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I'm not a fan of digital distribution. Don't get me wrong -- It's not like I refuse to acknowledge that there are some tremendous benefits to downloading games instead of buying physical copies, because there obviously are. I just don't feel that this is the best route for the industry to take. I believe the negatives far outweigh the positives here, and that digital distribution could possibly completely ruin gaming in the long run.
Be that as it may, however, it seems like gaming is headed in that direction. The PSP Go just launched, and it's been getting a lot of attention. Love it or hate it, it's being talked about -- It's most apparent feature being the complete lack of a UMD drive. You're not even given a choice of whether or not you want to play physical copies of PSP games on the Go -- You simply cannot do it. Your one and only option is to download these games straight to the handheld itself (or a PS3 or PC, transferring it after the download is complete), and then you can play the game(s) the same way you would on any other gaming platform. No Internet? No games. Better go grab your Game Boy.
Sony started pushing for digitally distributed games with the PS3, too -- Warhawk, SOCOM: Confrontation, and Siren: Blood Curse are all full PS3 games that are available as downloads. In North America, Siren is available exclusively as a download. Microsoft has also been expanding its Games on Demand service for the Xbox 360, and there are quite a few full 360 games available from them, as well.
The thing that scares me the most is that it's not only the gaming industry that's looking like this -- Netflix is also changing how we get our movie rentals delivered to us, and devices such as Amazon's Kindle are even digitizing books. Everything is going digital. I may be a tech geek, but even I'm starting to see that this is becoming a potential problem. Digital distribution may be the ultimate form of convenience, but is that convenience worth sacrificing longevity?
If you look at the way downloads are handled right now, you won't see much of a problem. There may be an issue or two here and there, but overall, it's nothing to worry about. The PSP Go offers downloadable games with the press of a button, Steam will keep your entire collection of PC favorites all in one spot, and all of your Xbox Live and Virtual Console games sit safely on your consoles, and can be switched between whenever you'd like. No disc swapping, no scratched media to worry about... Life is good.
For the moment.
See, when it comes to the download-only media, my fear doesn't stem from the present -- It comes from thoughts of the future. I grew up with an original NES in my house, and I started playing it when I was two years old, twenty-two years ago. Up until a few years back I had that same NES, and it worked perfectly, just like the day I got it. Now, close your eyes and take a look into the far future -- I'm talking about when the PS3, Wii, and Xbox 360 will be considered retro. Do you really believe that the online services of those three companies will still be around? I'm almost willing to bet money that they won't be, at least not in the same forms that we currently have available to us. So what happens if stuff gets deleted from your consoles, or if you buy them used from future-eBay? If the online services are down, how are you going to be able to get games? Our current consoles support physical media, yes, but what about consoles that are going to be released in what I believe will be the near future? When those consoles are long gone and you want to go back to relive some of the memories you had with them, you'd better pray your hard drives didn't fail, or that nothing was accidentally deleted, because that will be that. You won't be able to get any of the old games that were released for the consoles because the distribution services will be completely gone.
You think gaming looks bleak? Let's take a look at movies. As I said above, Netflix offers streaming movies to all subscribers. This isn't your only option right now, since you can still get physical DVDs in the mail, but let's be realistic -- Streaming movies will be the only format available before long. This means that if you don't have Internet access, or if you're just having issues with your connection at the time (like I am as I type this), you won't even have the ability to watch a movie to pass the time.
What's even worse is those digital copies of movies that companies seem to love including with Blu-ray discs. Did you know they actually expire? Yes, your movies which you've purchased legally can expire. I'm not sure if this happens after you redeem the codes and actually download the movies, but the fact that you have a limited time to claim something you paid money for is ridiculous, and is as close to stealing as legally possible on the parts of the movie companies. And again, what happens if your hard drive fails? Your digital movie is completely gone, and you can't ever get it back because the redemption code has already been used. If you don't have a physical copy of the movie lying around somewhere, you'll have to shell out more money to obtain yet another copy of the exact same thing. On top of all this, not all digital copies work on all digital video players, meaning you may not even have the physical equipment to play your own movies! It's no wonder piracy is running rampant nowadays.
There are two huge, overarching problems that digitally distributed games, movies, and any other form of media all share -- The first one is one that we here at Destructoid know well. Three words that are the bane of our existence, and that we are constantly seeing in the news because of how many problems are caused. Be prepared to shield your eyes...
Digital Rights Management.
DRM has a noble purpose -- To prevent the theft of digitally distributed content. Unfortunately, it's become the biggest pain in the ass ever invented. Thanks to this "safety net," it's virtually impossible for us to bring our games, movies, etc. to friends' houses, or to even transfer them to different machines if we don't have our accounts on all of them. What if I just want to show a friend or family member a game or a movie that I just picked up? I don't think I'm going to want to haul an entire game console or computer to a different location if those same devices are already waiting for me at my destination, yet that's exactly what will have to happen. Because those files are sometimes locked not only to my online accounts but to the hardware itself as well, I'm stuck carrying a bunch of equipment all over Creation just to show people outside of my own house something that should be able to fit in my pocket. Again, most of the issues surrounding DRM can be avoided by having an active Internet connection, such as downloading games through Steam. But if Steam games aren't 100% updated, then you start to have an entirely different batch of problems, the least of which is a connection issue you may be having with your provider. There are far more problems present with DRM than I can even list without turning this blog into more of a rant than it's already become, so I'll let you do the research.
The second enormous problem that will probably never be fixed is the fact that once you purchase digital content, it's yours forever. You can't trade it in at GameStop, you can't put it on eBay... Hell, you can't even give it away most of the time. This is especially bad when it comes to games, because if there's no access to a demo or trial of some kind, then there's no way of trying the game first. Some places like Play N Trade let you try games before you buy them, but it won't be happening if the games are all digital -- You'll have to just blindly throw your money at the developers and pray that you like what you just paid for. Sure, there will always be reviews of every video game and movie released, but there's this little thing called an "opinion," and not everyone shares the same views. The only real way to know whether or not you'll be willing to spend your money on something is to try it out in some form before the money leaves your wallet, and not being able to go out and rent games (and eventually movies) isn't going to make it easy.
Digital distribution is excellent if it's something that's used as a side service. As the main form of content distribution, however, nothing good can come from it in the long run. Nothing will ever be able to replace the simplicity of putting some form of physical media into the machine it was meant to be used with, but something tells me that this fact isn't going to stop the electronics giants of the world from trying as hard as they can.
Contest:
4:30 PM on 01.07.2010
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Even Steam holds your games hostage sometimes (overseas, etc).
We will all become pirates. We won't have to worry about DRM and Expiry dates and not being able to legally download stuff. We will sail across the seas of the internet and upload and pillage from servers globally so we can enjoy whats rightfully ours. I'll start preparing now, should be done in 20 years.
And yet it's slowly being forced down my throat. Not to mention importing would become impossible, and as you said, finding older games would no longer be an option. Especially if said games never make it to downloadable status in the first place.
One of your points is VERY valid: what will happen to the Wii, 360, and PS3 downloadable games once the next iteration of those consoles appears? Sure, they probably have several years of life yet before that happens, but what then? Is there any guarantee they'll work on the next console? I share that sentiment...
But Steam is awesome. Yes, yes, it can be a pain if you're having connection issues and your game suddenly realizes it wants a patch before letting you play. That is a hassle. But it's pretty rare! But the great thing about Steam is that it's a platform that isn't attached to a physical device at all. Build a new computer, put Steam on it, voila, there's your games. No bitchin'. Go to your buddy's computer, tell him to log in to your Steam account. Voila, there's your games! Sure you can't play online at the same time, but that's freaking awesome. I also really enjoy 'gifting' games and I don't think it's out of the question for Steam to incorporate a 'give your copy of this game to a friend' feature in the future.
As for the consoles, well, they're probably fucked with that sort of thing.
But really, I'm embracing digital distribution. If you can get the same media off of a hard drive as a DVD, I don't want to waste time with DVDs that are more likely to get lost or spend those few extra seconds messing with the disc. Sure, it's cool to have that stuff, but most packaging nowadays is so sparse that there's almost nothing to look at. Seriously, unless you're buying some kind of snazzy collectors edition, most movies come with a single page of ads and most games come with a thin black and white instruction booklet. (There are exceptions, of course... MGS!)
It was different back in the day. Back in the day, physical media was the ONLY way to play, and I still think there's a lot of value in using the real deal rather than emulation, convenient as it is. But right now the physical media is so pointless, and everything is all digital at its core, that hauling around physical media is just a pain. I really wish I hadn't spend so much money on DVDs now that so much is streamable thru Netflix or easily torrented. And I've gladly paid good money for MP3s. If I like an artist, I'm gonna support them. I can't get behind Apple's huge cut of iTunes sales, but eMusic was a great option until recently, and Amazon MP3 is pretty good. Lala looks like it might be a good competitor, too. I don't have to worry about DRM with MP3s, and I don't have to put up with the crappy selection of record stores which I'm just going to rip anyway. If anything, I want some vinyl copies of older albums, as the album art is so prominent. Plus they smell cool.
Yes, it is scary to put so much faith in a solid internet connection, and sometimes they do falter, and in some places, broadband is STILL not available. But hey ... that's what board games and the old consoles are for, I guess. :-D
I actually agree with you that Steam is pretty good, and that's why I didn't spend a bunch of time ripping it to pieces in this blog. If any service will convert me to digital distribution, it'll be Steam. I hear the real problems start when you buy non-Valve games through the platform, though, although I can't vouch for this since I only own Valve games as downloads.
But you're right, Steam is really good. And you CAN make physical backups if you want to, which I've done with all my games already.
I have largely the same reservations, but if I can drift to a tangent, do you think things like the Xbox Arcade and PSN games would be viable without digital distribution? Or is that more the "side service" category?
I totally believe that without the download services we have now, PSN and XBLA games wouldn't be able to exist. The same goes for WiiWare and the Virtual Console. I definitely think digital distribution is important -- I have around 16 Virtual Console games, myself. I mean, could you imagine getting each one of those games on separate discs at a retail location? There's no way that'd work. People just wouldn't buy the games. At the same time, however, those games usually have a much lower budget, and a lot of them are remakes/rereleases. That's not to say that they're bad, but they're definitely not as "big" as retail games like Mass Effect or Uncharted, so I believe they fit the digital distribution bill perfectly. It's the thought of making the "big" games available only through downloadable means that worries me.
As for the "side service" thing, maybe I didn't explain that well enough in the blog itself -- By that, I mean that retail media and digitally distributed media are meant to coexist, where one can build off of the other's success. They go hand-in-hand. In that respect, I believe retail media forms can be viewed as a kind of "side service" as well, since it's exactly half of the equation. In the same way that I believe not everything should be digital, I also believe that not everything should be physical, either. Without digital distribution, we wouldn't have many of the great games and services that we currently have, and that would suck for everyone.
I'm all for digital distribution, but only if it means physical media stays around as an option as well. I don't think one format should wipe the other out.
I really hope it stays that way or at least there is a commitment to keep an area for simpler games because even Live Arcade have been increasing the file sizes every few years and allowing more and more complex games to arrive and now even full retail games can be downloaded.
It might come to a point where even 2D games on download services are seen as dated or not financially viable because developers keep using the increased file sizes to up the ante and keep creating more complicated games or even just releasing there big retail games.
In terms of digital distribution I think it can be done right i.e. steam with competitive prices or it can be done wrong like microsoft games on demand. I worry about digital services like games on demand which are run by the makers of the console, this could result in the forming of a monopoly service where you cant shop around for a better deal, leading to customers paying overcharged prices for mediocre content.
I'm wondering, if for XBLA and PSN if there were a way to keep your purchases linked to your account and carry them to the next gen. of systems if that would work out. Much like steam can be transferred to a new computer, I think that microsoft and sony should look into this future transferability. It would require the hardware to be capable of backwards compatible rendering, but if it is a more powerful machine, they should be able to make it work.
I think this would give incentive to buy the new systems, and it would allow for us to have massive online libraries of even the oldest xbox/playstation games available to us far into the future, whereas now it is hard to find the obscure older ones.
I don't, however, like the idea of being held hostage by my internet connection, as I can see most of you don't either and that's where a big DD issue comes in. Also, if you have any account issues at all, you could risk losing your games library. That would be devastating, so obviously some major infrastructure to support such a medium needs to be in place.
I think we should be able to transfer digital games onto a physical media legally though and just hall around a small USB with a game to a friend's house or even just keep a small rack of discs of games you bought digitally. Hell, there could even be a service that is born out of this where the cases of games are sold separately to those who want them.
Digital distribution lowers costs for everyone involved too. If you don't need to ship it physically, that's a whole cost out of the way and since there is no disc or box to make, that's another cost down the drain. This is especially great on PC or it would be, if Valve would lower their fucking prices already.
Retailers will be cut out of the market entirely at some point and there's another cost out of the way. Suddenly 60 euro games for consoles become 40 euros. You can rent games digitally for 5-10 euros to play for a week. Developers get more money, publishers get more money and gamers play more fucking games for a change.
I don't really care anymore about the physical media, I just want the enjoyment from games and movies. As long as it is all conveniently set up and there is a back up plan when those games/movies are no longer provided and cannot be played when the service shuts down, I'll be absolutely fine with it.
I think we all need to stop living in the past and move on. Digital distribution has a ton of benefits and the negatives are just a result of nitpicking, as they can easily be fixed in the near future.
Wanna rent a game digitally? There will be a service for that. Developers want a cut of the profits from renting games? They will get that too, as everything is more easily tracked digitally. Want less piracy? Cheaper games and better organization and structuring of the digital gaming market will make games more appealing to pirates who don't want to pay high prices. Also, the focus on digital gaming will make it harder for pirates to pirate games, as there is a tighter focus on just one digital market. Want physical media? Go to a local provider who will sell you the original case and even the original CD of the game to copy from your console/PC to that disc. This is a great way to cut down costs without alienating those that don't want to give up physical media entirely.
Just embrace the future, it is bright. ^^
When I buy a disc I know that is MINE, even on PC where some games have some horrible DRM if I have the disc I own the game and there will always be a way to play it, period.
With digital games it is an account, and you have to worry about the people running it, the company going under, future hardware issues, etc. etc.. On console it's even worse if you ask me, what if MS decides to get out of console gaming at some point? What about all those XBLA games then if your console dies? What if the next Xbox is not backwards compatible with all that stuff?
In the end I much prefer a disc and box and to have secure ownership over a game, even if the fine print says I don't.
my biggest gripe though is price. with dd now we are mostly paying more for games that don't come with a manual, don't cost a company shipping fees, don't cost a company shelving fees, don't cost a company disc production costs and yet we are still paying almost full retail mark-up just for "convenience". let me tell you we are not being convenienced at all, the companies are and they have no plans to pass those savings on us consumers. that's my problem.
i don't use steam but it is good to hear whenever they have great sales on their network. microsoft and sony really need to examine what makes steam good and maybe, just maybe, i won't buy a used copy of socom for $25 when its $20 on the psn.
and a dd product is not new nor used, its a copy that once bought has absolutely no monetary value.
point being, how much would gamestop pay me for trading in my ps3 that has $400 worth of games on it? or a pawn shop for that matter?
My view on this is co-existence of DLC and physical media or death. For it all to go down the pipe, would indeed turn into a nightmare no one wants. Like you said, such a nightmare will make online piracy look like the greatest thing on earth.
I still have my first consoles, my SNES and GB safely packed away. They still work and I'm glad I can whip them out and relive an awesome past. When we can no longer cherish the past, the industry will slowly wither away. Those greedy suits pushing the DLC train, need to know where to strike the balance.
With one hand he giveth, and the other he taketh away.
Those currently gaming in places other than mainstream/good internet connection/high download caps areas(No, that doesn't only mean 3rd world) are being left in the dust.
I, However, can come up with a major Pro; Cheaper games. The best thing about DigiDistro(tm) is lower overhead, savings passed onto us. Biggest Con? Never having a physical copy could mean never being able to play the game after certain time. Imagine: In 20 years when there is only the SoNinSoft(tm) PlayBoxiii3000 and you want to play Castle Crashers. Well I seriously doubt Sony/MS will even be running PSN/XBL by then to even be able to play said game.
Again, sorry if I missed your reasons for and against, these are merely my own personal concerns regarding the subject.
Even better hopefully the platform holders will unlock their respective consoles before making these services unavailable. However with the internets infrastructure getting more and more advanced the outlay for Nintendo Sony and Microsoft to keep their respective online services online, even for a retro niche, will be minimal. I am skeptical if we'll ever see these services, in some form, fade away completely.
On another note, I don't think Netflix and eReaders were a good example to use to show the cons of DD. With netflix, it technically is renting not buying a full-fledged copy of it. It's nice being able to watch any movie, anytime, anywhere, on anything (tv/pc/ps3/360). No DRM problems whatsoever. Internet connection fucking up or don't have one? Have the physical copies shipped to you.
When it comes to eReaders let me ask you this: Would you not enjoy saving tons of shelf space and having the books you want right at your fingertips? I often find that eBooks are cheaper than physical copies. Most eBook sellers even let you preview books (like a demo) before you buy it. As far as DRM goes, B&N Nook has even let people "gift" their books for 14 days to a friend. If they really liked that book they could spend the $10 to have it themselves. Also, eBooks can be read on your eReader, iPhone/iPod Touch, and laptop/pc.
In closing, I don't completely disagree nor do I completely agree with all that you've said. But my main gripe is your use of Netflix and eReaders. If you really wanted something to back up your point extremely well, you should've stayed on the PSP Go. That is DD at pretty much it's worst.
Of course, the majority prefer the piracy. About 90% of players use games pirates (here we call "alternative games"). Of course they are wrong. But do you realize how difficult it is to get a console game here?
"Prefer" physical media all you want. Its a phase you'll grow out of. You've grown out of CDs, you've grown out of buying newspapers and print magazines and instead read or watch the news online.
The only mediums that will survive the internet and digital distribution will be those that have a quality that DD can't offer. Like Vinyl and Record Players - they've made a comeback and its not just because its some fad, its because it offers qualities that CD and MP3 could not. CDs do not bring the warm tone or ability to be manipulated by the turntable.
Only reason I get excited about a soundtrack CD coming with my games is that I can stick them in my PC tray and covert them to MP3. CDs are no longer a thing I listen to music with, its an antiquated but cheap format to distribute data on.
The price depends on who you ask... The downloadable PSP games are the exact same prices as their physical counterparts, and they don't come with any of the extras.
For the people talking about downloading current content on next-gen systems: I'd HOPE that these companies would be smart enough to do that, seeing as how the entire population would be pissed at them if not. But I'm just paranoid.
Also, here's something I didn't even think to ponder in the blog -- What would happen to stuff like Steam if one day Windows wasn't the dominant PC operating system anymore? I don't ever see this happening, but do you think the games would still be compatible? I shudder to think of the answer.
@JFF
That's true, I suppose downloadable games would be a hell of a lot easier to get over there, huh? That's one major advantage I never thought of. I still don't think downloable games should completely take over, though. Physical and digital living in harmony is great -- I just don't know how long that harmony is going to last the way things are going.
@Maxxthepenguin
I agree that Steam is amazing, and if any service converts me, it'll be that. But it has its own problems, too. Not nearly as many as other services, but it's not perfect. I am also in LOVE with GoG, but let me ask you this: How many people do you really think are out there who DON'T give those games away to friends for free, or pirate them in other ways? I think GoG is amazing, but it surprises me to no end that they can even stay in business. No DRM is definitely awesome, but DRM WAS invented for a reason, and I believe it's necessary. We just haven't figured out how to make it work yet. (Then again, Steam does a good job of handling that part of this whole digital thing.)
What will happen will be exactly the same as what happened to my old NES, SNES and Playstation: the system will fuck up, the games will be broken, and I'll just have to remember how good they were... until I load up my NES, SNES, or Playstation emulator and play them again. Nothing lasts forever, in another 20 years all our old systems will basically be gone or destroyed. If anything, digital media has the longest lifespan of any format we've seen so far.
Finally *someone* has the balls to step up and call out the bullshit that is DLC, when pretty much every other site is either ignoring it or promoting it, just because they get free games and don't care.
You'll take my discs from my cold, dead hands!
Furthermore, even if most "old" games will probably be made available to download in the future (from a virtual console-like service, some games will be forever lost to time due to problems regarding the ownership of their copyrights. There are already certain games that can never be made available on virtual console because of copyright issues. Therefore, the only way to play them is to own a physical copy. That being said, it is still really convenient to have both formats available.
Finally, if games are download only, then the company providing the service has a monopoly over the sales of the game, meaning that they can effectively screw over the consumer should they choose to.
I'd rather pay 1000 Wii points to try that Super Metroid game you said was good than to dig into that old box to find my brother's SNES and wires to hook it up to the TV and play 6 feet from the screen because of the lame wired controller. I don't care paying it again, it'll be worth the week I spend with it. Games are not only becoming digitally distributed, they are becoming "play then throw away". Hey 2.99$ for STALKER on Steam, you really think I give a care if I don't play it anymore after I'm done with it?
But on the other hand... well, you pretty much voiced all my fears. If Steam dies, figuring out how to make the games work without it is in the hands of the community, if possible at all, and with both outcomes my TF2 playing schedule just got a lot shorter, and that's something I definitely want to avoid.
I think hardcopies and digital can coexist if there's some tangible difference between the two. As I stated above, I paid $33 for Borderlands and got the game from Steam. I am very, very happy with this. If I had paid $50 in the store and got nothing extra other than a disc to guarantee I'd be able to play a game that's almost guaranteed to get a sequel, I would have been a little less satisfied. If hardcopies go a "premium" route (in a way, CDs and LPs are already like this, with really great album art more than justifying $2-5 more than a digital download, not even mentioning 330kbps rates when ripping from a CD) for standard price and digital distribution taking a barebones, "you only get the game" approach for a smaller price tag, I can definitely see both living in harmony.
By the way, did any of that flow, or was it a bunch of disjointed ideas?
If gaming ever comes to this, I will be absolutely done with gaming then.
I'd love digital rentals, trust me. But I'm betting the DRM in rentals will be even worse than actual purchased games.
@destructony
Really old games (or sales, like Stalker) are a bit different -- I'm talking about new releases and stuff that will be in high demand as soon as they come out of the gate. There's no way I'd ever pass up something like Stalker for $3, that's WAY too good of a deal. I'd make tons of exceptions for that kind of stuff.
People in the future will have more virtual things that they own. More than people of today. People now own more games per person now then they did before digital copies of games were possible. You cannot possibly take care of so much junk. People in the future have more portable items. They have more access to their property wherever they go.
You have a mindset of the old concept of games which are physical toys. Videogames were always digital and have always been waiting for a way to virtualize themselves. You cannot hold a virtual gun in the game. The game is not that sticker that you stare at on the cartridge. It's not even that booklet. The essence of the game you like is non-physical. Like video, music, and even literature. People who aren't used to physical ownership of videogames do not have your problem. Physical copies will fade into the background just like people who love them.
The future will have games floating in the grid. Old operating systems are virtualized so that virtual games can run on them. There would be no incompatibility. Computer games are the easiest to cross over with. PC games are bound to the operating systems they are built to run on. Those operating systems are bound to the physical hardware of the computer and are meant to run on it. You simulate the hardware then you simulate the OS.
Bookmark your blog. You will want to read this again in twenty years.
The essence is non-physical, yes. But then why do I love my art books, collector's cases, and other physical preorder bonuses so much?
You're idea of that much of a digital future scares me even more than what I wrote about.
Brilliant read otherwise, it's just a shame you barely touched on the fact that regions are still taken to effect with digital downloads. If you're going to make this shit online available for everybody, then you must streamline the prices accordingly. Just because I live in Australia does not mean I should be paying DOUBLE the price for purchases downloaded digitally when there's no importing/no hard copy/no retailing fees. It's a load of shit, really.