I'm not too sure if i'm the last of a dying breed, but quite a few of my friends don't seem to bothered by the topic i'm about to discuss.
This is something that adds to the gaming experience and that digitally distributed titles simply lack.
The thing i'm talking about?
The feeling of holding a new game in your hands and then after playing, adding it to an ever growing shelf of games for you to look at fondly.
Downloading a title doesn't have the same feelings for me as purchasing a boxed copy. I enjoy looking over the box while reading the blurb and looking at the shiny screenshots.Thumbing through the manual and taking in the artwork and layout, looking at the shiny disc and savouring the anticipation as I stick it in the console for the very first time.
I remember picking up Metal Gear Solid for the playstation in my local gaming store and then legging it home as fast as possible to look over my latest acquisition. I took every last little detail in, from the awesomely stylish logo on the box to the fold out mini poster inside the manual. I must of spent a good 20/30 minutes just reading that manual before I even stuck disc 1 into my console.
Looking back on it, I think it made me appreciate the whole experience so much more.
And with the rise in broadband speeds and the advent of services such as Steam and Direct2drive, all of the packaging is cut out and all we have to mark our new purchase is a file stored on our hard drives and the game itself.
The packaging for games is one of the only types of packaging that isn't overly intrusive and wasteful and adds to the overal completeness of the product that it contains.
The professional designers and artists who create this material lose somewhere to showcase the talent and creativity that is so apparant in some titles available for purchase.
And one day in the not too distant future, a whole generation of young gamers will miss out on something that in my eyes, made gaming all the more special.
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A physical copy of the game will probably never die if it is taken care of. plus, what about the rarity of some games? I can gloat and show off my copy of MUSHA but where is that same feeling when you get it off the virtual console? "Yeah guys, I TOTALLY downloaded that!"
I hate digital distribution.
And besides, most game packaging is ugly as crap, especially nowadays and in the US. Manuals? Most of those are 4-pages in black and white. Unfortunately making interesting packaging and including things with it is largely a relic of the past, where those kind of things were needed to make up for the fact the actual games were just a bunch of little pixels. Nobody other than Atlus actually makes it worth owning a physical copy anymore, so I doubt I'll be missing it a whole lot.
I possibly can, but I don't think I'll ever forget the boxes and manuals of yesteryear.
I think it's probably the old nostalgia bug kicking in.
I tell you, I just recntly started buying games in the Virtual Console, and although it's amazing, I fear when I buy the Wii2 or whatever, and I won't be able to transfer them or something.
However if things were only online, then consumers would dictate the market value of games. Games would only be expensive as people were willing to pay, because prices could be adjusted at the drop of a hat when there's no mass of retail printed and the numerous middlemen stocking them to worry about.
I personally prefer DDs if I have the space and wherewithal. I re-bought Warhawk and Burnout Paradise because those games are so much more fun if I can just call them up on a whim.
You might say "just get off the fucking couch you lazy dickhead", and you might be right, but there's really something different about a game you can just turn up right then and there, whenever you like, especially titles as grand as Burnout and Warhawk, both of which are generally deeper than any of the for-PSN titles you can find.
Excuse me while I go backup my HDD :P
I must say, I don't miss the days of big chunky PC boxes; just give me the disc in a small neat case, that's fine.
If you were to compare buying a new game to other experiences like going out to the cinema, I agree it can't be compared to, when done so against digital means. And while I applaud the DLC of the likes of Criterion etc, and like it to be a part of my gaming, I really hope that the retail game survives and co-exists with digital means.
I think its the only way to stop games becoming a souless experience, buy treasuring the artwork, packaging etc. I do agree much less effort is put into selling game packaging these days, beyond the cool japanese outfits like Capcom, Atlus, Konami and maybe even Square Enix, it seems many other spend little time on this.
However, with more games giving lovely artbooks, models etc now, like is the common japanese practice, I'd be prepared to shell out for limited edition copies and keep the flame burning. These bring the love back and make me appreciate my purchase every time. Stuff like this I feel will keep the retail sector ahead.
Here's to physical games collections.