Random thought about the direction and future of gaming..

[nik]

Hi guys.

Downloading via console is dawning in the next gen war.

Games cost the same amount as movies to make these days.. retailers complain its not worth it, making too little off them.

How long before they just do "showings" where you could join and play, much like a timed demo, such as a movie pass, and then release it later, like the movie buisness?

Download rental, then wait for it to come out at home?

Would you pay 10$ to play Halo 3 right now? How many times?
How about 2$ per game, or .50 cents, and how many games would you play, is that really out of the question?

Just a thought...

[Haoie]

The idea of continuing payment of a game after you've bought it is similar, just think almost any MMO, netplay, stuff like that.

Seems like paying once just isn't enough.

[emumuumuucowgomoo]

Would you pay 10$ to play Halo 3 right now? How many times?
How about 2$ per game, or .50 cents, and how many games would you play, is that really out of the question?

Just a thought...

No.

Payment plans like that will drive more people towards emulation than away from it.

OH I HAVE TO SPEND TWO MORE DOLLARS TO BEAT THIS GAME! CONFOUNDED GAMBLING ADDICTION!! OH WELL MAYBE IF I WIN INSTEAD OF UNLOCKING A NEW SWEATER FOR MY POKEMON I WILL GET MORE GAME CREDITS!! I WILL OVERUSE SOME EMOTICONS ON A MESSAGEBOARD TO EXPRESS MY EMOTIVE SURPLUS!

Frankly, I'd rather see the industry move towards compilations - but, sadly, there are probably enough stupid people who are disposable consumerists that they'd enjoy paying $10 for something they can never ever experience again. Then give the hax0r in Scandinavia three months, and they'll come up with a way to keep the downloads from expiring. Period.

Also, I'm not sure if you're intelligent or not, but Halo3 is likely 2 GB of data, at least. Even over a cable modem, that's at least an hour's worth of downloading. Duh. The main selling point of a console over a PC - especially now that decent PCs can be had for the same price as the latest greatest console - is immediate gratification.

1) Buy game.
2) ??? (this simulates the puzzle most feel when confronted with the intricies of plastic wrap)
3) FUN PROFIT

No install, no wait, no fuss, no mess.

Downloading and whatnot throws "fuss" and "mess" into the equation and destroys it completely.

[pixelsnpolygons]

Sounds like a home arcade environment in a sense "Game Over - Insert Cred Card # to Continue.... On the movie side of things, I have often wished that games would be released in a mass form cheaply, and then available for purchase about 6 months later for around $20. The problem is, I don't see it working well for gaming - not the way it works for movies. A movie is 90 minutes to 2 hours, typically. It works in a pay-per-view realm. Games aren't "static" they can't just be beamed live through a cable - as someone else mentions, it'd be a killer download. While I see your idea working very well for demos, I shudder at the thought of spending two hours on some game and having the server crash before it finishes.

I think if there was only one console and everyone had lightning quick connections it could work, but we're not close to that - if the former ever even happens.

Anyway, that was just me saying I think it could work. The day games become purely digital and I can't put them away in a box or look at pretty box/manual art will be a sad day for me indeed. I can imagine the future Rooms of Doom being close-up shots of people's collections of harddrives. If what you suggest is successful, and I am sure it will be sooner or later, I'm sure such a day won't be far off.

[Zilla]

I'm hoping the next Generation and beyond doesn't go the PC route and turn out games that aren't done because you can DL the patch later. That would kill the beauty of the console for me. I like PC games dont get me wrong but they always seem to come out horribly incomplete with "content to be added later" Consoles were a way to avoid that. Now if it becomes all games cost X amount to buy and X amount to continue playing or you dont even get a disc you just DL everything then I forsee a industry crash coming. I understand I'm not an expert or financial analyst but if games continue to cost more and more to make, originality continues to be missing and prices rise or we get inferior product I think people look the other way and stop buying games. The chances of this may be low and I hope they are but it has happened before.

[smokehouse]

Something’s going to give. With game development and advertising costs skyrocketing it’s a big risk for many companies to produce good titles. The industry is over inflating. Every title has to be the biggest, be best and with all new 20min cut scenes, rock star soundtracks and celebrity voiceovers. To be honest with you this I why I stray from most current games, they’re too much. (Besides, too many suck) Nintendo has a promising idea of being able to download any of their titles from any system (excluding the GC). Sony and Microsoft are going to continue to push the big titles as long as they’re on top (Sony and Microsoft on top, man does that sound like a living nightmare).

I will say that pay to play will be explored sooner or later but how and by who is yet to be seen.

[davepesc]

[quote=nik]

Also, I'm not sure if you're intelligent or not, but Halo3 is likely 2 GB of data, at least. Even over a cable modem, that's at least an hour's worth of downloading. Duh. The main selling point of a console over a PC - especially now that decent PCs can be had for the same price as the latest greatest console - is immediate gratification...
Downloading and whatnot throws "fuss" and "mess" into the equation and destroys it completely.

I'm admittedly unintelligent, so can someone tell me the difference between a video game DL service and the on demand service offered by my cable company. I can order any movie at any time and fast forward, rewind, stop or whatever and there is no long download time or anything. After 24 hours, I lose access to the movie.

Could something like this be done for video games?