EA: physical media still has a future

By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 22 August, 2011

"People like a physical copy of a game."

EA reckons physical media - games on a disc sold in a real world shop - still have a future, despite the growth of digital sales and the emergence of streaming.

EA's European boss Jens Uwe Intat outlined three reasons why he's convinced physical media isn't going anywhere: the sheer size of video games in terms of data, the desire by many to own a physical copy of a game, and gift giving.

"The amount of data our developers put into a game grows so fast," he told Eurogamer. "Software engineers, you give them storage space and they use it. As fast as the pipes grow, those guys are so creative.

"Secondly, there are people who just like to have a physical copy of a game. Thirdly, there is still this impulse purchasing and gift purchasing where people just like to give a physical present to somebody rather than a voucher or an attachment to an email.

"So I think there is still a lot of reasons why physical goods in bricks and mortar stores will have an interesting future."

Uwe Intat's comments echo those of his boss, CEO John Riccitiello, who in January cast doubt on the viability of cloud-based gaming services.

"We make services, we don't make products, and I think the challenge I would have in answering the question the way you framed it is I don't think people want a streaming game service. I think they want their games to work," he said.

This despite EA's own prediction that digitally delivered content will bring in more business than traditional packaged games by the end of 2011. EA also recently launched Steam rival Origin, its PC download shop.

Wii and 3DS maker Nintendo has also backed physical media. In February Nintendo of Europe's MD of marketing and PR, Laurent Fischer said packaged software will "drive the mass market".

And in August last year then Sony Computer Entertainment boss Kaz Hirai insisted a digital future is over 10 years away.

"We do business in parts of the world where network infrastructure isn't as robust as one would hope," Hirai said.

"There's always going to be requirement for a business of our size and scope to have a physical medium.

"To think everything will be downloaded in two years, three years or even 10 years from now is taking it a little bit to the extreme."

Last July saw a watershed moment in the rise of digitally distributed games, when NPD revealed that US PC game digital downloads were reaching parity with in-store sales.

In October 2010 Take-Two boss Strauss Zelnick predicted that in three years' time 40 per cent of the Grand Theft Auto company's sales will be digitally distributed titles.

Picture of Wesley.

About Wesley Yin-Poole

Wesley is Eurogamer's news editor. He likes news, interviews, and more news. He also likes Street Fighter more than anyone can get him to shut up about it.

Read more articles from Wesley by visiting the Wesley Yin-Poole archive page.

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Comments (65) Latest comment 9 months ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • superstu1337 #1 9 months ago

    I will ALWAYS take physical over a digital download. Then it's ALWAYS in my possession no matter what happens to the service / system in the future!

  • MiniAmin #2 9 months ago

    It's so refreshing to hear someone in the games industry acknowledge this point. I see no reason why physical media and digital downloads cannot coexist.

    Quite often, when people speak about the forthcoming death of physical media in gaming, you can't help but wonder that it's something they're hoping for, and trying to champion, under the guise of being neutral.

  • onezeonx #3 9 months ago

    Cant beat the new game smell when you open a game you really want :D

    mmmm paper smelllllll

  • jablonski #4 9 months ago

    "Jens Uwe Intat"

    Anagram, surely?

  • ricpamiwor #5 9 months ago

    @superstu1337 - Unless the game requires the service/system to authenticate anyway. ;-)

  • Spekingur #6 9 months ago

    @superstu1337: Except when the physical media requires an online service to be played.

    Brick and mortar stores also keep the RRP up.
    Should point out that physical media is much more popular on consoles than PC - as soon as console gaming becomes all digital you can properly start talking about "death of physical media". Mobile gaming is almost all digital - and today it seems to be the newest trend in gaming.

  • SClaw #7 9 months ago

    I prefer a real copy too... but I often get caught up with the desire to play it literally the second it's been released (no idea why). Steam has spoiled me. If it wasn't so damn expensive on there I'd buy all my games from them.

  • Zyklonbzombie #8 9 months ago

    It's just a shame that in EA's case, said physical media is subject to online activation and downloadable unlocks in order to play half of it, making it less of a "physical" game, and more of a 'for-your-convenience' pre-downloaded one.

  • vmanb #9 9 months ago

    physical media is the future, well in my eyes it is anyway. Still not to keen on digital downloads tbh

  • metalangel #10 9 months ago

    ZyklonbZombie is right... half an EA game is usually only available as DLC.

  • sfp_noodle #11 9 months ago

    Wait, wasn't it EA that said people don't want physical media anymore a few months ago? Make your minds up!

    Physical media will always win over digital. Think about the gamers who buy Fifa and COD every year - Would they want to have the old game stuck on their hardrive, or would they rather trade it in to help fund their new game?

    Edit - Spelling
    Edited by sfp_noodle at 22/08/11 @ 11:56

  • uknortherner2000 #12 9 months ago

    Hang on, didn't EA say that digital downloads were the future a month or so back? Not that it makes any difference - day-one patches, internet connections and activation limits already make most of their games redundant the moment the disc is popped into the drive.

  • merseymal #13 9 months ago

    Personally, I prefer digital downloads for games, but CDs and DVDs/Blu-Rays for music and films.

  • TruSmiles #14 9 months ago

    Digital distribution for mainstream titles isn't really appealing enough to me to want to switch. With things like music and film, I much prefer streaming and digital content. CD"s never get used once they've been ripped on to my MP3 player and movies rarely watched more than once, so they physically take up a lot of unnecessary room for me, plus they're just much more cheaper and accessible as a download or stream than as a boxed equivalent.

    But games aren't quite there yet. Steam has shown me how much I will invest in digital copies of games when the price is right (i.e. sales) but all I see in games on demand services are a lot of expensive titles, some of which are priced even more than their retail counterpart. Plus console games as a digital download just don't feel as convenient as Steam is.

    I would prefer more digital content if it was convenient and well priced. I have nothing against my boxed games, but they get worn out. I've managed to damage and break a lot of game discs from overuse, so there are a few games I own digitally as well as physically.

    I love collectors editions though, they're lovely and shiny.

  • Darren #15 9 months ago

    "EA's European boss Jens Uwe Intat outlined three reasons why he's convinced physical media isn't going anywhere: the sheer size of video games in terms of data, the desire by many to own a physical copy of a game, and gift giving."[/i]

    +1

    I knew there had to be someone with some intelligence working for games publishers. It's so refreshing to read that from a big software house such as EA. Microsoft will be shaking in their boots no doubt after reading that as it means it is highly unlikely that the next Xbox won't have a Blu-ray or similar drive for games storage. :p

  • orangpelupa #16 9 months ago

    also just like sony said there many countries with bad internet.
    so downloading a game is a big "no".

    even buying original games in disc form is already a hassle for these country.. like when i buy Portal 2, then it need to install steam, then it update steam that took very long time, then the portal 2 need an update that i just let my laptop download when i asleep...

  • kangarootoo #17 9 months ago

    Translation - we've pulled all our content off Steam, but we are a bit worried that Steam is so popular that the result will be that some people simply don't buy our games anymore, rather than change their preferred method of purchase.

    Companies like EA don't just "say stuff". There is always a reason.

  • mingster #18 9 months ago

    I haven't inserted a disc in anything for years it's Steam, ITunes, PSN or LIVE or avi's & divx. Can't stand changing discs.

  • HyperTails #19 9 months ago

    Physical copies will be around for a good number of years yet. Yeah, publishers would switch to all digital tomorrow if they could, and i'm sure a bunch of tree hugging hippies would love it as well, but for those of us in the real world, its not feasable. If I buy something I want to hold it in my hands, have it on my shelf, etc. I can buy my little sister a DS game for her birthday and give it to her, not give her a code to download it.

    I look back at all the games i've bought over the years, and I couldn't get that feeling of satisfaction if they were download only.

  • repeater #20 9 months ago

    @Jablonski:
    Inane Wet Juts? Jean Wine Tuts? Inane Stew Jut? Ninja Tweet Us?

  • arcam #21 9 months ago

    I am totally for the future of digital downloads. I can't really think of a single advantage of a disc over a download - sometimes the DRM can be nasty, but that is a fault of the publisher, not the format. Both a disc and a download are just alternative ways of getting the 1s and 0s to your machine and to me, one is obviously more efficient than the other.

    I think gifts and 'new game smell' arguments can be got past quite easily, but the main reason physical media won't die for a long time yet is this:

    We do business in parts of the world where network infrastructure isn't as robust as one would hope

    No one is gonna abandon large parts of the market like that. However I wouldn't be surprised if MS/Sony/Nintendo offer machines without a disc drive for western countries with good internet infrastructure. At least, I fully expect every single title next-gen to have a download alternative.

  • MasonMk #22 9 months ago

    Look at movies and music.

    Music is getting a hella lot of sales through downloads, but there's still alot of people who will go into HMV or an independent store to buy a physical copy of whatever they want. People can then rip CDs to create a digital copy if they choose to, and it's good for gifts by having physical copies too. Movies have a similar stance, but a still more popular through physical formats. This is why i can't see game sales going only digital, but it will have a bigger market share over physical in the future, yes.

  • knightmt #23 9 months ago

    I know it is weird but I like the hard copy backup. And surely if Digital media was completely superior mp3/torrent would have killed cd's. Maybe it is because we can play them on many devices?

  • sega #24 9 months ago

    There will always be physical media simply because people like it. It's the same with vinyl - we don't need it these days with the likes of itunes but they're still being made.

    They also predict things like the death of the high street to online sales but people simply enjoy going out shopping. We'll never be in a future where we have empty houses that we never leave - an exaggeration but things like physical media exist because it's part of human lifestyle. Convenience be damned - we want to go out and gather 'things'.

  • electrolite #25 9 months ago

    Hurray! Somebody who realises it's going to be a long time before digital media is all we have and isn't pretending otherwise. It only suits the content provider as it cuts down competition, getting rid of retail would be like turkeys voting for Christmas.

    A looooooooong time.

  • arcam #26 9 months ago

    Convenience be damned - we want to go out and gather 'things'.

    Honestly I think that is just an old-school attitude. Talk to some young kids and despite being bigger consumers of media of any generation that has gone before, many of them have never used a CD, a game disc, a DVD or a book.

    Try telling them that they are missing out on the smell of a manual or the look of a box on a shelf and they will look at you funny.
    Edited by arcam at 22/08/11 @ 12:49

  • ZizouFC #27 9 months ago

    He gets it man.... he... he gets it.

  • Murton #28 9 months ago

    Another vote for physical media here. Aside from the reasons in the article there's the collection aspect, I currently have 130 retail games and counting, I like my collection, in a digital only future I'd simply have a list which just isn't the same.

    There's also the social aspect. Talking with the guys behind the counter who recognise you as you come in, flirting with the token hot chick that every GameStation has, I enjoy buying new games and I don't want that experience to go away.

  • patch #29 9 months ago

    There are lots of reasons you'd want physical, personally I'd say lending to friends and being able to trade in are two pretty obvious ones Jens wouldn't want mentioned :)

    Best way to encourage digital distribution is to lower the price. If I can get it for 40% off RRP from Amazon, I'm not going to pay RRP on XBL or PSN. From what I've seen, Steam doesn't take the p*ss half as much as the console shops, and carries a lot more discounted older games. Would be nice to see some download competition on the consoles...

  • sega #30 9 months ago

    "Honestly I think that is just an old-
    school attitude. Talk to some young kids and despite being bigger consumers of media of any generation that has gone before, many of them have never used a CD, a game disc, a DVD or a book."

    Are you kidding? I know of two year olds who have a bigger dvd collection than I have. I challenge you to find a kid who hasn't had any of those things (without going back to the seventeenth century).

  • BigDannyH #31 9 months ago

    In a perfect world, both would exist. But a digital purchase is worth more to a developer than a hard-copy sale due to the extremely active (retailer-influenced) second hand market. That's a big issue.

    My only issue is storage space. I'm not sure how XBL works but I'd like it to know if I've bought a game so, instead of a "cloud", I can just delete old games and re-download them in the future if I ever wanted to play them again.

    Oh, and pricing. Because a hard-copy is also worth more to us consumers due to trade in market.

  • Timotei #32 9 months ago

    A 360-owning friend has just been hit by Psychonauts being taken off the digital download list.

    Will he get his money back?

    Who does he contact?

  • RawNinjaKid #33 9 months ago

    Right now for big brand new releases the retail stores still hold the cards (whether it is for promotional sense or sales) and therefore any undercutting by virtual stores is difficult or impossible as Sony is finding out.

    However, as Nintendo is finding out: virtual sales still make up a hefty and very rapidly revenue stream particularly for secondary titles/DLC that can't be ignored.

    If you ask me; it's DLC that HAS to be killed!

    Edited by RawNinjaKid at 22/08/11 @ 13:19

  • arcam #34 9 months ago

    Are you kidding? I know of two year olds who have a bigger dvd collection than I have

    Usually those are DVDs bought by their parents. Despite the lack of downloadable movie options (which probably makes it a bad example), I know some younger teenagers would never buy a DVD, preferrring on-demand (Virgin/Sky) or straight-up piracy.

    In USA it's even more pronounced, mainly because they have Netflix.

  • FortysixterUK #35 9 months ago

    This EA fella is actually making sense.
    Even if I buy a game on STEAM ( something I ONLY do if there's a sale on), the first thing I do is make a back up of it.
    You simply cannot beat physical media, from the simple packaging of a PC "sold out" title to the ornate packaging of the Halo 3 masterchief helmet or a WOW collectors edition.

  • TelexStar #36 9 months ago

    @arcam - "I can't really think of a single advantage of a disc over a download"

    I'll give you a massive reason. It eliminates competition! It's as simple as that.

    I don't deny that digital distribution is far more convenient and efficient but with the likes of EA and whoever else controlling prices of their digital products, it can only be bad for us as consumers.

  • Toothball #37 9 months ago

    @superstu1337

    You think that a physical copy of game will always be in your possession, but physical media is not infallible either. It could become lost or broken, no matter how careful you are with them. It could also be that your place is broken into and the game is stolen, or lost to other mishaps such as fire or flooding. Digital games obviously have their down sides, but there is no guarantee a physical game will last forever either.

    For me, the main down side of physical games is the physical space they take up. I've been collecting for years and have several large boxes full of games, with a few more still at my parents' house. Involved quite a lot of heavy lifting getting all of them up to my third floor flat, and since I rent I'm inevitably going to have to move them again in the next few years. Finding a particular game among those boxes can be quite challenging too if I ever do feel the need to play one. With my Steam collection on the other hand, moving that in was just a case of plugging my computer in.

    I'm trying to switch my gaming to digital, although I don't think it'll be feasible on Xbox and PS3 until the next generation. As Sony demonstrated with the PSP catalogue, a digital gaming service is no use if it doesn't have the range of games, something they're fixing with the Vita. For Games on Demand and PSN to work, they need to be releasing everything digitally as it is made available physically.

    Owning something physically is a very hard habit to break, and not one that most can manage overnight. I've been slowly converting myself over the past few years with things like Steam and games on XBLA. Once I'd settled in with those after a year or so, I tried out Games on Demand.

    Times change, and it's worth at least keeping up with them even if you don't embrace them. Otherwise you end up like grandparents who don't know how to use a video player.

  • arcam #38 9 months ago

    I'll give you a massive reason. It eliminates competition! It's as simple as that.

    Again, this is a criticism of the way digi-distribution has been done on consoles, not the concept itself.There is no reason multiple online shops can't sell the 1s and 0s in a download in the same way multiple physical shops sell the 1s and 0s on a piece of plastic.

  • technotica #39 9 months ago

    "I will ALWAYS take physical over a digital download. Then it's ALWAYS in my possession no matter what happens to the service / system in the future! "

    Until the DVD gets so old it won't work anymore.

  • SilverInfinity #40 9 months ago

    @superstu1337

    Couldn't of said it better myself.

    If it all goes digital how will be able to attend the midnight launch of Halo 14 or Elder Scrolls Omniverse ...

    Digital downloads suck because if they take the content offline YOU HAVE NO WAY OF GETTING IT BACK IF YOU LOSE IT AND THEREFORE YOUR MONEY HAS GONE DOWN THE TOILET plus DRM sucks total balls at the moment!

  • RawNinjaKid #41 9 months ago

    Once gaming as medium gets established as a proper entertainment medium; there's a possibility that Govt departments around the world would intervene if Competition is not sufficient. It would than be that virtual stores would be regulated like physical ones.

    Software/Platform may also face regulation. This could lead to the break-up of PSN/XBLA stores, and open up more competition to other virtual retailers for Sony and MSFT games.

    Obviously I am talking about the distant future here; but the point I am making is that competition is the least of our worries over a Digital Download future.

    Edited by RawNinjaKid at 22/08/11 @ 13:55

  • GamesConnoisseur #42 9 months ago

    Physical media whilst very tangible and real, but the data burned on it may not last forever!

    I got loads of Spectrum 48k cassettes, Amiga floppy disks, various cartridges, PC's floppy disks and even my newest laptop doesn't have a DVD drive.

    Time marches on restlessly, media mediums changes, backward compatiblity not always assured.

    Wishes for a dead cert secure software ownership to be carried on regardless, ie I purchased Xenoblade and it's mine evn when in 2030 playing on Nintendo's platform then, instead of repurchasing same game repeatingly.

  • arcam #43 9 months ago

    YOU HAVE NO WAY OF GETTING IT BACK IF YOU LOSE IT AND THEREFORE YOUR MONEY HAS GONE DOWN THE TOILET

    I have lost many, many games in the past, usually because I have lost/scratched the disc or the CD key that came without. Since I've been using downloaded games, I still have every game I have bought, even after 2 new computers and a hard drive failure.

  • intpleeus #44 9 months ago

    I can't get internet where I live except via satellite. The service occasionally drops, especially in bad weather. And there are limits on how much can be downloaded each day before the service reverts to dial-up speeds. Even downloading DLC is difficult. There is a window of unlimited use during the middle of the night, and so that is when I get big files downloaded. Physical media isn't just a convenience to me but a necessity if companies like EA wish to keep my custom.

    No doubt technology and infrastructure will improve over time, but 3 years? Even 10 Years seems optimistic. There are also issues with storage space. When buying a physical copy of a game there is no need to worry about providing your own storage space. I have deleted DLC before to free up space on my harddrive safe in the knowledge that I can download again at any time, but that will not always be true.

    When my 360 died under warranty and was replaced, all the DLC on the harddrive stopped working. Like most people in this situation, I ended up just redownloading a lot of content. But some content had been lost forever. For example, I had DLC for the original Xbox Knights of the Old Republic. Microsoft had since closed down the servers, and it was impossible to redownload or transfer the rights to my new console. This wasn't such a big deal, but eventually this kind of thing will probably begin happening with today's online content.

  • kangarootoo #45 9 months ago

    "There will always be physical media simply because people like it. It's the same with vinyl - we don't need it these days with the likes of itunes but they're still being made."

    Vinyl is of course still being made, but not on the same scale as it used to be. And it wasn't iTunes that killed vinyl, it was CDs and tapes. Vinyl as a mainstream medium was dead long before iTunes raised its head.

    I don't think anyone is suggesting that games on discs will disappear from the face of the planet - just that their numbers will decline to the point where they don't "count" anymore when looking at the main market (as with vinyl, which is entirely a specialist medium these days).

  • FooAtari #46 9 months ago

    Both will co-exist for several years to come. Digital distribution currently works well for some media, not quite so well for others.

    Never mind other less developed countries, the network infrastructure isn't that great here in the UK!!. I live in Aberdeen and can only get a 4mb connection. That's a pretty long wait for an 8Gb download of a game or hi def film, and for something that is sometimes more expensive than the retail copy.

    My folks who are out in the sticks a bit, but not exactly anything you would call remote and only get 1.5 - 2.0Mb connection. Unless you want to abandon a sizeble chunk of your customer base physical copies are going no where soon for that reason alone, along with many others listed above. I have no doubt digital distribution will eventually dominate over retail, but it's not going to happen over night. And why does it need to? Most media is available via both now so everyone is happy.

  • geeza2020 #47 9 months ago

    "Again, this is a criticism of the way digi-distribution has been done on consoles, not the concept itself.There is no reason multiple online shops can't sell the 1s and 0s in a download in the same way multiple physical shops sell the 1s and 0s on a piece of plastic."

    Except this is blatantly false, as we've seen in the last week with EA removing their games from Steam simply because of a disagreement in the way DLC is sold, and this is all on PC's by the way, not consoles. This proves how fickle the publishers are about who has access to their content and how.

    Now EA have Origin, they can sell their games to you digitally knowing that you cant get it digitally anywhere else at all. In your digital-only future this would be a monopoly as they would have no competition whatsoever. Its only a matter of time until all the big publishers set up their own digital distribution services, enabling them to set the price to whatever they want, knowing the customer has the choice to buy it at their inflated price, or not at all. Multiple bricks n mortar stores selling physical copies of games are free to set their own prices which creates competition and therefore, lower costs to the consumer.

  • SilverInfinity #48 9 months ago

    "I have lost many, many games in the past, usually because I have lost/scratched the disc or the CD key that came without. Since I've been using downloaded games, I still have every game I have bought, even after 2 new computers and a hard drive failure."

    True as have I, however now I'm a bit older (and maybe wiser) I take better care of my games. However, I have no control over an external companies servers where games are hosted or if there is a buyout / merger / change of IP ownership that prevents a game from continuing to be sold online.

    I do have some games that I have acquired on digital download (Xbox 360 DLC, iPhone apps, Minecraft) but nothing that I have paid more than £15 for.

  • spekkeh #49 9 months ago

    I don't care for physical media, because my closet is getting seriously cluttered. However it's alway nearly half the price as the digital equivalent. So digital right now certainly isn't the future.

  • bad09 #50 9 months ago

    When I first came back to PC I loved Steam and DD and bought everything off steam.....until offline mode caused me problems in times of no connection. The other DD sites don't use internet DRM clients but their prices are usually higher so it's back to discs all the way for me (they are cheaper anyway!).

    I still use Steam for the sales here and there (mostly the big sales) but new releases at full price are boxed and I really don't see me going back to DD for new titles unless they are DRM free like the awesome GOG.com..which will NEVER happen.

  • arcam #51 9 months ago

    In your digital-only future this would be a monopoly as they would have no competition whatsoever. Its only a matter of time until all the big publishers set up their own digital distribution services, enabling them to set the price to whatever they want, knowing the customer has the choice to buy it at their inflated price, or not at all

    I honestly don't think digital distribution will play out like that. I expect there to be multiple retailers selling the games, likely with a big one or two that take most of the market.

    BF3 is still available for download in lots of places btw, just not on Steam.

  • bad09 #52 9 months ago

    "I honestly don't think digital distribution will play out like that. I expect there to be multiple retailers selling the games, likely with a big one or two that take most of the market"."

    It's already playing out like that, you have the likes of Steam, D2D, Gamersgate but also high street retailers are also getting in on it with the likes of Game or Dixons offering DD options. Problem is they are pretty much always more expensive than an online retailer selling and posting you a physical boxed version and their prices seem to stay high for a much longer period.

  • kangarootoo #53 9 months ago

    @bad09

    What you have described is surely the competition that arcam says will still exist? Steam, D2D, Gamersgate AND highstreet retailers offering DD options sounds like plenty of competition to me. Whether boxed games posted to you work out cheaper or not is a different matter.

    If there were no boxed options at all and the only way to buy a game was digital, the greater volume of sales up for grabs would likely result in even fiercer competition between DD retailers, with lower prices being the result. Bear in mind that one of the reasons we still see comparatively high DD prices is because it is still relatively niche for many vendors. And those vendors that do see high volume sales are able to discount (like Steam and its 50% sales). The more vendors follow the DD model, the more we will see competitive pricing in that sector.

  • bad09 #54 9 months ago

    @kangarootoo

    Erm I wasn't disagreeing I was agreeing with him on the unlikely event of a publisher monopoly and how his expectations are actually a growing reality.

    The pricing comment was more about why I'll never really bother using all these DD sites over boxed.

  • ISmoke #55 9 months ago

    I'm in Team Digital. I never thought i would say it but i'd much prefer to download a game than go out and get it. My internet connection is pretty fast and i've downloaded most games in < 30 minutes. It's much more convenient compared to disks.

    It also hides the amount of money I've spent on games.

  • kangarootoo #56 9 months ago

    @bad09

    Ah crap. Sorry dude. My eyes need testing. I think in my haste I confused the first line of arcam's post with your post agreeing with him, and thought you were disgreeing. I guess that is why my "it looks like you are agreeing with him" first sentence sort of worked out so well :)

    Wot a tit.

  • bad09 #57 9 months ago

    "Physical copies:
    -Drive prices up. Printing, distribution, etc. For digital distribution, all you really have to pay for are server costs."

    How come you are not aware DD games pricing is MORE expensive than physical copies?

    @ kangarootoo

    No worries mate :)
    Edited by bad09 at 22/08/11 @ 17:35

  • beatwolf #58 9 months ago

    Physcial media ftw!!

  • bad09 #59 9 months ago

    @p3nis

    Hmmm, I've never come across more expensive physical personally (outside of sales of course), are you talking bricks and mortar prices by any chance? I didn't think of them when reading your post because B&M stockists of PC are so rare these days and are indeed usually more expensive than everybody else.

    Certainly online retailers are always cheaper.

  • dllord #60 9 months ago

    Finaly some sense!

  • aine #61 9 months ago

    I'm not convinced honestly - lots of people still like buying vinyl and CDs, but more often than not the convenience of a digital download still trumps that. Every music chain bar HMV has gone bust and even HMV are pretty much circling the drain at this point - they'll probably be gone soon too, and then physical music retail will left entirely to online retailers, supermarkets' tiny selections, and a handful of specialist record shops. Makes sense that games will follow, just as soon as internet connections and hard drives can accommodate it. PC gaming is nearly there already.

    Of course it's not without its issues (well issues from a consumer's perspective, which coincidentally happen to be the same reason publishers have such a bone on for it). We're seeing digital copies of games priced the same or more than physical even though manufacturing and distribution costs are all but eliminated. And unlike the music industry which has almost completely rejected DRM, the games industry looks highly unlikely to be letting it go any time soon, so there's a very real possibility of games being lost forever (or at least becoming unavailable to people who didn't buy them when they were originally on sale) whenever the publisher decides it's not profitable to do so anymore. But then the majority of buyers probably couldn't give a shit about that so they'll just get the download anyway.

  • PatTheMav #62 9 months ago

    So typical of a European guy, a German even.. Americans are so progressive, jumping on every hype-bandwagon that comes along: HD, no wait 3D, no it's cloud-based everything, all online, screw downloading - streaming..

    As always it requires some "old world" (and I include Asia here) reason to do a reality check and ground the whole debate. Those things are alternatives, yes, but how on Earth do you want to sell an overpriced LE or CE to your consumers? ;)

  • bad09 #63 9 months ago

    @aine

    Using the music industry as reference is not really ideal.

    The music stores are indeed closing down because of digital but not because everyone BUYS digital. The music industry took so long to act on DRM (hello mr games industry you listening!) their industry was in ruins by the time they did do something about it because people just got used to downloading music with no DRM for free and digital sales have never reached the levels of CDs (although I'm not sure if that's changed in the last year or two to be fair). There is a reason the a lot of the industry began focusing on live acts again over the miming pop stuff, they make their money from concerts and the yearly festivals now lots of acts don't actually make much on the album sales sadly.

  • Farzlepot #64 9 months ago

    The day games aren't available as hard copies anymore is the day I stop buying games.
    Sorry publishers, but I've had twenty years to get stuck in my ways, and twenty years worth of games sitting on my shelves for me to marvel at with nostalgic wonder.

    Hell, I'm sti buying oldcopies that I never got around to playing. Show me a download service where I can get Panzer Dragoon Saga or Shenmue II. You can't, because they don't exist. I don't want a future where classics like these can never, ever be played again.
    Edited by Farzlepot at 22/08/11 @ 22:47

  • Aradiel #65 9 months ago

    I much prefer physical media, but there are two main reasons other than the ones mentioned in the article:

    1) Price. Physical media is, most of the time, far cheaper than the digital equivalent. Especially when it comes to EA's games, where they sell them at at least £10 more than the next most expensive digital outlet I can find.

    2) Bandwidth. My broadband has a particular download limit. Were I to download my games rather than installing them from a disc, I would very quickly reach that limit and either get charged extortionate prices or have my internet cut off. Neither of which are options I want to suffer from.