Harrison confident young'ns 'will never buy a physical media product'

does this mean future Atari pc games will come out via digital download? (are there atari PC games?) anyway I dare any "Physical media" supporters to try psone games after about 10 years or so, guess what? they won't work! that's right! cds, floppys, and dvds lose their data after about a decade! i'm starting to see it at our Computer store, with some of our older floppys, and cds. soon your games will become useless, and "owning" your game will be meaningless, however, my downloaded version of half-life still runs splendidly! Digital download IS the future, and will explode as soon as the present model for DRM fades.

Ehh maybe for the new generation. If there's one thing I've learned from being just a few years older than some people I know, it's that just a few years difference can mean miles of difference in thought process.

None of my friends would consider giving up their CD collection for an account with licensed music or even DRM free MP3's, but the current generation of newcomers to the music scene eat music downloads for breakfast.

The only difference with games is that storage capacity hasn't caught up with the total data footprint of their game libraries. Sure, Tigerdirect.com just had a sale on Seagate 1.5TB hard drives for $120, but the $100 difference in PS3 SKUs will get you just 40GB more storage. That's less than half a gig per dollar from the PS3, compared to more than 10 gigs per dollar on that hard drive.

Once gaming systems start coming with 1TB+ hard drives, and the market for trading and selling used games starts to dry up, I can see this happening. Until that happens, and as long as Gamestop exists, he will be wrong.

I like pizza. I'm having pizza for lunch tomorrow. Buffalo chicken pizza. I call it za sometimes, even though I'm from NY. Are you really still reading?

I too like to have the physical media in my hand, But i also wouldn't mind downloading some games say via steam. The only hurdle standing in my way is my Bandwidth Cap... its just not enough...

Phil, let me make my own prediction. Youngsters won't buy discless media either because with DRM, it's not really theirs, isn't that right?

But studies say that man often like to have their physical media in their hands!

If these DRM crap-fest called games is what my child has to look forward too, it will be the death of gaming.

I don't like the idea of not being able to physically own the media I purchase. When you download something there is generally some type of DRM in place, and DRM is complete and total fail with its restrictions. It makes things so much more inconvenient for non-pirates, and does nothing to stop actual pirates.

The negatives far outweigh the positives for digital media, in my opinion.

Watching my nephew carry around the Ratchet Future box and manual like it's his favorite book leads me to believe he's going to want physical media as well.
(He loves Ratchet's ears. Then again, who doesn't?)

To all the folks that are concerned that they could lose their digital collection if something were to happen to their hard drive, let me say this to put things in a little perspective. I live in Brea and when the recent fires happened, one of my biggest concern was losing my huge collection of CDs, DVDs, games, and HD DVDs (the latter are hard-to-find collector items now!) If the fire got to my pad, there would be no re-downloading of the thousands of dollars I've spent on my physical media over the past decade. I don't even think the insurance company would get me all my movies and games back (and if you thought DRM sucked, try claiming you owned a game to the insurance people!)

I love physical media as you can tell from my collection hobby, but would be open to digital distribution. I've never had a problem with games I've purchased on XBLA or Steam.

I like round disks and I cannot lie, you other consumers can't deny. That when walks in with a itty bitty iPod on her waist you get sick. Because you notice that thing was "slick" even that logo shes sporting shes a slave and she can't downloading. Oh Baby......

I really could keep going but my joke was made.

Blu-Ray discs will always be better and faster and more reliable and play smoother with more features that are simple to access than any digital distribution plan I can see in the future.

Sigh... I really think you guys underestimate the power of holding a product in your hands. Records are still produced. Shit, books are still around, and I remember people screaming to the heavens about how computers were going to destroy the paper industry and the traditional novel.

online media will definately grow but i don't see it replacing physical anytime soon - the main reason is that stores such as itunes, psn etc are not available in many countries around the world - the day you can buy content from any country then maybe but the way things are going today... there are some severe limitations

I'm with Shag-No downloads! Nuts and bolts games off the rack please! Unfortunately with the economy gone south we are gonna see cheaper productions e.g. snow backgrounds,drawn comic book type games bla bla not to mention rice paper containers, so hold dear your GoW's, Halos, etc. Lean times ahead-sad but true!

i agree kids don't buy games in boxes, their parents do.

however, owning a game box makes me feel I actually own this game, so I usually buy retail games unless there's a big DRM issue.

I'll go for whatever's cheapest, thanks.

BANDWIDTH CAPS!!! >:(

I use steam a lot. Its pretty handy, and sometimes you get the games a little cheaper and as soon as there release date hits you can play. Like most games you can download before its release date just cant play it until its release date.(valve games anyway) You can back up the copies too after its installed. Not to mention play the games anywhere that has access to the internet, just login to your steam id.


I would still like a physical for my movies though.. you cant lend a download to a buddy.

Another problem with digital are the servers' bandwidth. Those who have played a launch game knows what I mean when the game is popular and the servers don't work cuz everyone is tryin to connect. Now imagine this scenario but 10x more ppl trying to download Halo 4, GOW4, Gearsowar3, or MGS5.

As said earlier, I think digital distribution would shun kids away since, show of hands, how many of you guys know any middle or high school kids with a credit card? I am sure they would have to ask their parents to buy the game for them but what if the parent doesn't want to get it for them because it would kill bandwidth. Not every thing a child owns was bought by their parents. Also, if a parent doesn't want their cild (who ask to get somethin like Zelda) because the main character is usin a sword, they would likely get them some home gardenin game instead. Heck, they may get them some shovelware games because it is cheaper or that they seen an ad for it. Sales of more popular and fun games may be down while the more shovel ware games (like Feeding Frenzy) and politically correct games may see an increase IT is unrealistic to say that digital distribution would be the only method in gettin media

It will never, ever happen Phil.

Let's try and stop disguising the fact that this is a PR exercise for companies to try and kill the 2nd hand market.

Physical media will end. As previously stated, its "when" not "if." Provided the human race continues its advancement and survival, it will happen pretty soon. This is pretty widely accepted in the IT sector. Most especially disks, as they are just a terrible format.

Solid state will be the next big, and last (imho) evolution of physical format.

They will if the big Broadband providers have anything to say

Only thing I'm afraid of is when they succeed. Hmm lets see, only three viewings, oops we can't find you in our records, can't play it anywhere else. Once digital distribution is the only way to go there will be little reason for these companies to play nice anymore. I just don't trust the lot of them. I have Constantine on blu-ray and if the digital copy disc is any fortelling of things to come (I can't get it to work on my Sansa can only watch it on my PC, it counts every time I move it) NO THANKS.

Digital Distribution would be a great boon to content delivery. IF we didn't have the current mindset that is so prevalent in these industries.

I'd like to revisit this when it comes to hear about people longing for the days when they had a choice

This will suck for Canadians. Currently we can buy anything that's available on DVD/Blu-Ray in the U.S., but digital distribution will take away that choice because we're "too small a market" for the publishers to bother licensing less popular videos... like most anime, most concert DVDs, and pretty much anything that doesn't have a major Hollywood studio attached to it.

The corporations have already driven many Canadians to video piracy to get the television shows that Americans take for granted, *when* Americans get them (not months later), and in the *quality* Americans get them (HD). If the downloads that don't get licenses for Canada is anything like the DVDs that don't get a specific Canadian pressing, the piracy in Canada will simply be out of control!

My daddy's a lazy middle class intellectual, my mommy's on valium - so ineffctual. Ain't life a mystery?

I'm bored with physical media.

Except records. I love records.

"Young'uns" may never buy physical media for themselves, but for some time to come they will still own physical media products that are bought for them. Birthdays & holidays are the thing. Until grandma gets has a way that she can easily use and trust to buy a digital gift for her precious ones, physical media has a place.

Don't underestimate the economic power of gift sales.

Sorry, but Comcast and the rest of the ISP's will prevent this from coming any time soon with the Bandwith Cap. It's all one big conspiracy to stop people from downloading movies/games and watch them on cable or go to gamestop to buy them. Why now come up with the cap? Just before netflix offer's it's xbox360 streaming crap, and honestly i wouldn't doubt that comcast was somehow slowing the netflix "traffic lane" down a bit anyway. I get a solid connection of atleast 10-12 mbps from home but i always get 1-3 bars of quality on the netflix thing.

Eh? I buy DVDs and CDs all the time! I don't like the idea of downloading ALL major enternments because it's simply too easy, i like to know i've worked for it a tad. But of course this is an era of fat balding mid-aged men sitting in a dark room in front of the TV with a two week old box of pizza on his swollen stomach and therefore can not for the life of him have the energy to get up and live like a (now dieing) normal people...

Every time this d-bag opens his mouth I want to kick him in the nuts.
I've really never read a quote of his that wasn't exaggeration to the point of schizophrenia.
I'm just glad he isn't working at Sony any more, he'd be saying that a ps3 will create the Matrix and Blue Ray was foretold by Nostradamus to reign all media for 500 years.

Sure people like us dig digi distribution, but the general populous?

I would rather have the physical media for my games than downloading them. I pay for the game and i'd like to have something in my hands to show for the money i spent.

Downloading games will be a nightmare. sure smaller games like mega man 9 will be fine, but bigger games like gears of war and GTA will suffer. Most service providers limit bandwidth usually the downloading has a cap per month. The servers that you download from will have slow transfers due to so many people downloading on day 1 much less week 1. I have a feeling many of these servers might be used at the same time for the online multiplayer aspect as well. So say hello to online game lag. Sure downloading games is a nice thought but i think the technology required for the game systems, servers, and internet providers to properly handle this is still 10 - 12 years away.

Wake me when this transition has happened with films to a 80% of market or better degree. Then you can MAYBE start a 5 year clock for gaming getting to a 20% market share at best for new release games. Add another 10 years to get to 50%. And for the record, film isn't even at 20% yet. The day you see Blockbuster Video & Netflix physical media shippings gone from the retail landscape, then this foolish pipe dream may actually start to have some credibility to incur 3,650 days later.

The problem that this buffoon and all online media proponents fail to grasp in their old man's wanna be view of "Futureworld" is that games keep getting bigger data-wise, internet usage is well on the way to being a metered expense (eventually inhibiting downloading & online play at least more than the status quo) and piracy will run 1,000 times more rampant--crippling 3rd party developer's ability to recoup costs at worst & profits at best--and eventually the industry as a whole.

And Mr. Harrison, forget the fact that revenues from the used market sustain 35% of current consumer spending ability & value, (and 65% of new releases are paid for with some form of trade-in credit) which certainly would be killing the golden egg laying goose, consider the below statement foolish geezer...

Wal-Mart Will Not Play Nice With You.

That fact alone in a recession / depression era economy is enough to render this entire point moot. Mr. Harrison, please stick to your current behavior of losing a prestigious position with a former #1 hardware market video game company, where you managed to kill the market leading Golden Goose with your ill thought and demagogue inspired "foresight."

There's a reason you aren't with Sony anymore, bub. It's called accountability.

This from the man that said Home would revolutionize game connectivity. I guess it's good people do still dream though.

Digital distribution really is the future. I mean, just ask anybody whose career depends on it and they will tell you so. They are totally unbiased.

I guess Phil is going to solve the problem of rural access to broadband too then! Sweet!

What I fear the most from digital distribution is price control: since you can't resell nor give your game to another person, if someone wants access to an old game, the service can still decide to charge full price (since there could still be demand but no competing offer besides other digital distribution services).

And I like buying cheap games.

I think everyone has been calling for this for a while and most people overlook one huge problem: Bandwidth.

Digital Distribution? In a day and age where comcast and AT&T are going to start putting bandwidth caps on broadband access? In a time when the United States is rapidly falling behind the rest of the international community in bandwidth and throughput speeds? Files, media, and games are going to take up more and more space and unless our infrastructure starts drastically improving, i don't see how people can practically download 50gb games on a 5-10mbit broadband connection that has a monthly cap.