Will games ever be download only?

[CM30]

It's been a source of much debate since downloadable content became available for many games, but will such a method eventually replace stores?

I'm cautious personally, since services like WiiWare haven't done too great recently, and the PSP Go died a quick death when Sony released it a few years back, but hey, the Kindle seems to be doing okay for books and iTunes is doing well for music, so anything's possible.

What's your view on this and why?

 

[Link 70222]

I think it might. They're already putting full retail games that you can buy from the store up for download on current consoles. I think the PSP Go's failure with it was that it was moving too fast and did it wrong. Not being able to play old games/use old accessories? Lame.

 

[SuperMarioFanX100]

Maybe, but not in my lifetime..........

 

[NintendudeCT]

There are already plenty of Download Only games.

 

[SuperMarioFanX100]

Wait. May I rephrase that. Download only games with no more need of consoles and thus their extinction. Not in my lifetime.

 

[ninjablooper]

Most PC games are on Steam. Steam is a big percent of PC gamers therefore PC game disks are already going extinct.

 

[Lici]

I was about to say... Why has no one mentioned Steam? Steam is the greatest thing that ever happened, if you ask me. I much prefer to buy a game on Steam than buy a game on disc at a store.

 

[Arpegius]

The PSP Go was more of Sony's test run of the download-only concept behind sales. The only reason why the Go failed market wise was the fact that many third-party devs/publishers refrained from uploading both earlier and current released games, including paying certain fees for digital store space. In other words, it wasn't mandatory to have both a UMD and Digital Download releases. Now with the NGP, Sony has shown that they will correct this problem by having both physical and digital versions of the same game, giving the consumer a choice of preference for their media.

Me personally I like having physical copies since I know for sure that my game will still exist if I decide to play in the future, as long as I have a choice between physical and digital, its all good.

 

[ViewtifulDamacy]

Eh, I prefer buying games physically for collecting purposes. It makes sense that the PC has downloadable games though, PCs can be capable of holding tons more of memory then current consoles can.

 

[UnknownToaster]

Our world is based on technology. As time passes, we will be more and more reliant. Our future IS technology.
Right now, we are inching towards that with PSN, XBL, and Wii Marketplace, but that's just for the consoles. Programs like Steam and Xfire have allowed this for a while.
Will we immediately? Definitely not. Not everyone has fast or dependable internet, and it would be completely unfair to leave them out of the gaming market because of that. But in the future, when nearly everyone will have it, I do think we will make that jump. This doesn't have to be tomorrow, next week, a year, a decade. It could be quite a while, but it's visible that that is the future.

 

[Zexis]

Downloading games sounds a bit...unreliable. And then, of course, there's the potential heightened piracy rate.

 

[Lici]

Downloading games sounds a bit...unreliable. And then, of course, there's the potential heightened piracy rate.

Have you never used Steam?

 

[Zexis]

Downloading games sounds a bit...unreliable. And then, of course, there's the potential heightened piracy rate.

Have you never used Steam?

Sure, there's Steam, but how well would it function if its userbase expanded exponentially? Download issues, piracy, etc. would all be accentuated. Then you have to consider the job losses for game retailers.

 

[NintendudeCT]

Downloading games sounds a bit...unreliable. And then, of course, there's the potential heightened piracy rate.

Have you never used Steam?

Sure, there's Steam, but how well would it function if its userbase expanded exponentially? Download issues, piracy, etc. would all be accentuated. Then you have to consider the job losses for game retailers.

Two things.

1)There are download issues for patches to retail versions too.(hell, tons of games you can buy in the store require Steam, even if you can install from the disc, and then you must update)

2) Steam prevents piracy because people who crack the games can't play online. And even for the few games that can, the cracked servers are terrible.

 

[Lici]

Yeah, what the guy above me said. I think it reduces piracy because you can't play online if it's pirated - and that's the whole point of Steam.
I also LOVE that you can download as many copies on to as many machines as you want. No more problems with lost or scratched discs.

 

[Super Leaf]

mot downloadable games are really short.theyre crap compared to real games.

 

[Andy]

Though there is an increasing number of downloaded games, I still prefer to buy the normal game.

Moreover, the memory of a handheld isn't enough to keep on downloading new games (If we are talking about 3DS, PSP, and etc).