The position is for a full-time software development engineer to join the "Software and Video Games Digital Technology team," who are working on the Amazon Software Download store. Up to now Amazon's digital distribution services have been limited to video, music and e-books; moving to digital distribution for games puts Amazon alongside other mainstream services like GameTap and Steam, making for some heated and (hopefully) productive competition. Let's just hope it fares better than Amazon Unbox.
[Thanks, James]
(Page 1) Reader Comments
I SEE THE PATTERN
Reply
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.
Now consoles are another kettle of fish. Just don't lumber in easily accessible media.
And yes. DD is the future.
Really.
Don't that out of context...
Reply
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.
Reply
6140-3530-5783-6618
Reply
That's weird =p
Thought you don't buy any CDs? That's a physical medium. ;)
PS. Live, Friend Code?
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.
I prefer my digital media, I don't need more useless disks lying around taking needed space.
Reply
Disclaimer: All I've purchased from steam was Psychonauts.
Steam is just golden.
FUCK YES. =D
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.
Reply
I wont say back up isn't the only reason for getting physical copies of games, I like to own physical copies of games for the lovely box art and manuals which I don't have to print out or minimise a game to get help files to find out how the controls work. But I think for those games where this isn't a factor, you know those games you play but don't really like them enough to warrant a whole £30 for them.
Reply
Seriously... in retail chains, prices drop. In DD channels, price drops suck. And since they often launch at the same price...
Redownload games. Free DLC. Incredible friends, community and events integration. Option to back up games onto disc for whatever reason. Since you can just redownload as many times as you want.
But it did need something as big as HL2 to launch this. I hated it at first and Steam was a necessary evil, but the criticisms were answered and it's now the mutts nuts it is today.
Oh and the prices are just hot. 10% preorder discount (do shops do this?), some very nice sales every so often. Steam prices do drop. £10 for HL2? It's the same in shops here...
Theres also not a place in hell that will sell the whole id games collection for the £25 I paid on Steam. Or the whole GTA collection for £19.
Amazon? You're too late. I doubt even MS could bring out something equal now.
Reply
Yeah, all three of those. Now when companies are already making plenty of money of people doing this, you really think they'd go for cheaper faster and more? No, not really.
So screw digital distribution of games...Wait for the ps3 full bluray sized downloads and you'll hear me weep.
Reply
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...
Reply