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With the recent announcement that Patapon 2 for PSP will be available only via download ( Ars Technica), I began wondering how that will affect my future in gaming. At first glance, it seems like this is the new trend. I have seen speculation that disc-based games appear to be on their way out with the popularity of Microsoft's Xbox Live Marketplace, Nintendo's WiiShop and new DSi App Store, and Sony's PlayStation Store. I am just a little skeptical though. As games continue to grow in size, acquiring a game via download will become a chore for those of us living in the US. The majority of us that do have access to broadband cannot get much higher than 6-8Mbps connections unless we pay a large premium for it. Couple that with Time Warner's announcement of a wide-spread deployment of "bandwidth tiers" and we are quickly going to be paying for more than just the game. At 5.5GB for an HD movie, you are already over the lowest tier, not even taking into account your normal Internet usage. Plus, even with a speed of 8Mbps (1MBps) maxed out the entire time, you are looking at 94 minutes to download. As you all know, that perfect scenario never plays out, so you are probably looking at 2.5-3 hours minimum to watch a 90-minute movie in HD with 2.1(!) audio. Imagine downloading a game that is 10, 20, 30+GB, then waiting for the install, then the patch, etc. I do think that handhelds are in line for it. Due to their portable nature and the cost of an SD card, you can easily hold a bunch of small games/apps so you don't have to swap. But I have to believe that, for now, the disc is going to be the preferred method of console distribution.
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I can't even begin to describe still how dead set i am against this.
I have downloadable games but i think my current gen gaming days will be numbered if any of the major gaming companies start to move towards that exclusively.
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I am against it in the sense that I wont be buying any downloadable games or systems, but at the same time it would be a releif because I could spend my time and money on older systems that I missed out on and not worry about the current generation, which would be nice..... for a while.
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I came across this with the Ratchet & Clank: Quest for Booty - download only in the UK. It was 3Gb in size, took over 4 hours and then install and patch before I could even play. Total time was around 5 hours. I can walk to my local game shop and back in less than an hour, which if I could have bought it on disc I would have done. I just don't see how anyone can consider that convenient
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Collecting modern games will suck because of digital distributions. Like how vase and pottery collecting went down after mass production took over
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Might help drive up the classic market.
Which will be good for those already owning them.
Not so much for people like me though should that happen...
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I'm all for it with Patapon 2. UMDs are awful.
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@ga5ket:That's just terrible. You could've looked on eBay for a real copy though. The game was still sold on a disc in Belgium, not sure about the rest of Europe. I've seen it in stores like a week ago. 
I'm really not looking forward to the "downloadable era". Like Crabmaster, I too would focus even more on older games instead of the current generation.
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They won't get a cent from me. If I can't own a real copy, I'll wait until stuff gets cracked and then pirate it. I have more than enough games that I haven't played yet that I can wait.
And I hate thinking that it might come to that, but I'm not going to give them anything if they're not really giving me anything.
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I have downloaded 2 WiiWare games, I can't say I'm against it. I also can't say I support it
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With some games, I can understand why they would just release it as DLC. I mean, I dont think I would spend money just to buy Pac-Man for the Xbox 360. Then again, thats just me. Still, I'm not to happy about the possible change to only Digital Distribution. The whole idea of it annoys the shit out of me. If they do decide to switch to only Digital Distribution, they will have to change the game console itself. Simply because, downloading games all the time takes up precious space on the hard drive. Game companies would have to ship out new consoles with shit-tons of hard-drive space, thus driving up the cost of the systems. To me, overall, a terrible idea.
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@Rajaat the Warbringer: "I'm not going to give them anything if they're not really giving me anything."
They are giving you the game still. The end result is the same.
Downloadable games won't change my gaming habits at all. I'm a gamer at heart and just because the format changes, I will not.
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@Rajaat the Warbringer:
I found tons of stuff allowing you to download homebrew and official releases to your Wii without any modification.
I can't remember the title of it right now but it shows up in your menu like a Wii Channel.
I was pretty weary of it since it voids warranties and is blatant piracy.
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@Izret101:
I believe you're talking about the Homebrew Channel?
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I don't think the next generation is going to be the "download generation" or even the generation after next. I don't believe our current Internet connections and stuff like that are ready for that yet. It'll probably be a few years until a fast enough Internet connection is enough homes to make it possible to download 10GB games in a reasonable amount of time.
That being said, as a collector, downloadable games are the scourge of the Earth. Not actually getting something physical just sucks. But, as a gamer, it could be wonderful as it means no more cluttered shelves and (hopefully) cheaper games as developers don't have to pay for discs and packaging.
Overall, I think small downloadable games that may have never seen the light of day otherwise, are fine. Something like World of Goo was fine as a downloadable game because it probably wouldn't have been popular enough to get a full release on the Wii, keeping it as some forgettable PC game.
I would hate to see full-size games like a GTA, Mario, or Halo game be downloadable only.
I guess the best thing for developers to do would be release each game both ways, as a traditional release and a downloadable version (for maybe $10 cheaper). That way they can satisfy both crowds.
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The thing that bothers me about about download only games with systems like the Wii is if something goes wrong with it my games are gone, I have to trust the supplier to let me re-download them again without a fee.
The other thing that worries is the about of control it allows the publisher like Valve's Stream I have to ask the company for permission to play a game I've paid for.
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The concept of a phasing out of hard media games is in my mind both insulting as a customer as well as a big middle finger to the collectors out there who arguably are some of the most hardcore among gamers. By doing this you are purchasing little more than a licence for the game as you have little way of transporting your copy from one machine to another (if at all able to do so). From this you will have the issues with all these people downloading Wii games and all this content who when wanting to perhaps come back to it after this console generation is over having to either purchase it again from the new consoles online stores or hope that they have that old console still in tact and without any errors.
This situation to me is shameful and the reason why I actually do not own any (thats right) of the 3 current consoles on the market. I refuse to purchase something that provides me with incomplete titles, a system set up to maximize profits from me so that I can obtain entertainment that I normally would just have purchased once for one price and knew what I was getting. I have missed out on many of the new games out there that people rave about that is for sure but I do not wish to get involved in that whole mindset that I see some friends of mine in. Just zombies at following whatever the most recent fad is that their friends are playing on Live, so they go download map packs, and weapons or whatever else just to enjoy the game.
I have my DS lite which I intend to not upgrade and I also for more recent games have my PC which against what many seem to think is not close to being a dead segment of the market. As for my collection I am only interested in something I can hold and keep not something I assume I still have. This as many have pointed out is a great way to control the second hand market, and increase profits for the developers. I will agree in some cases that download makes sense like small arcade titles or what have you but not full current gen titles. This is also troublesome as Time Warner for the US is now considering imposing tight caps on its users making downloadable content even more costly in the end.
If it was up to me I would not have RF Gen include online only titles in the database as it is not what I consider in the spirit of this community. To recognize and add these titles would just for me silly as there is nothing to preserve (aside from maybe the data on the console), and these titles are totally anti-collecting games.
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Just an observation here, it seems some of your are more concerned about having something rather than the game itself. Isn't that against the spirit of being a gamer? Isn't being a gamer about playing games, rather than worrying about how you have them?
@Zenki:
"I refuse to purchase something that provides me with incomplete titles, a system set up to maximize profits from me"
Sorry, but all consoles are set up to maximize profits from you.
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@Tondog:"Just an observation here, it seems some of your are more concerned about having something rather than the game itself. Isn't that against the spirit of being a gamer?"
I suppose it is, but you can just call it the spirit of being a collector instead. 
@Seno:Yeah, exactly. Downloadable games are fine if you're in the current generation, but what if the company that made these games goes bankrupt or the games are simply too old (in a few generations)?
@NES_Rules: "cheaper games".
Don't count on it. For arcade-style games maybe, but not for the big titles. Don't forget that making games is still becoming increasingly expensive, so not having to pay for booklets, discs and boxes will only cause the publishers to have a larger profit. 
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@Tondog:
Allow my to attempt to clarify as I was not trying to make the argument that before this generation Sega, Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft etc were not trying to make money.
With the advent of DLC and download only games the current generation of consoles has begun to do something with games that did not occur on previous generations say for a few select titles. This is that games are being released with either sections removed by the developer prior to shipping the game which otherwise would have been included in previous generations without DLC options. As well companies now have the great position of charging your twice for the same game because your not buying a real copy anymore. Yes there were examples like Katamari with its DLC for the second game that was just insane but there will always be exceptions.
The way this content is delivered unable to be moved is where the issue I take is because its does allow the makers to suck more money out of the gamers beyond just the purchase of the console and the games. If you desire to argue that all previous consoles too attempted to use various schemes and devices to maximize profits take your pick but I think the initial point I was making was missed. Yes they are businesses they want to make more money, but I can at least know when I purchase Paper Mario on my Gamecube that is the game, there is no "real ending the creators intended" or other junk to dilute the game.
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This is a great article and so are all of the responses. I'm very much in the "physical copy or bust" category. As a collector and a consumer, paying full price for a rental license is ridiculous. Fortunately the games I enjoy the most on the X360 (RPGs, Forza etc etc.) don't require me to pay for online access or content. If I do, it's cheap enough to consider disposable.
One of the biggest things missing now that many people may have forgotten, is the tradition of lending games to friends. DRM prevents this while not having a copy takes away the resale/trade value of a title. If you don't think that's important, consider that GameStop, the world's largest game selling chain, makes massive profits and drives it's business from people who want to recoup money from titles they've finished or have become unsatisfied with. Paying for a downloadable title has ironically, a sense of permanence without actual ownership because it's yours, your stuck with it and that's that like it or not.
No one wants to rent every movie they watch, borrow every book from the library and lease every car they drive. Paid licenses for downloadable titles with loads of restrictions and stipulations is just as bad if not worse.
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@Tondog:
:"Just an observation here, it seems some of your are more concerned about having something rather than the game itself. Isn't that against the spirit of being a gamer?"
Yes i am most definitely a gamer.
But if i wanted to download a game i would be a PC gamer which i do on rare occasion. But i am more or less strictly a console gamer.
I can't see paying for a downloadable only copy of a game what happens when that system is no longer supported? And if they do start making them download only then in theory the prices of games should be driven down too. No more paper/plastic for the company to spend their money on. But that won't happen either.
The only games i download (i have very few exceptions to date) are pirated. And that is for good reason.
And as i had said before with dload only games there IS NO SECONDARY MARKET!
I buy a good many of my games used and have saved literally thousands if not tens of thousands of dollars compared to buying them all at MSRP.
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I've never bought a download only game with the exception of Mega Man 9 so I have a question for you guys that do buy download games? Do the prices drop with time like they do at retail. Are there any Xbox Arcade games from 3 years ago still at their original price points? I've only browsed the Wii Virtual Console games and they have never changed in price in 2 years. That bugs me.
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@Crabmaster2000:And why should they? Think about it: they're the only place you can get these games (legally). As Izret said, there's no secondary market with DL only games, so they can pretty much put any price they want on a game and keep it there, because there'll be no eBay, pawn shops, garage sales or flea markets to go look for a used copy.
Damn, the more I think about it, the more I cringe at the idea of a download only gaming industry.
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Alsoooooooooo
http://www.joystiq.com/2009/04/16/sonys-john-koller-says-tangible-disc-still-important/
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@Sirgin:
The only reason I could think of is to drive up demand again if it has become stale. But they just seem to dissapear when they become stale and not discounted.
I love the secondary market!!
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@Tondog:
Last paragraph of a 2 paragraph article
"We've had our top decoders working on Sony's UMD message, and we think we've got it just about cracked: "We're going to keep telling you to buy UMDs until the moment we tell you our next system won't play them." We may not like it, but dammit if we don't respect it."
First less important paragraph of the article
In the latest assault in what we've come to think of as "Operation: Spite David Perry," Sony's John Koller is still insisting that the UMD disc is a valued member of team PSP, telling Gamesindustry.biz, "We look to the tangible disc as continuing to be very important. I think there's certainly a consumer out there who values tangibility. We say that alot [sic] in our research." We're hoping he means "see that a lot," or we're not sure they understand exactly how research works.
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@Tondog:
I don't believe it's even close to the same when DRM allows them to decide when and how I can use these games. When I buy a game, I want to know that I can play it again 20 years from now. I don't want to see a news post saying "(company) just went out of business, so everyone who bought their downloadable games and has to connect to their server every time they try to play it to verify it is now screwed."
It's like I was telling my friend... if they find a way to hack 360 Live arcade games so that they can be played from a disc without any fuss, I'll gladly pay for them with the knowledge that I actually have them.
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As much as the world has changed, our still somewhat niche spot as gamers has adapted to the times as well as the games. We have created our online museum of our past. We share our experiences about the present. And we will evolve together as the gaming community continues to change. I hope to write about some of my experiences with gaming, as well as on some topics that were not directly relevant to me, but to the community or you personally. |
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