We have the same preference as the rest of the country, but only because we can't hang digitally distributed games from the ceiling tiles of our dorm room to give it a hip, edgy look.
We have the same preference as the rest of the country, but only because we can't hang digitally distributed games from the ceiling tiles of our dorm room to give it a hip, edgy look.
Reader Comments (100)
Posted: Jan 15th 2010 12:59AM The Blank Mage Returns said
Oh, that's a classic MGS reference. I request he be upvoted.
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Posted: Jan 14th 2010 11:21PM Ezio Auditore da Firenze said
Fire is hot.
Water is wet.
More news at 11!
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Water is wet.
More news at 11!
Posted: Jan 14th 2010 11:36PM Manvir2489 said
Water is not wet and fire is not hot, those are just lies and propaganda told to you by the liberal media! Open your eyes people!!
[/sarcasm]
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[/sarcasm]
Posted: Jan 14th 2010 11:54PM Chopper731 said
Nice!
"You could die by 9pm! Find out how to live tonight at 10."
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"You could die by 9pm! Find out how to live tonight at 10."
Posted: Jan 14th 2010 11:59PM sonicspike41 said
If everyone is going to die by 9pm... oh shit, it's almost 11pm here. God, have I been... LEFT BEHIND?
Fuck it, where's the nearest Best Buy, time to stock up on games and enjoy the rapture.
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Fuck it, where's the nearest Best Buy, time to stock up on games and enjoy the rapture.
Posted: Jan 15th 2010 5:08AM (Unverified) said
you idiots need to stop putting [/SARCASM I DIDNT REALLY MEAN IT YOU GUYS] in your posts. if someone doesn't understand what you mean, theyre idiots and who cares.
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Posted: Jan 14th 2010 11:23PM Tab said
I did buy a soft copy of Bioshock but I still prefer the old box. Heck, I might still hunt down a collectors edition just for the hell of having it if I can find one that's not at a rip off price. Digital purchases will go up in the future but for the most part, people will stick with the boxes.
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Posted: Jan 15th 2010 4:13AM (Unverified) said
Of course people will stick to boxes but it is undeniable awesome to be able to buy and play the game u want without ever having to leave the house.....
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Posted: Jan 14th 2010 11:23PM Sho Minamimoto said
I would be more tempted to buy digital copies of games if they didn't cost as much as the hard copy. With a physical copy, I can sell the game if I ever get bored. But with a digital copy, I'm stuck with it for life. I'm also fairly positive that games are cheaper to distribute digitally, so why is it so expensive?
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Posted: Jan 14th 2010 11:27PM (Unverified) said
My sentiments exactly. I think it's because they are testing to see what people will pay for.
I'll shed a tear the day hard copies go the way of the dinosaur. Dinosaurs were awesome.
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I'll shed a tear the day hard copies go the way of the dinosaur. Dinosaurs were awesome.
Posted: Jan 14th 2010 11:42PM (Unverified) said
Good point. That also brings up the issue of DRM and the extent that gamers can store/transfer/copy games.
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Posted: Jan 14th 2010 11:46PM The 7th Number said
I prefer hard copies of my games. But think about this. If they allowed you to sell your digital copy of a game for between 30-50% of the sales price it sells for at the time you wish to sell it, that would make things a lot different. Instead of trading CODMW2 into gamestop for 30 dollars in store credit, you could sell it with a selection of a button and get 30 dollars for it, or maybe even transfer it into 30 dollars in MS points to buy a new game. Until we have the option to resell it at least, i dont think digital games will sell well. Thats unless there is no hard copy available.
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Posted: Jan 14th 2010 11:53PM Sho Minamimoto said
But why would they give us the option to sell a digital copy? Its not like They can resell the copy that we give to them.
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Posted: Jan 15th 2010 1:06AM sonicspike41 said
"But why would they give us the option to sell a digital copy?"
I'm hoping they'd do it because they know a lot of people try to spend their money wisely and selling their games often factors into what they buy next. The company would still make money on the original sale, and if they force you to resell games for "store credit" then they also keep you as a customer.
See, we get to sell our games at 50% of their current price, which is money we can put to a new game. We also get the added satisfaction of knowing we can sell our games if we don't like them.
The company gets most of the money from the initial sale, they get a return customer, and they get more DD sales since more people would feel confident knowing they can resell their games. It also hampers the sale of used games which also helps out the company.
Now all they have to do is keep up the Steam-like crazy deals and people might actually welcome DD with more open arms.
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I'm hoping they'd do it because they know a lot of people try to spend their money wisely and selling their games often factors into what they buy next. The company would still make money on the original sale, and if they force you to resell games for "store credit" then they also keep you as a customer.
See, we get to sell our games at 50% of their current price, which is money we can put to a new game. We also get the added satisfaction of knowing we can sell our games if we don't like them.
The company gets most of the money from the initial sale, they get a return customer, and they get more DD sales since more people would feel confident knowing they can resell their games. It also hampers the sale of used games which also helps out the company.
Now all they have to do is keep up the Steam-like crazy deals and people might actually welcome DD with more open arms.
Posted: Jan 15th 2010 3:41AM NIck PSN ID Rattlehead91 said
A used-digital-downloads market will never exist. The various video game compnaies would lose out on millions of dollars.
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Posted: Jan 15th 2010 7:30AM Mattwood said
£19.99 for a game I can get a physical copy from the local shop for that price or a pre-owned version for £5-12.
until they get with the real world and offer these 'old' games for what they are worth they will not make a success of digital downloads.
I can't wait to see the charge they put on games which are not 1-2 years old :)
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until they get with the real world and offer these 'old' games for what they are worth they will not make a success of digital downloads.
I can't wait to see the charge they put on games which are not 1-2 years old :)
Posted: Jan 15th 2010 8:43AM mrmobius said
Well actually by offering the ability to sell it back to them, they could make it more profitable than the idea of resale at the minute in hard copy.
Take that by someone buying the digital copy that means one less physical copy exists, and hence one less copy available for resale. Physical resale means no additional profit for the gaming company. If the person bought the game by DD and then resold for 30% original cost, it means that the player who may have bought his resold physical copy now has to go and buy the DD version for full price, giving the company an extra game sale.
The likelihood this'd be a good idea I'm unsure of, but still a suggestion.
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Take that by someone buying the digital copy that means one less physical copy exists, and hence one less copy available for resale. Physical resale means no additional profit for the gaming company. If the person bought the game by DD and then resold for 30% original cost, it means that the player who may have bought his resold physical copy now has to go and buy the DD version for full price, giving the company an extra game sale.
The likelihood this'd be a good idea I'm unsure of, but still a suggestion.
Posted: Jan 15th 2010 11:44AM Shagittarius said
If theres a dirty gym sock on the doorknob don't go in joystiq is Masturbating.
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Posted: Jan 14th 2010 11:26PM (Unverified) said
Digital Distribution is still in its early phase, by the next console generation it will be the primary way to buy games. I'm sure by then the system will much more developed and more people will be interested. Digital Distribution is more of an inevitability than it is a possibility.
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Posted: Jan 14th 2010 11:57PM Chopper731 said
If they can't find a solution to properly deal with the secondary market of these games then this won't happen.
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Posted: Jan 15th 2010 12:33AM Mmmmz said
Actually, it won't happen the next gen or probably the one after that.
Until the U.S has a better broadband infrastructure, it simply won't become mainstream. And then, ISP prices will increase and for what? Not having a disc? Wonderful...
I like Digital Distribution, but it shouldn't become mainstream for a while simply due to the economics and lack of rights issues. It's a wonderful supplement but the sheer amount of data people expect to be put through existing networks is laughable. If everyone were to jump on the bandwagon tomorrow there'd be huge issues.
For now at least, DD isn't the end all, be all solution; especially considering how it all ends up on a frickin' physical media medium in the end anyway (hard drive, flash memory) Which costs more too.
It'd also put great pressures on publishers to limit/cut down content size. Who'd want to download Final Fantasy with a minimum of 24 GBs in the end?
It's just silly to expect all this in a few years when no one with the money wants to invest in it.
/silly rant
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Until the U.S has a better broadband infrastructure, it simply won't become mainstream. And then, ISP prices will increase and for what? Not having a disc? Wonderful...
I like Digital Distribution, but it shouldn't become mainstream for a while simply due to the economics and lack of rights issues. It's a wonderful supplement but the sheer amount of data people expect to be put through existing networks is laughable. If everyone were to jump on the bandwagon tomorrow there'd be huge issues.
For now at least, DD isn't the end all, be all solution; especially considering how it all ends up on a frickin' physical media medium in the end anyway (hard drive, flash memory) Which costs more too.
It'd also put great pressures on publishers to limit/cut down content size. Who'd want to download Final Fantasy with a minimum of 24 GBs in the end?
It's just silly to expect all this in a few years when no one with the money wants to invest in it.
/silly rant
Posted: Jan 14th 2010 11:33PM Hivetyrant said
I love digital distribution, in a lot of cases, its a hell of a lot cheaper (though unfortunately in most its the same)
Maybe i'm weird, but I just prefer having a physical box to sit on my shelf. I like seeing piles and piles of cases lined up, makes me feel all warm inside.
Then again, so does looking and pages of games in my steam list.
Such is life for a gamer though I 'spose.
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Maybe i'm weird, but I just prefer having a physical box to sit on my shelf. I like seeing piles and piles of cases lined up, makes me feel all warm inside.
Then again, so does looking and pages of games in my steam list.
Such is life for a gamer though I 'spose.
Posted: Jan 15th 2010 1:50AM Mirhderer said
When it comes to PC gaming, I go digital everytime.
No need for multiple install discs (Fresh install of WoW + Expansions is like 10 discs), keeping track of product keys, disc swapping, etc.
That being said, I would definitely be more inclined to purchase physical PC games if they came in DVD boxes. They still come in those overtly large cardboard boxes and they have no place on my shelf
A little off topic, outside of PC gaming, I only think digital distribution works with smaller games (XBLA, PSN games, Wii Ware, etc.) and renting movies. Never would I buy a movie on iTunes, Amazon, XBL, PSN, etc.
I had a digital copy of The Dark Knight on Amazon's Unbox Player thing and it's essentially dead now because of "licensing agreements". What the hell kinda digital distribution is that?
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No need for multiple install discs (Fresh install of WoW + Expansions is like 10 discs), keeping track of product keys, disc swapping, etc.
That being said, I would definitely be more inclined to purchase physical PC games if they came in DVD boxes. They still come in those overtly large cardboard boxes and they have no place on my shelf
A little off topic, outside of PC gaming, I only think digital distribution works with smaller games (XBLA, PSN games, Wii Ware, etc.) and renting movies. Never would I buy a movie on iTunes, Amazon, XBL, PSN, etc.
I had a digital copy of The Dark Knight on Amazon's Unbox Player thing and it's essentially dead now because of "licensing agreements". What the hell kinda digital distribution is that?
Posted: Jan 14th 2010 11:39PM (Unverified) said
It all depends on the content and the demand for it, I guess. If a game you anticipated was only available in digital format, would you buy it? If it had a physical copy in stores, would you get that instead?
Related to that would be the availability of titles in both formats. If, for example, highly anticipated games such as Final Fantasy XIII, God of War or Gran Turismo were available in both physical and digital formats, which format would you choose? (I shudder to think about how long it would take to download even just one of them, and the disk space that would be consumed.)
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Related to that would be the availability of titles in both formats. If, for example, highly anticipated games such as Final Fantasy XIII, God of War or Gran Turismo were available in both physical and digital formats, which format would you choose? (I shudder to think about how long it would take to download even just one of them, and the disk space that would be consumed.)
Posted: Jan 14th 2010 11:43PM (Unverified) said
Wait a minute, I thought NPD didn't even track digital downloads? Are they just making numbers up now?
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Posted: Jan 14th 2010 11:45PM (Unverified) said
hey I get the picture it's supposed to be "The Orange Box"
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Posted: Jan 15th 2010 12:38AM The Blank Mage Returns said
Considering Valve and Konami are as unrelated as aeronautics and tacos, I'd say that's a coincidence.
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Posted: Jan 15th 2010 12:40AM The Blank Mage Returns said
.....I just realized that the word aeronautics happens to include the letters to spell tacos. Maybe you're on to something, Beatnik. Maybe this goes deeper than either of us knew.
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Posted: Jan 15th 2010 7:16AM iHavePants said
@Blank Mage
Except this is nowhere that disconnected, the box literally says "The Orange"... and it's a box. MGS has never made 4th wall breaking references before?
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Except this is nowhere that disconnected, the box literally says "The Orange"... and it's a box. MGS has never made 4th wall breaking references before?
Posted: Jan 15th 2010 12:37AM paralipsis said
Ditto.
I do most of my gaming on PC (Wii and handhelds are distant seconds), and I've been an exclusive digital download buyer for PC games for a long time.
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I do most of my gaming on PC (Wii and handhelds are distant seconds), and I've been an exclusive digital download buyer for PC games for a long time.
Posted: Jan 14th 2010 11:49PM Tsuyin said
This just makes me laugh at the morons who always say "BUT BLU RAY IS USELESS DIGITAL STREAMING!11!!". Generally this comes from xbox fanboys who won't accept blu ray. Just look at the last article about a whole game of content being cut. A few (note I said few) of the xbox retards were SO sure streaming is how it is going to go. This reaffirms that is not the case.
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Posted: Jan 15th 2010 12:09AM sonicspike41 said
Gamestop is prepping for a digital media future, all of the major entertainment devices offer online stores, and now the big 3 consoles will also have netflix streaming.
Brick & mortar retail stores that sell physical goods aren't going to suddenly disappear one day. Physical goods might start to sell a little less here and there, but no one is saying that retail doesn't matter or that streaming a 720p movie is as good as owning the disc for it.
Secondly, it's unfair to cite only "xbox fanboys". I know at least a few Wii only owners who don't care for Blu-Ray or HD, just like some PC owners feel the same way, and even some PS3 owners think that Blu-Ray is nice, but not needed.
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Brick & mortar retail stores that sell physical goods aren't going to suddenly disappear one day. Physical goods might start to sell a little less here and there, but no one is saying that retail doesn't matter or that streaming a 720p movie is as good as owning the disc for it.
Secondly, it's unfair to cite only "xbox fanboys". I know at least a few Wii only owners who don't care for Blu-Ray or HD, just like some PC owners feel the same way, and even some PS3 owners think that Blu-Ray is nice, but not needed.
Posted: Jan 14th 2010 11:50PM (Unverified) said
Interesting Stats considering Valve never give out Steam sales to any publisher.
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