The RPG Sanctum - #12: Download vs. Physical Media

[Rosestorm]

Downloadable games are on the rise, but are they the way of the future? Our panelists will declare their preferences regarding what was not even an issue until recently.

Listen: http://www.rpgamer.com/rpgsanctum/sanctum12.mp3
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itunes: http://itunes.apple.com/podcast/the-...um/id416583261

Be sure to leave any feedback for us on this thread and leave some reviews on itunes. The next show topic is Download vs. Physical Media. If you want to submit content, e-mail me a mp3 file to rosestorm90@gmail.com, if you need instructions on how to make one e-mail me and I will be more than willing to help. If you have any ideas for future shows topics or formats ideas feel free to post them here or e-mail me.

[Shaymin]

I don't think we'll see full DD for console games for probably 20 years or so - until the current generation of gamers can get political power and mandate an end to bandwith caps on internet service.

Hell, my ISP (and for the sake of full disclosure, my employer) is working to bring in bandwith caps of 350GB/month - and that makes them one of the most liberal ones in Canada. Most caps here are 80GB/month, and my parents are on 25GB. A lot of people in Canada ended up buying a lot of games off Steam during the Christmas sales, and they spent 2x as month on bandwith overage as they did on the games. at&t just brought in 150GB/250GB caps last month, and that bandwith is competing with stuff like HD Netflix streaming and (like it or not) Bittorrent. The average consumer will probably sacrifice gaming in that instance, although we won't.

The PSN store going down for the last month doesn't help my opinion of digital services. Fanboymaster's experience with FFIV Collection is like mine, except I bought the UMD - and even with Quebec trying to screw up the order, I still got the game two and a half weeks before the digital version will be available for me.

The VC is still up there with GOG as far as download services for retro RPGamers goes, and if DSiWare is any indication they're going to make every effort to let me bring the $300+ I've spent on VC/WiiWare content (most of it tied up in RPGs) to the Cafe. If not though, I'm done with consoles altogether.

[Spartakus]

Collecting physical copies is part of the fun for me, sometimes I don't even play the games. You can't really collect downloads in the same way, so it encourages me to only buy games as I play them.

[EmperorZorn]

I would love to have digital distribution become the main kind of distribution in the future.
However, because of the price policy it only makes sense to buy physical copies for me.

I know that I'm supporting a stupid, outdated method of distribution while doing that,
but the main reason why I am doing this is actually very simple:
I can re-sell used copies of physical games (on ebay or amazon) and use the money to pay a major part of the next game I buy.

[Ocelot]

Yeah, the console market needs to catch up with the PC market for digital distro pricing. No, you shouldn't still be selling the digital version of your game at full price two years after launch, doofuses. And yes, digital versions should cost a bit less than physical versions at the outset for a variety of reasons.

[Fowl Sorcerous]

total tangent: anyone know how well e-readers deal with gaming pdfs?

[silktail]

I'm not sure digital distribution saves much money from the physical product & packaging. Although maybe that adds up with the cost of the retailer profits.
(We could really do with someone who knows the actual figures, doing some charts to compare both.)

I'm also thinking the retailer probably pays the publisher straight away, whereas a digital distribution might be more unpredictable for them.

The last thing that worries me about full digital distribution, is that it might spoil games as presents. Please think of the children!

[EmeraldSuzaku]

"Look, Billy, Santa got you The Force Unleashed on Steam! Oh, no, you can't play it right now. You'll have to wait until it finishes downloading on Monday."