People still mostly buy physical copies of games

[wraggster]

This perhaps shouldn't come as much of a surprise, but America still loves its boxes. As reported by Gamasutra, the NPD says that 90 percent of sales in Q3 2009 were attributed to boxed copies of games. If you're not so good with the math, that means only 1 out of 10 games was distributed digitally. That average drops to 79 percent if you lump together portables, PC/Mac, mobile, and smartphones, but that's still pretty darn impressive.

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.

http://www.joystiq.com/2010/01/14/people-still-mostly-buy-physical-copies-of-games/

[phsychokill]

it's going to be a long time before digital distro over takes hard copies, they say it's more convenient to get it on digital download but in most cases by the time you buy the game and get it downloaded you could of been to the store and got it and played it for a few hours.

digital distro games will never take off until we have net connections that can get the games down the line in less time than it takes to go to the store or the digital distro prices drop below the prices of physical copies.

[yakumo]

I really like having a physical copy of my favorite games, with its box, cover, manuals...

[WhizzBang]

I think digital distribution will really take off when the cost reductions are passed on to the consumer. If you look at the XBox download games you can buy much of what's available on hard copies for a lower price in game stores, which is clearly nonsense.

If downloads were about a quarter of the price as retail I think it would seriously dent retail sales and maybe even kill them. At the moment the publishers are not ready to upset retail stores in this way.

[VampDude]

I like the idea of downloading PS3 games from the PlayStation Store at an eighth of the price for an original from the store, plus the option to share amongst five PS3 consoles.

For me, I would like to buy the digital versions and maybe have people who are willing to share, because SONY have allowed sharing between five linked consoles. But because I know there are many scammers, I am sticking to purchasing the packaged titles for the time being.

[symbal]

It will be a long time before digital distribution takes over but before then the ratio of physical to dlc will gradually change, meaning developers include less content on the disk and needing more to download whether free or chargeable, developers know we won't accept a sudden change so will try to match digital content growth with the expansion of high speed internet.

[jokerbat]

i don't like the disc version
room consuming, easy to be scratched or broken
not convenient for management

[Justise]

I usually say that I hate Digital games.

I'll be more specific and I'll say, I hate any digital game with a lifespan. Games with Lifespan are: games that cannot be backed up on a disk, and they are likely to be lost if I forget my account info, or my PS3 breaks, or the PSN fails dew to technical reasons or Sony's bankruptcy, and generally games that when I undust my PS3 after 30 years I know they won't be there and there won't be any way to find them and re-buy them.

[fpcreator2000]

I usually say that I hate Digital games.

I'll be more specific and I'll say, I hate any digital game with a lifespan. Games with Lifespan are: games that cannot be backed up on a disk, and they are likely to be lost if I forget my account info, or my PS3 breaks, or the PSN fails dew to technical reasons or Sony's bankruptcy, and generally games that when I undust my PS3 after 30 years I know they won't be there and there won't be any way to find them and re-buy them.

Either way one is ****ed. It is just that there are more ways than one to get ****ed when it comes to digital media. With physical disks, there is one problem people haven't been having, but will soon when the disks start hitting 30+ years of age and that is disk failure on the disk.

Example:
Burned disks last only for about 5 years or so which makes buying music on cd a slightly better choice (when it comes to albums at least), but music cds stamped from the factory can last for up to 30 years or so.

Based on the example above, one can say you are ****ed either way because the disks the games are stamped on are destined to fail eventually.

And this is where piracy comes in and performs a service as in a way it helps to preserve a record of those games that can no longer be found on the market, and/or one can no longer play because the system you owned back in the day failed (I had the original Sega Genesis, with the headphone jack, and volume control) and it finally failed on me after more than 11+ years of years of boredom killing service). Emulation of the roms has preserved this gem, along with others for future generations to enjoy. But I digress.

In essence, physical media is more reliable than digital media in one way, but digital media is more convenient in another, but you can't bring your digital games to play at your friend's house, unless you carry the entire console with you.

There is also no real feeling that can compare than when you buy that game (new or used), open it, and insert it to play on the system. I guess we physical media lovers have it as bad as people who love to listen to music on LP or EP records (if you're too young to know what a record is, wikipedia it).

I bought Lost and Damned, and Ballad of Gay Tony (great additions to GTA IV), but I plan on buying the disk with the episodes because I like to have that disk itself.

One way they can switch us from physical to digital media is to give us the option to install the entire game to the console from the disk that we buy at the store, or give us the ability to download the game from (MS or Sony or Nintendo store for example) when the disk is inserted to the device). And just change extra for the disk, and make the digital only game $10 cheaper. You will see people move a little faster to the digital distribution model, but what I don't like about the digital model is the level of control companies have with the game you buy. You have more control over physical media because once you buy the physical game, the company no longer has control over that content, when you buy the digital game.

Moving to digital distribution model is a way for companies to cut down cost and increase profit margins, it also gives the companies a level of control that one did not have before. One has to ask why do games cost they same price new on most digital distribution models as they do new in physical package? The physical games have to be made at a factory. kept in a warehouse waiting to be distributed, and then they have to be distributed to the different retailers who ask for them so that they may put them up for sale. All of this cost money, which happens to be built into the price of the physical game. A digital version of the same game removes all of those processes, but adds the server farm where the games have to be housed for download by the customers, but that's about it. It should be cheaper to maintain servers full of digital content ready for download.

These are just my ramblings, but in the end I love physical mediums, whether they convenient or not is irrelevant to me, but I guess this comes from the fact that I grew up with games when cartridges were in, and people were just getting to know CDs.

[mib_]

Either way one is ****ed. It is just that there are more ways than one to get ****ed when it comes to digital media. With physical disks, there is one problem people haven't been having, but will soon when the disks start hitting 30+ years of age and that is disk failure on the disk.

Example:
Burned disks last only for about 5 years or so which makes buying music on cd a slightly better choice (when it comes to albums at least), but music cds stamped from the factory can last for up to 30 years or so.



I've got lots of burned discs from around 1997, and they're still perfect... the only discs that failed within a few years were the Sony branded discs! :rofl: Stick to a quality brand and look after them, you should be fine.

Modern discs are supposed to last 30+ years... but nobody actually knows that; and by that time, you will be able to obtain copies for free. (if you still want them)