GameStop: Games' digital distribution not a threat |
A lot of people are predicting a rather doomsday-ish scenario for the plight of the retail industry in the rise of the DL format. While many are saying that game disks will eventually bow down to their downloadable counterparts, GameStop is keeping calm, and is, in fact, of the belief that the DL format is no threat to retail business such as theirs.Says Tony Bartel, VP for GameStop,
Actually we really don't see it as a threat. When you talk about a threat, we actually see a couple of things. First of all, when you look at the digital download space, 95 percent of the games taht are downloaded today are on the PC side, the majority of which are casual. About 2 percent of the entire console market is downloaded today, and that's a growing rate that's slightly less than the actual boxed product on video games. So the console market really today consists of what we call microtransactions, where you add the extra maps, where you add the extra pieces. So there's very little of the full game downloaded that is actually taking place on the console side.
And according to him, what's gonna keep them afloat and distinct from these downloadables are the manpower they have in the store. Yes, it's thanks to their helpful staff that the convenience of DL games will be no match to retail ones.
What we see is that the games are incredibly complex, and with the complexity - and espe
cially with the investment that they actually have as well both in terms of time and money - we actually see that there is an increased need for someone to explain the game.
What do you guys think? Will it be any time soon that you prefer to get your games online, or do you think dragging yourself away from the computer for a good ol' walk under the sun to GameStop is still a huge hit?
Related Digital Distribution Articles:
- Downloads in, Blu-ray out in the near future
- Downloads to replace traditional media within 10 years?
- Microsoft official reflects on digital distribution
Via Gamespot
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Comments
This is nothing to do with the post, just wanted to rant about Gamestop. While some Gamestop stores my differ, the majority are like what is shown in the picture. Racks of the same game gutted 37 times to fill up space and few games everywhere else. Because Gamestop only sells the newest releases and you'll rarely find anything more sixth months old, Gamestop really doesn't give you a choice of what to buy(overall a less amount of a choice.) I actually saw the second Gamestop I've ever seen that has the wall filled with tons of games. I literally asked the person whether they were once an EB games. When EB flourished Gamestop actually stocked games just to keep in competition.
I buy stuffs like SFII HD Remix on PSN etc but I still think actually holding the disc in hand is better since I can trade it back and etc.
Is this another one of GameStop's persuasion in getting you to buy buy buy without knowledge of a game or games?
Virtual Games does not stay with ya. Hard Copy Games does stick with you forever and ever until you give it to somebody or trade. will xbox support the games we virtualy buy for years to come?
Gamespot have their own "direct download" website for videogames.... How can they see this as a treath when they do it... http://www.gamestop.com/downloadnow
to me, it is more like iso iso iso without knowledge of a game or games. To get me to actually buy something is rare but I do support good stuffs like Gears2, Portal etc.
Buying PC games boxed is actually better than downloading it. Just look at games like Portal and Crysis. They're more expensive to download than when buying it boxed. Portal is $20USD on Steam, while boxed, it's $10USD. Crysis, on GameStop's site anyway, is now $20USD boxed and still $50USD to download.
Uh it might be a threat to the disc makers/retails Plus I like buying my games from retail stores NOT DIGITAL! Cause if you have to format your PC you will loose that game as well if it's digital.
I have cfw on my PSP. constantly having to be up to date on ofw to download games in the future will be a *****storm for everyone on cfw. Even if the cfw was to keep up to date i'd still have to buy games which i personally think is lame. So i've decided that when new PSP games come out i'm going to make sure that i have ample disk space on my 8gb buy a game from Gamestop go to cold stone and relax with icecream while i rip the UMD then return the game 20 minutes later for full price. No money lost in store or online and no time wasted on .iso/.cso download sites.
Haha, good idea. Back in the school days we used to do that with PC games but had to bring them all the way home (before laptops were affordable). But I didn't know there was an app to rip games directly from the PSP?
"Ee actually see that there is an increased need for someone to explain the game." Customer: Can you explain how Fallout 3 plays? Employee: I dunno man, read the manual. Customer: Will this work on my computer? Employee: Yeah sure man! Like, no problem! Customer: Will this be ok for my 6 years old kid? Employee: Yeah man, he's gonna like totally dig it! Customer: My game won't work! Employee: I dunno dude! I'm on break right now! Customer: Where can I get info on the game? Employee: Dude, I said I was on break!
Why? Because DL games have NO RESALE VALUE. They cost full price and are worth nothing. How can they be worth nothing, you say? Simply because you can't re-sell them. At least when you buy a real game, if you don't like it, you can sell it online and get most of your money back (or take it to GameStop and get a fraction of your money back). However, if you buy a DL game and you don't like it, you're stuck with it.
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