I dread the days when games are no longer available on discs

[Xizer]

It's coming. You all know it is. 10, 20 years from now (maybe even earlier), games will start being released ONLY for download. That means we won't be able to have actual hard copies for our games... No more game cases, manuals and discs - just digital copies stored on some kind of storage medium.

I'm really dreading those days. On one hand, it will make it a lot easier to play games than switching discs - but on the other, this will completely ruin collecting, and the used game industry. Future generations of systems won't have anything to display, no fancy boxes or manuals to put up on the shelf. It'll be harder to preserve games in the future because hard copies won't be available, and the digital copies will likely be unable to be backed up.

Is anyone else hoping those days never come? I, for one, enjoy going to the store and buying a new game, then proudly putting it on my shelf with the rest of my games. I find it fun to look at my shelf full of games...it feels like I've accomplished something.

[Snapple]

I don't think that day is coming anytime soon.

Many PC games are already available as a paid download, if you don't want to go to the store and buy the box. And as it turns out, people don't want to pay full price for just a download. Turns out, they'd rather buy the hard copy with the box and trimmings if they're going to pay full price, or else they might as well just get a pirated copy.

So right now, the market is resisting this trend you see coming, because most fans are against the idea. And it's never going to be the only option for buying games as long as there are people who are more likely to spend money on a boxed version. You can't go against what makes money.

[Anthony1]

Eventually this will happen, but it could still be two more generations away. That means we will likely see a Playstation 4 and Playstation 5 before we see physical media dissapear.


I would guess 17 years. Retailers certainly aren't looking forward to the day when they are eliminated. It's like Blockbuster and Hollywood Video, they also aren't looking forward to the day when all movies are available on command. It's going to happen with all media eventually, movies, music and games. It's just a natural evolution.


It will be sad to see it happen, but there is no stopping it.

[roushimsx]

Many PC games are already available as a paid download, if you don't want to go to the store and buy the box. And as it turns out, people don't want to pay full price for just a download. Turns out, they'd rather buy the hard copy with the box and trimmings if they're going to pay full price, or else they might as well just get a pirated copy.


Valve has the right idea with Steam, though. It's cheaper and you can preload the entire game long before you actually buy it, so when you do pay for it it's ready to go. Not only that, but it's devoid of your standard uber-intrusive copy protection that generates bad buzz (StarForce isn't the most intrusive, but it's easilly the most hated). Roll in an effective autopatching system that makes version mismatches a thing of the past and you've got yourself a winner.

Plus, most PC games have been getting fucked on manuals for years :( Anymore when I open a PC game and find something other than a disc in a paper sleeve and a quick reference card, i'm overjoyed. PDF manuals are damn near worthless when you're actually trying to play a game unless you have a spare laptop :(

[playgeneration]

it wont happen for ages, the average person doesnt have a quick enough internet connection. It would take me forever to download a full dvd game, thats like 5 gigabytes isnt it?. Just think how big ps3 games are going to be with blu-ray disks, youd need a ridiculously big harddrive to store a decent amount of games. For now having a console online means that they can sell you extra levels, characters for games youve already bought in a shop.

[Sylentwulf]

My guess is it will happen when burnable dvd drives are included with the system. I wouldn't mind downloading it as long as I can burn it too for a backup. The backup up would of COURSE be watermarked for the one specific system it was download on though. Maybe a 10kb file would be left on the hard drive and be system specifically linked to the backup disc.

[Happy_Dude]

I don't ever see physical media disapearing.
and if it does there will be homebrew scenes to fill the void
until developers wake up.

[ShinobiMan]

I too used to dread the day that this happened but as of recently, it seems less likely that it will happen anytime soon. Truth is, most of the people who buy lots of games favor the ability to own actual media they can hold. Kinda like a collection of books, or mvoies. While one day, an easy way to buy games will be to simply download, I don't think the retail market will ever disappear.

[Kid Ice]

We shall see. I've said for a long time that I'm not a fan of downloadable games (or downloadable anything for that matter, I'm still buying CDs). When I pay money for something I want to hold it in my hands and put it up on the shelf. I don't think I would pay for a downloaded game at even a fraction of the store price, unless for some reason I can't find it in the store, which is the only reason I ever download music.

[hezeuschrist]

Oh it's definitely coming, but you will absolutley be able to back up your games to some kind of burnable media. I still expect games to come with downloadable PDF's and if it gets to the point of ZERO physical cases, I bet publishers will have all kinds of artwork around to make cases out of anyways, which will also be available for download.

[playgeneration]

ive just had a thought,
Developers like the idea of you downloading thier games as it saves them money on distribution etc.
However gamers like to have the boxes and manuals.
Buying games from online shops is cheaper and easier for both developer and gamer.
So why dont developers sell their games directly on their own websites?. Im sure lots of people would buy the actual physical game directly from the developers, it would make the games cheaper, and the developers would get all the profits instead of giving EB a slice.

[lordnikon]

I think we will still see hardcopy formats for sometime to come. Think about how many used game stores would be out of business? EBgames, GameStop, etc etc would all be totally screwed.

Downloadable games can't exactly be sold as used...

"Half-Life 2 - DL version

Condition: Excellent! Played once!"

hahaha

[Raedon]

People like to have that game in their hands. In 20 years games will be in the terabyte range and to DL that would cost more then making media.

[Joker T]

ive just had a thought,
Developers like the idea of you downloading thier games as it saves them money on distribution etc.
However gamers like to have the boxes and manuals.
Buying games from online shops is cheaper and easier for both developer and gamer.
So why dont developers sell their games directly on their own websites?. Im sure lots of people would buy the actual physical game directly from the developers, it would make the games cheaper, and the developers would get all the profits instead of giving EB a slice.

Most people don't get out enough as it is.

[roushimsx]

Downloadable games can't exactly be sold as used...


Valve is actually working on a solution to that right now. Their goal is to allow you to share or sell your steam-purchased games just like you could with a physical copy.

[tylerwillis]

ive just had a thought,
Developers like the idea of you downloading thier games as it saves them money on distribution etc.
However gamers like to have the boxes and manuals.
Buying games from online shops is cheaper and easier for both developer and gamer.
So why dont developers sell their games directly on their own websites?. Im sure lots of people would buy the actual physical game directly from the developers, it would make the games cheaper, and the developers would get all the profits instead of giving EB a slice.

Atlus already does. (http://www.atlus.com/cgi-bin/shop) I'm sure there's a few of the other smaller companies that do so as well.

[cyberfluxor]

Well, I land with most of the rest and claim it's not going to really happen. People will always demand a physical copy of the game WITH a key otherwise if it's a download which just edges some to rather just hop onto a newsgroup, torrent, IRC share channel, load a P2P network software, or jump around warez websites.

Earlier today at the pawn shop with a friend, they had some NEW PC games for $3 that were a bit scratched up and disc only, but I'm sure they could run without problems. Because they didn't have CD keys with them he'd rather just download an ISO and KeyGen or a workerable key that's easily found searching on Google. I find it sickening but it's the truth. Most cheap gamers that would rather just download an ISO over game install is quite common.

Personally, I prefer to just buy the hard copy retail to make sure at least something goes to the creators and bump their sales. It's the way I roll.