Why online distribution will suck

[Sakash]

Don't get me wrong, i absolutely love steam and other distributors. In fact since i started buying games online i haven't bought a physical copy of a game in years. But after watching the most recent Jimquisition, he said that online passes will destroy second hand game sales.

And then i saw my steam account.

I have over 60 games and i quickly realized that those games are mine FOREVER (unless of course you lose your account)
That means i cant sell, swap or even give away these games when i get bored of them or have simply played them through. Which leads us to the point of: If the popularity of online distribution gets so popular that future consoles and PC's will simply download all their games, what happens to the second retailer or buyer?

 

[WiredUP]

Either they die out or they adapt to the new online distribution environment.

 

[Fanta Grape]

They die out and either move into the online distribution business, another sector of the gaming production, or simply start a new sort of business. I hate to sound entitled but when it comes to games, it's really all about the customer and the player. I don't think this will negatively effect the production of games and all it really does is kill off something that doesn't need to exist in the first place.

 

[Miles000]

I have never sold or traded a game in my life. If i buy something, it's because I want it forever. Whether it's a hard copy or not.

The main problem I have with digital distribution, is the shitty internet I have to deal with here.
It takes me 2 days to download an 8gig game -_-

 

[orangeapples]

While I do like the online distribution thing, I do wish there was a way to "trade-in" your game license for a credit towards your account. You are no longer allowed to access that game without purchasing a new license, but you get like $20 towards another purchase. I don't know, I haven't fully thought it out.

 

[number2301]

They die out and either move into the online distribution business, another sector of the gaming production, or simply start a new sort of business. I hate to sound entitled but when it comes to games, it's really all about the customer and the player. I don't think this will negatively effect the production of games and all it really does is kill off something that doesn't need to exist in the first place.

They die out and either move into the online distribution business, another sector of the gaming production, or simply start a new sort of business. I hate to sound entitled but when it comes to games, it's really all about the customer and the player. I don't think this will negatively effect the production of games and all it really does is kill off something that doesn't need to exist in the first place.

2nd hand sales don't need to exist? Really? REALLY? So things like Craigslist should be illegal? Used car dealerships hurt the car business? Garage sales are destroying the economy?

Really?

Your car comparison is massively flawed. Car manufacturers make a great deal of money, maybe even the majority, on servicing, parts and finance. A 2nd hand game is effectively the same as a new one, a 2nd hand car is considerably different to a new one.

 

[weker]

They die out and either move into the online distribution business, another sector of the gaming production, or simply start a new sort of business. I hate to sound entitled but when it comes to games, it's really all about the customer and the player. I don't think this will negatively effect the production of games and all it really does is kill off something that doesn't need to exist in the first place.

2nd hand sales don't need to exist? Really? REALLY? So things like Craigslist should be illegal? Used car dealerships hurt the car business? Garage sales are destroying the economy?

Really?

That's a slightly over the top reaction you have there. He said doesn't need to exist, not that it should be illegal or is a bad thing, he just said its not necessary.
Pre owned games main use if for people who cant afford new thing, but with steam the sales are so frequent, they actually out way the saving from preowned games.

 

[Chris Binkley]

Except no second hand game stores deal in PC games. They can't actually because of you having in register the games.

 

[weker]

But if Steam and the like are the ONLY market for games, they won't have those sales anymore. What would be the point? Buy from them or don't get the game. They have those sales to entice people to buy from them and not Game Stop.

But steam quickly became almost the only market for online games, and they still offered sales when they had no real competition, additionally publishers (like EA) won't leave steam to take all the dosh.

 

[NLS]

Except no second hand game stores deal in PC games. They can't actually because of you having in register the games.

This. For us PC gamers, this has been the "hard" reality for the past 8 or so years, and I'm totally okay with it. Online distribution won't change that.

 

[ShindoL Shill]

they sell console games. the console would have to die out first, or become 100% digital. in which case, every game shop closes.

 

[CannibalCorpses]

They die out and either move into the online distribution business, another sector of the gaming production, or simply start a new sort of business. I hate to sound entitled but when it comes to games, it's really all about the customer and the player. I don't think this will negatively effect the production of games and all it really does is kill off something that doesn't need to exist in the first place.

They die out and either move into the online distribution business, another sector of the gaming production, or simply start a new sort of business. I hate to sound entitled but when it comes to games, it's really all about the customer and the player. I don't think this will negatively effect the production of games and all it really does is kill off something that doesn't need to exist in the first place.

2nd hand sales don't need to exist? Really? REALLY? So things like Craigslist should be illegal? Used car dealerships hurt the car business? Garage sales are destroying the economy?

Really?

Your car comparison is massively flawed. Car manufacturers make a great deal of money, maybe even the majority, on servicing, parts and finance. A 2nd hand game is effectively the same as a new one, a 2nd hand car is considerably different to a new one.

As is your rejection of it because computer companies stand to make a fortune on DLC that is effectively spare parts on top of the original product. You can actually spend more on the upgrades than you paid for the original product.

It's more comparable to the music industry. You can buy second hand CDs and that doesn't benefit the band who wrote them. The upside though is that you are more likely to goto a live concert which pays the band in question far more revenue than the meagre royalties they are allowed by their record company.

The digital distribution market might just destroy the publishers aswell as the physical games retailers and here is hoping huh? That would be a twist i would welcome and not beyond the possibility of reason

 

[Ruwrak]

I have never sold or traded a game in my life. If i buy something, it's because I want it forever. Whether it's a hard copy or not.

The main problem I have with digital distribution, is the shitty internet I have to deal with here.
It takes me 2 days to download an 8gig game -_-

This... mostly. Except the internet part.


I -bought- these things on my steamaccount, I really don't care less for the 2nd retailer or 3rd person who want to buy it. I might sound egoistic, but I can afford them at launch price and if they can't well though luck for them.

Besides, I doubt anyone would want to buy Blade Kitten from me for a price of 15?+

 

[CannibalCorpses]

Except no second hand game stores deal in PC games. They can't actually because of you having in register the games.

This. For us PC gamers, this has been the "hard" reality for the past 8 or so years, and I'm totally okay with it. Online distribution won't change that.

I would argue that the only reason there is no second hand market for PCs is because piracy is such an easy thing to do. Unless you want to play online multiplayer you can download pretty much any game with a hack...what reason then for trading in? People buy second hand because they are cheaper but nothing comes as cheaply as free downloads.

I'd compare this trend with the DRM bullshit i've been reading about. The games companies are punishing the only people who pay for their products and are still having no effect on the piracy market. The more you remove the cheaper options from the market, the more likely people will find a way to get it all for free and that fucks everything up

 

[CannibalCorpses]

They die out and either move into the online distribution business, another sector of the gaming production, or simply start a new sort of business. I hate to sound entitled but when it comes to games, it's really all about the customer and the player. I don't think this will negatively effect the production of games and all it really does is kill off something that doesn't need to exist in the first place.

2nd hand sales don't need to exist? Really? REALLY? So things like Craigslist should be illegal? Used car dealerships hurt the car business? Garage sales are destroying the economy?

Really?

That's a slightly over the top reaction you have there. He said doesn't need to exist, not that it should be illegal or is a bad thing, he just said its not necessary.
Pre owned games main use if for people who cant afford new thing, but with steam the sales are so frequent, they actually out way the saving from preowned games.

Thus proving that the real problem with the games industry is overpricing and not piracy or second hand sales which are only a by-product of that problem.

 

[Buizel91]

Except no second hand game stores deal in PC games. They can't actually because of you having in register the games.

This. For us PC gamers, this has been the "hard" reality for the past 8 or so years, and I'm totally okay with it. Online distribution won't change that.

A shop in my local town Sells Pre-Owned PC games, Along with Gamecube and original Xbox. How i love CEX <3

OT: I doubt online distribution will get huge any time soon, not everyone has the internet and not everyone has good connections, some people will still need the retailers around.

 

[weker]

Thus proving that the real problem with the games industry is overpricing and not piracy or second hand sales which are only a by-product of that problem.

Well my personal idea for game pricing is all games should be reduced to 75% with the big titles reduced by £10 as 30 pounds for most games I think seems fair. 75% is due to many games I feel are just slightly over priced, like Hard Reset which is a great game, but recently in a discussion they bring up the Witcher 2.

Piracy will always be a problem, I personally don't mind DRM at all, and are yet to have a bad experience, however I will agree that it should not be too over the top and intrusive. With piracy many only do it as they can't afford the game, tho many people still pirate games because they can do it for free with out much risk (insert a variety of swear words aimed at pirates)

In the preowned market the whole issue is pricing and getting the cheapest offer, after all why else would you buy something that will be more damaged. if games pricing was lowered you could hypothetically dissolve the preowned market.

But neither of these issues are "CAUSED" by over pricing, they are only effected by it.
Changing pricing, will not solve it instantly as if you buy it preowned when the price has been reduced, the preowned cost will also be reduced (never ending cycle)

 

[brunothepig]

Spoiler: snip

Don't get me wrong, i absolutely love steam and other distributors. In fact since i started buying games online i haven't bought a physical copy of a game in years. But after watching the most recent Jimquisition, he said that online passes will destroy second hand game sales.

And then i saw my steam account.

I have over 60 games and i quickly realized that those games are mine FOREVER (unless of course you lose your account)
That means i cant sell, swap or even give away these games when i get bored of them or have simply played them through. Which leads us to the point of: If the popularity of online distribution gets so popular that future consoles and PC's will simply download all their games, what happens to the second retailer or buyer?

There are other services that do offer trade ins. The online retailer is still buying the game, except they're only buying the cd key. A friend of mine bought Duke Nukem off some other digital distribution site, sold it back a few hours later and bought some indie hacker game that was actually surprisingly cool. Can't remember the site though...

Point is the advent of digital distribution doesn't mean second hand sales are dead. That said, pre-owned cd keys are no cheaper, but trade ins are still possible. Hopefully Steam will get some solid competition sooner or later and adopt this policy as well. Plus, second hand PC sales have been dead for a long time. Thanks to online activation and the like, it's almost impossible to get a second hand game to work for you.

That said, I don't trade games. I used to, then I started to miss most of the games. Plus, I buy almost everything off Steam, so no trade ins even if I wanted to.

 

[Iron Mal]

Your car comparison is massively flawed. Car manufacturers make a great deal of money, maybe even the majority, on servicing, parts and finance. A 2nd hand game is effectively the same as a new one, a 2nd hand car is considerably different to a new one.

No it isn't, think of DLC and the games that require you to pay to subscribe or have microtransactions as being the equivilent of paying for servicing, parts and insurance on a car.

Online distribution is far from being an ideal solution for anyone.

Customers get bogged down in hefty DRM and have less control over what they're allowed to do with the game they paid for (not to mention being stuck with long, painful download times depending on location and which service you use as well). It's also worth mentioning that there are still a lot of people out there for who the idea of everything being online is either impractical or just an impossability.

What about those people in countries that don't have stable, constant internet connections?

What about the people who can't afford (or otherwise can't obtain) a reliable internet connection?

What about kids? (online distribution is a problem for them in a huge way and an even bigger one for their parents)

Developers still have to battle the constant threat of pirates (and it could be argued that piracy will become an even bigger problem if online downloads are the only way people can access their games) which will only fuel the proverbial arms war between pirates and devs (resulting in potentially even more ridiculous DRM and EULA issues in the future). In short, if you were pissed about how EA have handled the whole 'Origin' problem then an ageof online distribution as the sole source of obtaining games will not just see a continuation of crap like that but will potentially make it worse (not to mention eliminating the alternative of just buying a physical copy).

Then there's the issue that with an age of online distribution as the sole release method there would be no reason to keep physical retailers around, this in turn would result in most (if not all) of them shutting down or going online.

As you can guess, this would result in there being even fewer jobs out there for those of us who are looking for work (if your feelings about that situation are 'I don't care' or 'not my problem' then allow me to be one of many to officially tell you to go fuck yourself).

 

[Nu-Hir]

I'm probably one of the few that are like this, but I actually prefer to have a physical copy of a game if I pay money for it. It just gives me extra satisfaction and piece of mind if I have a physical copy of the game. Although, that might stem from my old school console collection. I don't see brick and mortar stores or second hand sales going away, no matter how popular Steam gets. There will always be people who prefer second hand games to new, and there will always be people who want physical copies of their games.