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Will the next gen be digital only?


Dreakon13

Digital Only Or No?  

191 members have voted

  1. 1. How do you picture the release landscape post-PS4/Xbox One?

    • The next consoles game releases will be entirely digital and/or cloud based. Consoles won't have disc drives/cartridge slots built in.
      11
    • The next consoles game releases will be entirely physical... in some odd turn of events.
      3
    • Things will continue as they currently are. With AAA retail games regularly getting both physical and digital, and indies being primarily digital.
      142
    • The vast majority of games will be digital only, including AAA... though physical game releases will still happen, but far less frequently than they do now.
      35


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54 minutes ago, MosesRockefeller said:

It's true that Steam and GOG have better sales than PSN, eShop, and Xbox Live usually do. But it all comes down to what each person considers "worth it". You consider it worth your extra money to pay at least $10 more for a physical copy of a PSN/eShop game. And the digital price of that game is usually already more expensive than it is on PC. For someone like myself, who puts little to no value on a physical copy of a game, I have no problem buying a digital game on console at a higher price than on PC. It's a similar logical process of "cost to convenience" analysis.

 

You may already realize it, but I just wanted to point out that us weirdos who like digital have some logic behind our preferences. But it's hard for me to disagree with the "too lazy to change discs" argument. :P

 

 

I would say I'm generally more willing to pay a premium for physical copies because there's something additional, tangible associated with it.  Pay more to get more, I can wrap my head around that.  That only really applies to some indies though, as AAA titles are 'pay the same to get less' with digital.  I can't wrap my head around that.

 

Plus, we're currently in a fight to keep physical games going, so the price I pay is also in support of a platform I care about.

 

In a completely digital world where I'm deciding between PC digital vs console digital... I don't necessarily see why console would win.  That's basically where I'm at anyways.  They're effectively the same conceptually... except PC games are crazy cheaper and certain PC outlets offer DRM-free copies which buys you some level of security/longevity.  EDIT: The cost of entry is much higher but not only would that very quickly even out with the game prices, but the PC shares a lot of otherwise console exclusives (most Xbox One exclusives, as well as a few PS4 exclusives like Ni no Kuni 2, even the odd Switch exclusive now like Hollow Knight) so its quickly becoming a one stop shop warranting the price, versus wanting/needing to own several consoles to play a wider swath of games.

Edited by Dreakon13
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1 hour ago, Dreakon13 said:

I would say I'm generally more willing to pay a premium for physical copies because there's something additional, tangible associated with it.  Pay more to get more, I can wrap my head around that.  That only really applies to some indies though, as AAA titles are 'pay the same to get less' with digital.  I can't wrap my head around that.

Look at it this way. Digital benefits include: instant availability when games release, the convenience of never having to change discs/cartridges, decreased impact on the environment, reduced shelf space, and access to re-install the game requiring only your console and login credentials (compare that last point to downloading Microsoft Office to install on a new computer, without needing to keep the DVD). You can't even consistently count increased hard drive space usage against digital, because on Xbox One (and I think PS4), games take up the same space on disc and digital. It does make a difference on Switch of course. I think the benefits of digital are more noticeable with the Switch, Vita, and 3DS since they're portable. Let's say you bring your Switch on vacation and you own 40 games. What if you forgot to bring one of them with you? If you have the game digitally, you can still play it (if it's not installed you would obviously have to download it first). What if a fire burns down your entire collection of games? Your digital purchases wouldn't be affected (I'm not sure this is true on Switch, if you lose the console... that's something Nintendo needs to fix - but it's true for X1 and PSN). Those may not be tangible and/or important things for you, but for gamers who prefer digital, some or all of those are worthwhile benefits. You see it as getting less; I see it as getting different benefits that are more important to me. The element of physical games that was the most tangible to me, was printed manuals. Those died out mid-PS3 generation.

 

1 hour ago, Dreakon13 said:

In a completely digital world where I'm deciding between PC digital vs console digital... I don't necessarily see why console would win.  That's basically where I'm at anyways.  They're effectively the same conceptually... except PC games are crazy cheaper and certain PC outlets offer DRM-free copies which buys you some level of security/longevity.  EDIT: The cost of entry is much higher but not only would that very quickly even out with the game prices, but the PC shares a lot of otherwise console exclusives (most Xbox One exclusives, as well as a few PS4 exclusives like Ni no Kuni 2, even the odd Switch exclusive now like Hollow Knight) so its quickly becoming a one stop shop warranting the price, versus wanting/needing to own several consoles to play a wider swath of games.

Yeah, as I said, PC games are generally cheaper. New games are an exception, where they typically start at around the same price on all platforms (although they may fall in price more quickly... I'm not certain). It doesn't seem like AAA games do the $60 on console, $40 on PC anymore from what I've seen.

 

As for why console digital would win versus PC digital? 3DS, Vita, and Switch offer portable experiences the PC can't easily replicate. Beyond that, there are still a lot of console exclusives and always will be as far as I can tell.

 

 

Anyway, this is all a side note. As I said, I don't think physical is going away in the next generation. Maybe it will phase out towards the end of that generation though.

 

Edited by MosesRockefeller
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Game on disc. Im putting disc in, im playing it.

Downloadable game. Anyone still remember hack attack that take place few years ago. I can play none of my around 100 at the time digital games for 2 months. (only those that i allready downloaded) And hey sony ps3 base servers will eventualy shut down, with all your games in store - like psp situation. And i know discs will rott too but Yeah.

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Personally I'm going much digital these days, exclusively on the Switch even, but I don't think we'll see physical gone next gen already. There's too many "physical or bust" people with their heels in the sand. I definitely think digital is the future though - downloaded, not streamed, to increase mobility and to deal with connection mishaps.

 

Edited by Ezio Auditore
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12 hours ago, Dreakon13 said:

 

 

I mean sure... you can make just about anything you don't care about, that aren't the bare essentials of living, sound trivial.  Trophies are trivial.  If they went away tomorrow, do you think people around here would care?  Gaming as a whole is a trivial thing, and if the industry as a whole shut down tomorrow... the people who don't care about gaming would find it "hilarious" that gamers hold the hobby in such high esteem. 1f612.png  Don't be so dense.

 

I guarantee you can't come up with a single reason why digital is better for me.  To me, it's literally just getting less for the same amount of money in many cases.  I get why someone might tolerate or accept that, but why support it?  So much so, you feel the need to childishly mock the alternative without any real provokation?

 

Besides, the PSP's digital shop was taken down, and the only way to access games was through the Vita's backwards compatibility.  The Wii's eShop was a fairly high profile instance of a digital storefront being taken down.  Many, many games have left Steams storefront for one reason or another with a recent example of a popular game being Alan Wake.  It certainly does happen, even if the PS3 has been safe from any massive de-listings (I wouldn't know since I don't really participate).  All it takes is the evolution of PSN to surpass the technology of the PS3 a few years after they stop supporting it, for them to justify letting it go.  Pretending it's "bullshit" that's super unlikely to happen (ie. a robber not only robbing my house but singling out my cheap plastic as something worth taking) is almost as delusional as you seem to think collectors are.

 

 

 

You're not entirely wrong.  Back in the olden days, when gaming wasn't as popular and there were only a handful of games worth playing and a lot more obscure crap, having a sealed copy of one of those games 20 years later would be incredibly valuable.

 

Since there are great games coming out every other week now, it's harder to keep people's attention on the "classics" long enough to actually make them worth anything significant to them.  Not to mention digital as a whole having contributed to the throwaway culture we live in (which is a shame depending on how strongly you feel towards gaming as an artform).  Great movies watched once on Netflix and delisted the next month.  Great games played once and deleted from hard drives, forgotten in the depths of "the cloud".

 

It's coming back in a sense with groups like Limited Run Games, Special Reserve Games, IndieBox publishing formally digital only games in limited runs for collectors.  Those games actually maintain their value and in some cases have gone up considerably since their runs.  IMO, they're the only things worth keeping sealed for that reason (assuming the person cares about resale).  Otherwise, I'd venture people keep their games sealed moreso to protect the aesthetic and integrity of their collection more than increasing their value... since the other half of this is that these "cheap cases and Blu Ray discs" actually look pretty cool sometimes and it's the sort of thing people would like to have in working order for a while.  For example, I tend to hunt down deals for sealed copies of recent games I'm interested in on eBay... and I typically don't open them until I play them.  Because why should I?

 

I'm not sure why I'm answering you honestly though, should probably just start belting out dense hyperbolic retorts about things I don't like or understand since that seems to be about the amount of energy you're putting into it.


So much passive aggression. I got a lot of teenage angst reading this, so I'm sorry to have hurt your feelings. I could waste my time and respond to every single thing you said, but instead I'll cop out and cherry pick the only worthwhile thing you actually said:
 

Quote

Not to mention digital as a whole having contributed to the throwaway culture we live in (which is a shame depending on how strongly you feel towards gaming as an artform).


Would you care to elaborate further as to how digital has contributed to this "throwaway culture" that you mention? Because, frankly, I would argue that physical media adopted the mindset of throwing a game away. Which I already did mention in my previous post, but perhaps my "childish density" went over your skull. So I'll repeat myself for convenience. There are tons of people that buy physical media solely for the ability to sell or trade a game away when they are done with it. They see it as a nice investment to get their next temporary fix slightly cheaper. Whereas with digital media, you can't really do any of that. You own the game. Just because other stores have been taken down doesn't mean that it's really much of a concern. I have around 600 digital games tied to my PS3 and can still access them. There is, however, a game that I can think of that I lost access to. One game out of roughly 600. Perhaps in 10 years if the PS3 store were to close - a preposterous notion since there is no evidence to the contrary, but I'll mention it just to humour you - you might have a compelling argument. Fact of the matter is, digital media is here to stay and is taking over. The thing you fail to grasp is that games lose their licenses because studios do not renew them. Alan Wake is donezo because they didn't renew the music copyright licenses. Doesn't have much to do with the game itself, but the music. Shows how little you actually know. Maybe you should do your research so you have a better understanding of how the industry works. Or just act like you know how things work, I'm sure that'll get you places too.

You think I have a vendetta against physical games, which further shows you're incapable of understanding my point. My point is that people overvalue their physical collection. Collector's Editions are different, and will be around forever. Especially when people will pay $200 for the right to those versions. Standard versions of games are different, and will be phased out. Does that mean I abstain from purchasing physical games? Of course not. I probably have a bigger physical library of games than you do. However, my digital collection is much larger than even that. When I buy a physical game, it's because it was cheap enough to justify it in my mind. Not because I have a physical media addiction and am forced to dusting it on my shelf once a week.

Quite frankly, I don't care if you see the benefits to digital games or not. Arguing with your kind is a waste of time. Keep building your physical collection and telling yourself that it's more valuable than digital games. Make sure not to upgrade your slow, bandwidth capped internet so you have a reason not to buy games in the future when they are all digital.


As a side note, I seem to have aroused a number of stalkers on my PSNProfile after my first post. Not really sure why, but welcome. Enjoy looking at my trophies as if that somehow adds more meaning (or lack thereof) to my voice. (It doesn't matter how many trophies someone has, hence why I'm addressing how bizarre it is that people bother to look me up.)

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15 hours ago, Dreakon13 said:

Hell, I have a difficulty drumming up time for a 30-40 hour game I might find myself getting stuck in these days.  Doesn't mean I'm giving Sony the green light to take the game away from me because its contract ran up.  We should be against that sort of thing, not for it.

I think nobody is for that.

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Unless the ps5 comes with an internal 50TB hard drive (which it obviously won't) it just won't work, even with the cloud. The only other thing worse than a digital-only would be streaming-only consoles.. damn that would be rough if you don't live in some high tech city like Tokyo. But yeah, digital only would suck though, because the store would have the absolute monopoly on game prices. The lack of second hand games would just destroy wallets, force people to be even more picky about what games to buy due to costs which could increase and overall probably kill off a lot of great developers because of the lack of sales to fund future products, especially indie developers. I mean, I remember when ps avatars were 20p in the UK, now you're lucky to see one under £1.60 so imagine if games went that way? It's all personal speculation, but I just couldn't imagine it working out well.

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I think things will pretty much stay as they are. I wouldn't mind the digital only route through as long as there's a guarantee that the games will always be available to download, or at least have alternatives to getting a game if it is no longer available.

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Im a colletor so and i also think thatif i buy somerhin i wanna own it. Digital copies arent worth it since i dont wanna take the risk to loose games because for example yiur account get banned for some stupid reason by sony or your account got hacked.  Nah i rather own physical only so i can play with any account on any ps4 and even lend it to friends. If there aee someday no physical copies anymore then im stop gaming and try readi g books xD

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11 hours ago, Valyrious said:


So much passive aggression. I got a lot of teenage angst reading this, so I'm sorry to have hurt your feelings. I could waste my time and respond to every single thing you said, but instead I'll cop out and cherry pick the only worthwhile thing you actually said:

 

I mean, I really wasn't all that aggressive up until the end.  The worst thing I did was call you dense, which you still seem to be... so I'd call that more 'accurate' than 'angry'.

 

Not sure why, but I'm going to continue pretending like I'm talking to a rational person... here goes...

 

Quote

Would you care to elaborate further as to how digital has contributed to this "throwaway culture" that you mention? Because, frankly, I would argue that physical media adopted the mindset of throwing a game away. Which I already did mention in my previous post, but perhaps my "childish density" went over your skull. So I'll repeat myself for convenience. There are tons of people that buy physical media solely for the ability to sell or trade a game away when they are done with it

 

If you sell your game to someone else, that game is still being used (and probably kept) by someone.  If you trade a game in, the company generally cycles that game to store locations where they're low in stock of that particular game in hopes of moving it.  Plus in both cases, you get money back which a gamer would usually parlay into another game.  The first game never just disappears, someone who wants it (probably cheaper) has more avenues to get it, and the wheels of gaming commerce continue to turn.

 

If you buy a digital game, play it and uninstall it... it may as well have never existed.  If it gets delisted for one reason or another, it literally doesn't exist.  Great movies on Netflix, watched once and removed from the catalog when the contract runs out.  Great games played once, and uninstalled to the depths of 'the cloud' to sit with the hundreds of other games/impulse purchases on a list somewhere the person probably doesn't even remember buying.  That's what I mean by throwaway culture.

 

 

Quote

Perhaps in 10 years if the PS3 store were to close - a preposterous notion since there is no evidence to the contrary, but I'll mention it just to humour you - you might have a compelling argument.

 

I named two platforms, one of which was wildly successful in the Wii, that had their digital storefronts close.  I mean the PSP was actually a Sony product, so they've literally done it before.  There's no reason to believe that wouldn't happen to the PS3 past a certain point... especially when you consider the digital store wasn't really leveraged until the end of the generation.  PSN will likely evolve past the point of the PS3 being able to support it, or Sony being willing to maintain it, sooner or later... less a matter of it being preposterous and more of being inevitable.

 

How long before it happens is the real question.  And I'd agree it's probably a ways away still.  Long enough that most people won't care when it does.

 

 

Quote

 

The thing you fail to grasp is that games lose their licenses because studios do not renew them. Alan Wake is donezo because they didn't renew the music copyright licenses. Doesn't have much to do with the game itself, but the music. Shows how little you actually know. Maybe you should do your research so you have a better understanding of how the industry works. Or just act like you know how things work, I'm sure that'll get you places too.

 

Er... when did I say Alan Wake was delisted because of something other than the music licensing?  That's why most games get delisted.  Point is... it's delisted.  Games get delisted.  Popular games do get delisted and popular consoles do shut down their digital stores.  Doesn't matter the reason.

 

 

Quote

You think I have a vendetta against physical games, which further shows you're incapable of understanding my point. My point is that people overvalue their physical collection. Collector's Editions are different, and will be around forever. Especially when people will pay $200 for the right to those versions. Standard versions of games are different, and will be phased out. Does that mean I abstain from purchasing physical games? Of course not. I probably have a bigger physical library of games than you do. However, my digital collection is much larger than even that. When I buy a physical game, it's because it was cheap enough to justify it in my mind. Not because I have a physical media addiction and am forced to dusting it on my shelf once a week.

Quite frankly, I don't care if you see the benefits to digital games or not. Arguing with your kind is a waste of time. Keep building your physical collection and telling yourself that it's more valuable than digital games. Make sure not to upgrade your slow, bandwidth capped internet so you have a reason not to buy games in the future when they are all digital.


As a side note, I seem to have aroused a number of stalkers on my PSNProfile after my first post. Not really sure why, but welcome. Enjoy looking at my trophies as if that somehow adds more meaning (or lack thereof) to my voice. (It doesn't matter how many trophies someone has, hence why I'm addressing how bizarre it is that people bother to look me up.)

 

The rest of this is just pure unadulterated nonsense.  Well, the other stuff was nonsense too, but a lot of this borders on a level of insecurity that probably isn't worth delving into (something I'm also guilty of from time to time, so I feel ya brother).

Edited by Dreakon13
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5 hours ago, soniq said:

I think nobody is for that.

 

That's basically what a subscription service akin to Netflix for games would be though.  You get to play a lot of games much cheaper than buying them, but you're effectively giving Sony the authority to change what you're allowed to play as needed/as they please.  Not to mention the right to deny you that service altogether... but they already kinda have that digitally.  (EDIT: May also technically have that with physical too since you agree to certain ToS conditions when you use the games, but no realistic way to enforce it.)

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20 minutes ago, Mori said:

I currently work in a press-shop and everyone says, that the clock is ticking until the gates will close forever. CD - DVD - Blurays, its all declining. Everyone fights for the biggest contracts, like Activisions yearly COD, Blizzard (mostly Overwatch) and other big releases. Nobody really plans years ahead anymore, some dump their prices so low to get a contract, which mostly results in closing the company a few years after.

Physical wont die in 5 years, but I dont expect it to still be here in 30 years. 

They said that about vinyl too, and it's still here. Sure it is not a big thing, more like trend but still. And nobody plans ahead anymore? That's what everybody is doing these days it's called game-as-a-service. Destiny, WoW, Anthem just to name a few.

 

Regarding digital only, I don't think so. One of the major driving force for any console is the physical medium. Sony knows that, Microsoft knows that. When they announced the last gen they made sure to mention this is a lot. And I don't think they won't change it with the next one either. Maybe the digital market will become more important then the physical one but I don't see it go away anytime soon. Same goes for streaming games, it might be an option but until it has the same reach, as in profit, nobody will release a console that is purely based on streaming.

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I hope not. Digital distribution in its current state is terrible and a huge rip-off. They used to say Physical copies are expensive to make and distribute. I don't see Digital version any cheaper, heck, a majority of the time I can get Physical editions a lot cheaper from Amazon.com and other retailers. Different prices of digital version in different regions. This is the biggest BS. Why the ... should I pay more just because I live in that and that country? Don't feed me that crap it's based on the economy and it's the distributors' decision; Valve used this terrible excused to death...

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It's definitely too soon for game consoles to go digital-only. There are still many parts of the world that don't have a high-speed internet connection, so it wouldn't be a very smart decision to alienate all of these people. I have a pretty slow internet connection, and full retail games this gen take ages to download, so I can only imagine what it would be like for next gen when games are even bigger. Besides, physical game sales still make up a large percentage of the total number of sales, and you can't just expect all of these people to start buying digital because they aren't given any other option. Console manufacturers are way behind places like Steam when it comes to consumers rights on digital games too, so people aren't going to accept that.

 

I could see the possibility of there being a version of the console without the disc drive that's a little bit cheaper, or maybe just a streaming box (I don't think this would be very popular yet), but consoles that can play physical games are here to stay. The day physical games aren't needed anymore is the day game consoles die.

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Former Playstation boss Andrew House said himself that the answer is a definitive "No":

Jfk17QL.png

 

Source: https://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2018/04/11/former-playstation-boss-andrew-house-speculates-about-playstation-5.aspx

 

And I definitely agree. In my opinion there's very few upsides to digital:

 

  • No need to leave the house to get a physical copy
  • No need to switch discs around to change games
  • Occupies less space around the house

 

And yet, it has quite a few downsides:

 

  • It alienates collectors
  • It's tied to your account, so if you get hacked or banned, your collection goes with you
  • There's always the risk of delisting, meaning (in case it indeed does happen) you either have that game permanently on your hard drive or it's lost forever
  • Prices are frequently higher and take a lot longer to go down (on consoles)
  • You can't lend them to your friends
  • You can't sell them to get some of your investment back
  • You can't purchase used copies (not everyone has the funds to go brand spanking new all the time)
  • If a game changes because of some contractual or licensing agreement, you lose the original version
  • Not everyone has the Internet speeds that would make an all-digital future viable
  • You would lose all of the impulse buys from physical purchases
  • It's a lot harder to give them as a birthday or Christmas present
  • There are some exploits that you can only use with physical copies since with digital copies you can only download the most recent patch

 

And I'm sure I'm still missing quite a few.

 

It's quite too early to be talking about an all-digital future. Maybe it'll happen some day, but certainly not in the near to mid future.

 

Personally, I'm sticking to physical for as long as possible. I'm only getting digital if there's absolutely no other way to play the game.

Edited by jrdemr
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23 hours ago, Dreakon13 said:

 

I can't really disagree, though I think that 19% physical are sticking with physical for reasons that will be hard for digital to ever really compensate for as long as physical is still available in some capacity.  I don't see that number dipping a lot more naturally.  If forced physical fans might switch, or they might not, or they might go elsewhere (ie. me switching to PC since I think they do digital better over there).  Do companies want to risk losing nearly a fifth of their market?

 

I have to kind of wonder why digital movies aren't a bigger business.  Netflix is one thing, they have a huge market share but were never really in direct competition with people who want to own their stuff.  You can buy digital movies on iTunes, Google, Amazon, the Ultraviolet thing, etc... but physical media with movies and television shows never really slowed down (not enough to put a dent in anything anyways, almost all movies end up on physical media, even the more indie stuff).  Is it because physical movies/shows tend to include digital copies as well as discs?  Maybe that's a direction games go?

It's highly unlikely gaming will offer a digital copy along with the purchase of physical because people would just buy the game, use the code, then return the game to the store for a refund. Unlike games, movies are cheaper and have less of a used market to contend with.

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It's far too early for consoles to be digital only because some people don't have the resources to be able to download all of their games digitally. Also, the problem with all digital is that you an't really do anything with it after you purchase it. You can't trade it off or sell it and you don't technically "own it". At some point, it's possible the games can be taken away from your account or in some cases, if you lose your account, you lose the games you bought as far as I am aware of. I think it will still be a mix between physical and digital. I only buy digital if it's cheap enough and there aren't physical copies in production

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56 minutes ago, jrdemr said:

Former Playstation boss Andrew House said himself that the answer is a definitive "No":

Jfk17QL.png

 

Source: https://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2018/04/11/former-playstation-boss-andrew-house-speculates-about-playstation-5.aspx

 

And I definitely agree. In my opinion there's very few upsides to digital:

 

  • No need to leave the house to get a physical copy
  • No need to switch discs around to change games
  • Occupies less space around the house

 

And yet, it has quite a few downsides:

 

  • It alienates collectors
  • It's tied to your account, so if you get hacked or banned, your collection goes with you
  • There's always the risk of delisting, meaning (in case it indeed does happen) you either have that game permanently on your hard drive or it's lost forever
  • Prices are frequently higher and take a lot longer to go down (on consoles)
  • You can't lend them to your friends
  • You can't sell them to get some of your investment back
  • You can't purchase used copies (not everyone has the funds to go brand spanking new all the time)
  • If a game changes because of some contractual or licensing agreement, you lose the original version
  • Not everyone has the Internet speeds that would make an all-digital future viable
  • You would lose all of the impulse buys from physical purchases
  • It's a lot harder to give them as a birthday or Christmas present
  • There are some exploits that you can only use with physical copies since with digital copies you can only download the most recent patch

 

And I'm sure I'm still missing quite a few.

 

It's quite too early to be talking about an all-digital future. Maybe it'll happen some day, but certainly not in the near to mid future.

 

Personally, I'm sticking to physical for as long as possible. I'm only getting digital if there's absolutely no other way to play the game.

 

I would say digital is probably more susceptible to impulse purchases these days.  Flash sales, daily deals, holiday sales, etc.  People don't go out window shopping enough anymore to put a dent in thousands of people seeing ads directly on their dashboard for some interesting new-ish game at 75% off for the first time.

 

 

56 minutes ago, majob said:

It's highly unlikely gaming will offer a digital copy along with the purchase of physical because people would just buy the game, use the code, then return the game to the store for a refund. Unlike games, movies are cheaper and have less of a used market to contend with.

 

I imagine stores wouldn't allow straight up refunds of opened games if it was advertised to include the code as well, might let you trade them in but I'd assume the credit coming back would reflect how the games value drops without the code, and the amount of used copies they already have in stock.

 

Maybe the times have changed but I don't think I could return MMO expansions back in the day, since they came with redemption codes to activate the content on your account.  The disc was basically a coaster after installing it (and as time went on, wasn't even needed for installing as the content would download itself).  Same with how online passes made sports games even less valuable over time than they already were.

 

But I agree that was a long shot idea either way. :)

Edited by Dreakon13
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9 hours ago, Zofia said:

It's far too early for consoles to be digital only because some people don't have the resources to be able to download all of their games digitally. Also, the problem with all digital is that you an't really do anything with it after you purchase it. You can't trade it off or sell it and you don't technically "own it". At some point, it's possible the games can be taken away from your account or in some cases, if you lose your account, you lose the games you bought as far as I am aware of. I think it will still be a mix between physical and digital. I only buy digital if it's cheap enough and there aren't physical copies in production

Yes! Good points. They have to know their audience and I think there is a reason a lot of people pick console over PC still. I think it will easily be possible for the "all-digital" gamer to be satisfied  but for those that desire physical items for collecting. I also think there are enough people without broadband internet that you can't just leave them out of consideration. I am actually buying physical games more often now than I was a couple years ago. 

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The problem with digital only is the service and the games you purchase are liable to be terminated at any time. Truthfully you don't actually own the games, you're getting a glorified rental service and should PSN fuck up or fail because of a glitch or something, those games and DLC you purchased are gone.

 

This can happen with PSN accounts that are permanently banned. The games you spent money on are no longer there for you. This is why I do my best to buy the physical versions of any game I come across that is also digital. Shovel Knight for example.

 

Another issue is companies like Sony are going to have to come up with ways to store all that fucking data that makes up a video game. You guys think 70 - 80 GBs is big, wait five years from now there will be games that will dwarf that in terms of file size. Pretty ridiculous at this point.

 

If the focus next gen is going to be on graphics then I don't see a reason to rush out and buy a Playstation 5 anyway. Or Microsoft's new Xbox in that instance.

 

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I don't want it to happen, but seeing what has happened in the laptop and smartphone world gradually removing ports.... first the disc drive, then headphone jack, now USB port off the new Macs.... and also the rise in downloads in the same way many download music instead of buying CDs, I can see a digital only world on the horizon not too far. Just like online grocery shopping and Amazon, I feel like everything is online these days and the gaming industry might pull an Apple on us at some point

 

My brother says he never buys physical games and never goes to game stores.

I don't want it to happen, but seeing what has happened in the laptop and smartphone world gradually removing ports.... first the disc drive, then headphone jack, now USB port off the new Macs.... and also the rise in downloads in the same way many download music instead of buying CDs, I can see a digital only world on the horizon not too far. Just like online grocery shopping and Amazon, I feel like everything is online these days and the gaming industry might pull an Apple on us at some point

 

My brother says he never buys physical games and never goes to game stores.

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14 hours ago, Lava_Yuki said:

I don't want it to happen, but seeing what has happened in the laptop and smartphone world gradually removing ports.... first the disc drive, then headphone jack, now USB port off the new Macs.... and also the rise in downloads in the same way many download music instead of buying CDs, I can see a digital only world on the horizon not too far. Just like online grocery shopping and Amazon, I feel like everything is online these days and the gaming industry might pull an Apple on us at some point

 

My brother says he never buys physical games and never goes to game stores.

I don't want it to happen, but seeing what has happened in the laptop and smartphone world gradually removing ports.... first the disc drive, then headphone jack, now USB port off the new Macs.... and also the rise in downloads in the same way many download music instead of buying CDs, I can see a digital only world on the horizon not too far. Just like online grocery shopping and Amazon, I feel like everything is online these days and the gaming industry might pull an Apple on us at some point

 

My brother says he never buys physical games and never goes to game stores.

 

You posted this twice by the way.

 

Disk drives are understandable. They can no longer contain the required data that is needed for the modern consumer.

 

Ultimately I think we are heading towards a dark period in history. Technology when I was growing up was a wonderful thing, but these days it is simply too much.

 

Another problem is people who live in small towns and in the countryside are being left out in favor of those who live in big cities like New York City, Tokyo, Hong Kong and London. You can perfectly live your life simply off the internet and when you live in a city like New York you are perfectly capable of buying your groceries online. But when you lived a farm life you don't have those options. You still have to drive to the grocery store and you probably aren't going to have the resources available to take full advantage of today's custom desktops and Macintosh computers.

 

Plus the fact that people can make a living not having to leave their houses and whom have a job that is completely online is making us more of a sheltered, closed wall society. Interpersonal communication is dying, people simply don't go out and converse like they used to.

 

Then you have things like Flash Sales on Steam, Microsoft and Playstation to have us hoard even more shit, and yeah. This is where we are today.

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42 minutes ago, Spaz said:

Interpersonal communication is dying, people simply don't go out and converse like they used to.

 

I agree, and while the the internet itself is a reason for that... it's also due in part to the fact you really can't go anywhere and say anything without offending someone these days.  I know that weighs heavily on me in day to day interactions.  I'm already a pretty socially awkward guy, I'm certainly not willing to stick my neck out and try to be personable when any little awkward thing I might say (and no doubt I WILL say awkward things) could be misinterpreted as something negative, offensive, insensitive, etc... and potentially cost me my job, my respect/dignity, my friends, etc.

 

My logical mind can no longer understand how I would benefit from not just staying home, keeping to myself and saying the bare minimum at almost all times outside of around people I know for a fact don't judge or wouldn't attack my livelihood over it... so that's what I do.

 

EDIT: Not to steer too far off topic. xD 

Edited by Dreakon13
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