Downloads will replace traditional media within 10 years, says EA VP

GamerChris

GamerChris

CAGiversary!
Saw this article today and wondered what you guys think? Will we be downloading games instead of buying a package ten years from now?

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=15061

"EA's European VP of sales, Dr. Jens Uwe Intat, has given the clearest signal yet of the firm's commitment to digital distribution - stating that within the next ten years, "all entertainment media will be downloaded to a device."
 
There's a good chance, and I'm sure EA would love it since they'd be able to monitor everyone's playing habits... However, I fucking hate the concept. I'd much rather have a hard copy than being subject to the publisher's distribution of the game. What I mean by that is I want to avoid shit like Steam. I do not want to have to verify my game online with Valve when I install Half Life 2... and I don't want to have to do that with all my games in the future.
 
There are so many things wrong with only-downloadable games.....verifying game, DRM programs, losing downloaded material in the event of a crash, etc etc etc.

I know our kids will think we are fuddy duddy old school idiots, but damn. I loves me a physical copy.

Sometimes....late at night even....
 
I love this Idea. Flash memory and other memory formats are getting cheaper by the day. I would rather buy a HD movie and put it on a mem card with 30 other movies then have a disc that can be scrached and is a pain it the ass to store. IMHO.
 
Storage I would say is the main problem, if there is still reluctance at this stage of the game consoles to put in Hard drives as standard there is going to have to be a big turnaround in order for them to provide enough storage to purchase via download as many games as one wants.
 
Wouldnt an online distribution model make EA, the giant publisher, sort of.....less necessary?

Also, if he did INDEED steal Grover Cleveland's Presidential Time Machine, he shouldve picked up a lottery ticket.
 
From a developer and publisher's point of view this with be ideal. They wont have to worry about priacy or second hand market.
 
Why are CHEAP ass gamers against this method, when it could help in lowering game costs? Shipping, packaging, the actually media itself, all would be unneccessary.
 
[quote name='VanillaGorilla']Why are CHEAP ass gamers against this method, when it could help in lowering game costs? Shipping, packaging, the actually media itself, all would be unneccessary.[/QUOTE]

Right. Eliminating the middle man entirely, who is responsible for a good portion of the price drops.

EA could keep all the Madden titles available at full prices for all time if they wanted.

All that crap is so secondary/negligable that it would hardly count towards the price to begin with.
 
[quote name='VanillaGorilla']Why are CHEAP ass gamers against this method, when it could help in lowering game costs? Shipping, packaging, the actually media itself, all would be unneccessary.[/QUOTE]


but you can't exactly get deals from other different stores. If you can only download games straight from the console you are getting it from one fixed place.
 
This is only a matter of time. Ten years seems a good estimate as any.

From the publisher/developer's point of view, there are only positives- increased profits due to cutting out the middlemen retailers, less piracy, less material costs, etc. I would think transportation costs of shipping discs outweighs bandwith costs, so even in delivery they would save money. With the right business model, they can even cut out the videogame rental business.

From the consumer's point of view, I think it's less clear, but it still has its positives: no need to worry about keeping discs safe, no need to step foot into retail game stores, no need to keep gigantic storage space to keep an ever-increasing collection of games (my main problem these days), no need to worry about defective/fraudulent purchases, etc.

There are some negatives I can think of as a consumer, but most of them I think stems from the fact that we're just not used to digital delivery of goods. I like to have a physical disc/manual/case as much as anyone (and in pristine condition), but really, I can see that they are unnecessary- just some resistance from my collector mentality. Also, not everybody has broadband, and until broadband penetration reaches close to 100%, digital delivery probably won't work.

The one, HUGE negative I can think of is that with digital delivery there will be no clearance games. No more $5-10 clearance sales from TRU or Circuit City or wherever else. Just MSRP set by the publisher. For this reason alone, I would hate to see digital delivery take off to the exclusion of traditional retail sales, but I think it will happen sooner than later. Game developers (why would an independent developer even need EA with a well-established infrastructure of digital delivery) have too much money to gain.
 
On the plus side, then I wouldn't have to put the stupid disk in my drive to play games. I loathe that in PC games. It sickens me. I have no idea why. To play a CD, I have to put the CD in my stereo. To play a console game, I have to put a disk in my GC, etc. But having to find disk one of whatever really chafes my underregions to no end.
 
[quote name='VanillaGorilla']Why are CHEAP ass gamers against this method, when it could help in lowering game costs? Shipping, packaging, the actually media itself, all would be unneccessary.[/QUOTE]

It seems that some CAGs are materialistic as in look at me and see my 500+ games. If you download instead of buy box and disc these CAGs won't have the wall of games to show off.
 
[quote name='Strell']Right. Eliminating the middle man entirely, who is responsible for a good portion of the price drops.

EA could keep all the Madden titles available at full prices for all time if they wanted.

All that crap is so secondary/negligable that it would hardly count towards the price to begin with.[/QUOTE]

Not in 10 years, when the medium games are contained on could be $15 to produce just themselves, something ludicrous like Blu-Ray 2 or something.
 
[quote name='takingchase']but you can't exactly get deals from other different stores. If you can only download games straight from the console you are getting it from one fixed place.[/QUOTE]
I think their will still be retail download stores. For casual gamers they wouldn't know where to go to download the new 50cent game.

If a game does poor or less then expected prices will drop. Also you will never have to buy overpriced Ebay games just because they didn't print enough discs.
 
but with the online download there will no longer be any fear of rare games or paying $100 for disc only games.

Still I dont see it happening with console games, but very possible for PC.
 
It's possible that downloads only will happen with PC games in the next 10 years, but I doubt it will for console games. After all, Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft will need to sell their systems, and I'm sure retail stores won't be happy about being cut out of the sales of games, especially used games.

If all major videogame retailers refuse to stock a console it's not going to sell very well.

The day that we're only able to download games I see myself buying far fewer of them then I do today.
 
[quote name='VanillaGorilla']Why are CHEAP ass gamers against this method, when it could help in lowering game costs? Shipping, packaging, the actually media itself, all would be unneccessary.[/quote] i'll guarantee they won't lower the prices. they'll keep prices the same and put the money in their pockets. those greedy bastards.
 
[quote name='VanillaGorilla']Why are CHEAP ass gamers against this method, when it could help in lowering game costs? Shipping, packaging, the actually media itself, all would be unneccessary.[/QUOTE]


It'll be like Direct2Drive... you don't get any physical product, just a download link... and it's retail fucking price. $50. Even when the games are discounted, they're still more expensive than it'd cost to buy a physical copy... if they aren't bothering to be competitive now, why would that change in the future?
 
[quote name='GamerChris']Saw this article today and wondered what you guys think? Will we be downloading games instead of buying a package ten years from now?

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=15061

"EA's European VP of sales, Dr. Jens Uwe Intat, has given the clearest signal yet of the firm's commitment to digital distribution - stating that within the next ten years, "all entertainment media will be downloaded to a device."[/QUOTE]

I don't think so, when most people buy something. They want something they can hold and own. Yea I know that itunes is popular but you hold and own music you download. But in $10 years when games are $129 and min wage is 87 cents. I think people will want something they can hold.
 
Internet connections will get faster, but keep in mind that games will get bigger and bigger. It's just going to balance out. Of course, more little tricks will be created, like Steam's pre-loading (which I think is awesome).
 
[quote name='mbstuff']The one, HUGE negative I can think of is that with digital delivery there will be no clearance games. No more $5-10 clearance sales from TRU or Circuit City or wherever else. Just MSRP set by the publisher. For this reason alone, I would hate to see digital delivery take off to the exclusion of traditional retail sales, but I think it will happen sooner than later. Game developers (why would an independent developer even need EA with a well-established infrastructure of digital delivery) have too much money to gain.[/QUOTE]

This is the one thing that worries me. I own close to 200 games thanks to this site. There are very few games which I'll pay full price for. I can see EA creating an industry standard program (similar to iTunes) for downloading games. Maybe this program may attract some game developers in working with them.
 
One thing that bothers me about a downloads is the question of what happens when a company goes out of business? There will be no used games to track down, no clearances, no garage sales - a game could just vanish from existence, with literally NO way to purchase it ever again! That's kinda scary.
 
[quote name='BustaUppa']One thing that bothers me about a downloads is the question of what happens when a company goes out of business? There will be no used games to track down, no clearances, no garage sales - a game could just vanish from existence, with literally NO way to purchase it ever again! That's kinda scary.[/QUOTE]

Wow, I never even thought of that...good point.

And for the record, I LIKE having hard copies of my games. It's nice to collect, etc.
 
[quote name='thagoat']i'll guarantee they won't lower the prices. they'll keep prices the same and put the money in their pockets. those greedy bastards.[/QUOTE]

Also realize that the cost might actually go up. EA would need rather expensive, very powerful servers to not only store the large selection of their games but also to support thousands and possibily millions of users at a single instant. Also think of how much bandwidth these servers would need.
 
Judging from these comments, I'm going to assume that many of you have never officially downloaded a game before. I'll use Steam as an example.

A "Dark Ages" fear is unfounded. Steam has a huge button that you can click to burn your game to an optical disc. It's not even like it's hidden.

Servers do NOT need to serve millions of people at the same instant. You pre-download the game weeks in advance and at midnight, you unlock it.
 
[quote name='Vegan']Judging from these comments, I'm going to assume that many of you have never officially downloaded a game before. I'll use Steam as an example.

A "Dark Ages" fear is unfounded. Steam has a huge button that you can click to burn your game to an optical disc. It's not even like it's hidden.

Servers do NOT need to serve millions of people at the same instant. You pre-download the game weeks in advance and at midnight, you unlock it.[/quote]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the offline option for half-life 2 requires an on-line authorization every two weeks or so doesn't it?

Not that this is a big concern for me. Steam's not going anywhere, and if they were to go, I'm sure there would be some way to bypass this authorization.
 
[quote name='mbstuff']Correct me if I'm wrong, but the offline option for half-life 2 requires an on-line authorization every two weeks or so doesn't it?

Not that this is a big concern for me. Steam's not going anywhere, and if they were to go, I'm sure there would be some way to bypass this authorization.[/quote]

Downloads are going to be a big pain in the ass for consumers like us:

1. Extremely less generous game corporation controlled discounts - no more $5 games, I'm sure game publishers will keep prices artificially high because it's better to sell Madden 2001 for $20 to one idiot then for $2 to 9 saavy customers (do the math).

2. Annoying DRM like verifying your authorization code on Steam every two weeks. Now you have to keep a folder full of authorization codes just to play games that you legally purchased, and if your console dies (very likely if you buy Sony) or you lose your authorization code book, good luck in getting back all the games that you had loaded.

3. I predict games of the future will be shorter, so that additional levels/characters/items can be paid for separately as a "bonus" download.
 
I could see it happening. I'd be sad about not having a physical piece of media that I could then resell to recoup my costs. Plus no physical stock means there won't be overruns/backlog of poor selling games at retailers which in turns means no awesome clearances... (As has been mentioned.) Basically I agree with all 3 of camoor's points.

Not to mention no 2nd hand market at all really. No finding games at a yard sale, etc. :cry:

Publishers would obviously love to push this if it would work as they could give a death blow to the used game market.

But even this guy is saying that there would still be physical media produced in addition to the downloadable version, so maybe it's not time to go into a CAGpanic:

"Secondly, there will always be - well, always is a little too far-reaching maybe, but for a very long time there will still be distribution of physical products. We should not underestimate the value of the reach that we do have today with our products - the impulse purchases that people are making, and that there are a huge amount of consumers out there who still want to buy physical products. The gift market also, the parents and grandmothers who still want to purchase presents for kids, and will still continue purchasing products in physical form," he concluded.
 
Well, some people will be. But let's face it games will still be for sale in the stores. My guess is that it will be $39.99 to download the game or $59.99 to purchase it in the store.

If you give the consumer a great deal on the download then more people will download the games. But a lot of people won't have high speed internet access even in 10 years.
 
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