The End of Gaming Stores As We Know It?

SoulBlazerFan · Wed Jan 04, 2012 10:40 pm

I'm not sure how many of you might have heard something about this, but apparently the next group of home consoles (The PS4 and Xbox 720 or whatever they decided to call them) could potentially but digital download only- they are thinking about removing physical discs all together.

Pros of doing this:
-No need to replace damaged discs
-Purchase from home, play after download finishes
-No more "buy this magazine and discount card" bull
-More shelf space for other things like books (Assuming you don't have -some sort of e-reader, to which now you won't need shelves at all)
-Potential for price decrease- due to lower production costs for games (However its likely it will either go up or stay the same)

Cons:
-Potential End of Gaming Stores
-Now you own the game forever- if it sucks, you can't trade it in for another title, or even trade it in if you never intend to play it again
-No more used games- you either pay full price or wait for a sale
-Lay offs at gaming stores- the only employees left are the smarmy salesman that are willing you sell you shit, as opposed to the guy who doesn't mind losing a sale by telling you a game blows

Mind you, this is all still up in the air. I've read somewhere that they are testing this by doing the Fifth Grand Theft Auto title as a download-only game. Of course it's going to sell well- the GTA series have always been top sellers.

I'm not really sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing. Mind you, I don't game as much as I have in the past, and the only gaming stores I go to these days sell almost exclusively classic (Been on a NES collecting binge)

For gamers, it will be alot easier to browse a catalogue to just simply download the game into a harddrive. No need to worry about them running out a copy of a game and having to travel to several stores to find one (Lord knows I've been through this before). No more midnight openings, no more pre-pays.

That said, all of these things go into that part of an anticipation for a game. I've only ever been to two midnight openings. They suck when it's cold outside, but you have the memories of hanging out with friends, bullshitting, and finally going in to buy that game you've waited months for.

I know PC gaming has gone this route alongside physical copies, but do you guys think it's a good idea to go the route of digital releases only? Do you think it will change the whole landscape of home-console gaming for the better, or the worse? Discuss.

Posted: Wed Jan 04, 2012 11:30 pm Post subject:

Funny enough, one of the games I have was hard-copy only for the 360 version, and download only for the PS3 version. The 360 version got the special limited edition with the extra goodies, and the PS3... really got nothing. All of the people who wanted it on the PS3 were incredibly disappointed.

I'd rather a physical copy, myself. :/ If something happens and the data on the system gets corrupted? You're SOL.

tay120n64 · Posted: Thu Jan 05, 2012 1:02 am Post subject:

inferiare wrote:Funny enough, one of the games I have was hard-copy only for the 360 version, and download only for the PS3 version. The 360 version got the special limited edition with the extra goodies, and the PS3... really got nothing. All of the people who wanted it on the PS3 were incredibly disappointed.

I'd rather a physical copy, myself. :/ If something happens and the data on the system gets corrupted? You're SOL.

Record of Agarest War?

I'm not opposed to Digital Distribution, but there are two points I'd like to raise:

1) The World Is Not Ready.
----If the PSP Go taught us anything, it's that the world is not yet ready to abandon hard retail. Sure, companies are leaning more and more heavily on Digital sales, but as of now, if you want to get the most money out of something, you have to have it available as both. We still aren't quite to the point where we will only be buying digital, although I see this changing over the next ten years.

2) PRICES.
----If Steam has taught us anything, it's that Digital goods can be had on the cheap, frequently. And if every competitor to Steam ever has taught us anything, it's that nobody wants to sell their merchandise for less than they have to. Sales on PSN and Xbox Live? Better be a paid subscriber. They're gonna get their money out of you one way or another, you sucker. And when EVERYTHING is digital, there will be no competition. You will pay what they tell you to pay, because THAT is the nature of a cooperate system.

SoulBlazerFan · Posted: Thu Jan 05, 2012 2:00 am Post subject:

tay120n64 wrote:
inferiare wrote:Funny enough, one of the games I have was hard-copy only for the 360 version, and download only for the PS3 version. The 360 version got the special limited edition with the extra goodies, and the PS3... really got nothing. All of the people who wanted it on the PS3 were incredibly disappointed.

I'd rather a physical copy, myself. :/ If something happens and the data on the system gets corrupted? You're SOL.
Record of Agarest War?

I'm not opposed to Digital Distribution, but there are two points I'd like to raise:

1) The World Is Not Ready.
----If the PSP Go taught us anything, it's that the world is not yet ready to abandon hard retail. Sure, companies are leaning more and more heavily on Digital sales, but as of now, if you want to get the most money out of something, you have to have it available as both. We still aren't quite to the point where we will only be buying digital, although I see this changing over the next ten years.

2) PRICES.
----If Steam has taught us anything, it's that Digital goods can be had on the cheap, frequently. And if every competitor to Steam ever has taught us anything, it's that nobody wants to sell their merchandise for less than they have to. Sales on PSN and Xbox Live? Better be a paid subscriber. They're gonna get their money out of you one way or another, you sucker. And when EVERYTHING is digital, there will be no competition. You will pay what they tell you to pay, because THAT is the nature of a cooperate system.

Look at how long it's taken for CDs to be phased out. The iPod has been around since, what? 2003? I hear the end of this year or the next record companies will be phasing out CD's all-together, much like the dead VHS format. I've discussed this with friends, and we both prefer to have the physical copy of something as opposed to a digital version. My computer got wiped, and now I've lost the digital media downloads of several albums I've purchased through amazon.com. There's risks and rewards to both.

That said, if we do start moving to phasing out hard-copies of games all-together, it will be least another three or four years, if not longer, before it becomes the industry standard. Hopefully, it doesn't happen at all. At least, while I'm still a gamer.

Posted: Thu Jan 05, 2012 2:00 am Post subject:

Yes, Record of Agarest War. XD I felt bad for the PS3 users that didn't get their body pillowcase and their boobie mousepad, ok?

EverPhoenix · Posted: Thu Jan 05, 2012 8:09 am Post subject:

I'm a real fan of owning physical copies of stuff. I buy my games, when I can, on disk. I also still buy CDs and books, and don't intend to go digital with those until the world forces me to. There's something nice in having something on display on your shelf, as well as the digital side of it.

psychokind · Posted: Thu Jan 05, 2012 8:58 am Post subject:

-Potential End of Gaming Stores

that should be a "good" thing for gamers as far as I know. the retailers are the ones that prevent major price difference from online sales to store. as soon as they're gone, the prices could drop large amount.

tay120n64 · Posted: Thu Jan 05, 2012 4:55 pm Post subject:

SoulBlazerFan wrote:Look at how long it's taken for CDs to be phased out. The iPod has been around since, what? 2003? I hear the end of this year or the next record companies will be phasing out CD's all-together, much like the dead VHS format. I've discussed this with friends, and we both prefer to have the physical copy of something as opposed to a digital version. My computer got wiped, and now I've lost the digital media downloads of several albums I've purchased through amazon.com. There's risks and rewards to both.

That said, if we do start moving to phasing out hard-copies of games all-together, it will be least another three or four years, if not longer, before it becomes the industry standard. Hopefully, it doesn't happen at all. At least, while I'm still a gamer.

Music, Movies, and Games are three totally separate things though. Think about it:

You put your CD on your computer. When do you use the CD after that? In your car maybe, but most people prefer to have ALL of their music available via an ipod/mp3 player.

With Movies and Games, portability is a large factor to take into consideration. If all your movies/games are on your hard drive, you can't share them at all. With music you CAN. There is a reason that the Music industry moved to digital faster than Film or Games. They are not consumed in the same manner at all.

Flamez · Posted: Fri Jan 06, 2012 3:38 pm Post subject:

psychokind wrote:
-Potential End of Gaming Stores
that should be a "good" thing for gamers as far as I know. the retailers are the ones that prevent major price difference from online sales to store. as soon as they're gone, the prices could drop large amount.

very wrong, its distrubters not the retailers.

psychokind · Posted: Fri Jan 06, 2012 11:15 pm Post subject:

Flamez wrote:
psychokind wrote:
-Potential End of Gaming Stores
that should be a "good" thing for gamers as far as I know. the retailers are the ones that prevent major price difference from online sales to store. as soon as they're gone, the prices could drop large amount.
very wrong, its distrubters not the retailers.

wouldn't steam be a distributer? I really think it was the retailers (I remember sth about game stop), TotalBiscuit explained it sometime ago. but maybe it's both, I just thought that it was studio -> publisher -> retailer.

Mantaray · Posted: Sat Jan 07, 2012 5:17 am Post subject:

I'm against the complete removal of CDs. Downloading games can be more of a hassle, especially if something goes wrong during the process. Would you have to pay for the game all over again? And if you're tired of the game and delete it, you've basically just wasted your money.

Physical copies are just better in my opinion. You can replace them, lend it to a friend, or once the game is out of print, be proud you have it. Same with books, it's easier to read the physical copy than stare at a bright screen and kill your eyes (the irony..).

Once everything becomes exclusively digital, and the data is lost, there goes a big chunk of, well, practically everything from that time frame. But that's a different story.

Flamez · Posted: Sat Jan 07, 2012 6:52 am Post subject:

psychokind wrote:I just thought that it was studio -> publisher -> retailer.

Incorrect again.

It is studio > Publisher > Distributer > Retailer.

Steam is a distributer / retailer that has a massive market share and thus buying and selling power which is why they are able to sell at the prices they do. A lot of the time it costs us more money to get a physical copy of a pc game from our distrubtor then steam will sell it for.

Fazermint · Posted: Sat Jan 07, 2012 10:29 am Post subject:

I would hate to see this happen, since half of my game collection consists of budget-friendly used games.

First music stores go down, next up is game stores... And electronic piracy will go up as well.

psychokind · Posted: Sun Jan 08, 2012 12:41 pm Post subject:

Flamez wrote:Steam is a distributer / retailer that has a massive market share and thus buying and selling power which is why they are able to sell at the prices they do. A lot of the time it costs us more money to get a physical copy of a pc game from our distrubtor then steam will sell it for.

yes, but steam prices aren't as low as they could get. just searched for the video, but couldn't find it

Flamez · Posted: Mon Jan 09, 2012 11:47 pm Post subject:

psychokind wrote:
Flamez wrote:Steam is a distributer / retailer that has a massive market share and thus buying and selling power which is why they are able to sell at the prices they do. A lot of the time it costs us more money to get a physical copy of a pc game from our distrubtor then steam will sell it for.
yes, but steam prices aren't as low as they could get. just searched for the video, but couldn't find it

keep in mind, it costs nothing to make a digital copy. It costs money to make a physical one.