Digital downloads leads to greater sales

[Highdefjunkie]

Gamers in general don't like change. They moaned when 360 was only for broadband. Cried about PS3 having a Blu-Ray player. Complained about both going HD (I have to buy a HDTV now to fully appreciate it) and so on and so on. But the same people download games on their Pad's or Phones. Which leaves to this...Digital download is more convenient and leads to greater sales. I don't have figures, but I can almost guarantee you that Steam users play more games then console gamers. It's much, much easier to have all your games digital, cloud based, and readily accessible. We've been doing it now for years with Music and Movies. Once people actually use it they'll appreciate it and 3 years from now are going to wonder how did we ever buy these disc's to play games.

 

[Keith Wallace]

This really isn't a logical assessment whatsoever. Comparing apps to full games is silly because the costs are very different. Comparing to Steam is similar, as you can get games much cheaper (most of the time) on Steam, when compared to a console's game costs. The complaints about the PS3 were more about the price (partially related to the inclusion of the drive) than the inclusion of the drive itself (which has been a BIG plus for the PS3 as games have gotten bigger).

I don't know what you're really getting at here, beyond a guess that digital sales will help the market. Do you have anything to back up that digital sales actually DO help the market (such as seeing digital console game sales catching up to/outpacing physical ones)?

 

[martinmc78]

I think you are correct - but not for the right reasons - Generally the human species is inherently lazy - if you give someone something on a plate with minimal effort involved and give it to them slightly cheaper its a done deal. Digital download games will take off pretty quickly I feel. No going to the shop - no interaction with any real human being on the journey - have your game from the comfort of your couch at a voice command or push of a button - save yourself the travel expense/exercise and a bit of money and you can do this 24/7, 365.

I'm sold. Where do I have to sign for my DRM?

 

[MerlotC]

I think you are correct - but not for the right reasons - Generally the human species is inherently lazy - if you give someone something on a plate with minimal effort involved and give it to them slightly cheaper its a done deal. Digital download games will take off pretty quickly I feel. No going to the shop - no interaction with any real human being on the journey - have your game from the comfort of your couch at a voice command or push of a button - save yourself the travel expense/exercise and a bit of money and you can do this 24/7, 365.

I'm sold. Where do I have to sign for my DRM?

As an admittedly lazy human, I agree. I will probably never buy a game disk again.

 

[Keith Wallace]

I think you are correct - but not for the right reasons - Generally the human species is inherently lazy - if you give someone something on a plate with minimal effort involved and give it to them slightly cheaper its a done deal. Digital download games will take off pretty quickly I feel. No going to the shop - no interaction with any real human being on the journey - have your game from the comfort of your couch at a voice command or push of a button - save yourself the travel expense/exercise and a bit of money and you can do this 24/7, 365.

I'm sold. Where do I have to sign for my DRM?

I think that's divided into two categories, though. Those who can spend freely will accept the laziness. Those who are on a tighter budget will likely lean towards the more cost-effective option.

 

[DaveGx]

Can I ask the real purpose or point of buying an Xbox game digitally vice a hard copy? Especially now when you cant resell? If I understand right, its the same price as a hard copy? So unless you just cant get to a store, why pay the same price for something you cant sell?

 

[Musicman247]

Steam does the same thing. Offer a game at full price at launch, then slash the price during sales. I could see the same thing happening for MS now that every game will come as a digital download as well.

 

[tatotiburon]

i hope xbox onw push digital sale by creating great promotiones, good prices to incentive people buy only digital

 

[Keith Wallace]

Can I ask the real purpose or point of buying an Xbox game digitally vice a hard copy? Especially now when you cant resell? If I understand right, its the same price as a hard copy? So unless you just cant get to a store, why pay the same price for something you cant sell?

Well, there would be the benefit of not needing a disc. Other than that, they'll need frequent Steam-like sales to make it highly appealing, especially for children who are forced to buy games on their parents' credit cards.

 

[ncxcstud]

If Microsoft comes out and says that the instant game changing stuff that they showed off at E3 is still capable with digital downloads of their games, then I'll buy all my games digitally.

Mostly because as a father of a 2.5 year old and a 3 week old, my kids (especially my oldest) love to get into my game boxes, rearrange them, throw them around, stand on the cases, play games and put different discs in different boxes. If I can alleviate that hassle, then all the better.

 

[DavidinCT]

Gamers in general don't like change. They moaned when 360 was only for broadband. Cried about PS3 having a Blu-Ray player. Complained about both going HD (I have to buy a HDTV now to fully appreciate it) and so on and so on. But the same people download games on their Pad's or Phones. Which leaves to this...Digital download is more convenient and leads to greater sales. I don't have figures, but I can almost guarantee you that Steam users play more games then console gamers. It's much, much easier to have all your games digital, cloud based, and readily accessible. We've been doing it now for years with Music and Movies. Once people actually use it they'll appreciate it and 3 years from now are going to wonder how did we ever buy these disc's to play games.

The biggest thing that people here forget is, how long will it take to download a 26gb game(most NEXT gen games will be 20-40gb) ? A phone app that is even 500mb (and that is a large one) takes maybe 2-5 min. A 26gb game could take upwards of 4-8 hours to download(even longer off a slow DSL line), nevermind if your sharing your whole collection (want to play 2-3 games on your visit). Think of going over your friends house and you want to play one of your "shared" games, You have to wait at least an hour for the first levels to fully download before you can start playing. It loses it's thrill very quickly if you had to do that....

Think of all the games you have played over the years, if one game had a loading screen for a long time, how much did you want to play that game ?

This is a big issue with shared "retail" games, most people's internet connections are not up to speed. I could see this being a big issue and complaint with people after they have the systems in their home.

Can I ask the real purpose or point of buying an Xbox game digitally vice a hard copy? Especially now when you cant resell? If I understand right, its the same price as a hard copy? So unless you just cant get to a store, why pay the same price for something you cant sell?

Like I said above, Downloading a retail game could take hours but, installing it to your drive from a disc could take a few min. If your one who never sells their games then it might be worth it to buy your games digitaly, No more discs but, you have to deal with that download time (it will take shorter time to drive to the store, install the game and play for a hour before the download completes in most cases)

 

[ncxcstud]

They've put features in place to alleviate that sort of situation on both consoles David. As soon as the menus are downloaded and bits and pieces of the first level - you're able to play.

It probably would've meant that you wouldn't be able to skip through cut scenes and such so they could build a sizable buffer.

But, Microsoft (highlighted in this article) built the XBOX One for the future. He says that right now internet speeds and saturation aren't where they could be (at least not in the United States), but it isn't going to be that way forever. More people get access to the internet everyday - speeds are quickly accelerating across the country. Microsoft was going to be poised that when the tipping point occurred (even if 5 years from now) they'd be there waiting with this awesome system that takes full advantage of those speeds and with a strong ecosystem that supports some cool things. Things that even Sony doesn't have - or Apple - or Steam (though there is a rumor that they'll be implementing it soon).

I would've purchased physical discs simply for the install since they were being treated the same as digital downloads. Now, I'll just digitally download my games since I rarely - if ever - sell them.

 

[Keith Wallace]

If Microsoft comes out and says that the instant game changing stuff that they showed off at E3 is still capable with digital downloads of their games, then I'll buy all my games digitally.

Mostly because as a father of a 2.5 year old and a 3 week old, my kids (especially my oldest) love to get into my game boxes, rearrange them, throw them around, stand on the cases, play games and put different discs in different boxes. If I can alleviate that hassle, then all the better.

I had a little bit of a problem with that when my brothers were younger (they're 13 and 15 years younger, respectively). One DID actually crack a disc, but it was only the plastic center, so it still worked. Still, what I do is put all of my games in a zip-up case, then put all of the boxes in a basket and put that away. With that, you can get a case that's pretty small to hold 20 games, and just set it on top of the entertainment center or another out-of-reach location. They really are a great convenience, especially for when you want to take your games to another person's house.