Will all games eventually become Download Required?

[Lightslei]

From this perspective it removes the cost of getting the game out through a middle man aka retailers, as well as that of the overhead cost from producing game disc, and the like. However so many places that require you to download games usually have a message in the terms of service that if the company goes under and service is terminated than you would lose every game you have paid for through this service. The perfect scam to force people to keep rebuying the same games by terminating and recreating services under other companies. This can also remove publishers from being involved by allowing the studio to give directly to the public.

However, doesn't this seem all too easy to allow companies to steal from us. As it is they already want to ban the sale of used video games (I can understand banning the sale of used CURRENT generation games, but previous generations where even some of the games are extroadinarily difficult to find? Seems absurd), so if they remove you being able to buy tangible copies of a product, require you to download it under these terms of service that say they can basically jump ship and take the game away from you, how would it make you feel?


Do you think the gaming industry will eventually become all download required under these Terms of Service that let them essentially take back a product after you pay for it?
Do you think it would be accepted by society at that point? (I am assuming by the time this occurs people will stop spouting the "Video Games are Satanic" bullshit, and it'll be more socially acceptable)

Just interested on your thoughts.

 

[mad825]

if people continue to suck off Steam's balls then I wouldn't be surprised if it did.

 

[L-J-F]

if people continue to suck off Steam's balls then I wouldn't be surprised if it did.

Haha classic XD

Hopefully when they do eventually all become download only, there will be many places to buy from instead of Steam getting a complete monopoly over the entire games industry.

 

[helldragonX]

I hope they don't all become download only. I like having the disk personally, I feel better when I do.

 

[Nom Pretentieux]

Hope so. Stops the entire used games debate short, plus it allows for less size restriction and files generally runs quicker from HDD.

 

[Ignatz_Zwakh]

I hope they don't all become download only. I like having the disk personally, I feel better when I do.

I second this. I like my games tangible. :/

 

[Ashsaver]

Digital purchases aren't gonna become a norm in the next 5 or 10 years,if that's what you're asking.

*I'm fine with digital purchasing PC games,but console games? nahhh.

(Imagine Halo:Reach's "can't play coop if you don't have a hdd" problem multiply by 11)

 

[mad825]

Digital purchases aren't gonna become a norm in the next 5 or 10 years,if that's what you're asking.

*I'm fine with digital purchasing PC games,but console games? nahhh.

(Imagine Halo:Reach's "can't play coop if you don't have a hdd" problem multiply by 11)

don't forget that this is the first gen of consoles that HDDs(*cough* SSD for Wii) are embraced, the next gen is most likely going to have a heavy dependence on permanent, mass storage. just like PCs ^.^

 

[Ashsaver]

Snip

Oh i know current gen consoles are relying heavily on HDD (My 360 has 250gb,and my PS3 has 320gb) I brought up Halo:Reach's "can't play coop if you don't have a hdd" problem to emphasize the fact that not every one has HDD for their console,and not everyone who do have HDD can connect their console to the internet,or convenient to do so(I'm in this "inconvenient to connect my consoles to the internet" zone)

I think the same guy who analyze that publishers will charge gamers for playing their games online (Which is coming true,thanks to Kotick) also said something similar to my original post.

You know,hypothetically, if all games are digitally purchase only, it would probably hurt the overall economic:Those money spent on anything relate to distributing physical copies are gonna feed somebody stomachs. If it gone,will result in many unhappy people.

But i gotta admit, digital purchasing is really convenient if you're able to utilize it well, As Steam proven. (darn,I'm a hypocrite xD)

 

[Gigaguy64]

Who knows.
I hope not myself.
I love having a physical copy of my games, it makes me feel safer incase anything happened to my data, and i also love Box art and Booklet Art :3.
Also it would put many people out of a job...not good.

But Digital Download will become even more widely used in the future.
I just hope it doesn't kill the industry for Physical Games.

 

[irequirefood]

Considering my download limits and the fact the only two games I have downloaded off Steam were the free copy of Portal and Alien Swarm, I would be kinda screwed by this. But this is in my current situation, and things could change between now and whenever this happens, if it does happen.

 

[Bon_Clay]

That's what the man want, then he'll have us by the balls. Screw that noise, if I can't hold the game in my hand I won't pay for it.

 

[Serving UpSmiles]

Not everyone has a credit card, so no.

 

[Arachon]

Oh god... I hope not, then we'd be truly boned, having all games at the same outrageous prices as on Steam (excluding sales of course).

 

[Hateren47]

I wouldn't mind it one Mbit (oh-hoho) as I have a relatively fast internet connection and I get 95% of my games on Steam already. With TB HDDs I think consoles are ready to join the modern world in the next generation. I don't think games will be cheaper though, that's not how the industry does things.

 

[Char-Nobyl]

Hmm...got a few parts to the OP to answer.

From this perspective it removes the cost of getting the game out through a middle man aka retailers, as well as that of the overhead cost from producing game disc, and the like. However so many places that require you to download games usually have a message in the terms of service that if the company goes under and service is terminated than you would lose every game you have paid for through this service. The perfect scam to force people to keep rebuying the same games by terminating and recreating services under other companies. This can also remove publishers from being involved by allowing the studio to give directly to the public.

Retailers, as it stands, have a fairly symbiotic relationship with game developers. If, say, the Playstation were to decide "We're going to completely cut out retailers from the equation to make more money," think of what would happen as a result. First off, big stores like Best Buy, Gamestop, etc would have *heavy* incentive to stop selling Playstation-related things. Why? Simple enough: they know that they're being gypped. Sony would be just trying to cut them out of the loop in a rather large area of their profit. And God knows that Microsoft and Nintendo would be happy to make retailers comfortable (and assure that they return the favor to Sony by dropping their products).

And second, if the "Three separate machines, then buy a new copy" and "We can remotely shut down your game at will" bit is any indicator, a lot of developers are flat-out dicks. The price of games is *highly* unlikely to drop even if they were making tons of extra money by cutting out retailers.

However, doesn't this seem all too easy to allow companies to steal from us. As it is they already want to ban the sale of used video games (I can understand banning the sale of used CURRENT generation games, but previous generations where even some of the games are extroadinarily difficult to find? Seems absurd), so if they remove you being able to buy tangible copies of a product, require you to download it under these terms of service that say they can basically jump ship and take the game away from you, how would it make you feel?

That isn't a new phenomenon. Literally any company with a product to sell would rather you buy a new one from them rather than buying a used one from a mate when he gets tired of it. It applies to cars, electronics, pretty much everything.

Do you think the gaming industry will eventually become all download required under these Terms of Service that let them essentially take back a product after you pay for it?

Nope. As already stated, there'd be plenty of backlash from both consumers and retailers. Look at how much flak MW2 caught for not having dedicated servers: even retailers were stocking BC2 in an effort to profit off the "Boycott MW2" crowd.

Do you think it would be accepted by society at that point? (I am assuming by the time this occurs people will stop spouting the "Video Games are Satanic" bullshit, and it'll be more socially acceptable)

In this magical world, I also assume the sun has stopped shining, the ocean has solidified, and Fred Phelps has become a stable and contributing member of society.

In other words, there will *always* be nutcases. The trick is making sure that they're always outnumbered.

 

[NoNameMcgee]

Yep. It's going to happen. Most likely with the next gen of consoles it will become the 'norm' and the gen after that it will be quite literally the only way to purchase new games. That's my prediction anyway. Internet connections just need to catch up a bit in some places (like here in australia) so it's viable for everyone. It cuts down on production costs, it is better for the environment (not that anyone cares) and it is much faster and much easier.

As a PC gamer, Steam has basically almost completely taken over PC gaming already and consoles will follow suit. Sad for collectors who like to have boxes taking up space (those freaks ) and better for most people.

It's going to take over, guys. I know there are a group of people who dislike it on this forum (for silly reasons in my opinion) but you're a small minority and you're going to be an even smaller one as more people warm to it. It's quite simply better in almost every way.

 

[TheComedown]

I fucking hope not. I do not want to have to get a credit card to purchase games. Credit cards create too much financial baggage.

Just get like a visa debit, its your own money, easy solved.

The biggest problem with the digital distribution thing is download limits and speeds, and until a large number of places pick up their game in terms of internet service you won't have digital only, for many people it would cause them to exceed their download limit with just one game.

 

[Lightslei]

Yep. It's going to happen. Most likely with the next gen of consoles it will become the 'norm' and the gen after that it will be quite literally the only way to purchase new games. That's my prediction anyway. Internet connections just need to catch up a bit in some places (like here in australia) so it's viable for everyone. It cuts down on production costs, it is better for the environment (not that anyone cares) and it is much faster and much easier.

As a PC gamer, Steam has basically almost completely taken over PC gaming already and consoles will follow suit. Sad for collectors who like to have boxes taking up space (those freaks ) and better for most people.

It's going to take over, guys. I know there are a group of people who dislike it on this forum (for silly reasons in my opinion) but you're a small minority and you're going to be an even smaller one as more people warm to it. It's quite simply better in almost every way.

Yes, freaks for not liking companies being able to rip a product out of your hand due to ToS.

I don't like paid downloads to begin with .