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Phil Harrison: physical media to be obsolete, babies will want digital

Posted Dec 4, 2008 at 4:38AM EST by QJ Staff

Listed in: PS3, Wii, PSP, Xbox 360, MMORPG, Nintendo DS Tags: Atari, David Gardner, Infogrames, Phil Harrison, Sony

Here's a bold remark from former Sony boss, now-turned Infogrames prez Phil Harrison: he thinks that physical media will be facing some rather tough times within the next generation or two.

ThereÂ’s a generation of kids being born today and probably already alive who IÂ’m pretty confident will never buy a physical media product. They will never buy a DVD, they will never buy a CD, and they will never buy a game in a box.

Not a surprising thing to say, coming from Harrison. Maybe he's trying to convince himself on the matter. He did, after all (along with Atari CEO David Gardner), proclaim that Atari - a subsidiary of Infogrames - will have 90% of their products online in five years' time.

Talk on digital distribution and its effects on physical media isn't all that new. While Harrison and the rest of Atari may think that we're nearing the end of the physical media era, the other side of the spectrum has Sony: their take on the matter is that the PSP Store DLC isn't a harbinger of death for the UMD format.

If Harrison's prediction proves true, can you already picture it? Fancy talking to your kid about the Age of Discs in the future: "Err, daddy what's a dee-vee-dee disc? And uh, I don't think I even know what a 'disc' is. Daddy, is it a title of an emo song?"

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If Blu-ray replaces DVD then of course they wont have DVD but that wont happen for a while. The only way people wont buy games off the box is if they can download it at 3-4 MB per second and that's still slow considering the size of the games now. Most can probably download at 600-800 KB per second and that's a really good day. Downloadable wont be big until internet speeds are improved and the sizes of HDDs are bigger and cheaper.

Yeah 1st comment

# Phil says... — RexNox 2008-12-04 05:52

the obvious 10 years in advance. So, in 10 years, he can say, "Boy, is my head big." I mean, "I knew it all along".

# >_> — ZeroSama 2008-12-04 06:28

i regularly hit 1-2MB/s

# Doubt it will happen soon — dezza9995 2008-12-04 07:06

I would still prefer to have the game on disc to be honest. I only have a small collection of games, but still that amount I have would not fit on the PS3 hard drive so that would mean that I would have to keep re-downloading. Also, you cant trade in a downloaded game, which is probably why the devs think this is a good idea as some of them were whining that it is hurting the industry.

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# word? — Koolaidsred1 2008-12-04 07:14

I completely disagree. I downloaded GTA4 via pirating (my steam purchase would've taken forever, but I did buy it) and with a quality site with dedicated seeders (blackcats) I downloaded a 13gb game in 3 hours. How is that to long? I downloaded at 1.1 mb/s

# LOL, ya right! — platon 2008-12-04 08:17

Not before the intertnet is 500% faster at the SAME price as now. And even then, I think people will still like to have the real thing instead. I mean, maybe digital to rent movies and games for exemple, but not to buy them, unless it's REALLY cheaper. Like 5$ for a movie instead of 25-30$ for a blue-ray, and 25-30$ for a game instead of 60-70$.

# Really? — Viphid 2008-12-04 10:07

No kidding. We're already seeing this with Music CD's vs ITunes. Games, Movies and TV Shows on XBLM and PSN are doing well. Even downloadable demos of 360 and PS3 games are here, now and popular. Netflix streaming live content thru Millions of PC's and XBOX's across the country for $9 a month?? I've posted before that the Blu-Ray is a waste of time. Really, Sony? Did we really need -another- disc format before going full on download? Seriously, technology is moving two steps forward but Sony want's to take baby steps to cash in on their disc format. We've had TiVo for how long before Blu-Ray and HD-DVD were introduced? Apparently the only thing that "required" a disc that big was MGS4. Sony even admitted that they'd be surprised if their next console used an optical disc format. Meaning they -know- media is going digital download. Thanks for wasting our time and money. Don't think I'm only ragging on Sony because Toshiba could just as easily be under fire for HD-DVD. Other than the few DVD's I want to pick up this year, I'll stick to On Demand and Netflix. As far as games... I love having a hard copy but playing 360 stuff off my HD is so sweet, it's just a matter of time before we start seeing "Buy in store and Download now!" as part of dashboard ads.

-V

# - — APerson 2008-12-04 10:36

I'm all for DD. I no longer buy CD's, iTunes and eMusic has it all for me. I get all my PC games from Steam and I've had more fun with WiiWare/VC, XBLA and PSN games than their proper disc based games.

It's only the DS and PSP that use optical media more than downloaded media for me.

And I'm only on a 2mbps connection, but I get a 120kbps download speed tops. It's good enough for. For the games I want to play it's quicker to get from Steam with the preload option than to go out into town.

# hate to say it — infinitysend 2008-12-04 12:33

yeah he's right. I've been saying this for years, actually. Physical Storage medium is just plain too slow. Maybe after Holographic Data storage becomes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holographic_data_storage) obsolete...

# I would hate... — Main Cowz 2008-12-04 12:58

...if this was true cuz if you would download everything off the internet then it would have a steady price and wont drop until the company says so. Thats why I like my things to be at the store where I can have DEALS.

# Phil Harrison: Phil Harrison to be Obsolete If He Leaves Sony — damonous 2008-12-04 13:02

Ooooops. He already left, didn't he?

Guess that makes him obsolete, then. Next thing you know, he'll be spouting some fantasy-world nonsense about no one ever buying a physical disc product ever again, and that Atari will dominate all because they share is astute 'vision'. :-O

# its not about what you want — xyal_zx 2008-12-04 14:43

are you serious? you think sony wasted money investing in blue-ray players? your a bleeping idiot.

seriously dude. thats the silliest thing ive ever heard. blue-ray is almost 30gb. i admit that i dont like loading my game from disc and feel that it would be much better if you could simply install it for good. but why would i sacrifice my actual product that retains real value Vs a leased product not worth a dime. thats stupid.

secondly the way the corporations decide how things are distributed doesnt have a damn thing to do with what ppl want. its about what makes the most money. obviously completely obliterating all production costs will save them money so it is a good theory that most games will be sold this way in the near future. hell as far as im concerned its already happened since the PSN store is looking increasingly better than EB everyday.

but as for bluerays being useless all i can say is this: why buy a car when you already have a house?

# In Australia... — ValiX 2008-12-04 16:11

One of our better internet plans is AU$69.95 a month for 256kbps speeds and 12GB a month. Some of the more 'Extreme Speed' plans are 512kbps for AU$79.95 - $89.95 a month. If you want a bigger download limit on that, you're looking at $99.99 - $109.99 a month with the limit being about 20GB.

# A lot more things than MGS4 required Blu-ray — ValiX 2008-12-04 16:15

Resistance 2 almost filled the disc...

Heavenly Sword had 10GB of audio alone...

I'm tired but there are more...

# Actually it is... — Viphid 2008-12-04 18:03

because I am the consumer and if I choose not to buy Blu-Ray and invest in downloadable digital content (along with millions of other consumers) then Blu-Ray will die in a few years. Just like LaserDisc, Blu-Ray will be a waste of time. Also, your points of Heavenly Sword and Resistance 2 "almost" filling the disc? Yea, just above average games don't count towards convincing me Blu-Ray is worth it. Especially when Elderscrolls Oblivion and GTA IV take up only 7 gigs each and are scored way better and much longer titles. Blu-Ray is a joke and you are just upset you spent the cash. Digital Download is the future. It's just a matter of time.

-V

# "actually" — xyal_zx 2008-12-04 18:17

actually, ppl that think that they know more about anything and need to actualize the situation in an attempt to prove a point are quite lame. actually, here in reality.

your point is that the corporations that support the developers that release games choose formats based on consumer appreciation is mute.

my point being that if said were so we'd still see new snes and nes titles, marvel vs capcom 3 and much better quality mc donalds food.

blue ray will be obsolete when it has been replaced with a better higher capacity media. making hdds is not cheaper than blueray discs.

also simply because a couple titles used the capacity of the disc doesnt mean that ones that dont are better. IE: what if oblivion and gta DID use more data? sure it could just be some lame video that has bad compression to use up more space. OR... it could be like that game x2, x3 etc... so my ponly point is that Viphid has no real point other than he simply favours running games off the hdd and probobly supports 360. +/

# I WOULD HATE THIS! — Hekynn 2008-12-04 18:18

Damn man i would hate this like crazy if they do this!! Plus downloading everything isn't a good thing at times he needs to learn THAT!

# Wha...? — Viphid 2008-12-04 18:49

I highly suggest you crawl under that rock in that cave you live in, holmes. I worked in retail for 10 years and I see these trends up close and personal every day. Things evolve and change. Physical media is dying and Blu-Ray/HD-DVD was a last ditch effort by two companies that realized there is money in a digital future but didn't know how to capitalize on it before it was too late. So what do they do? Push their new disc formats. DVD sales were down the past two years. People are watching movies and tv shows on Netflix, On Demand and TiVo (or whatever other digital recording device they own) and have been for the last couple of years. Do you need me to add that up for you? Do yourself a favor and just stop. As I said before, in an interview by Sony's own Phil Harrison (before he had the common sense to quit)

http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId+3152746

He was the head of the company so he knew what he was talking about. He knew what Sony's future plans were. That means you are a fool for purchasing a piece of plastic that will be a coaster in 6-7 years. Yay you!!!

-V

As far as your argument that Blu-Ray is cheaper to make than a HD, yea... one disc is cheaper than an HD. But what if that $300 HD could play an infinite number of movies for $10 a month in full 1080p (or whatever your resolution is) rather than a $30 disc that plays one movie over and over again. Value, son. It's a way better value to stream movies then waste gas trying to find your movie at a Suncoast or Best Buy. Fighting for last copies and waiting in line. You think you got the pulse of the industry? You don't know jack.

# - — APerson 2008-12-05 00:31

LOL can't believe you were downvoted to 0 for that! It's factual and makes a good point but I've realised... People here probably prefer the PS3 over the 360, with one of the biggest differences being the larger storage medium. Anything against Bluray will be seen as a virus and killed! mwhaha!

But yes. When I buy a new UMD game I'll copy it to my Memory Stick Pro Duo Alpha Ex Upper. It's HELL of a lot faster and saves battery power than using the UMD drive. Rather like what the new Xbox update lets you do.

HDD's are too delicate and slow, optical media is too slow but very portable. Flash drives (like the 32gb iPod Touch) are probably the best we currently have.

# Right... — Cydonos 2008-12-05 05:08

And then we'll become an androgynous, paperless society living on other planets. Or a hundred other things people have been predicting for decades which will never happen either.

# streaming is not ownership — xyal_zx 2008-12-05 05:32

wtf so because you work in a store you think nobody wants to own physical objects anymore?

seriously? you think my collection of nes titles are coasters? you still havent argued any valid points.

obliv, gta4 etc woulda been way better if they took advantage of higher capacity discs. they would not have done better if they were psn/arcade titles only. you call technical progression a trend? blueray is going to dominate until its outdated by something better. it is not a last ditch effort, it is evolution.

netflix sure sounds like a good way to rent movies but doesnt sound like the best way to OWN them. you would think you would know the difference between the two being in the 'retail' not 'rental' industry.

im not saying that download only will never happen, simply that it is 'not' a better option than blue-ray, and they wont use it simply because we want it, but rather that its cheaper to cut your production costs to nothing.

your arguments are pathetic as your insults.

now go treat games like consumables.

so ya, yay me for owning garbage like mm1-6 nes, the whole ff series, better throw out my useless copy of tmnt tournament fighters. damn those arent worth a dime anymore. are they?

i cant believe ppl are retarded as you exist. you really call me a 'fool' for wanting to physically own things that retain value? what the hell...

# .... — Tyrant156 2008-12-05 08:02

Yeah I really don't see this happening, games like MGS4 and Gears2 sold like crazy their first day, you mean to tell me you'll be able to download those games (MGS4 was 50gigs) over the internet in a decent amount of time?That many people all trying to d/l the same game at the same time would take forever. I would rather waste the gas driving to gamestop (which is 5 mins away) than waiting for a 50gig game to download and the games are only going to get larger. Earlier comments talk about how GTA4 was only 7 gigs but if you didn't notice, GTA4 is a much smaller city that GTA SA was.

Streaming movies is a good idea but for a movie like Batman or Ironman I want to own them and im not risking the chance of keeping all my movies on one hard drive cause HDDs can be corrupted and then you lose everything. Also, streamed movies are compressed, they aren't the full quality you would get on a disc.

# btw — xyal_zx 2008-12-05 13:57

btw. QJ.net, sorry for flaming. +/

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