Microsoft: 'No question' downloads will overtake retail

AStupidXbot - 511 days 4 hours ago

It will, but I dont think it will overtake it untill atleast another decade.

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Silogon - 511 days 4 hours ago

Maybe someday, I can see myself loving the idea even right now, but lets face it too many people are without stable connections, connections at all, and more often than not people with less incom tend to not throw away their money on digital media they cannot obtain hard prints for.

The wealth of the world isn't rich by any grand number. More people are poor than they are rich. More people have less money than they do more money and while a lot of people think the rich are fueling the industry, they're not.

The people with money have more to do in life than play video games. the people without money are what keep rental places open and the video game industry alive. Why you ask? Cause they don't have the money to travel and do lavish things like the above can do.

This is just my thoughts on the situation but things will have to change a bit more before we can acheive this goal.

Keep in mind I love it and will support it fully when the day comes, but I am in the minority. I have warhawk, Siren and over 30 PSN games sitting on my hdd to prove this fact too.

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Montrealien - 511 days 4 hours ago

I guess we will see in the coming years. No question about it though, digital distribution will be a force to be reckoned with.

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Le-mo - 511 days 4 hours ago

No thank you, I want a hard copy of the games I own. Having a Digital copy is too much hassle, you would have to download the game, a possibility the harddrive might fail, or you would have to transfer all the games from the harddrive to another harddrive when it becomes full which could take a long time considering the games capacity.

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SpaZaA - 511 days 3 hours ago

Yet it's Sony that is actually releasing full games and Episodic content on PSN (Warhawk, SOCOM, GT5:Prologue, Siren, R&C Quest for Booty, etc). And their original PSN titles which are smaller games are fantastic as well. If anybody is rooting themselves in digital distribution for games it's Sony.

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Sony Rep - 511 days 3 hours ago

We here at Sony realize that we are the leaders the in the current online distribution of games. We are still relying heavily on retail as a key source of our distribution. We here at Sony are also asking consumers through our online surveys, what they prefer...unlike our rivals.

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zo6_lover27 - 511 days 3 hours ago

M$ actually needs a digital download service (as in full games) first. The only ones with such a service are SONY, and they probably don't even want digital downloads to take over.

EDIT

Next gen games (not saying this will happen next gen) will be well over 100GB each, with ever increasing graphics we will need at least a 2TB HDD, and with HVD having 3.9TB on a single disk, digital downloads are at least 15 years away.

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cmrbe - 511 days 3 hours ago

will increase in size. Games always increase in size from one gen to another. The question of dd for games is complex. Will internet broadband speed increase at a faster rate compare to game size?. Will broadband internet penetration increase dramatically all over the world in a couple of years?.

DD for games is already happening but i believe it will remain a very small portion of game distribution in years to come unless someone developes ultra fast super cheap broadband in the near future. There is already talk of Ultra High Def. Who wants to download 100 gig games?. hehe.

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joevfx - 511 days 3 hours ago

once the internet providers put a cap on download sizes and make people pay per download size, downloaded movies and games will come to an end fast. its already happening

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ToeKneeHaze - 511 days 3 hours ago

I think these dummies forget that one bonus side to have DISC-BASED games is that u can sell them after ur done or trade them. How the hell you supposed to do that with digital downloads? Unless someone figures out a hack to have games run on any machine despite ip/login.

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Raoh - 511 days 3 hours ago

I agree with SpaZaA

MS is just trying to play damage control. they have no real full titles to release on xbla. hell they have a hard time allowing large large arcade titles and extra content.

oh i know, its because you can now install the full game onto the 360 hard drive... .. wait.. you need the original physical media for that right? not to mention a larger hard drive if you purchase a lot of games.

the only thing i can see them having up their sleeve is streaming from live as a rental.

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Chandresh Patel - 511 days 3 hours ago

They're a Multi-Billion Dollar Corporation bent on taking out OTHER Multi-Billion Dollar Corporations.With this,they're basically saying "F you GameStop!","F you BestBuy!","F you Walmart!".Basically," ;F you for selling physical Media,we'll do our own sh!t that will take all of you out!".

See,they THINK they can do what Apple did;That is,create a successful Online distribution network of Media that rivals the Retail distribution network.The problem with Microsoft?They haven't realized that Apple ARE NOT seeing the same amount of success from their Movie sells compared to their Music sales.It's not even CLOSE.

So now Microsoft are basically trying to take out both the Video game retailers and Movie retailers,by providing a machine and service that will,in their minds,be the perfect candidates for the job...The problem?While the Service is great,the Machine is not so great.RROD,Hard drive isn't standard,you know the drill.

This is why Warner Bros choosing Blu Ray back in January was such a crushing move;Not only did they effectively kill the rival format,they also made a very decisive underlying message;"We support Blu Ray,we support PHYSICAL MEDIA"<----This is why Microsoft are in a panic,because the biggest Movie Studio in the World is not willing to throw their FULL support behind Digital media.

You want to know the crazy part about this all?Between Sony and Microsoft,it is in fact SONY who have the most influence and electronics out there to initiate a successful Digital distribution store for Movies and Video games.So Microsoft can pay Viacom $500 Million for their content,but at the end of the day,when the rival company has their OWN Movie Studio and can equally pay $500 Million for the same content,you will always be at a disadvantage.ALWAYS.

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PirateThom - 511 days 3 hours ago

If I have an option (like GT5P or Warhawk) I always take the disc, because I like physically owning what I've bought, same with movies and music. I like having a physica product I can actually touch.

All the same, I have to laugh at Microsoft for taking about downloading as if it's the future but not even venturing into it as far as Sony have in the present.

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morganfell - 511 days 3 hours ago

Yes, go total digital and shoot yourself in the foot.

I agree it's somewhere in the future but not this gen nor the next.

And talk about crying. If you think publishers cry about not selling games now, wait until someone is dumb enough to try digital only. I don't mean for 1 title on PSN or Live.

You see, this is what MS misses. The minute you try and nail gamers for digital distro on every purchase, the kind of purchase a gamer can't trade, watch sales drop like a rock. Because gamers will buy far far fewer games if they know they can't trade them.

A digital only game world with no way to trade will put sales through the floor.

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IzKyD1331 - 511 days 3 hours ago

im also guessing this is MS' answer to their storage problem

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Sony Rep - 511 days 3 hours ago

We here at Sony believe Microsoft are just jabbering at the lips. They do not have actual facts of trends. We here at Sony distribute full games online. Microsoft does not.

-Sony Rep

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Steven Colbert - 511 days 3 hours ago

I don't see this happening.Games like Rage,Doom 4,and MGS4 already take over 20 Gigs.I just dont see a hard drive efficient enough to hold all that space

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RAM MAGNUMS - 511 days 3 hours ago

what? Thanks to Sony & the ps3 digital distribution isnt just the future, its today!
thanks to easy installation of laptop hardrives & external hardrives you can have terabytes
in your ps3!
download full retail games straight from ps3 online.
titles include:
warhawk (launch)
tekken5 online
siren
& more

Also, go the ps3 store & buy hd movies & store them in your hardrive or USB stick
its yours! Do what you want with it. Even play it remotely on your psp!
You can pirate movies from the ps3 browser too but don't ask don't tell nobody ok.
original psp games will sell on the ps3 store because its fast, its easy & your psp
wants it & you need it!
ps3 today & beyond!
r u red e?

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dkgshiz - 511 days 2 hours ago

They don't even have a full game on xbox live! What are they talking about?! Why say something you don't have! And no, their wrong. downloads will not take over retail. I would rather have a hard copy of a game than a digital game. Much better. Microsoft is living in a fantasy world. Downloads wont take over for a long time. Give it another 7 years when downloads are the main format for games and everything else. Not everyone has highspeed internet. Theres tons of people that don't even have internet. So they would be left out for everything.

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Lou-Cipher - 511 days 2 hours ago

Playstation 4 and Xbox 3 will probably see many full game download options, but it will not surpass disc based sales for at least 10-15 years.

Microsoft has to say something to prevent the Xbox fans from running away from a console that wont have a future very soon.

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Lou-Cipher - 511 days 2 hours ago

When digital dowloads become more of a factor its not like Microsoft is going to leave Sony in the dust. Sony will be just as much a part of digital downloads as Microsoft.

Microsoft acts like this is their big advantage over Sony in the future. LOL

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dkgshiz - 511 days 2 hours ago

MS is the one saying downloads are the future, well look at xbox lives games! They have bomberman, prince of persia, all small little arcade games. PSN has GT5P, Warhawk. Siren Blood curse, and many more. Microsoft doesn't even have one full game on xbox live.

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CouchKing0 - 511 days 2 hours ago

Microsoft put a file size limit on Xcrap live because they know PSN is better then Xcrap live! AHAHAHAHAHHHAHAHAHAHAHA

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IzKyD1331 - 511 days 2 hours ago

another reason why this wont happen anytime soon is because retailers would lose out ALOT

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morganfell - 511 days 1 hour ago

People like to own things they can hold, that they can take to a neighbors house or on a trip. This is one more area where Sony has outgunned MS. Look at movie downloads for own or rent on PSN and what can be done with them. I have actually rented one movie already, put it on my PSP, went to a buddy's place and threw it up on the big screen from my PSP.

The fact that MS is also pushing this digital approach should help quell those stupid rumors about MS trying to get into the Bluray market. If anyone ever read the actual interviews they would see MS was in discussions about Bluray but only to gain technology access so it can be supported in Windows, not in a console.

I actually read one of the tech reports and the title was "MS in Talks to Bring Bluray to the 360." Yet when you read the meat of the article it mentioned nothing about the 360 and was only about Windows support. The problem was that 50 other moronic publications read the headline and what do you think they printed? Right, and Xbots were running around en masse shouting about Bluray. Here is a rock to crush your dreams.

To paraphrase Sir Sean Connery, "They're between a rock and a hard case." MS is in a very untenable position right now.

The 360 is rapidly showing signs of age and a poor conception for a console planned merely for the short term. It is the MS method. New OS and New console every 4 years or less. This outdating of the 360 is only going to accelerate. Microsoft should be sweating bullets about the comments made by John Carmack for another reason than the obvious remarks pertaining to storage.

When I buy a game that is on the PS3 or 360 and then that same game is also available on the PSP or DS, why would I expect those two versions to be exactly, precisely the same? This is what developers are going to realize. There is no reason for the PS3 and 360 versions to be the same either. I am unsure from where that stupid, game strangling idea sprang. With the PS3 becoming more often the lead platform as well as the high seller between the two, it will become standard to produce a game on the PS3 and then cut it down accordingly for the 360. Smaller levels, poorer textures, fewer features, compressed sound.

I have no doubt MS has gone into a breath holding stage in fear over this issue now. Two disks are going to become more and more common on the 360. I expect Idtech5 to replace Unreal3 as the next licensed engine since unlike Doom III and Idtech4 it is being produced with a full tool suite and licensing in mind. And since Idtech5 specializes in large textures do the calculations.

MS have to release a new console before Christmas 2010. Wayne Kim said there would be no new console announced at E3. There wasn't. I know, an unusual moment of truth from him. He also went out of his way to say there would be no new console launched in 2009. So that leaves us with new console announced at E3 next year and launched in 2010.

And there is the problem. The World Wide Web doesn't have the infrastructure to support digital game streaming. In such an instance you buy the game and then can access is from online. It isn't on your HDD. You are paying for access, not the product. There is a one time local install and the rest streams. Sounds good but it won't fly with the public at all. You also have no way to trade it as I discussed above. Prices would have to be far lower for anyone to take a chance. They would begin to heed reviews more and more to save money. Or publishers could try episodic content and we all know how well episodic games sell. A few succeed and most fail.

On top of this MS has no next gen disk capability and we all have seen the future of storage needs. Some dumb 360 fan can deny it in the face of common sense and 2nd grade math - that would be a zhuk specialty - but they will just look like an even bigger idiot...than normal. So with no next gen storage capability, and no infrastructure to support game streaming by 2010, what kind of fight can MS deliver. Not much. They can also choose not to launch a console and as the 360 grows even more outdated, outmoded, and outdesigned they will see something very familiar that will be occurring before 2010. The Xbox becomes the Xzune.

As long as they have the same disk storage medium they are screwed. Larger HDDs won't cut it. What is MS going to do, use...*gasp*...game installs? The vast number of 360 owners have the 20GB, er, I mean 12GB HDD. Download one movie, a few add-ons and what kind of space is left. No, the 360 is between a rock and a hard case.

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Quickstrike - 510 days 23 hours ago

mostly because a large number of people (like myself) prefers to buy a game at a store instead of downloading it. If gaming goes full download it will spell the end of the industry.

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jinn - 510 days 22 hours ago

they r absolutely correct

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