine with DD.

OT: A one console market would never be a good thing, competition keeps prices low. If there was only one console and you had to buy that one, the company could charge whatever they please and you couldn't take your business elsewhere if you disapproved. You would either have to deal with it or not get it.

 

[mattaui]

Despite having grown up with all the consoles, starting with an Atari and now owning a 360, consoles have never come close to capturing my gaming time as PCs have. So I already live in a world where 98% of all the games I want are available over the Internet, via Steam and other streaming services, and I can play them at home, at the office or on my laptop. And I can even put them on my TV if I feel the need, especially with Steam's new big screen service.

And as for owning a physical copy? I've got half a dozen physical copies: the hard drives of my desktops and laptops, not to mention a cloud backup. I've never quite understood the special place that a lone physical disc or cartridge holds, since that can be stolen, lost or damaged so very easily.

I look forward to a day when the idea of a game only being available on one platform (and the very idea of independent gaming platforms) is seen as a curious relic of the past.

 

[The_Echo]

snip

For a while there I think we only had one form of handheld game system via the Gameboy, nothing really competed with it.

The Atari Lynx was released just a month after the Game Boy. The next month, Sega Game Gear. The month after that, TurboExpress.