Feature
Forget iCloud. Do you remember floppy disks?
"When Apple decided to make their 3.5-inch floppies blue, every floppy went to blue. Then when IBM decided to go with shell gray on the 3.5-inch HD floppy, everyone else went to shell gray," recalls a sales manager for a CD/DVD manufacturer whose involvement with video games and computer software dates back to the 1990s. "One year our biggest client bought over 100 million floppy disks. The next year I would have been surprised if they bought 25,000 when they moved to compact disc."
Any game you bring home has the same basic components: a disc, an "Amaray case," and the "case wrap" that displays artwork and text. Some games have a cardboard sleeve that slides over the case, called an "O-ring." And many PC games still come in small cardboard boxes. Over the next three pages in these captions, we've broken down the production process, with images provided by Telltale Games and Coral Graphics. [Note: Emily, the author of this story, worked for Telltale from 2006 to 2009.]
Today he sees the trend repeating, but this time publishers are leaving behind physical media completely: "There used to be an industry need for both DVD and CD and our biggest worry was our competition. Now the biggest worry is technology changing."
He's talking about the rise of digital distribution, and he's right to be worried. With downloadable games on the rise and retail revenues on the decline, the shift toward digital delivery that hit the music industry hard a decade ago is becoming a threat to packaged video games. For now, retail games are still generating more revenue than downloads, but DFC Intelligence recently predicted that this could change by 2013.
As far as former EA executive Bing Gordon is concerned, the move away from packaged games is inevitable. "Physical media's just going away," he said to 1UP earlier this year. "I think we are moving from paper and plastic to digital, and there's a generation that's going to come up and go, 'That paper and plastic just feels wrong. This excess packaging -- it just feels wrong. Having to have used stuff around just feels wrong.'"
It's easy to list the pros of digital distribution: it saves money, it's convenient, and it doesn't leave behind an environmental footprint. If video games follow the music industry's lead and physical media fades into obscurity, is that so bad?
Step 1: Planning: Publishers usually squeeze manufacturing into the final weeks before launch, but they might start planning up to a year in advance. Working backward from the release date, the operations team comes up with a due date to provide final artwork and game files to the manufacturer. The schedule is almost always tight: "We may get a heads-up that it's coming down the road, but for the most part we receive the files to produce proofs about seven days before publishers need us to ship," says Coral Graphics' Lee Ramsey.
What It Costs
What exactly will we lose if packaged games go extinct? Jobs, for starters. Unlike many retail products that are outsourced to China and other countries, in the U.S. video game manufacturing is kept close to home to minimize shipping time and expense. And the same vendor often handles all aspects of manufacturing, from printing and disc replication to assembly and distribution.
"I loved inventory and manufacturing," says Scott Fry, who worked in operations for a game publisher from 1999 through 2006. "It's such an important function of what's going on at a company and a lot of people don't realize that. They don't think about those pieces that need to come together." It seems game companies want it this way, since none of the publishers we reached out to for this article wanted to speak on the record about retail manufacturing.
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Expected :)
Posted: userComment.createdDate by� Yo_D
With Google TV and related products rising in popularity, I expect lots of change in technology in general. When I first heard of OnLive I thought it was a neat idea but never thought it would actually take off like it did. Being accepted to its beta, I ignored the invite for that reason. Now it is all the rage! Steam has always been my choice of purchasing games and for all these reasons combined, not only do I think BluRay/DVD/CD will go extinct but so will consoles. Perhaps there will not be a 3rd Xbox or a 4th Playstation and perhaps Nintendo is making a major mistake bailing out of the console industry. Stuff changes fast so only time will tell! I for one am really excited. Scratches on CD's sucks!
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Digital Distribution will not win over physical retail ... unless
Posted: userComment.createdDate by� captain-future
First: People love the "habtict" shopping experience, look at just how many people just go to the mall on the weekends. Shopping online is boring and not exciting.
Second: Some people will always prefer to "own" their products.
Digital Distribution therefore will reach 40 to 50% of the market share but not more... and the main reason is that companies are very greedy and don't give the advantage to customers... you have to consider that the lcoal store takes 20 to 30% of the revenue, 5% is the product itself... so unless digital distributed games aren't at least 40 to 50% cheaper than the physical stuff on the store shelves... nobody is going to switch - because I can't believe that people are willing to pay the same money for a digital "nothing" versus a pyhsical "something".
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Digital > Physical
Posted: 01/10/2012 by� DavidBertram
Digital won't win over physical? Tell that to music CDs and books. e-books just overtook paper-back sales� last year, and the same for music. Steam is a powerhouse that is doubling their sales each year. There's going to be fanboys who would rather buy it in a store, but there's no comparison in price. Amazon, Origin, Steam, GOG.com, and plenty more are offering the same game for up to 90% off. Gamestop sells every PC at full retail price. Best Buy is almost as bad. In addition to the price, when your DVD gets scratched by your kids or accidentally broken, you'll be out the price of the game. Digital distribution ensures that you always have a backup
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"The Future" can bugger off.
Posted: userComment.createdDate by� skeleroar
Having the option of� getting weirdo titles that don't pass muster for mega releases is gravy,but sapping all of the tactile glory out of games? Games are like little treasures to me that I've hoarded over the years. I dig being able to run my gnarled fingers over these�diminutive�and at times recondite vestiges,recounting the memories associated with each. Besides,I'd be fucked if I counted on the big guys to keep offering even a fraction of the classics. If I want Warsong,in the Genesis she goes.
I'm ultimately in no hurry to have most of the fun and practically all of the rights associated with a purchase coopted by publishers.
Now if you'll excuse me,I have to make sure I'm getting enough fiber in my diet.
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Digital, well no box sucks..
Posted: userComment.createdDate by� Elfarran
Digital distribution will not beat the pysical smell of a box and DVD. You can also display it on your cabinet.
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Totally Agree!
Posted: 01/16/2012 by� Wakkamakazi
I love opening a fresh game! It's like reading a brand new book, It's not the same reading on a kindle or Ipad. The feel of the paper and the smell that comes from it, I know I'm not the only one :)
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Though I don't think that I agree...
Posted: userComment.createdDate by� ShoutHouse
...I think that it would be stronger if you told us how many jobs the video game industry holds in the areas of manufacturing&distribution.
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Such a Farce
Posted: userComment.createdDate by� Unkn0wn3ntity
I remember last gen when developers were pushing so hard for digital distribution because "it would pass the savings on to consumers." And OH! How would we would all benefit from this great new technology for them to deliver the game directly to us eliminating the middle-man and packaging and shipping costs.
They're a bunch of Goddamned liars. That's why DD games are the same if not more than the retail versions, right, developers? Because that's passing the savings on to us.
They can all piss off. I'll keep buying my games at retail UNTIL there's a better incentive than "convenience" for buying digital-only.
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Er.
Posted: 01/06/2012 by� mercatfat
I am also a physical media guy, but saying DD games aren't cheaper is a bit disingenuous. The initial month or two that games tend to have their maximum full-price sales window in, they're full price. Sometimes more if a retail outlet has it, say, 10% off in the first week, but that often evens out with things like transportation costs. Frankly, that window is fine. Especially for developers who are relatively small, or developers who are more or less expendable by giants like EA or Activison if short-term gross sales expectations aren't met.
After that, however, retail prices tend to stay about the same for months except in extremely special circumstances. Especially if it's a AAA title that can get away with it. On the other hand, that's usually when the big Steam sales start happening. Sales that can be from ~15-25% off to an extreme lot more depending on the circumstances. The most you typically see at retail is 5-10%, which puts the game at about margin for most stores. If there's a price drop more significant, it's GENERALLY because the price is going to be dropping relatively soon. Relatively soon, because from an accounting perspective, a lot of the stock they have was still bought at a higher price.Digital distribution doesn't have Net/30 or Net/60 oe Net/whatever payments to worry about, so the sales can come much faster. I highly recommend taking an accounting class if you can, and I don't mean that as insulting as it sounds. I genuinely do recommend taking one, as I do to anyone I know who hasn't taken one. It's hard work, but it puts a lot of things in perspective while also teaching great money management skills. But that's beside the point.
There's obviously exceptions to the rule here, and they exist on both sides. But generally speaking, once that initial game launch sales window is over, being costlier is the exception versus physical media.
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Posted: userComment.createdDate by� octoberfleshed
I'd have to say going mostly digital wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing for the industry. �My reasoning is mostly due to the lessening of the "carbon footprint" of manufacturing physical content. �Surely it's a double edged sword as most people in the gaming community tend to enjoy "ownership" of their product and whatever that exact definition is is essentially what suits their purpose (be it they want to collect physical copies of games, enjoy modding their games, etc.). �I submit though, that it wouldn't be all bad if distribution went primarily digital. �Surely more purveyors could be offering the digital content to keep competition (and force down pricing) in order to alleviate the cost on the consumer. �Considering the manufacturing costs will decrease exponentially, one has to assume the gaming public will realize this and not purchase their products digitally, thus leading them to essentially go to retail if the hardware and software manufacturers gouge them. �People should really try to see both sides of this argument before reaching the conclusion that digital distribution is ALL bad.
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it's not ALL bad
Posted: 12/28/2011 by� sunmofo
but the idea of it completely replacing retail is definitely ALL KINDS of bad (and make no mistake; that is exactly what the game companies aim to do).
physical media is�not just important for collection purposes or 'modding' (definitely not modding in my case; everything i do is legit). it's the idea that if everything is digital, then everything is in the control of the game companies; not just what you can play, but when and for how long you can play it.
for example; right now i have in my collection some 450+ games, spanning the atari and intellivision era up to the current gen. if i want to play, say...mischief makers on my n64, i can go home, pop it in the machine, turn it on, and play away. imagine in the future a game comes out (let's call it modern warfare 12), and it's digital only. the only way to purchase it is on the internet through download. of course, the next year, they put out black ops 10. obviously they want as many people as possible to buy their new game, so they decide to completely remove all access to modern warfare 12. they completely lock it down. the people who 'bought' the game the year before will be forced to 'buy' the new black ops 10 if they want to continue to have a similar experience, regardless of how much they loved modern warfare 12. there will be no actual 'buying' any more, only extended and extremely expensive renting.
THIS is the real danger of digital-only distribution, and this is what i'm so afraid of.
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Very fair...
Posted: 12/28/2011 by� octoberfleshed
I hadn't really looked at it that way, hopefully there can be something that will block companies from doing that...then we woudln't get fucked like that as consumers.
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ALSO:
Posted: userComment.createdDate by� superfakt
These mugs who are giving us corporate double-speak don't give two shits about anything other than REVENUE.
I'm a HUGE environmentalist and I'd love it if the packaging went to biodegradable materials but that's NOT the reason any of these suits want to do away with physical media. IT'S ALL ABOUT SQUEEZING AS MUCH BREAD AS POSSIBLE. Fcking bastards!
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Fck digital distribution!
Posted: userComment.createdDate by� superfakt
I am an AVID collector and there's nothing I love more than when my pristene stack of games increases and I get THAT much closer to having the ULTIMATE collection of nothing but QUALITY games...I ENJOY the artwork inside (well done) manuals. I ENJOY the artwork on the cases. I ENJOY looking at how all the cases look on my bookshelves...
There's something to be said about tactile, physical cases and media...For the love of god, if everything goes digital I'll most likely stop buying games...(because in my old age I fear that I'm collecting all these games because I enjoy COLLECTING perhaps more than actually gaming)
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I've said it before
Posted: userComment.createdDate by� EKGTrooper
And I will say it again. I will quit gaming when everything goes digital. I won't be able to afford to game anymore.
Have you seen the prices most publishers are asking for their digital releases of retail games? Go on Microsoft's "Games on Demand" service on Xbox Live and just look at what companies like Ubisoft, EA, THQ, Capcom and Activsion are asking for their games. They are asking $30, $40 and even $50 for games that can be purchased brand new in stores for half the price.
They are saving a ton of money by going digital, and no one makes a fuss about the fact that they are not passing even 10% of those savings onto consumers. Articles like this are more guilty than anyone for completely ignoring this galring problem, and even going so far as to say that digital games are "cheaper". What a big fat lie. They are not cheaper. 99% of the time, they are more expensive by a large margin.
And what about trading in your old games to afford new ones? Say goodbye to that, since you won't be able to use that tactic to afford new games anymore. And what about lending a game to a friend or borrowing one? Say goodbye to that as well, since you won't be able to lend or borrow digital games. And what about the comforting thought that the game you just bought at retail will always be there? Might as well kick that thought in the throat, since digital games can and will be taken away from you at any time even though you have paid for them.
And sales. This iss my favorite downer. You know how when you walk into a game store or an electronic store and they have great deals on games. EB often has a buy one, get one 50% off sale that I take advantage of as much as I can. Well, you might as well say goodbye to those too. How many sales do you see on Xbox Live? I am talking about significant sales on AAA games? Not many at all. Almost none, actually. When everything goes digital, expect to loose many of those sales that you take advantage of. Oh, and say goodbye to renting games as well.
Nothing, and I mean nothing good will come from a digital only industry. All it does is give publishers all the power, and remove the only power you had over them. Prices won't be cheaper, even though they are saving a ton of money. Trading in old games to afford new ones will be a thing of the past. Lending and borrowing games will be extince. Renting games will also be killed off. Great sales will be harder to come by. And you will no longer own the games you buy.
Is all of that really worth the convenience of buying a game from your couch? No, it isn't.
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Reality Check
Posted: 12/29/2011 by� Ei8HTb1t
I think a lot of your arguments are valid, but they seem to be based more on fear than reality. Let me start by saying that I much prefer the experience of opening a brand new game than waiting for a progress bar to reach 100%; The inevitable day that hard copies cease to be published will take a lot of the joy out of this pastime of ours. But quite honestly I think this will be the only compromise (and yes that is a massive compromise).
COST: There isn't any conspiracy here, the cost of games will increase no matter what medium they are delivered upon - so long as there is demand in the market (which in this case happens to be a multi-billion dollar industry). Just because publishers will save the cost of physical production doesn't change the fact that the market dictates what games cost. Profit margin is irrelevant if no one is buying the product because they feel it's priced too high (they can't sell what people won't pay for), the reality is that gamers are willing to pay a certain threshold and that is what dictates cost (besides, the physical packaging cost for an in-house mass-produced disc is less than $5)
TRADING GAMES: It's a sad state that EB Games literally has ALL of the power in this industry (for the time being at least). The irony is that a lot of the people who fear DD are the ones responsible for it by supporting this horrible, evil, soul-stealing franchise in the first place. EB decides how much shelf space a game gets, if it will even carry it based on rating, what kind of promotional incentives, and ultimately how many copies will be distributed to any given region. In short, they can literally make or break any one game's success. Oh yeah, then they'll gladly turn around and steal money from the actual publishers who drive this industry by shaving an embarrassing $5 off used copies to sell back to ignorant moms and aunts that people blindly traded in for sometimes 90% less than actual street value. EB games is another thread entirely though...
BORROWING GAMES FROM FRIENDS: This part sucks and may possibly folds into the nostalgia and lore we share with our grandchildren about the good old days. Although, it's not impossible to code usage rights so only one person could play that copy of the game at a time (better yet if they allow you to kick your friend off when you want your game back so he doesn't forget to return it).
SALES: Again, I think it's very naive to assume that publishers can somehow avoid the tenets of capitalism the industry relies upon. Competition will always be relevant, and when or if sales are ever low on a certain title because gamers at large are not impressed with it or aren't buying it for any reason (or the company needs a boost in income) those sale prices will start flowing (the same influencers that drive sales at brick and mortar POS). Besides, who is to say that BestBuy or even the scum of the earth EB won't have online marketplaces for DD content competing for each other's share as well?
DELETING GAMES THAT ARE PAID FOR: I want to be around when any company is stupid enough to even attempt this. It's not sustainable for business even if they work it into legal fine print when you pay to "license" a digital copy of a game to download from their server to your console. That legal fine print will say they own the game, you just paid to license use of it to protect them from piracy. If they actually removed your ability to play that game you paid for and did this regularly to millions of their customers there would be no industry. People would stop buying games or at least refuse to pay current prices based on their limited time to play it or the threat of random removal of the game entirely. Seriously, think this part through because I would like to think that gamers would have the integrity and intelligence not to stand for this, and that is ultimately what dictates what publishers can do.
POWER: The only one wearing the PowerGlove here is We the gamers. We control how much we want to pay. We control what genres we want to play. We control what content we want to consume. Publishers want money and We want games - that relationship will not change.
Hard Copy Games forever (goodbye yellowbrick road).
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Sure, give me digital copies ...
Posted: userComment.createdDate by� Zombie-Lu
... but drop the damn price! If you're saving $ on the paper and plastic part save the gamers $ so that your DLC isn't a total rip off. also, if this digital game stuff takes off xbox should implement the "game sharing" feature like sony did for their PSN downloads. I can hear all those greedy suits at microsoft arguing about that now, but it's gonna have to be done in order for this to work.
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I Own The Physical Copy Of...
Posted: userComment.createdDate by� Mr.LametoWatch
Marvel Vs Capcom 2 for PS3 even though it didn't come with a game disk.
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"With digital distribution [...] the environmental impact is nil"
Posted: userComment.createdDate by� Nachtritter
Except for the fact that, you know, the impact of all those data centers, computers, and energy needed to support all of the digital world and the infrastructures behind it isn't exactly nil. So far it might be having less of an impact than regular distribution, but nil it isn't.
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With the Game devs being so up in arms about used sales
Posted: userComment.createdDate by� JOYFUL_NOISE
it's really no wonder which side they'd take. XBL's and PSN's retail games sold as digital are rip offs. Games sold way above retail price and hardly ever on sale. They want games digital so they can micro transaction the shit out of us. All this talk of games being cheaper in no way benefits the consumer just the sellers.Valve is doing the whole digital thing the correct way but I will never trust MS, Sony, EA, Activision, or even Nintendo in handling digital distribution correctly.
Hey I may be one of the few who still buys CD's instead of using iTunes. Atleast if I end up not liking a CD I can sell it and still keep the songs :P
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I agree
Posted: 12/27/2011 by� jhmdf1
On both the DLC and buying CD's.� Not really meaning this in as bad as it sounds, but too many poor or middleclass people buy games (older used systems and games) for companies to go digital only.� Many many people are alway 1 or 2 generations behind when it comes to gaming.
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.....
Posted: 12/29/2011 by� San_Andreas
...I used to buy from iTunes back in 2005 when the iPod was new, but after the new wore off the iTunes store, I went back to buying CDs. Cheaper, better sound quality, and retail still has a lot of options that iTunes apparently doesn't have the rights for.
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What's this internet you guys speak of???
Posted: userComment.createdDate by� Funkymonkey_777
Internet?� I don't need that for my space aged bullpoop.� If I need to send some info I just send a fax over a good old god fearing land line.
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Definitely a Pro-Developer/Manufacturer Piece
Posted: userComment.createdDate by� Pacario
And that's fine, but the biggest negative about everything going digital that this article fails to mention is, of course, the fact that the gamer doesn't actually OWN the content he downloads. �He merely owns a license to play said material, and from a collector's, or even a consumer rights advocate's, standpoint, this is a scary reality.
The nice aspect of making a physical retail purchase is that the item has intrinsic value. �For example, if I buy a table, I can probably resell it later, albeit at a lower price, should I not want it anymore. �The same is true with games. �I know used game sales are the bane of the industry, but frankly, it's my right as a consumer to sell a game I don't want anymore. �And it's nice to make a small return on what was my own personal property.
But personal property doesn't exist in the digital realm. �The digital space is instead one of licensing agreements, terms of service, stipulations, contracts, catch 22s, limitations, and, of course, the inability to resell the game/dlc in question. �
Yes, downloading games is the inevitable way of the future, but that future is a questionable one.
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But Don't Forget the Pirates!
Posted: 12/26/2011 by� AquinasD
Pirates offer the invaluable service of keeping the autocratic power of IP rights in check. As more games go digital, the publishers will have to combat the reality that even a hardcore DRM will probably push more consumers away rather than serving to lock any potential pirates out. The digital domain is where pirates have the power, and just about any IP-protected producted can be found if you know where to look and have the precursory know how of getting pirated games to install.
I'm a bit more optimistic about the digital future because of this. I think that publishers will have less power in this arena.
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Expect that to change very soon
Posted: 12/27/2011 by� learningKnight
Console games are only treated as property in this way because of a weird loophole in US law... you can't resell PC games, even if you buy the boxed copy at retail, because what you're really paying for when you checkout the game at retail is the license to play it, which is not resellable.� Console games are regulated in the same way as toys, not software.� The only reason I could imagine this loophole not being lobbied into closing anytime soon (which will, of course, fuck over consumers for the benefit of corporations, as usual) is the fact that retail gaming might just go away completely, as you fear.
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@pacario
Posted: 12/28/2011 by� sunmofo
very well said. i couldn't agree more with everything you laid out. the scariest part of digital distribution that no one seems to care about is that we'll no longer own anything for ourselves; we'll only 'own' it as far as the corporations allow us to own it. to me, that's terrifying.
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Interesting article
Posted: userComment.createdDate by� VoltCatfish
For me, digital distribution has already taken over.� I play most of my games on my PC and every game I bought this year has been through Steam or GOG.� I think the advantages of DD far outweigh the cons.� It's cheaper, more convenient, and there is less to throw away.� The disadvantage is that you can't resell stuff you don't play anymore.�
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These Topics Are The Things 1Up Should Dive Into
Posted: userComment.createdDate by� EXTomar
Although reviews are important peering behind the scenes like this should be the thing 1Up goes after. Its an interesting topic that all too often doesn't get enough attention.
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Space
Posted: userComment.createdDate by� wolf_eyes
Personally, one of the biggest problems with downloadable content is size. �If games get progressively larger as new technology makes it able to fit more on a disc (ie bluray vs. dvd), that means more space needed on the console to store that game if its downloadable vs disc-based. �I own an 80gb PS3, and I have to watch how much I have on my harddrive at one time. When I first bought it, I thought I would never fill up that much space. So if we are moving to a downloadable future, console publishers would need to take in the lifespan of their products and make sure that space would not be an issue by going way over the limit (1T harddrive or larger) or being able to add memory. �And by add memory, I mean let me put anything I need on it not just game save data. �Let me load my dlc on it or entire downloadable games (sonic 4).
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....
Posted: 12/26/2011 by� mydogchev
You also have to consider that internet isn't always going to be "free." Eventually, as more things go digital, the companies that control your internet will have more tiered data pricing structures. If I'm nearing my monthly limit, downloading the newest Summer blockbuster is going to be something I'll decide against to avoid any "exceeding bandwidth" penalty fees.
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Space
Posted: 12/26/2011 by� chi_chi_felipe
By the time games are predominantly a download-only good, space won't even be an issue. 2TB drives are sub-$200, whereas five years ago just a terabyte was unheard of. The next gen of consoles will have tons of storage because the cost does nothing but go down. Cloud-based solutions will also become more predominent.
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Chi Chi
Posted: 12/27/2011 by� JOYFUL_NOISE
2TB is a lot but I don't feel as if even that much could hold my 30+ 360 games. Then what am I supposed to do delete the games I bought? Price of storage is going down but the amount one stores is increasing, so it basically balances it's self out really.
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If all those games were say 10GB each
Posted: 12/28/2011 by� Kays Addiction
that's only 15% of 2TB I doubt very many people would even come close to using that much space.
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....
Posted: 12/29/2011 by� San_Andreas
...Bandwidth will ultimately be a bigger problem than storage. HDDs get bigger all the time, but the Internet infrastructure of the United States is ass. And given how slow we are in upgrading any kind of existing infrastructure, don't expect any big improvements until�a major disaster happens along the lines of the 2003 blackout of the Northeast or the collapse of the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis.
And that's before you factor in ISPs imposing ever stricter bandwidth caps and higher fees.
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Always Top Notch Content
Posted: userComment.createdDate by� James_McClellan
Great Piece, I could have used something like this a while back for a Business class relating to video games.
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Organic Internet?
Posted: userComment.createdDate by� Funny_Color_Blue
What concerns me with digital distirbution is the fact that, after a certain period of time, the product in question is eventually taken down or removed from the allocated virtual space, never to be seen or heard from ever again. Podcasts, television shows and downloadable video games that aren't even shy of 3 years simply disappear. While the prospect of having thousands of movies, music and books instantly available at your finger tips is very appealing, the internet has never been very� keen on preserving our past. :(
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Too vulnerabe 4 me
Posted: userComment.createdDate by� ChaironDeCeleste
Even without the phreaker and cracker mess around, saved game sync and availability on cloud doesn't exactly work� like it should for my downloaded games. Waiting for servers to get their sorry butt up again isn't my idea of single player game fun either - all that junk is notorious for digital editions the way I've experienced them so far.
Last not least, what if the publishers finally figure that their anti-piracy and anti-resale scam no longer fools enough folks and they, say, get into their head to prevent digital edition games on our hdd wich are older than a year or two from loading with yet another flimsy excuse?
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No thanks
Posted: userComment.createdDate by� SuperSledge
I would always prefer a disc copy of games. That is one of the things I don't like about dlc besides the fact that they are normally overpriced
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physical will never die
Posted: userComment.createdDate by� stealth20k
physical boosk sell more than dd
physical movies sell more than dd
physical games sell 75 percent more than dd games
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Only music does dd sell more
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Thats it
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Physical anyting isnt going away
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CD Jewel cases
Posted: userComment.createdDate by� Killingjok3
Bring those back, Im not sure if they cost less than the DVD cases but I always prefer those from the PS and Dreamcast days small and they look better.
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Interesting Read
Posted: 12/27/2011 by� CloudStrife_ca
I agree, it'd make my shelf space go alot further too, don't get me wrong the cases for the current generation of games look great and I'll always buy physical media over digital download any day... I wanna hold something in my hand for the money I'm spending and as a collector�sitting on about�630 games right now, digital downloads�are the devil for someone like me who prides his vast collection of rare collectible media like a person of a different generation prides treasured books on their shelves.�
I agree though�that CD Jewel cases are far more compact, I can fit approx 15 of those in my Ikea "Benno" shelves as opposed to maybe 10 or 11 games per shelf of the current cases. I currently own 10 Benno shelves that hold approx 80 current gen game cases per unit.� At $50.00(cnd) a pop its not cheap but it looks good, keeps everything organized and keeps my gaming collection in mint condition.
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Yes
Posted: 12/27/2011 by� Mr.LametoWatch
CD Cases might crack, but you unlike the old days, you can purchase 100% clear jewel cases in stores.� My PS one and Dreamcast games look so darn cool.
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The Horror...
Posted: userComment.createdDate by� nipsen
"As CDs became more of a commodity, up until about 2000, the prices just continued to drop. Then that downward mobility slowed and we started to look at where else we could drive cost reduction."
*shakes head*. Terrible. But - and that was explained in the article as well - the biggest problem isn't the package cost itself. That cost is tiny. The problem is that reducing the packaging cost is the only way to reduce the potential loss if the game isn't selling as fast as anticipated.
So there's nothing that stops retailers from taking on a mix of pre-orders and "stock" packages, running a campaign ahead of launch, and then rewarding the pre-orders with a good manual/art-book and a nice box. And having that work perfectly together with downloadable editions, and the shelf-editions.
I mean, I know that if I could get a collector's edition, have it a few days ahead of the launch, get some beta-codes or something like that bundled with it, a nice art-book and a manual, a neat folded sleeve-box, along with the disc - I'd happily pay 20% over the normal price for that.�
While the games I might not be that interested in would be much easier to try out if I could download them for a lower price online. So that's 10 euro on the games I know I would buy - and another 35 for each of the games I normally wouldn't buy.
I'm guessing that would be better than what happens now, when I buy the games I want as cheap as possible (why order collector's editions when they tend to turn up after release, and contain nothing that I want - there's been one good exception this year, the inFamous 2 collector's edition).
And why buy the downloadable edition of games I'm less interested in, when they cost more than the retail version?
What happens is simply that I buy less games, and spend less money on each purchase.
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Cool
Posted: userComment.createdDate by� helpfulmole
Gunwar could be the best game title ever. �
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I also thought it said Gwar at first glance. �
