30 replies to this topic

[Mendon]

http://www.ign.com/a...ir-games-online

Wow... up 10% over last year. Sort of surprised at the results but I guess I shouldn't be as more-and-more this is becoming the digital age of gaming.


Mendon

[Tempest]

Ugh.  Maybe it's the old fogie in me talking, but if it's not on a physical disk then I don't want it.  I'm guessing this is more because I want to be able to play it again 10 years from now than actually having to hold onto something physical.  Maybe gamers today don't care if they can replay an old title?  Maybe that notion is something that is falling by the wayside?

[cimerians]

I look at it like this:

RETAIL GAMES
Xbox360, PS3 --> I try and buy physical media. I dont have the hard drive space. Plus console makers are not making it worthwhile\appealing charging the same price for physical and digital.
PC --> Digital only. I have the hard drive space and I dont have anymore shelving in the house. And its cheaper!

OTHER GAMES
Xbox350, PS3 --> Download only. I dont want to get off my chair to insert a CD and play arcade games or TRIALS HD on my Xbox 360. These games are also smaller in size.
PC --> Digital only. As above.


Granted publsihers are not helping much on the console side of things. Charging the same price for physical and digital.

PC gaming is best. I pre-ordered Lego Batman 2 for 26.99 vs 50 bucks for physical console copies.
Also picked up LA Noire complete off Steam for the PC for $7.99.

Edited by cimerians, Fri Jun 29, 2012 8:08 AM.

[raskar42]

have you tried finding a babbages lately?

[Mord]

Mendon, on Fri Jun 29, 2012 7:55 AM, said:

http://www.ign.com/a...ir-games-online

Wow... up 10% over last year. Sort of surprised at the results but I guess I shouldn't be as more-and-more this is becoming the digital age of gaming.

Probably just a case of more and more gamers getting pissed with Gamestop type practices of selling opened/gutted games for full price. Fewer and fewer places to buy unmangled goods in a physical store these days I've been finding... :/

[Pixelboy]

Tempest, on Fri Jun 29, 2012 8:06 AM, said:

Maybe gamers today don't care if they can replay an old title?  Maybe that notion is something that is falling by the wayside?

That's a darn good question. Perhaps 10 to 20 years from now, some will whine about not being able to play "that old game from their teenage years", but I can't imagine them being particularly vocal about it. They will either play with whatever game is available 20 years from now (with priority given to whatever rehash is closest to the games they played as kids) or they'll stop whining at one point and do something else, like perhaps read a good book, if paper still exists 20 years from now.  

I'd say us retrogamers are pretty spoiled, in the sense that we can still revisit the same games we played 20 years ago, if only for nostalgia's sake. Today's generation of kids won't have that luxury.

[Reaperman]

http://www.organicco...rticle_1475.cfm
so according to this random page, 36% of america believe that 9/11 was an inside job.
Given that, it's hard to see how only 35% would rather buy games online.  Buying games online isn't totally--

[SlowCoder]

Sad, but ultimately that way of things.  Eventually we will be totally digital download.  We, the real retrogamers, comprise only .009% of the voice in modern society.

As far as books go, I have shelves of books.  Most of them will be lucky to ever be read again.  Is it worthy holding on to them when I could otherwise use true space?  My wife has a Nook, and she loves it.  My problem with Nook vs. Kindle is that you're tied to a certain retailer to buy books.  And if the device dies and you don't still have an account you can access, you're S.O.L.  I'm on the fence as to whether I'd prefer a real paper book, or an electronic device.

[iswitt]

SlowCoder, on Fri Jun 29, 2012 11:57 AM, said:

As far as books go, I have shelves of books.  Most of them will be lucky to ever be read again.  Is it worthy holding on to them when I could otherwise use true space?  My wife has a Nook, and she loves it.  My problem with Nook vs. Kindle is that you're tied to a certain retailer to buy books.  And if the device dies and you don't still have an account you can access, you're S.O.L.  I'm on the fence as to whether I'd prefer a real paper book, or an electronic device.

I feel like a broken record about this subject, but just go to the library. They buy them and store them for you. And they carry ebooks as well, so it's a win-win. Not that you are like this, but I don't understand why more people don't take advantage of libraries. I turn down access to awesome free stuff all the time...

[Rex Dart]

SlowCoder, on Fri Jun 29, 2012 11:57 AM, said:

My problem with Nook vs. Kindle is that you're tied to a certain retailer to buy books.

Not true.
Anyways, seems that maybe 35% of my game purchases are digital downloads, but only because that's the only way they're available.  I suppose once discs disappear, then I'll be getting a much larger percentage digitally.  
I would prefer that XBLA titles are all sold physically somehow, of course.  It's not up to me though.

Edited by Rex Dart, Fri Jun 29, 2012 1:52 PM.

[Emehr]

I wonder if these numbers are partly due to people like me who are just fed up with modern gaming and mostly refuse to partake in it. Aside from Nintendo's offerings, I've completely lost interest.

Edited by Emehr, Fri Jun 29, 2012 2:25 PM.

[onlysublime]

I know a lot of people, even though a lot of classics are readily available via emulators such as MAME, will maybe load up MAME once in a couple of years to reminisce about their childhood.  But few people play old games any more.  I see so many games available from my Atari days to play, but I'm so backlogged on modern games that I don't have enough time to revisit the old ones.  I even begged some of my friends to load up their emulators so we can play over the Internet and they don't want to go to the effort.  And I tend to save money on arcade games by buying collections such as the one with Pac-Man CE, UNO, etc. on disc.  But it irritates me that Pac-Man will still have the disc spinning like mad even if you install the disc to the HD.  It's part of the reason why I prefer the XBLA titles digitally.  Faster loading and DVD-ROM silence.

[Lord Helmet]

I like the trend bc I don't like to deal in physical media unless I have to. If I can DL it then that's my 1st choice. I'll never replay any of the games from this gen. The only games I care about replaying over and over again are the ones from the classic era. Less shelf space for current gen = more space for my classic collection.

[VW]

I don't prefer buying online but Steam sales have got me to the point that I now buy the vast majority of my games digitally.  They're just too cheap not to, in the last month I bought Arkham City, Deus Ex, Alan Wake for $15, $7.50, and $15 respectively, never mind great deals from the past like Bioshock 2, Red Faction Guerilla and Mirror's Edge for $5 each.  Even if you treat all of these as long term rentals and not ownership, they are fantastic deals.  Like others of you have said, they have ballooned my backlog of modern games to the point that I haven't played any retro games in quite a while.  I do think that while there is more quantity than in the old days, there is less quality and I'm not sure how many of the current gen of games I will want to replay in future years.

[xg4bx]

EA: We're Going 100% Digital



The major publisher has officially announced that it will be going entirely digital in the near future. The exact word used by president Frank Gibeau was "inevitable". But Madden won't be disappearing off the shelves tomorrow.
Gibeau sums it up thusly:
"Retail is a great channel for us. We have great relationships with our partners there. At the same time, the ultimate relationship is the connection that we have with the gamer. If the gamer wants to get the game through a digital download and that's the best way for them to get it, that's what we're going to do."
This won't be a sudden change but a gradual shift. Still, Gibeau notes that last year digital was a growing sector for the publisher collecting $1.2 billion in revenue.


via gametrailers

Edited by xg4bx, Mon Jul 2, 2012 5:18 PM.

[AtariLeaf]

I do like Steam when they have those massive sales and its games I don't care about collecting, just playing, like the Worms games but I'm a big Sims fan and right now you can either buy any Sims 3 game retail or download BUT if EA makes the inevitable Sims 4 as a digital download only I may pass on it all together. I hate sucking at the EA teet as it is but for certain games like Sims, physical media is a must for me so its disc or bust UNLESS there's a huge discount ala Steam where the game is 75% or 80% off (not bloody likely)

[godslabrat]

xg4bx, on Mon Jul 2, 2012 5:15 PM, said:

EA: We're Going 100% Digital



The major publisher has officially announced that it will be going entirely digital in the near future. The exact word used by president Frank Gibeau was "inevitable". But Madden won't be disappearing off the shelves tomorrow.
Gibeau sums it up thusly:
"Retail is a great channel for us. We have great relationships with our partners there. At the same time, the ultimate relationship is the connection that we have with the gamer. If the gamer wants to get the game through a digital download and that's the best way for them to get it, that's what we're going to do."
This won't be a sudden change but a gradual shift. Still, Gibeau notes that last year digital was a growing sector for the publisher collecting $1.2 billion in revenue.


via gametrailers

HAHAHAHHAHA...

Wow... EA, a company I already couldn't hate more, has just announced that they're going to be selling their games in a format I refuse to support.  This is it... EA and I officially part ways.  They've spent the past 3-4 years giving a constant "fuck you" to the people who pay their bills, now they're about to kill the golden goose once and for all.

The hilarious thing will be that once they do go under, they won't be able to blame used games or piracy.

[Mendon]

cimerians, on Fri Jun 29, 2012 8:07 AM, said:

OTHER GAMES
Xbox350, PS3 --> Download only. I dont want to get off my chair to insert a CD and play arcade games or TRIALS HD on my Xbox 360. These games are also smaller in size.

You might not switch a CD but you might have to get out of your chair to switch hard drives trying to find the game you downloaded a couple months ago!

I know what you are saying but those 320gb Xbox drives will fill up pretty fast with digital games like Halo 4, Borderlands 2, Call of Duty, Battlefield, Assassin's Creed, Mass Effect, etc etc etc leaving little room for XBLA games.

EDIT: I just read on Kotaku where you'll need 8gb of space for game saves for Halo 4.
http://kotaku.com/59...-8-gbs-of-space

All due respect to Jaws.... "I think we're gonna need a bigger hard drive".

Mendon

Edited by Mendon, Tue Jul 3, 2012 9:21 AM.

[cimerians]

Mendon, on Tue Jul 3, 2012 9:12 AM, said:

cimerians, on Fri Jun 29, 2012 8:07 AM, said:

OTHER GAMES
Xbox350, PS3 --> Download only. I dont want to get off my chair to insert a CD and play arcade games or TRIALS HD on my Xbox 360. These games are also smaller in size.

You might not switch a CD but you might have to get out of your chair to switch hard drives trying to find the game you downloaded a couple months ago!

I know what you are saying but those 320gb Xbox drives will fill up pretty fast with digital games like Halo 4, Borderlands 2, Call of Duty, Battlefield, Assassin's Creed, Mass Effect, etc etc etc leaving little room for XBLA games.

EDIT: I just read on Kotaku where you'll need 8gb of space for game saves for Halo 4.
http://kotaku.com/59...-8-gbs-of-space

All due respect to Jaws.... "I think we're gonna need a bigger hard drive".

Mendon

Yeah thats right....with PC gaming it's not much of a problem. With consoles, especially Xbox 360...its a big issue. We'll see if microsoft sticks with 'proprietary' drives on there next console. The PS3 is easier and cheaper to upgrade but its still a cost to the consumer to make just because the publishers want to go all digital.

They are just starting to offer new releases as digital downloads on PSN and XBLA these last few years but who's got the space? Plus like I mentioned they dont seem to me making it worthwhile with charging the same price as retail.

Also, how will the next gen machines fit all our current stuff and all future stuff? Will they provide 3TB drives? I doubt it.

Thats why Sony is looking to streaming.

[Mord]

cimerians, on Tue Jul 3, 2012 9:36 AM, said:

Also, how will the next gen machines fit all our current stuff and all future stuff? Will they provide 3TB drives? I doubt it.

Current stuff? Are you assuming that your PS3/360 stuff will just be ported to the next generation? You should be expecting your current stuff to stay on your current console rather than somehow being transitioned to a next gen machine without you having to rebuy it from scratch...

[cimerians]

Mord, on Tue Jul 3, 2012 10:34 AM, said:

cimerians, on Tue Jul 3, 2012 9:36 AM, said:

Also, how will the next gen machines fit all our current stuff and all future stuff? Will they provide 3TB drives? I doubt it.

Current stuff? Are you assuming that your PS3/360 stuff will just be ported to the next generation? You should be expecting your current stuff to stay on your current console rather than somehow being transitioned to a next gen machine without you having to rebuy it from scratch...

Its wishful thinking.
I was hoping you would still have access to download your PSN/XBLA games on future consoles. Granted I wouldn't download everything I have but Pinball FX and Escape Goat would be cool to have without firing up the old 360.

[GonzoGamer]

yeah and this 35% are the same people who's games we as collectors find in shops, thrift stores, etc. trashed to hell, some people are just players with no respect for the collecting aspects of gaming, i dunno, maybe it's just the collector in me but i prefer to have something tangible, something real to hold onto, or maybe i am just old, likely it's a little of both.

Edited by GonzoGamer, Thu Jul 5, 2012 2:42 PM.

[NightDriver2600]

I prefer physical games, even if they do take up a lot of space in my tiny apartment.

[onlysublime]

cimerians, on Tue Jul 3, 2012 10:41 AM, said:

Mord, on Tue Jul 3, 2012 10:34 AM, said:

cimerians, on Tue Jul 3, 2012 9:36 AM, said:

Also, how will the next gen machines fit all our current stuff and all future stuff? Will they provide 3TB drives? I doubt it.

Current stuff? Are you assuming that your PS3/360 stuff will just be ported to the next generation? You should be expecting your current stuff to stay on your current console rather than somehow being transitioned to a next gen machine without you having to rebuy it from scratch...

Its wishful thinking.
I was hoping you would still have access to download your PSN/XBLA games on future consoles. Granted I wouldn't download everything I have but Pinball FX and Escape Goat would be cool to have without firing up the old 360.

I"m sure newer pinball games will pop up that make Pinball FX look primitive.

I have Pinball Fantasies on the Atari Jaguar which was great for its time but there's little reason to go back to it, no matter how fond the memories were.  Heck, a reboot of Spider-Man just came out with the previous series having its last movie only 5 years ago.  Total Recall is almost out even though the original was great!

[ham]

I prefer buying games on a physical media because...
1.  You can play it on more than one console.
2.  You can sell it later on.
3.  You can loan it to a friend.
4.  I like collecting stuff.