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As Downloads Take Over, a Turning Point for the Video Game Industry

nytimes.com

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Re: As Downloads Take Over, a Turning Point for the Video Game Industry

#31

Post by techdragon »

SapphireSun wrote: post #30
_ea1k wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree that the limiting factor is hard drive space. It would not have made sense to significantly increase the capacity of the drive by replacing Blu-Ray with something else. That would have just made the hard drive bottleneck even more pronounced. 500 GB really isn't enough for a heavy gamer.

Luckily 4TB hard drives are on the market these days, however, their price alone would contribute significantly to the MSRP of the console.

Yeah, at their level of bulk purchasing, it wouldn't. Cost on a Blue ray drive, cost of discs packaging, etc... All put together they would save. But they got bitten pretty hard by the "how dare you not let me sell my old games" crowd. That seems to have deterred them from "download only" distribution.

Re: As Downloads Take Over, a Turning Point for the Video Game Industry

#32

Post by cloverich »

vinkelhake wrote: post #29
habitue wrote: post #8

Now, if only we could get rid of the DRM infesting the games industry like they did with music. It's seriously ridiculous that you can't get a refund for or resell downloaded games. The plastic disk doesn't fundamentally change anything, and they know it, otherwise they'd charge less for digital versions.

If I can be the devil's advocate a for a bit... I don't think it's entirely ridiculous that you can't resell an item that never degrades. If this was possible, it would be a huge blow to publishers. Imagine a new game being released on PS4 for $60. A good number of people buy the game at release, play it through and then put it up on a marketplace at a lower price. At this time, there is zero incentive for a buyer to…

> I don't think it's entirely ridiculous that you can't resell an item that never degrades.

Thats an argument for protectionism, but not for consumer benefit. In fact it feels like the opposite -- using IP law to force consumers to pay more for the exact same product that could be bought "used."

Re: As Downloads Take Over, a Turning Point for the Video Game Industry

#33

Post by CaptSpify »

Drakim wrote: post #7
CaptSpify wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> ...they also have a horrible track record for customer service. The internet is littered with tales of horrible experiences from Gamestop TBF, the same could be said for Steam.

Probably, but Steam is in a growing business, not a dying one. The argument is more that not only is Gamestop in a diminishing market, people won't even miss it because they have unpleasant memories of it. If Gamestop was this cool amazing video game community hub thing that I loved, I might go there, and end up buying games while I'm there anyways.

Oh yeah, totally agree. But Steam is setting themselves up for the same scenario if they don't stay at the front of the innovation game |;)

Re: As Downloads Take Over, a Turning Point for the Video Game Industry

#34

Post by megablast »

vinkelhake wrote: post #29
habitue wrote: post #8

Now, if only we could get rid of the DRM infesting the games industry like they did with music. It's seriously ridiculous that you can't get a refund for or resell downloaded games. The plastic disk doesn't fundamentally change anything, and they know it, otherwise they'd charge less for digital versions.

If I can be the devil's advocate a for a bit... I don't think it's entirely ridiculous that you can't resell an item that never degrades. If this was possible, it would be a huge blow to publishers. Imagine a new game being released on PS4 for $60. A good number of people buy the game at release, play it through and then put it up on a marketplace at a lower price. At this time, there is zero incentive for a buyer to…

This is the situation now. You think the current situation is bad?

Re: As Downloads Take Over, a Turning Point for the Video Game Industry

#35

Post by bsilvereagle »

shmerl wrote: post #24

I really hope digital downloads will take over. It will reduce the influence of retail distributors who like to set skewed regional pricing that in result affects even prices in digital stores. It is often simply a rip off (ask Australians what they think about it). Surprisingly, that didn't quite happen yet. Some games like the Witcher 3 reported[1] a major percentage to be retail sales (almost 75%). I expected it t…

> I really hope digital downloads will take over.

There are lots of people on capped satellite/3G/"water tower" internet who enjoy gaming that are going to be cut out of the market if consoles go to a pure digital distribution system. Additionally, gamers in very remote locations (submarines, remote foreign villages, etc) couldn't have the latest releases mailed to them. Somehow they'd have to find a broadband connection. It doesn't make much sense to eliminate a class of paying customers by switching to 100% digital distribution.

Re: As Downloads Take Over, a Turning Point for the Video Game Industry

#36

Post by Kronopath »

tammer wrote: post #27
slimsag wrote: post #5

Gamestop is to Steam what Blockbuster is to Netflix, they failed to adapt and now they're obsolete. Not only that, they also have a horrible track record for customer service. The internet is littered with tales of horrible experiences from Gamestop, and the only people who might still shop there are grandparents shopping for their grandkids.

They really need to pivot, and I'm not seeing them do it. To me the answer is obvious: Blockbuster :: Netflix :: actual movie theatre Old Gamestop :: Steam :: new gamestop with all but the rarest used games hauled away, & using the space for pod enclosures that create individual and co-op immersive experiences, rentable by the hour while parents shop at surrounding stores, run errands, etc. Studios get immersive demo…

The problem with your analogy is that while a movie can take two or three hours, a game can take dozens or hundreds, which means a lot more time spent in your "pod".

It's interesting to note, however, that a variation on this idea has already come and gone: arcades. Those were the places you went to when you wanted to play a game somewhere other than your home.

Re: As Downloads Take Over, a Turning Point for the Video Game Industry

#37

Post by jonknee »

techdragon wrote: post #31
SapphireSun wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Luckily 4TB hard drives are on the market these days, however, their price alone would contribute significantly to the MSRP of the console.

Yeah, at their level of bulk purchasing, it wouldn't. Cost on a Blue ray drive, cost of discs packaging, etc... All put together they would save. But they got bitten pretty hard by the "how dare you not let me sell my old games" crowd. That seems to have deterred them from "download only" distribution.

The costs of discs and distribution don't come back to the console makers (for most titles). The hardware does and a Blu Ray drive is dirt cheap.

Re: As Downloads Take Over, a Turning Point for the Video Game Industry

#38

Post by jonknee »

Houshalter wrote: post #20
habitue wrote: post #8

Now, if only we could get rid of the DRM infesting the games industry like they did with music. It's seriously ridiculous that you can't get a refund for or resell downloaded games. The plastic disk doesn't fundamentally change anything, and they know it, otherwise they'd charge less for digital versions.

They can't charge less for the digital version because of gamestop. Gamestop won't carry games where the digital version is cheaper. There might also be similar arrangements with the console makers themselves, not wanting to encourage the PC market. Games made only for PC are cheaper and have better sales. As for reselling games, that would seriously hurt developers. A single game could be resold 100s of times, but o…

> As for reselling games, that would seriously hurt developers. A single game could be resold 100s of times, but only the first sale goes to the developer, and everyone else in the chain plays for free.

Video games have been resold since video games were invented and there still continue to be new titles.

Re: As Downloads Take Over, a Turning Point for the Video Game Industry

#39

Post by wernercd »

vlunkr wrote: post #18
slimsag wrote: post #5

Gamestop is to Steam what Blockbuster is to Netflix, they failed to adapt and now they're obsolete. Not only that, they also have a horrible track record for customer service. The internet is littered with tales of horrible experiences from Gamestop, and the only people who might still shop there are grandparents shopping for their grandkids.

It seems like most complaints about Gamestop aren't directed at customer service, as the employees are usually pretty nice, it's about the prices and policies. They'll buy a used game or take it as a trade in for next to nothing and then turn around and sell it at almost retail price. Lots of kids are basically throwing games away at Gamestop.

Add to that, the fact that a lot of stuff can't be resold these days. Special gear, hats for specific versions, one time registration codes, etc.

I'm all for buy low-sell high (I never sold because it wasn't worth the trade, but thats just me) - but buying from GameStop just leaves you with a gimp product.

A large part of that can't be blamed on GS. Developers are all after the PreSale bonus', DLC and anything that stops secondary sales.

As much as I love Steam, it is worrysome that I don't even have the option of reselling my games. (On the same token: I generally don't buy unless it's 50-75% off, so...)

Re: As Downloads Take Over, a Turning Point for the Video Game Industry

#40

Post by douche »

bsilvereagle wrote: post #35
shmerl wrote: post #24

I really hope digital downloads will take over. It will reduce the influence of retail distributors who like to set skewed regional pricing that in result affects even prices in digital stores. It is often simply a rip off (ask Australians what they think about it). Surprisingly, that didn't quite happen yet. Some games like the Witcher 3 reported[1] a major percentage to be retail sales (almost 75%). I expected it t…

> I really hope digital downloads will take over. There are lots of people on capped satellite/3G/"water tower" internet who enjoy gaming that are going to be cut out of the market if consoles go to a pure digital distribution system. Additionally, gamers in very remote locations (submarines, remote foreign villages, etc) couldn't have the latest releases mailed to them. Somehow they'd have to find a broadband connec…

It seems like shipping the game on SD or MicroSD cards ought to work for a lot of those situations. 4-8 GB SD cards are about down to the price point where you are paying for the packaging and the shelf-space, rather than the actual product. Big, clunky, spinning, easily damaged optical media should be dying.
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