'Console games need to ditch box retail - then I'll start playing them again.'

Developer insight: EVE Online's lead designer prays for a digital revolution...

[Snookies12]

Uh no thank you. I'll stop buying any console games if there are no physical copies. I'll switch to PC Steam only in that case. I love actual cases WITH manuals even if that's rare now unfortunately. It's art, and part of the package as a whole. Even as much as I love Steam, I prefer getting the physical copy over it any time I can. There's just something about the case that makes me happy... Maybe it's a sense of nostalgia which has all but left since the early days of gaming because of everything changing. One thing I can always count on (or at least I thought) would be a case and manual. :\

[BrutallyBlunt]

There's nothing wrong with preferring a hard copy. I prefer it too. It makes me think I actually own something and on top of that it is far less restrictive.

The author has a point about availability. There is no reason why digital copies can't be on sale along with retail ones, on the same day of release. It just shows how messed up the industry is and trying to cater to retail stores which in turn means no cost reduction to the consumer. Digital copies should be cheaper and should not abide to a rule like Microsoft has where the hard copy has a window of time before it can be on Games On Demand.

[Tonester925]

So what happens if you want to play your games at a friends house?

[CashColeTrain1337]

Tonester you've got Hard drives, larger memory devices, or you could bring your system? PC users have been doing this for years.

[BDSE]

Well said.

[daggertoes83]

Well we'll see about that because like it or not it is the future.

[TekoIie]

hard copy = cheaper than digital version

Hard copy also tends to sell more than the digital version soooo....

[CashColeTrain1337]

Not to burst your bubble, but Steam has sales every day and has 2/3 each weekend, and the kicker? It's all digital.
That being said though, MicroSoft and Sony are no Valve.

[TekoIie]

@cashColeTrain1337

First price is retail for Game.co.uk second is Steam.

Rome: total war: £2.99/ £4.99
Total war: Shogun 2: £4.99/ £29.99
Crysis 2: £8.99/ £9.99
Mass Effect 2: £8.99/ £14.99
MW3: £19.99/ £39.99
AC:Brotherhood: £7.99/ £19.99

If i have to wait for a sale to get games for a good/better price than retail im not going to bother with the service. On top of that i can sell a hard copy and get money back should i need to and then technically get better value for my money even if the Hard Copy is the exact same price or higher.

[GraveLord]

I was with you until you you said switch to Steam....I don't like digital at all. My internet connection just isn't good enough to do huge downloads, and I don't see internet bundles getting cheaper any time soon.

BTW, Dust 514 is going to flop even though its free to play.

[Snookies12]

I mainly mean if everything were to be digital download only. Steam would be the only choice for me at that point.

[Nyxus]

So because one guy couldn't find a specific game in the store, it should be ditched? Please.

[Uncharted2Vet]

why didn't he just wait till Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition. instead conceding to buy the console version why didn't he just pre-order the PC Version which has more content. this guy is kind of stupid if you ask me. oh unless its because the game is for "GFWL" oh my gosh then its unplayable then "sarcasm" xD

[Nicaragua]

Thats a ridiculous counter argument, it literally makes no sense in the context of what the guy said.

[kevnb]

gfwl is pretty bad, only drm I know of that deletes game saves.

[GamingPerson]

Funny thing that GFWL has made many games unplayable & also prevents people from a lot of other countries from buying it they will pirate it.

PC gamers are not exaggerating about gwfl. MS want pc gaming dead for sure. And just wants us to buy xbox seeing they make no cash of of pc games.
http://www.cinemablend.com/...

Even MS released two games 2 months ago on steam.

Dark souls won't do well on gfwl.

Also people will switch to download when sony and MS tell them to. This is how consoles work. Cod will lead the way.

[Spinal]

Im all for digital but the key problem here for consoles means no taking your game to a friends house which is terrible for socialising. I love when i can simply download a game off steam that i own whenever i like. And when you cant find the disk its an excellent feature.

But for these game devs they are just thinking bout the extra sales behind this.

My consoles already collect dust simply cause of the pc titles right now diablo 3 has me and soon guild wars 2 will.

[Lilioups]

have fun with your warhammer clone

[mananimal]

@spinalc0rd You OBVIOUSLY DONT SEE the bigger picture with going all digital then, Total DEPENDANCE on the INTERNET just to play a game is NOT IDEAL, thats what DRM will do, you can ONLY PLAY when your Local IP or Battlenet like games service lets you, if you REALIZE just like POLITICIANS these people are COMPLETE LIARS, & this is about CONTROL, the REAL END GAME, then DIGITAL spells doom for gamers. You actually think this "designer" doesnt know this? . Of course he does but he doesnt care cause he's one of them, not the average consumer, it doesnt affect him, its affects YOU, the gamer living in the real world, not the "High on the Hog" guy like this designer for Eve Online.

[kevnb]

they can keep retail and offer more for dd, that would be fine.

[iistuii]

I'd be happy with digital only if it was cheaper. I mean forget the sales that steam & origin do, but when a NEW game comes out on Steam or Origin, it's the same price as a physical copy which has a cd, a booklet, a box & handling charges. Why, if it's digital only saving all those costs, make the game £10 cheaper.

[jessupj]

Exactly.

Not only is it a huge insult to the people that buy it online, but if they did make it cheaper there would be a lot more sales... especially from people like me that refuse to buy online out of priciple because those shithead publishers are charging the full retail price.

[StanSmith]

You want us gamers to ditch boxed retail? Then publishers need to stop taking us for a ride with DLC and overpriced Digital Games!

Whats that? It doesn't work that way, you say? Oh, I see! We're just supposed to shut up and take your crap!

The Gaming industry is in the toilet!

[PopRocks359]

Nintendo doesn't. They give you benefits as oppose to taking out content. They reward players for buying games new as oppose to punishing them for buying them used.

That's a system I wish some of the crazies who utilize online passes would adopt; reward the player for buying the product with more value, don't take value away for the player buying it used.

[Reborn]

How I see it: It won't happen. I wouldn't even bet on it. Why? It's still far too expensive. If they take out physical copies, they'd get away with changing £49.99 for a new release regularly. You'd expect it to be cheaper, since less goes into production. However, it won't be. If they do try it, they'll find that their sales don't increase as much as they thought. You can even see that with a bit of research.

That's ridiculous right there.

[masa2009]

Huh no thanks, Icelandic dude, I like to own what I buy forever and not be subjected to the performance of an online service.

[iistuii]

If it became digital only, I'd like a rental system too. Like if it's a multiplayer game what I'd be playing all year round id buy, but a single player game I'd like to rent for a week, finish it & then I've not lost a full price of a game that would probably beable to complete in 8-10 hours & would sit on my HD or be deleted after completion.

[tarbis]

Well, I'd like to have both digital and retail. But, it all comes down to personal preferences. Like how Diablo 3 was released both in digital and retail. My friend likes it digital but I prefer the hard copy. Blizzard got a win/win situation there... except for their crappy servers.

[stephmhishot]

Hopefully we're never forced to digital only. Seriously, with all of the big companies bitching about how much data we consume and looking for ways to get us to pay more for it, could you imagine if we had to start downloading full retail games on a regular basis through our consoles? Or, even worse, if consoles added network support and we had to deal with a data plan through Verizon or ATT? I for one will never get tired of going to the store and buying a new game.

[InTheLab]

Ditch box retail and lose ...

A) a source of free advertisement. How many times has your kid freaked out after seeing some game and reading the box. Hell, I still read the back of the box.

B) The Best Buys and Walmarts wont stock console as they do now. What would be the point.

C) Unlike PCs, you'll be at the mercy of Microsoft. To this day, they still charge obscene prices for their PROPRIETARY HDDS. You can't go all digital on Xbox. Half the base either has flash memory or a tiny 4 gig hdd. It's the same thing with Vita and why it's not PSP Go-like.

D) Online platforms like Steam/Origin and ack...GFWL prove that publishers will charge retail prices for games despite using the cheapest possible method of delivery. What ever happened to PC games costing $49.99? EA and Acti happened and that's who we want to place our faith in?

Lastly, there's still plenty of places that carry box copies of PC titles. I still own my original copy of HL2 and have installed it on 8 PC over the years. I would have ran out of downloads long ago if I bought it digital...

[mananimal]

lol, more INDUSTRY nonsense from an Social ELITIST PROGRESSIVE INDUSTRY INSIDER living in an Alternate Universe & totally in a different Economic($$$) Zipcode & doesnt care about the CORE GAMER but only what the RICH WANT cause he's one of them. Singing the same tune as his CORPORATE PAYMASTERS about how a "Digital Future" is best for gamers, NO, its just best for you Game Industry Types(THE GAMES INDUSTRY/THE RICH & POWERFUL).

[HeartDisease]

funny story. i find just the opposite. when games go all digital, i wont play consoles anymore.

[OMEGAZONE]

Never going to happen, physical is here to stay.

This guy is obviously living in a differnt world where all his friends and himself are wealthy enough to afford the best internet available. Well thats not the case for the rest of us.

[Asgaro]

It will change eventually. By going digital, developers don't have to pay money to the middleman (stores and publishers).

Steam is insanely popular because of that.

And just like Free 2 Play titles is a trend that is coming over from PC to consoles, digital distribution will be one of the next trends coming to consoles.

[Boody-Bandit]

Another day day another entity championing Digital Distribution. When are people going to wake up?

It's just another way for these greedy devs and publishers to make even more money from gamers. They are cutting out the middle men, distributors and publishers, completely so cost will go down significantly for them which equals even more profit. They will be able to eliminate used sales in the process. Something they have been trying to do this whole generation.

But what these people championing this route dont talk about is how it will cost hundreds of thousands of jobs and it will further segregate the gaming community. NOT EVERYONE HAS BROADBAND that likes to game.

Sorry but I will always prefer physical media to digital. I just parted with a dozen games from last year that I know I wont play again and made a good chunk of change back in the process. There is a hell of a lot more freedom, options and less hassles with physical over digital.

The day the industry goes full on digital (never) is the day I find a new hobby and I have been gaming since it's inception.

Keep it as it is right now, an option.

[ShaunCameron]

Not only that but also not everyone owns a credit card. How's this digital-only thing gonna work for them?

[Boody-Bandit]

Yup. Thought about that but didn't have time to edit and add it in. DD isn't going to be mainstream anytime soon. Just wishful thinking from the extreme minority in the industry and those that follow it.

Cons far out weigh the Pros when it comes to Digital Distribution vs physical media.

[chukamachine]

Manuals are good, couldn't give a toss about box art, i really have to wonder why anyone would.

Did you buy the game to.

A: Play the game.
B: look at the case.

If you bought the game for other then option a, there is a problem.

[stephmhishot]

You can't deny the appeal of having the actual product though, especially for those of us who have a collector's soul. I'm looking at my rack of games right now and they all look so purdy.

[FunAndGun]

I sense you will be taken financially advantage of in the future because of your short sightedness.

technically you haven't bought anything if its through digital; you are only renting.

If you can't borrow it out or resell it, you don't own it. ownership equals having full claim, authority, power, dominion.

Its about more then the art and the box.

[ACEMANWISE]

More specifically, you never owned the contents of the disc either. It could never be enforced however because there was never a system of control to govern it. Instead they would claim you have a license and nothing more. In execution it really made no difference between having a license and the sense of ownership.

In digital they can enforce the "license" of the disc content by removing the disc from the equation. However, the industry has taken the process a step further and revoked the license too. Instead they gave the license to the console makers who, in turn, sublicenses it to you.

Sony and Microsoft become the middleman and provide these games through their services. They are sublicensing these games with a different set of rules. These rules (or terms and conditions) clearly state that you, the consumer, do not own anything at all. Instead they are providing you access regardless if you "buy" the games. They provide no guarantee of redownloads, no gurantee of backups, and no guarantee of warranty. They even go as far to state that they have the right to make any term or word mean anything they want and don't have to follow the dictionary. Yes, you heard me right. They can write the terms own or buy and even make a buy button and it doesn't mean ownership. Read the terms yourselves.

The digitial format idea is being sold to the consumer as a conveniance over the physical format. In theory this is true when dealing with a system occurring in real time. In execution, however, the digital format has created more problems both in the short term and the long. While it causes lost games, and accounts, it has also disrupted the physical format by making it inferior on release through bugs. This is how they are trying to, or will, sell the idea that the physical format is the problem and digital is the solution....instead of the other way around.

The final transistion is taking the code away from the consumer too. Instead they will store it on a cloud and the consumer will have nothing in the end. It will be at this point when corruption will run rampant and the market will crash. People will realize that this method of control is worse than rentals. Knock Gamestop if you wish but the future holds something far, far worse....

[AtomicGerbil]

No, no, no, no and again no.

Retail: £25 - £45 (new), Digital: £49.99.

Given the choice which type do you think gamers are going to fight to keep?

[theeg]

won't be for a while on console, console gamers don't want all digital and console makers and console devs would abuse the fact that you had nowhere else to buy and game prices would never go down/

i think as a rule, consumers should DEMAND that if yoiu are selling a digital copy, it should be a full $20 cheaper than the physical copy,

i own over 200 steam games, never paid full price for a single one

games i want badly, like the witcher 2, starcraft 2, and tons of others i buy the retail copy

some average, run of the mill, b-game i pick up for $5 on steam,

people need to start a petition that all digital items be 25-50% cheaper than their physical counterpart

[FarCryLover182]

No thank you sir. If its all digital only, my hard drive will run out of space, will take 5-6 hours to download big games, I'll have to delete HDD space to make room for new games and will have to delete and redownload games that I'd want to play. Also my internet provider will get mad and probably throttle my internet speed so then itll take 10+ hours to download games and I'll be forced to stream video on a 1-2 bar if they throttle me for high internet consumption. With retail I just put the disc in and I have it forever.

[Asgaro]

Steam rocks.
Anyone saying otherwise has probably never checked the prices of the games there. It's unbelievable cheap!

[Hicken]

It's CVG. That explains this piss poor excuse for an article.