^True being in an industry connected with Tech does make it easier to keep abreast, but with most phones now being smart, tablets being small computers, not something you keep in a medicine cabinet, that argument is getting smaller. Of course there's always going to be a mate, whose lived under a bridge for the last 20 years but they are a rare being.
It there is one thing for sure, my mate would fall into the living under the bridge thing!
I would agree that in 30 years time there will be next to no one who doesnt own a computer of some kind as its becoming more and more a vital part of our day to day life.
But I would further argue that the need for tech guidence will increase as well.
I would come back to the fact that new tech will aways have a certain amount of exclusivity and with that a large unknown factor attached.
If you ask a 50 y/o man on the street whats the main difference between an original xbox and an xbox one then that answer would certainly be "errrr..is there one?"
The original point of the post was that game stores are still a place where those questions about games/ hardware can be answered in a a safe envionment and be able to get some straight answers.
I cant see that changing during this new generation or maybe even next gen consoles after that until buying a disc / media from a store becomes obsolete.
I bought Killzone: Shadow Fall at the weekend for £35 pre-owned which I thought was pretty reasonable.
Not bad, I hear the KZ SF will be a Ps+ freebie by end of the year but its still worth a purchase before then.
Didnt like it any where near the same level as I loved KZ3 as that game was an unsung hero of the PS3 with both single player and multi being easily on the same level as COD / BF but never got the recognition that it deserved.
Not bad, I hear the KZ SF will be a Ps+ freebie by end of the year but its still worth a purchase before then.
Didnt like it any where near the same level as I loved KZ3 as that game was an unsung hero of the PS3 with both single player and multi being easily on the same level as COD / BF but never got the recognition that it deserved.
Yeah no doubt it will be, as will Knack I assume.
My problem is that I wanted a game to play on the PS4 as I had finished all my others and that is the only one I fancied. I will probably trade it in when i'm done with it.
Game survive by being promoted by companies eg COD Ghosts, as the place to get the special edition freefall
Map then charge £60 for the version after people (like me) paid a few pounds upfront to reserve the special edition in case it sells out.
I do buy from them occasionally eg steam vouchers for presents but wasn't going to pay £24.99 for rechargeable Xbox one controller battery when RRP send everyone else sell it for £19.99 - tho guess lots of parents and grandparents got stung by the price rise made in the Christmas run up!!
Game survive by being promoted by companies eg COD Ghosts, as the place to get the special edition freefall
Map then charge £60 for the version after people (like me) paid a few pounds upfront to reserve the special edition in case it sells out.
I do buy from them occasionally eg steam vouchers for presents but wasn't going to pay £24.99 for rechargeable Xbox one controller battery when RRP send everyone else sell it for £19.99 - tho guess lots of parents and grandparents got stung by the price rise made in the Christmas run up!!
I am the first to admit that the prices in store and the prices online are sometimes different which is unfair and doesnt make us very competative.
but there is a difference between making a profit and stinging the customer!
There are reasons for this and one of them is simply it costs us to have stuff delivered to store (with thoses costs on top like rent / wages / tax etc) and keeping it in stock rather than it being a profit making exercise in charging more.
We do not decide what the costs are at store level but have to go on what head office tells us to charge.
The truth of the matter is its not a sting to get more cash but a fact of life that it costs more to operate a string of high street stores than it is to run a large warhouse and post everything to you.
I would point you to apple products where they have a business stratagy of making 50% profit on every item sold, which is why their stuff costs so much when compared to say Samsung.
Game has survived because we have strong links to our suppliers who allow us to offer exclusives / DLC / Special editions becasue the more we sell of their game, the more money we both make.
Making money isnt a bad thing, its keeps us in business (and pays my wages) but crossing the line and screwing the consumer is a different thing.
GAME as we know it's days are numbered. It won't be long before gaming is almost totally digital making stores obsolete.
They will either embrace this and prosper, or insist that things won't change and die a death like Blockbuster did when Netflix/Lovefilm snuck up on them and kicked their bottoms.
GAME as we know it's days are numbered. It won't be long before gaming is almost totally digital making stores obsolete.
They will either embrace this and prosper, or insist that things won't change and die a death like Blockbuster did when Netflix/Lovefilm snuck up on them and kicked their bottoms.
No doubt that the writings been on the wall since the next gen specs were released adn the vision for both consoles were made clear by both PS and MS.
I would point out that gaming will only go fully digital if the price of downloads matches or cheaper than going in store and buying a disc.
Right now there is a £10-£20 price difference which is to large to ignore.
Secondly not everyone has the same internet speeds, for some downloading a 40+gb game would take ages and so going fully digital isnt something that would benefit them at all.
With the annoucement of "playstation now" which will be an internet heavy streaming function, it will mean for some that they will either have to upgrade to fibre optic or increase download allowances from their respective broadband providers which will obviously.
On top of that "playstion now" will likely be a subscription service in the same vain as onlive, with a bundle per month of PS1/PS2/PS3 games for streaming as well as purchase games to stream on top of that subscription.
The only information Sony have given us so far is that tarrifs are yet to be decided and will be on top of PS plus membership as well so essentially you could be looking at £50+ a year to have both services.
I would say personally that game as a high street presence has only 5-7 years left in it but will continue on using its internet site well in to the future.
No doubt that the writings been on the wall since the next gen specs were released adn the vision for both consoles were made clear by both PS and MS.
I would point out that gaming will only go fully digital if the price of downloads matches or cheaper than going in store and buying a disc.
Right now there is a £10-£20 price difference which is to large to ignore.
Secondly not everyone has the same internet speeds, for some downloading a 40+gb game would take ages and so going fully digital isnt something that would benefit them at all.
With the annoucement of "playstation now" which will be an internet heavy streaming function, it will mean for some that they will either have to upgrade to fibre optic or increase download allowances from their respective broadband providers which will obviously.
On top of that "playstion now" will likely be a subscription service in the same vain as onlive, with a bundle per month of PS1/PS2/PS3 games for streaming as well as purchase games to stream on top of that subscription.
The only information Sony have given us so far is that tarrifs are yet to be decided and will be on top of PS plus membership as well so essentially you could be looking at £50+ a year to have both services.
I would say personally that game as a high street presence has only 5-7 years left in it but will continue on using its internet site well in to the future.
US game retailer GameStop has already seen its share price drop by 9% since the PS Now announcement.
US game retailer GameStop has already seen its share price drop by 9% since the PS Now announcement.
I have heard that as well.
Game stop are similar to Game in many ways but I understand that their pricing of pre-owned games is much more severe and are geared more to pushing the seller to buy more stuff in store.
They make so much money from reselling pre-owned games and consoles that an annoucement like this would put the frightners on them.
Will wait and see what this does for games share price but would expect the same.
In fairness to both game stop and game, we are trying to work with both MS and Sony to keep a happy middle ground between digital downloads and selling physical games.
I would suspect that the next move will be to sell games without the disc but have a download code inside as well as "special edition" cases / other merch to keep the collectors happy.
Comments
game 24.99
pretty much sums it up
It there is one thing for sure, my mate would fall into the living under the bridge thing!
I would agree that in 30 years time there will be next to no one who doesnt own a computer of some kind as its becoming more and more a vital part of our day to day life.
But I would further argue that the need for tech guidence will increase as well.
I would come back to the fact that new tech will aways have a certain amount of exclusivity and with that a large unknown factor attached.
If you ask a 50 y/o man on the street whats the main difference between an original xbox and an xbox one then that answer would certainly be "errrr..is there one?"
The original point of the post was that game stores are still a place where those questions about games/ hardware can be answered in a a safe envionment and be able to get some straight answers.
I cant see that changing during this new generation or maybe even next gen consoles after that until buying a disc / media from a store becomes obsolete.
Not bad, I hear the KZ SF will be a Ps+ freebie by end of the year but its still worth a purchase before then.
Didnt like it any where near the same level as I loved KZ3 as that game was an unsung hero of the PS3 with both single player and multi being easily on the same level as COD / BF but never got the recognition that it deserved.
Yeah no doubt it will be, as will Knack I assume.
My problem is that I wanted a game to play on the PS4 as I had finished all my others and that is the only one I fancied. I will probably trade it in when i'm done with it.
Map then charge £60 for the version after people (like me) paid a few pounds upfront to reserve the special edition in case it sells out.
I do buy from them occasionally eg steam vouchers for presents but wasn't going to pay £24.99 for rechargeable Xbox one controller battery when RRP send everyone else sell it for £19.99 - tho guess lots of parents and grandparents got stung by the price rise made in the Christmas run up!!
I am the first to admit that the prices in store and the prices online are sometimes different which is unfair and doesnt make us very competative.
but there is a difference between making a profit and stinging the customer!
There are reasons for this and one of them is simply it costs us to have stuff delivered to store (with thoses costs on top like rent / wages / tax etc) and keeping it in stock rather than it being a profit making exercise in charging more.
We do not decide what the costs are at store level but have to go on what head office tells us to charge.
The truth of the matter is its not a sting to get more cash but a fact of life that it costs more to operate a string of high street stores than it is to run a large warhouse and post everything to you.
I would point you to apple products where they have a business stratagy of making 50% profit on every item sold, which is why their stuff costs so much when compared to say Samsung.
Game has survived because we have strong links to our suppliers who allow us to offer exclusives / DLC / Special editions becasue the more we sell of their game, the more money we both make.
Making money isnt a bad thing, its keeps us in business (and pays my wages) but crossing the line and screwing the consumer is a different thing.
They will either embrace this and prosper, or insist that things won't change and die a death like Blockbuster did when Netflix/Lovefilm snuck up on them and kicked their bottoms.
No doubt that the writings been on the wall since the next gen specs were released adn the vision for both consoles were made clear by both PS and MS.
I would point out that gaming will only go fully digital if the price of downloads matches or cheaper than going in store and buying a disc.
Right now there is a £10-£20 price difference which is to large to ignore.
Secondly not everyone has the same internet speeds, for some downloading a 40+gb game would take ages and so going fully digital isnt something that would benefit them at all.
With the annoucement of "playstation now" which will be an internet heavy streaming function, it will mean for some that they will either have to upgrade to fibre optic or increase download allowances from their respective broadband providers which will obviously.
On top of that "playstion now" will likely be a subscription service in the same vain as onlive, with a bundle per month of PS1/PS2/PS3 games for streaming as well as purchase games to stream on top of that subscription.
The only information Sony have given us so far is that tarrifs are yet to be decided and will be on top of PS plus membership as well so essentially you could be looking at £50+ a year to have both services.
I would say personally that game as a high street presence has only 5-7 years left in it but will continue on using its internet site well in to the future.
US game retailer GameStop has already seen its share price drop by 9% since the PS Now announcement.
I have heard that as well.
Game stop are similar to Game in many ways but I understand that their pricing of pre-owned games is much more severe and are geared more to pushing the seller to buy more stuff in store.
They make so much money from reselling pre-owned games and consoles that an annoucement like this would put the frightners on them.
Will wait and see what this does for games share price but would expect the same.
In fairness to both game stop and game, we are trying to work with both MS and Sony to keep a happy middle ground between digital downloads and selling physical games.
I would suspect that the next move will be to sell games without the disc but have a download code inside as well as "special edition" cases / other merch to keep the collectors happy.