Physical copies of games.

[Dave]

Recently, a lot of threads have appeared in the area of technological piracy. I don't think this is a bad thing, mainly because it is a great subject to debate and has given a bit more life to the section. So with that in mind, I have debating in my head about whether the gaming industry is going to go down the sam path as the music and film industry. By that I mean, are physical copies of games, soon going to redundant against digital downloads. The music industry has led the way with this and had really set the curve as to how well and how badly it can go. For instance. The introduction of iTunes, has really shown people how big music is and smartly it can work. However, when music went digital, it was extremely easy to take that music from other sources and get it for free. The same is happening for the film industry.

Now, my question is. Would it not be safer for companies like Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo to release games digitally across mediums such as the PlayStation Network and XBOX Live? This way, there is no physical copy to go and burn to a computer and then distribute online. There is perhaps is some way of doing it but I, for one, have not got a clue as to how it would work. For me, I think it would be a bit safer but of course you would be cutting away some of your market to preserve some of your income. Which is more important? You see, a lot of people do not have access to mediums like XBL or PSN and have to rely on buying the games from games stores etc With that in mind and Christmas on the way, no games developer would think about it at this time. In fact, I think I read an interview with one of the leaders of SCEE, in which he stated that physical copies were "going nowhere". He still thinks that they will be around for a long time to come but is this a good thing?

 

[Lee]

Not really and I'll tell you why:

Wii: Doesn't have the memory
360: Red Ring of death, deleting your games would be hell.
PS3: Yellow light of doom (same as 360)

Plus there's the important thing of game instruction booklets. Not everyone who buys games knows their stuff so reading how to play is a must for those gamers. Also what about the trade in market, the likes of CEX/Cash converters would vanish as would the gaming stores. Can you see them being happy with that? Nope, me either.

 

[Dave]

Not really and I'll tell you why:

Wii: Doesn't have the memory
360: Red Ring of death, deleting your games would be hell.
PS3: Yellow light of doom (same as 360)

The great thing about Microsoft in particular because I can't really speak for people who have PS3's is that everything is tied to your gamertag. I have had the RRoD three times on my last console. Thankfully, I have not had it on this one but the point remains the same. When a hardware failure occurs, you still have everything stored on your hard-drive and when it is tied to your gamertag, you can go back to XBOX Live and download it all over again. It's not really fun downloading it again but the game will never get scratched and not work if you have it on a hard drive. Plus, as it is online, their is always back up if you were to lose the physical copy of the game.

Plus there's the important thing of game instruction booklets. Not everyone who buys games knows their stuff so reading how to play is a must for those gamers. Also what about the trade in market, the likes of CEX/Cash converters would vanish as would the gaming stores. Can you see them being happy with that? Nope, me either.

Again, Instruction manuals etc can be published online along with the game. If they can do it with the Bible, I am pretty sure the can do it for Call of Duty. Again, no actual harm will come to the manual and it will always be in a pristine condition instead of dog-eared in my bedroom. Also, I don't think Microsoft or Sony or Nintendo care about people buying games from places like Cash Converters, they get no money from them anyway, so why should they care? The simple answer is, they wont.