Amazon planning digital game distribution

so true. i heard somewhere that MS just backed HD-DVD to create confusion and competition when in reality they just wanted to go straight to digital distribution. i think there may be some truth to that. i think digital distribution is way better than optical media. ultimately you end up ripping any disk to your HDD anyway. at least i do.

Digital Distribution isn't quite as main stream as optical media at the moment, the Apple TV, Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 are all there as media streamers, however are a bit of a hassle for people to get up and running... I mean, normal people.

You have to read along the lines of MS when they chose HD DVD. Since it's made by Toshiba, the same people whom have been supplying DVD drives for MS to put inside the Xbox and Xbox 360, plus have a fairly good relationship between the two companies, I think there may have been a bit of conflict of interest between the two if MS had picked Blu-Ray over HD-DVD.
Plus, the Playstation 3 is the Xbox 360's main competitor in the marketplace. Unlike the Wii, the 360 and PS3 both push themselves as home entertainment systems as well as home consoles and it's that which creates such a competition between the two consoles. To give Sony the 'leg-up' by MS wanting to have a Blu-Ray peripheral when HD-DVD looked like a viable option is stupidly bad press for MS and insanely good press for Sony, something which MS will not want.
Regardless of this, Microsoft still backs digital downloads through external vendors and then streaming content through the Media Centre to the Xbox 360. But then again, Microsoft is starting up IPTV on the 360 sometime this year with BT, yet there's no way to tell how popular that'll be.
So perhaps Microsoft IS pursuing Digital Downloads but isn't their main priority. Perhaps, for once, Microsoft is actually pushing for features to benefit consumers rather than 'confusing' and manipulating format wars as you so elegantly suggested.

What? My grandparents who only just got a DVD player, also bought their first PC and an Apple TV and they're using it without any problems.

Now consoles are another kettle of fish. Just don't lumber in easily accessible media.

And yes. DD is the future.

Microsoft backed HDDVD due to it using their own format of HDi, rather than bluray using java

Which makes me wonder how Amazon's policies will be concerning these things. DRM's gonna eat the crap out of this.

Most people prefer some sort of physical, tangible object that they can claim. When it's on a hard drive, or (worse) streamed off the internet, it doesn't really feel like you own it. If servers crash and hard drives fail, you'd wish you had a physical version of it. Sure, you may just back it all up to a disc of some kind, but doesn't that defeat the purpose of going DD in the first place?

I'm just saying. DD may be the future, but it'll be a long time before people get comfortable with the idea that they own something they can't hold or store.

Agreed. People have that need for something tangible to let them know they own it. I also like to display my games and movies proudly. Does it make me a nerd? Yes.

My Wii isn't online right now because of the setup at my house, but I'm looking to rectify that by the time Brawl and Mario Kart come out. Here's my friend code: 4754 2132 6440 4435

Ok... let me add you... here is mine. You can add now if you want... once your Wii is online, we will be Wii Friends code automatically.

6140-3530-5783-6618

You and me agree in one thing?

That's weird =p

Yeah I agree with you too. I just don't like the idea of digital distribution. I think physical copies are the best way to go.

Actually, we agree on many things, remember? Or do you still forget your whole "ZOMG! YOU WANTS DA SMASH BRATHAS?!" reply?

@Fernando
Thought you don't buy any CDs? That's a physical medium. ;)

@Cesaria... I do buy physical media... tapes and vynil records =)


PS. Live, Friend Code?

sheppy...

Want to be Wii Friends? I want to play SSBB and Mario Kart Wii with you...

This is my Friend Code... 6140-3530-5783-6618

Let me know.

Just a question (since I've never purchased via digital distribution before): if for example, your hard drive crashes or the download connection broke or something, can you redownload that game you've already purchased from your account for free like Nintendo is doing for VC titles?

I think Steam does that.

Yeah if you've purchased it, you can download anytime you want to. If your hdd crashes you can download it again.

i love Steam. i share Venom's concern though. they do offer some sort of re-download thing right? i was thinking of reinstalling Vista but i havent yet because i dont want to lose all my Steam stuff. they gotta let you download it again though right?

I'm not sure about Steam and re-downloading stuff, but for sure their app lets you back things up to CD/DVD or a folder on an external drive. Might as well back it up in case.
Disclaimer: All I've purchased from steam was Psychonauts.

You can download it on any computer you have steam and log your account into. And yeah, i've had to re-download some games on steam several times. I don't know many other services let you do that.

You can download as much as you want on Steam. Fuck it's so good. I can be at home playing a lovely game on TF2 racking up some even more lovely stats. Drive over to my girlfriends/friend/uni, download Steam, log in and download TF2 and we're back in action.

Steam is just golden.

So after hearing those comments, it's safe to assume that Steam allows you to redownload, right?


FUCK YES. =D

Yes you redownload the games as much as you want. Also it gives you the option to burn dvds/cds/whatever to backup what you download.

Now I think that there is an exception to this, Bioshock, if I'm not mistaking you can only install the game 5 times before the copy protection or whatever kicks in. But that stuff is up to the developer to decide. Most of the games you can download and install as many times as you want.

ATM I own about 7 games on steam (orange box, cod4, cod2, CS:S, CS:1.6+CZ, Bioshock, and dark messiah M&M) and I can't be happier, they all run great and with almost no problems at all.

You don't even need to re-download everything if you have an external hard drive. Just take a copy of your Steam folder, then put it on any other computer, and there you go. I really love this feature.

Just be sure to delete that clientregistry.blob file! I've got my Steam on a 60gb USB-powered external drive. It's like my sex drive.

Direct2Drive says, "Cheaper price through Direct Distribution? Dis motha crazy or sumphin?"

Seriously... in retail chains, prices drop. In DD channels, price drops suck. And since they often launch at the same price...

FFS I wrote too much when I was just saying Steam owns you.

No offence, but does Australia have a big impact on the gaming market?

Just saying 1 country (island) isn't going to stop DD just because you've got a crappy broadband service. Canada didn't stop smart phones...