Analyst: GameStop sales safe from digital delivery until 2017

dem duke boys is at it agen!

neeheeheeheeyeauck

His evil twin.

yeah its kinda like this...
http://enemigapublica.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/385766michael_knight5b15d.jpg
awwwww
http://i452.photobucket.com/albums/qq250/carmenzangia/Garthecloseup3.jpg
ohhhh nooooo

if they hit at 2011 or 12 like people have been predicting then not a chance. There's no way asshole internet providers are gonna speed the US up and loosen up the reins like Europe by then, 2017 seems almost as unlikely to me as well

Do some research. Digital downloading has little to do with the decline in PC game sales. Consoles have driven PC game sales down for several years and PC game sales have been on a steady decline since the rise of systems in general but esp the latest: 360, PS3, Wii. People don't play PC games as much because the average person can't afford a $1700-2500 gaming computer every 2 years versus a $300-600 console that will last you 7 years. PC games cost less to encourage sales, period. Consoles and their games DO NOT and HAVE NOT followed PC game sale trends for years. If anything, all this indicates is that PC games will continue to dwindle until they stagnate as a niche market for those who love to mod -- one reason why I think PC games will always exist. Steam and all other PC downloading services are certainly affecting retail sales, but I doubt its as significant as you would like to think.

if companies are able to follow steam's method of drm, I honestly can't complain. if my hard drive ever corrupts or anything, its good to know that I can download it wherever I am, as long as I have internet. plus, what if I lose or scratch the disk? there's no guarantee for that. (for the record though, my games sit safely right next to my ps3) also, if I'm traveling, moving, or on the go, I won't have to worry about lugging around disks if they're on my hard drive.

the biggest thing that will make me move to digital dist. is the cost. if you're not making a box for it and you don't need to pay for rent, you might as well lower it. anything lower than the current release price for me is good.

but, until then, i'll stick to physical copies. :)

Finally someone who also understands that digital downloading is NOT a good thing! Streaming is of course the worst because you literally have no control of what you are paying for. I don't understand why people can't understand that when you download you are giving up your property rights. This is elementary and all you are trading your rights for is convenience. Furthermore, in the scenario that digital downloading completely takes over in 20 years how could you honestly be naive enough to believe that the publishers and developers won't charge you the same price that retail would? Once a competitor is crushed, the low prices always disappear. We've seen it over and over again! Whats terrible about this is that you, the CONSUMER, will have signed over property rights to the publishers and there will be no alternatives for you unless you simply stop gaming. I hate Gamestop just as much as anyone else does -- hence the reason I shop at my local mom & pop game store -- but I'd rather give my money to GS than sell my soul to the publishers. Also, for those of you who are sick of "lugging" games around (seriously?!), good luck keeping track of all your tiny memory chips.

Thanks for this post. I thought there were no more sane people left.

Everyone is missing the very real downsides that digital downloads hold for the consumer. Some have been mentioned, but there are many others.

Those who think it will make things cheaper, think again. In fact have a look at the current PSN. None of those games are cheaper, in fact most are more expensive than physical media.. and this in a time when they still have to compete with physical media.

Lastly, other restrictions, such as region locking. It's infuriating when you want to buy something and they go 'Sorry, this isn't available in your area.'

At least now you can import stuff on disk via grey importers. All of that will be gone with digital only.

I sincerely hope physical media stays around for a LONG, long time to come.

Yeah, cuz we all should be just the same. Monopolies always help bring prices down-- and spur innovation to boot! Brick and mortars would be fine if they would just stop being... um. brick. and. mortars? Conformity is good.

You can lease games much cheaper than owning them, Captain Underpants. It's called "renting" it. Check out your local video store for details... Mine charges $5.99 to lease a game for the week... compared to Sony, who charges $34.99 to lease one of their games for PSPGo.

I just want to point out that all this talk about digital downloads being the "cool new thing" and "the future of games" is really just a bunch of hooey. What did you expect to read on an internet website? It's called self-promotion. Imagine, an internet website promoting internet purchases. Wow. Those advertising guys are geniuses!

Eventually, people will get over the novelty and realize they are paying 5 to 10 times the amount they would pay for a lease versus $5 for a rental at a video store. They will realize they can drive to their local video store and rent a copy of a movie faster and cheaper than they can download it to their HDD. That the $14.99 they just paid for a digital download on Amazon for a new movie can only be played on whatever machine is approved by the vendor, and that the same movie was on sale in a sale bin at their local retailer for $7.99.

The smart ones will, anyway. I guess the dumb ones will still pay premium prices for a bunch of electronic 1's and 0's they have no real ownership of and had to wait three days to download. Since the world is full of dumb people who buy into self-promoting advertising, I say purchase stock in companies that produce hard disc drives.

I wonder: if you died right now, can you bequeath your digital library to a loved one, or is all your digital property deleted by the Big Server in the Sky? If all three of your kids want a PSPgo, do you have to buy 3 digital versions of the same game for each of their systems, or will Sony let them share just one? How many times will you be willing to upgrade, update and transfer your digital ownership between machines before you realize you can simply buy a new blu ray player and plug it into the wall to play your physical movie collection... when Windows 15 comes out? Iphone 8Gx?

Digital downloads should be reserved for cheap entertainment while travelling, i app cheapies and demos. If you're going to buy something more than $5, be smart and buy a real physical thing.