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PoV: The Failures of an All-Digital World |
Listed in: PS3 Tags: digital distribution, pov
We’ve been inundated with rumors regarding Microsoft and Sony’s upcoming next-gen consoles. One thing that keeps coming up is this idea that one or both consoles may go the all-digital route, eschewing traditional physical games an instead opting for a direct-download system. I’m here to tell you that this purported “all-digital” revolution is years, if not decades away, and that new games will come in physical boxes for the foreseeable future.
Here’s why:
Internet Access
It’s easy for us in super-connected countries and big cities to forget that enormous parts of the world do not have access to high-speed internet. Hell, my family lives in the United States, but only has access to what I think might be the worst DSL connection I’ve ever seen. If it takes three days for the average person to download a game, they’re not going to download it. Digital distribution relies on fast, constant web connections, and they’re just not widely available enough.
Technophobia
In every segment of the population, there is a group of people terrified of change. In gaming, there are plenty of people who rail against all-digital distribution because of the idea of “ownership.” Basically, people want hard copies of their games so they can ensure those games are playable until the end of time. The rationality of this argument is specious at best, especially with modern DRM, but it’s a concern that needs to be addressed. Game hoarders will never come onboard if they think they can still run their Myst discs in 20 years.
Market Share
The primary goal of a game publisher is making money. They don’t care about quality and they don’t care about what gamers think—that’s the developer’s problem. Publishers want to maximize the money they make. And while digital distribution would be more profitable in the long run, at the moment an all-digital plan would cut off significant portions of the population. Don’t expect publishers to take financial chances just because some of us gamers are ready to take the plunge.
Those, in my opinion, are the three primary problems with the current all-digital model. I’m sure there are others, and there are certainly counterpoints to these concerns—which I would love to hear in the comments.
For now, it looks like a 100% digital future is still a ways away.
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Comments
Back when you had big kick ass boxes with velcro keeping the cover closed was a way too see how kick ass the game was. Basically downloadable content is those cheep games with a box size of a music cd.
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You're insulting me..
I'm not a hoarder, just a collector who wants to admire his physical game collection.
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I look forward to adding the new LSL to it!
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Now take Siren: Blood Curse. It was launched all the way back in the infancy of PSN, and they are still trying to charge $39.99 for it. Three and a half years of gaming has been released, but they still are trying to charge release day pricing for an outdated game? That is just crazy.
Situations such as this would never be possible with a physical copy on the market. A proof of concept example would be Burnout Paradise which was sold digitally and physically and saw major price reductions.
There are other failures with the current model of digital game sales like their pathetic excuses for price cuts/sales. Brick and mortar retailers rotate price cuts on a variety of games weekly and reduce prices on games quickly after launch to make room for new stock. Sony takes a buck off here or there, but if you compare a buck or two against retail price reductions, the value just is not there. Hell, portal 2 was a huge hit last year and you could get new copies for $30 last October.
The consoles will have to figure out a way to make their products reflect the pricing value structure gamers have come to expect or find a way to lower our expectation even more before an all digital distribution network could be achieved.
/rant
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Its not because people want a bunch of DVD cases lining their shelves, but because they can actually do whatever they want with the game they own, you essentially don't even own a digital game. You can't lend it to someone, can't sell it used, and in 99% of cases can't even rent them. In fact, as iPhones, the Kindle, and Android phones have proven, its even possible for the manufacturer of the OS to remote into your device and delete anything they don't want you to have on there. Apple and Google did it to remove a malicious app (Granted, I don't have a problem with them removing viruses, but this means they basically have to power to remove ANY app from your phone remotely) and Amazon removed everyone's copy of the book "1984" from their Kindles because they found out they didn't own the rights to sell it in the first place. There are already games on the 360 arcade marketplace which no longer exist.
Plus there would also be another massive issue with a DD-only console as compared to PCs, in that on the PC, you have multiple choices for your DD service, as well as the option of physical disks still. On a console, you would only be allowed to access the digital store of the manufacturer. This essentially means a monopoly, the people who made the console are the only ones who you can buy games from. Prices will stay high as there will be no competition with other stores, no rental services, and no used market.
Its not technophobia or just wanting to have a collection that makes people not want a DD-only console.
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