Digital distribution - an unrealistic view of the future?

Digital distribution - it's been called the future of gaming, right? Having the convenience of downloading - or even streaming - games to your home is an appealing idea for many people. Personally I prefer to own physical copies, but that's a different story.

Anyway, I say that it's unrealistic (at least for the time being) simply because of internet restrictions. As of now, I have a 1.5 mbps download connection, and it takes FOREVER to download anything. I know, some of you are probably thinking stop being so cheap and buy a faster connection, but at the moment, no other service is available in my area. This is quite the problem - take for example today, when I was trying to download the Shogun 2 demo off of Steam - a download of about 6 gigs. As it turns out, at the current rate it would take over 1 day and 2 hours for the download to complete. A ridiculously long time to wait.

I surely cannot be the only person with such network issues. The problem is not everyone has 10+ mbps connections, and physical media is not so much of a preferred option as the necessary one.

I can only imagine ISPs increasing bandwidth restrictions as games become downloaded more. I see people on gaming websites and these forums everyday saying that in 10 years or so, everything will be downloadable. Really? Based off of the internet available today, it doesn't seem like the best decision to me.

Those are just my thoughts. What do you guys think?

I have a 320KBps download rate maximum at my house, and you're complaining about 1.5MB? It takes me an entire afternoon and night to install the newer Steam games, man.

And yet, I'll still side with digital distribution for games, at least. As long as Canada doesn't implement any stupid usage bills, I'll be fine. Otherwise, I still like physical music CDs at least. Movies I could go either way.

well idk my max but 1G dwnload takes 15+ hrs.... unless compaines can get constant 5-10mb CONSTANT it will never b the future....

I'm lucky enough to have a provider in my area that has service plans that don't impose some download cap on me. The trade-offs, however, are that the connection drops and slows down frequently. Makes downloading games on par with retail releases in terms of size terribly vexing. Guess that's just what I get for going wireless.

But yeah, I agree. Though I love the convenience of digital releases, the fact stands that Internet providers are still too restrictive for digital distribution to be viable enough to overtake retail. Providers will have to lift those download caps before that has any chance of happening. Otherwise the shift will cause a bit of a loss in their audience if they move forward too quickly with the digital route.

I'm lucky enough to have a provider in my area that has service plans that don't impose some download cap on me. The trade-offs, however, are that the connection drops and slows down frequently. Makes downloading games on par with retail releases in terms of size terribly vexing. Guess that's just what I get for going wireless.

But yeah, I agree. Though I love the convenience of digital releases, the fact stands that Internet providers are still too restrictive for digital distribution to be viable enough to overtake retail. Providers will have to lift those download caps before that has any chance of happening. Otherwise the shift will cause a bit of a loss in their audience if they move forward too quickly with the digital route.

c_rake

I agree. Another issue (though slightly different from DD) is the whole cloud gaming thing, such as OnLive. To me this is worse than digital distribution, because while with DD I can download a game once and then not have to worry to much, with cloud gaming one has to be connected to the internet all the time - this could cause many, many problems if connections drop or get lost completely for a minute or two. If anyone has played COD, surely they have lost connection to games every once and a while. Now imagine if that happened in any game. I fear the day when I lag in singleplayer games.

I have to agree. With usage restrictions seeming to be the wave of the future (not being an alarmist here, I just think it's more than likely to happen), it's probably not likely that digital distribution will ever replace hard copies. And we're leaving out the most obvious thing here: as any collector can tell you, files on a hard drive are not at all the same as an organized collection. That will never go away.

I agree. Another issue (though slightly different from DD) is the whole cloud gaming thing, such as OnLive. To me this is worse than digital distribution, because while with DD I can download a game once and then not have to worry to much, with cloud gaming one has to be connected to the internet all the time - this could cause many, many problems if connections drop or get lost completely for a minute or two. If anyone has played COD, surely they have lost connection to games every once and a while. Now imagine if that happened in any game. I fear the day when I lag in singleplayer games.Vari3ty

Yeah, that's definitely worse than anything downloads can bring. Could-based gaming certainly sounds cool on paper -- no hardware to worry about would be pretty sweet, you gotta admit -- but in practice, it's basically the same as Ubisoft's obtrusive DRM that requires players to be connected online at all times to play their games. Limit it to one publisher and it's not so big a deal; you just ignore their games then. But that applied to all games? That would be a nightmare! I could see a lot of people suddenly quit gaming if that became the standard means of distribution.

I think it is pretty likely that DD will take over, and fast aswell for the below reasons

1)If you look at the PC market it is nearly 70% allready, so there is no reason why Console would not be able to show the same numbers.

2) talking about I-net speeds, and caps, is all well and good but one has to consider how fast the spread and speed of net has become in the last 10 years alone. heck in 2001 it was pretty much slow as dirt and expensive as (insert word here) to download anything. In just 10 years, the spread of Net and the speed of it has been second to none, no optical media has expanded and evolved faster then the Net, so no Net is likely not a problem in the long run.

In the end there are a fairly simple reason beyond the realm of logic why DD will happen, when huge Corperations decide something is better for them (and for the gaming industry DD is WAY cheaper then physical) then they WILL make it happen, just like everything else the corperations felt benefitted them from the 50´s till now has been changed.

Money moves the world, and if something like the entertainment sector decides that DD is thier path farwards then they will make it happen, nomatter how much or little we like it.

BluRay is the future.

I have a 320KBps download rate maximum at my house, and you're complaining about 1.5MB? It takes me an entire afternoon and night to install the newer Steam games, man.

And yet, I'll still side with digital distribution for games, at least. As long as Canada doesn't implement any stupid usage bills, I'll be fine. Otherwise, I still like physical music CDs at least. Movies I could go either way.

Sharpie125

many of my ps3 games are DD... and why should I complain? it's cheaper, easy to purchase, eliminate disc changing and if accidently deleted... I may download it again for free. p/s this is not really compatible for those who dont have Credit Card and slow internethippiesanta

soooo.... most of the US? the only people i know who have really high speed connections are techies that live in the city. you're basically alientating everyone that isn't one of those. honestly i have a quick internet connection but thats only because i didn't get a phone with mycable bundle sothey upped my internet speed.

I think it is pretty likely that DD will take over, and fast aswell for the below reasons

1)If you look at the PC market it is nearly 70% allready, so there is no reason why Console would not be able to show the same numbers.

2) talking about I-net speeds, and caps, is all well and good but one has to consider how fast the spread and speed of net has become in the last 10 years alone. heck in 2001 it was pretty much slow as dirt and expensive as (insert word here) to download anything. In just 10 years, the spread of Net and the speed of it has been second to none, no optical media has expanded and evolved faster then the Net, so no Net is likely not a problem in the long run.

In the end there are a fairly simple reason beyond the realm of logic why DD will happen, when huge Corperations decide something is better for them (and for the gaming industry DD is WAY cheaper then physical) then they WILL make it happen, just like everything else the corperations felt benefitted them from the 50´s till now has been changed.

Money moves the world, and if something like the entertainment sector decides that DD is thier path farwards then they will make it happen, nomatter how much or little we like it.

Maddie_Larkin

I guess you have a point - still, I will sorely miss physical media.

[QUOTE="Maddie_Larkin"]

I think it is pretty likely that DD will take over, and fast aswell for the below reasons

1)If you look at the PC market it is nearly 70% allready, so there is no reason why Console would not be able to show the same numbers.

2) talking about I-net speeds, and caps, is all well and good but one has to consider how fast the spread and speed of net has become in the last 10 years alone. heck in 2001 it was pretty much slow as dirt and expensive as (insert word here) to download anything. In just 10 years, the spread of Net and the speed of it has been second to none, no optical media has expanded and evolved faster then the Net, so no Net is likely not a problem in the long run.

In the end there are a fairly simple reason beyond the realm of logic why DD will happen, when huge Corperations decide something is better for them (and for the gaming industry DD is WAY cheaper then physical) then they WILL make it happen, just like everything else the corperations felt benefitted them from the 50´s till now has been changed.

Money moves the world, and if something like the entertainment sector decides that DD is thier path farwards then they will make it happen, nomatter how much or little we like it.

Vari3ty

I guess you have a point - still, I will sorely miss physical media.

So will I :\ on the bright side I doubt we will see DD as the only way to get games for atleast another 15 years or so ^^

BluRay is the future.

BluRayHiDef

IDTS. CD media in general is dying out. You have your game consoles (PS3 & 360) going towards media streaming. Networking your home computer to your console or just streaming movies/shows off the net. I'm sure more ppl own a Netflix subscription than rent BluRay movies.

To answer the TC. I think the only thing holding back completely digital releases are current Internet speeds. Eventually everyone is going to have a fast connection or the majority of ppl (if they don't already) and then I can see the developers going completely to digital releases. Maybe offer some type of hard copy at an additional price but the days of gamestop selling new releases are surely numbered.

[QUOTE="BluRayHiDef"]

BluRay is the future.

trodeback

IDTS. CD media in general is dying out. You have your game consoles (PS3 & 360) going towards media streaming. Networking your home computer to your console or just streaming movies/shows off the net. I'm sure more ppl own a Netflix subscription than rent BluRay movies.

To answer the TC. I think the only thing holding back completely digital releases are current Internet speeds. Eventually everyone is going to have a fast connection or the majority of ppl (if they don't already) and then I can see the developers going completely to digital releases. Maybe offer some type of hard copy at an additional price but the days of gamestop selling new releases are surely numbered.

I have a Netflix subscription and I choose to rent my films on BluRay disc.

Five years from now today's internet will look like it came from the stone age. DD is a natrual evolution that will eventually take over all media formats. It did it with music and is now beginning to take over with film. Games will be the last to transition due to the enormous size of video games.

* I'm pretty sure physical distribution usually takes more time than DD if we go by shipment date and not purchase date.

* Another thing that's likely holding DD back is distributor contracts. Those guys want their piece of the cake too.

What do I think? That the idea that 1.5Mbps second is "slow" is hilarious. I still remember of the days of 28.8K.

As long as there isn't bandwidth caps, DD will always be superior to retail physical copies. Even if all it had over physical copies was the ability to download more than once (up to infinity)... but it has so much more and the ability to make an infinite amount of legal physical backups (including HDD, SSD and Flash memory backups). I've always found the concept of "licensing" games, only to be SOL when they get broken or lost (even when it isn't your fault especially) you have to buy a brand new copy, to be incredibly stupid.

I don't think Digital Distribution will take over in the next gen as I don't think the infrastructure is setup in all parts of the world to support it. It is definatley the way of the future though.

The profit that can be made through digital distribution vs physical distribution is much higher and because money is behind every business decision it would make no sense to continue on with the expensive physical distribution model.

I really hope the digital distribution option can be provided by more than one supplier so that the cheaper costs can be passed onto the consumer. The microsoft market place and PSN are very expensive and the prices are not updated often if at all.

Halo Reach is £49.99 ($80 if converted) from xbox live and can be found for under £25($40 if converted) in a store, how can that sort of price be justified?

I do not see anything that makes me think that DD is the future. There are two DD. The first is limited time download. This is where you download the game and must keep the item from being lost so it like buying a disc but you get only a bunch of 0 & 1. Then next is the middle man. This is where you ask the person each time you want to play a game. If they do not want you to then they can make it so you can not play it.

The real issue is that there's two types of digital distribution - PC and console. PC digital distribution, while not without its negatives, is generally awesome and works how it should. Also, digital distribution on PC is not the "future", it's already here.

Console digital distribution, however, is a mess thanks to the platform holders who are completely out of tune with consumer sensibilities and seemingly get off on acting like douchebags (Nintendo and Microsoft in particular).

Speaking from a completely subjective point of view, I love digital distribution. My ISP's starter package is 10 Mbps, flatrate. I'm happily replacing my boxed PC games with digital libraries provided by Steam, GamersGate and GOG. Accessibility, affordability, convenience.

Almost all of the ISP providers are planning on placing bandwidth limits in the next few years. Anyone who thinks they can download a 25GB game every month is going to be paying a s***load of money to their ISP because they will hit that limit in one day.

DD only is definitely an unrealistic view of the future. It definitely works for iPhones, cellphones and other portable devices but to think we are going to have a substitute for a 50GB dual layered Bluray is just wishful thinking.

Almost all of the ISP providers are planning on placing bandwidth limits in the next few years. Anyone who thinks they can download a 25GB game every month is going to be paying a s***load of money to their ISP because they will hit that limit in one day.

DD only is definitely an unrealistic view of the future. It definitely works for iPhones, cellphones and other portable devices but to think we are going to have a substitute for a 50GB dual layered Bluray is just wishful thinking.

S0lidSnake

Ok, what happens if you don't have access to your internet for some reason, like not being able to pay the bill for a while, you'll be out videogames, movies, and TV, and it would be like you were Amish.

There's one thing that I haven't seen brought up yet in the DD only debate. If DD is the only available option going forward, do you know how many hundreds of thousands of people will suddenly be out of work? All the people who work at the places where discs are manufactured, all the people who work in distribution centers and wholesalers, and all the retail employees of places like Gamestop and most of the electronics departments of stores around the world.

Ok, what happens if you don't have access to your internet for some reason, like not being able to pay the bill for a while, you'll be out videogames, movies, and TV, and it would be like you were Amish.

There's one thing that I haven't seen brought up yet in the DD only debate. If DD is the only available option going forward, do you know how many hundreds of thousands of people will suddenly be out of work? All the people who work at the places where discs are manufactured, all the people who work in distribution centers and wholesalers, and all the retail employees of places like Gamestop and most of the electronics departments of stores around the world.

Gamefan1986

Do companies like EA and Activision care though? I doubt they do, if it means more profit for their bottom line, they'll do it.

No speed or bandwidth problems in my country, DD is awesome.

i dont know where you live but bandwidth caps were ok 4-5 years ago. Since 2006-2007 in europe almost all ISP abandoned Bandwidth caps with no plans on bringing them back. adamosmaki

Bandwidth caps are becoming more and more commonplace here in the US. A lot of the major provides around here institute them to some degree, last I checked. I'm not sure how strict they are, though.

[QUOTE="Gamefan1986"]

Ok, what happens if you don't have access to your internet for some reason, like not being able to pay the bill for a while, you'll be out videogames, movies, and TV, and it would be like you were Amish.

There's one thing that I haven't seen brought up yet in the DD only debate. If DD is the only available option going forward, do you know how many hundreds of thousands of people will suddenly be out of work? All the people who work at the places where discs are manufactured, all the people who work in distribution centers and wholesalers, and all the retail employees of places like Gamestop and most of the electronics departments of stores around the world.

Vari3ty

Does companies like EA and Activision care though? I doubt they do, if it means more profit for their bottom line, they'll do it.

Yea, until an angry mob of 300,000 people knocks their door down and threatens to hang them all by a hook. Unions around the world would not let that happen.