Sony again says we're nearing the end of the road for discs

It is unlikely that downloading games with ever save us (the consumers) money. I just highly doubt that large corporations will pass on the opportunity to charge the same amount while spending less on distribution costs.

So, based on this, the BR drive is for what now exactly? Just movies? Sheesh.

I agree. Just cause companys save money, that doesn't mean the consumer will. Also, there are a lot of consumers out there that don't want to DL a game with no disc.

How do you return that in for credit at places like EB (bye bye used games)? For those of us that beat a game quick enough, we like being able to get some refund for the next game. That definetly helps offset game costs somewhat for consumers...

The industry has talked about this for a really long time, but even with PC direct-to-drive games, more people still go to the store and purchase the discs... I'll believe this when i see it. (and when I can get fiber to my house so I don't wait an hour to get a 4g game)

4g? This is PS3! We're talkin' 22gig games on launch! Even in 5 years (especially in the US), downloading a file of that size just isn't going to be an option. Also, the consumer won't save money at all, rather they will have to buy more storage space to hold thier games. That's not a big problem on a PC, where I can get a 250gig external for $100, but a 2.5" drive is much more costly.
I personally don't think any of the new consoles are ready or built with this in mind.

Sony is giving mixed messages:

Doesn't this seem to contradict Sony's claim that HD is necessary for great games and that DVD size isn't enough for games (i.e. PS3 vs. Xbox360)???

I wouldn't dream of downloading 9GB over the net on a regular basis. A 30GB download would take forever...

This whole post sounds like a tacit admission that the Xbox Live Arcade model is where Sony plans to go.

This is stupid. Sony is just trying to find another way of screwing Gamestops's used game business. I don't like that idea and I hope it doesn't happen anytime soon.

I say bring it on. Discs for me are over. On my PS2 I play all my games off the HDD (FFXI and my games which I ripped). When I buy music I buy CDs but I never use them really. I rip the music and put it on my PSP. The only time the discs get played is on the way home I put it in my truck's cd player. After that it sits in a disc tray.

Now with the ability to turn the consoles on with the controller and being able to web browse, use an OS, and view/listen to saved media I say get rid of discs. The reason I never bought UMD movies for my PSP is because I didnt want to carry a ton of UMDs with me. My UMD case carries 8 UMDs which I use for games. As soon as Connect allows me to download PSP movies I will. It still agrivates me when Sony puts out demo UMDs like Killzone. After Loco Roco where all I had to do was visit a site on the browser and download it, thats what I want! I dont want UMD demos or digital demos where I have to make a folder with the PC. I just want direct system to net download where Sony does everything for me.

I cant wait for demos to become prevalent for PS3 games. I'll no longer have to rent games. The industry would make alot of money that way too. By putting out demos they could criple the rental industry which lets you play the whole game for $3. Its time for digital distribution to play a bigger factor. But for PS3 games and movies give me Bluray because I want the best gaming/movie experience on my home console. But for everything else download is the way.

sooooo... videogame consoles are basically going to become pcs.

that's not a new theory/concept.

The problem with Sony is that they think they can create trends just by telling people the trend is going to happen. If its only 5 years before a majority of content is delivered via the internet, then what will happen to the BluRay drive when the PS3 still has 5 years left of its supposed 10 year life cycle? If the 20GB PS3 games I buy will be available only online then how do I fit more than 3 on my 60GB PS3? Sony doesn't have anything to back up their plans for this new era of entertainment they are leading us into. Apple is the only one taking any action to make this a reality but even then it won't be ready in 5 years, where is Sony's plan.


I'd like to not that I think e-distribution is an awful idea for many obvious reasons. You've listed a couple so I won't reiterate but I'm glad that the plans being readied are still just vaporware.