unfortunately the high st PC game section tends to consist of dross like "Street Cleaning Simulator" and Sims 2 addons. Maybe if it had high-end titles it might do better.
Steam all the way for me. *very* occasionally I'll pick up a physical game from Amazon, but only if its cheaper, or not available on Steam.
I bought Tropico 5 off Amazon because it was cheaper than Steam, but I would have prefered it on Steam as a download.
If downloadble games are cheaper then I would buy d/l games if physical copies were cheaper I would buy those. I go by price. Although I do hate having to get up and change games and find the disk and then knock the console and have the game ruined and forget to install it. and have open boxes on the floor. I'm looking now and there are 2 cases open on the floor with the disks missing from them. My children can't destroy digital copies.
I would like to see it so you get a physical copy and a digital copy in one like they do with films.
I would much rather buy a physical copy than a digital one. As with the self-service checkouts this move is one to cut jobs. I don't think we will be rewarded with cheaper games as a result - the money will go to the more deserving executives. ;-)
I would much rather buy a physical copy than a digital one. As with the self-service checkouts this move is one to cut jobs. I don't think we will be rewarded with cheaper games as a result - the money will go to the more deserving executives. ;-)
Well Steam cuts out a lot of people so I suppose Gabe gets some
I'm the complete opposite, I love buying physical copies of games purely because I love having everything on display on my shelves.
90%+ of my retail console games are brought on disc, I only buy digital if something is cheap in a sale or if its something I really want but can't find in shops.
Also as I've said in the past I want my entire games library to be immediately available whenever I want to play something. With physical all I need to do is put the disc in & I can start playing immediately & that includes older titles which I regularly go back & play. Wih digital if i've run out of hard disc space & had to delete some older games there's then a big portion of my games library that is not immediately available to play & I don't like that.
I'm the same with DVD/Bluray. I have a subscription to Netflix & Crunchyroll & I do stream movies/shows off them, However I still buy DVD/Bluray copies of stuff thats on those services because I want to own them & I want to have those things on my shelf.
I get why those who like digital like it, However as I say its not my preferred option & I will continue to buy physical copies for as long as there available. I like feeling like I own things I buy, I like collecting these things & I just love having my games/movie library on my shelf. Just my personnel preference.
This is exactly how I feel. I like having my boxes on display.
The day a console becomes digital only is the day I stop buying games.
Me too, especially as digital games on consoles are more expensive than their physical counterparts. Digital games will have to drop to at least half the price of a physical copy for me to want to buy it. It's cheaper to produce so should be cheaper to buy.
And if GAME is cheaper than an online digital store then you have a problem.
IAlso as I've said in the past I want my entire games library to be immediately available whenever I want to play something. With physical all I need to do is put the disc in & I can start playing immediately & that includes older titles which I regularly go back & play. Wih digital if i've run out of hard disc space & had to delete some older games there's then a big portion of my games library that is not immediately available to play & I don't like that.
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I find it the opposite. Its so much quicker and easier to browse my steam list and click download than it is to dig out the dvd, fluff about putting in the drive and installing it from there. Plus i know the download will never be damaged or worn out in the way the dvd could be.
Plus surely the disc space issue is the same whether you are installing them from dvd or downloading them through a client?
I would much rather buy a physical copy than a digital one. As with the self-service checkouts this move is one to cut jobs. I don't think we will be rewarded with cheaper games as a result - the money will go to the more deserving executives. ;-)
That couldn't be further from the truth.
Being digital means the fatcats at Game/HMV/THQ/EA etc dont get a cut, but the developers actually get a bigger cut!
I find it the opposite. Its so much quicker and easier to browse my steam list and click download than it is to dig out the dvd, fluff about putting in the drive and installing it from there. Plus i know the download will never be damaged or worn out in the way the dvd could be.
Plus surely the disc space issue is the same whether you are installing them from dvd or downloading them through a client?
I was referring more to consoles
On PC at least there is less of an issue with Hard drive space given how you can install as many drives as you need (I've got 4 internal & 4 external) which are as big as you can afford (120Gb SSD, 3x 1tb internal & older 1.5tb, 320gb, 120Gb, 160Gb for external).
On Consoles you tend to be more limited. With PS3/PS4 for instance only drives under a certain thickness will fit & on the XB1 you can't upgrade the internal drive at all. And while you can use external storage on XB1 thats just a bit of additional clutter & I gather the install times on XB1 can be a pain.
On PS4 while discs still need to be installed you can start playing within a few seconds so again its less of a pain than having to wait until its downloaded.
I've bought a lot of digital games, but not for the past 9 years!
Since 1999 I've pretty much only ever played online multiplayer games, think there's been 2 games that were single player which I barely played.
Online multiplayer games require a lot more updates than single player games.
More and more online games used patcher programs to auto keep the game updated.
It was getting to the point where you would buy the disc (of even brand new games), use it to install the game, then the patcher would download like half or more of what was installed from the disc over-writing what it had installed, made me think wtf is the point in buying disc's any more?
You can usually play the game before people who buy the physical copy, due to going to the shop, waiting in traffic etc, or wait and hope the delivery isn't delayed.
So, download all games = its totally hassle free these days especially if you have a 10Mb+ connection. Unlike over several years ago with less than 1Mb speeds, the patcher would download at speeds less than 20% of your maximum limit it would take 1-3 days to download, then a problem happened causing it to download all again. I haven't noticed any/much of those issues in the last few years.
All MS / Sony have to do is release a version of their latest console without a disc drive and see what happens...
Keep both options available, both with and without, one would be cheaper to make anyway and go from there.
Not like they don't do it on other hardware. There's multiple options for a surface, several tellys and multiple mobile phones so release 2 versions of X1 and PS4.
Then and only then can we see who wants a digital only future. If they sell 10 it will prove it however if they sell 10 million then I, along with several other people, will eat my hat.
I am surprised it is that low, thought it would be more 98% to 99%
Where do you get PC games from apart from Steam?
Desura, GoG, xFire if your stuck in a time machine, plenty of places to buy digital games. Most games will also sell from their website as well so you can buy direct.
Boxed copies of course thats easy, amazon etc etc will all stock them.
(and lets be honest, for the rare, hard to find stuff, you can figure out on your own where people might wish to look for those types of things. Oh and emulators, for even more options if you fancy a blast from the past)
Being digital means the fatcats at Game/HMV/THQ/EA etc dont get a cut, but the developers actually get a bigger cut!
But what about the ordinary folks who work at places like Game, Amazon, the people who post them through the door, make the cases and inserts and the CDs?
OK these 2 games may not be brilliant (Although I didn't think AvP was too bad) but there still games which in a digital only world would now be completely unavailable to buy. Its also not as if this has not happened to good games as well, Dirt 2 is no longer available digitally either & that was a really good game.
The Activision 007 games are also no longer available on the digital platforms.
Right now we have the option to buy the disc if a game we want to play is taken off these digital stores, In the future if/when things go all digital we would not have that option & would be losing the option to buy these games when there taken off the digital stores.
I really don't like the idea of having games vanish if/when licensing agreements change so this is something which really needs to be looked at if the industry wants to encourage people into there digital only world.
Right now we have the option to buy the disc if a game we want to play is taken off these digital stores, In the future if/when things go all digital we would not have that option & would be losing the option to buy these games when there taken off the digital stores.
Well we do... if the disc is still being stocked, or is available 2nd hand on ebay. That's not an exhaustive supply, so pulling games from digital stores is no different from games going out of 'print', in physical form.
In reality I think its far easier to sell a game for 5+ years digitally rather than offering a physical copy.
edit:And don't forget changing formats....
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade can still be downloaded digitally. The original floppy disc version is going to be much harder to install.....
Comments
Where do you get PC games from apart from Steam?
Your local high street retailer might have 10 different games on sale. It is usually stuck in a corner tho.
Amazon has one or two as well.
Steam all the way for me. *very* occasionally I'll pick up a physical game from Amazon, but only if its cheaper, or not available on Steam.
If downloadble games are cheaper then I would buy d/l games if physical copies were cheaper I would buy those. I go by price. Although I do hate having to get up and change games and find the disk and then knock the console and have the game ruined and forget to install it. and have open boxes on the floor. I'm looking now and there are 2 cases open on the floor with the disks missing from them. My children can't destroy digital copies.
I would like to see it so you get a physical copy and a digital copy in one like they do with films.
Well Steam cuts out a lot of people so I suppose Gabe gets some
Well there's loads of other online stores/clients, not to mention loads of places that sell steam keys for less than they cost on steam.
I never thought i would, but i now much prefer digital to boxed copies. So much easier and cheaper.
This is exactly how I feel. I like having my boxes on display.
Me too, especially as digital games on consoles are more expensive than their physical counterparts. Digital games will have to drop to at least half the price of a physical copy for me to want to buy it. It's cheaper to produce so should be cheaper to buy.
And if GAME is cheaper than an online digital store then you have a problem.
I find it the opposite. Its so much quicker and easier to browse my steam list and click download than it is to dig out the dvd, fluff about putting in the drive and installing it from there. Plus i know the download will never be damaged or worn out in the way the dvd could be.
Plus surely the disc space issue is the same whether you are installing them from dvd or downloading them through a client?
Every other game since has been downloaded.
Really? Since 2005?
I've bought a lot of digital games, but not for the past 9 years!
I was on 512K (possibly 1mb) 9 years ago!
(it Would've taken ages ta download a full price retail title!)
I was on that up until two weeks ago
That couldn't be further from the truth.
Being digital means the fatcats at Game/HMV/THQ/EA etc dont get a cut, but the developers actually get a bigger cut!
On PC at least there is less of an issue with Hard drive space given how you can install as many drives as you need (I've got 4 internal & 4 external) which are as big as you can afford (120Gb SSD, 3x 1tb internal & older 1.5tb, 320gb, 120Gb, 160Gb for external).
On Consoles you tend to be more limited. With PS3/PS4 for instance only drives under a certain thickness will fit & on the XB1 you can't upgrade the internal drive at all. And while you can use external storage on XB1 thats just a bit of additional clutter & I gather the install times on XB1 can be a pain.
On PS4 while discs still need to be installed you can start playing within a few seconds so again its less of a pain than having to wait until its downloaded.
Online multiplayer games require a lot more updates than single player games.
More and more online games used patcher programs to auto keep the game updated.
It was getting to the point where you would buy the disc (of even brand new games), use it to install the game, then the patcher would download like half or more of what was installed from the disc over-writing what it had installed, made me think wtf is the point in buying disc's any more?
You can usually play the game before people who buy the physical copy, due to going to the shop, waiting in traffic etc, or wait and hope the delivery isn't delayed.
So, download all games = its totally hassle free these days especially if you have a 10Mb+ connection. Unlike over several years ago with less than 1Mb speeds, the patcher would download at speeds less than 20% of your maximum limit it would take 1-3 days to download, then a problem happened causing it to download all again. I haven't noticed any/much of those issues in the last few years.
Download games is best, by far, very far.
Keep both options available, both with and without, one would be cheaper to make anyway and go from there.
Not like they don't do it on other hardware. There's multiple options for a surface, several tellys and multiple mobile phones so release 2 versions of X1 and PS4.
Then and only then can we see who wants a digital only future. If they sell 10 it will prove it however if they sell 10 million then I, along with several other people, will eat my hat.
Desura, GoG, xFire if your stuck in a time machine, plenty of places to buy digital games. Most games will also sell from their website as well so you can buy direct.
Boxed copies of course thats easy, amazon etc etc will all stock them.
(and lets be honest, for the rare, hard to find stuff, you can figure out on your own where people might wish to look for those types of things. Oh and emulators, for even more options if you fancy a blast from the past)
But what about the ordinary folks who work at places like Game, Amazon, the people who post them through the door, make the cases and inserts and the CDs?
http://uk.ign.com/articles/2015/01/02/aliens-colonial-marines-and-aliens-vs-predator-pulled-from-steam
OK these 2 games may not be brilliant (Although I didn't think AvP was too bad) but there still games which in a digital only world would now be completely unavailable to buy. Its also not as if this has not happened to good games as well, Dirt 2 is no longer available digitally either & that was a really good game.
The Activision 007 games are also no longer available on the digital platforms.
Right now we have the option to buy the disc if a game we want to play is taken off these digital stores, In the future if/when things go all digital we would not have that option & would be losing the option to buy these games when there taken off the digital stores.
I really don't like the idea of having games vanish if/when licensing agreements change so this is something which really needs to be looked at if the industry wants to encourage people into there digital only world.
Well we do... if the disc is still being stocked, or is available 2nd hand on ebay. That's not an exhaustive supply, so pulling games from digital stores is no different from games going out of 'print', in physical form.
In reality I think its far easier to sell a game for 5+ years digitally rather than offering a physical copy.
edit:And don't forget changing formats....
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade can still be downloaded digitally. The original floppy disc version is going to be much harder to install.....