Digital Distribution: Past and Present

Back when Half-Life 2 was nearing release (you know... the REAL release), I remember people complaining a whole lot about digital distribution issues. Most of them stemmed from technical issues such as busy servers, slow Internet connections, spotty steam connections, etc. I was one of those people that were plagued by issues with unlocking my copy of Half-Life 2. I had to wait a full day after release and I was pissed.

I decided that I hated digital distribution, however I heard talk from the Gamespot staff and other various sources about digital distribution possibly becoming the medium of the future. Back then I really didn't want that to happen.

Well, it's actually becoming pretty prominent now, and I've totally changed my views on digital distribution. A few days ago I bought Id's Doom 3 off of steam, the games downloaded in a little over 45 minutes and I was playing within no time. Sure, I don't have a nice new box to smell, but at least I got to keep my fat ass in my chair while my computer did the work of getting my game for me.

So, what are your thoughts on digital distribution now as opposed to when it first started to make big differences in gaming?

I really like it, it gives the chance for gamers like me, who live in country where piracy has made obtaining a legal copy of a game you want impossible because no one will import them for a loss.

Now i can play my legal copy's of Counter-strike, Battlefield and Quake 3 on-line with people from around the world, at a good price.

I love the idea, Steam especially. When I had dial-up I hated Steam with a passion, and I hated the fact that I had to wait 4 hours to play a game that I had bought in store, but now that I have a fast connection I can start a game download, and I'm playingin the same amount of time it would take me to go to a store, get what I want, make sure there isn't anything else on the shelf that I want more, then get home and install the game. You also know that the game you want is available, so you don't have to worry about the store not having any in stock.

The only way I can think of it being improved is to make more games available. I can think of dozens of games that I desperately want to play, but that are next to impossible to find for a reasonable price. All of Lucasarts' classic adventures games, System Shock 2 (supposedly abandonware, but everywhere I look either doesn't work or charges me for it), etc.

I guess the ultimate goal would be to create a massive library made up of every game in existence, with reasonable prices based on age and demand.

i dont see any problems with digital distribution

I use steam and driect2drive, and both save your information and let you download as many times as you want, you own the game, why shouldnt you.

Plus this may sound wierd, but i think it will reduce some amount of piracy, because lets face it, some people are really lazy, and dont like to go to shops to buy games, so whats better than just clicking a button to download your full game.

I know about the steam security problem earlier in 2006 where some credit card info got stolen for like, half or more of the steam community, but then again, you see this happen almost anywhere else in this day and age, and most importantly in bank databases.

ive purchased many titles from both services and never had a single problem whatsoever, aside from sometimes slow download speeds with steam.

I don't trust Valve: their history is filled with as many mistakes as there are successes. Steam was horrible when it debuted. It's finally a stable system, but it's still a rather silly way of playing games. Purchasing games from Steam is rarely worthwhile to me. If I could play a game without Steam, I wouldn't mind at all. What I find even worse than purchasing games from Steam is purchasing games in a store and then finding that they require Steam to be able to play even the single-player version. I avoided Half-Life 2 for that very reason. I'm glad I kept my original Half-Life discs secure so I can always go back to the WON version if Valve goes out of business. As I wrote before, I don't trust Valve: I certainly don't trust that, if they were to go bankrupt, they'd release a key or patch that wouldn't require my logging on to the Steam network to be able to install my game.xMedHeadx

Hmm. Very valid point, I didn't think of that.

I don't really mind the logging onto steam part, but it would suck if Valve suddenly disappeared along with steam and all my games.

Ive tried digital distribution with a few titles and different companies...direct2drive, EA and ubi to name a few and to tell you the truth ive had problems with every single one and i'm not impressed with digital distribution one bit. I will only be buying games from stores that I physically pick up ... for the rest of my life.A1B2C3CAL

What issues did you have?

I have bought over 100 games off STEAM.. some repeat buys to replace my boxed versions.. Do all games work without problems.. I have only one game that is giving me problems.. CoD 1 w/ UO exp but so does the boxed version.. It maybe because I have a 8800 now.. when I bought the old game I had a Ti 4200 This has to be a driver issue and NOT a STEAM based issue.. Basically I get very low FPS .. to the 10-15 range.. UO is just down to 1-5 FPS.. which is what I would consider "unplayable" even turning down all the options to minimal doesn't resolve the issue.. Anyways.. besides that game no game has given me problems.

Do I support Digital Distribution? Hellz Yes! Do I plan on playing these games to the time I die? Yessum. Will I sue/ask for a refund, if the STEAM service stops completely? You becha!

I'm not a fan of digital distribution for several reasons.

The first is that there's absolutely no difference in cost. If you're essentially giving me less, I expect to pay less. I'm not too thrilled about paying the same prices when a disc gives some sense of ownership.

The second is that I would worry about account problems. I've never had any, but with credit card numbers being stolen, that could be a serious issue. Also, there's always the chance that the system wipes your account and then you have to spend time with customer service to reach a resolution (and you still might wind up with nothing).

The last thing, that is absolutely retarded to begin with, is that digital distribution doesn't work everywhere. I remember I treid to buy Far Cry from D2D when I was in China...I was rejected. They wouldn't take my US dollars from a US bank because of my location.

Now, I do see some great potential benefits of digital distribution- smaller dev teams working on more niche genres, a potential huge back catalog available whenever you want...all great stuff. But I think that there are some issues that I want to see worked out before I jump on board.

I'm not a fan of digital distribution for several reasons.

The first is that there's absolutely no difference in cost. If you're essentially giving me less, I expect to pay less. I'm not too thrilled about paying the same prices when a disc gives some sense of ownership.

The second is that I would worry about account problems. I've never had any, but with credit card numbers being stolen, that could be a serious issue. Also, there's always the chance that the system wipes your account and then you have to spend time with customer service to reach a resolution (and you still might wind up with nothing).

The last thing, that is absolutely retarded to begin with, is that digital distribution doesn't work everywhere. I remember I treid to buy Far Cry from D2D when I was in China...I was rejected. They wouldn't take my US dollars from a US bank because of my location.

Now, I do see some great potential benefits of digital distribution- smaller dev teams working on more niche genres, a potential huge back catalog available whenever you want...all great stuff. But I think that there are some issues that I want to see worked out before I jump on board.

Vampyronight

Good point.. of course you could always slap on your credit card a service to prevent Identity Theft and credit card fraud.. not to mention flagging your credit report via Equifax or Transunion for possible identity theft. This makes it so that a credit card company will be more cautious in opening credit.

About the box itself.. I do see your point.. there isn't a nice manual that comes with the game .. but sometimes that manual is supplied in either PDF or txt. But yes, I would think a discount should occur when buying online. But, heck it saves me gas/petro ;)

Also, cards like Discover or Chase can have virtual cards made that are only good for the one transaction you have at the time.. so you actual credit card number is NEVER given ;)

I have bought over 100 games off STEAM.. some repeat buys to replace my boxed versions.. Do all games work without problems.. I have only one game that is giving me problems.. CoD 1 w/ UO exp but so does the boxed version.. It maybe because I have a 8800 now.. when I bought the old game I had a Ti 4200 This has to be a driver issue and NOT a STEAM based issue.. Basically I get very low FPS .. to the 10-15 range.. UO is just down to 1-5 FPS.. which is what I would consider "unplayable" even turning down all the options to minimal doesn't resolve the issue.. Anyways.. besides that game no game has given me problems.

Do I support Digital Distribution? Hellz Yes! Do I plan on playing these games to the time I die? Yessum. Will I sue/ask for a refund, if the STEAM service stops completely? You becha!

Alkpaz

i hope you understand if they get rid of steam, itll prob mean one of two things

either they lost so much money they cant support it anymore

or they are going bankrupt

either way they wont send you a hard copy, and you wont get your money back so youll be SOL, thats why i hate all of the D2D game sites, if they go out of buisness, how the hell do you get your money back, or a hard copy, hell WW3 is on the way and i want to be able to play my games but i wont be able to unless i can connect to the interent, LOL, but seriously think about it, if they offered a hard copy i would have no problem paying an extra 5$ for shipping but other wise ill get the few games that dont come out in this area that i really want but other then that i wont touch it

[QUOTE="Alkpaz"]

I have bought over 100 games off STEAM.. some repeat buys to replace my boxed versions.. Do all games work without problems.. I have only one game that is giving me problems.. CoD 1 w/ UO exp but so does the boxed version.. It maybe because I have a 8800 now.. when I bought the old game I had a Ti 4200 This has to be a driver issue and NOT a STEAM based issue.. Basically I get very low FPS .. to the 10-15 range.. UO is just down to 1-5 FPS.. which is what I would consider "unplayable" even turning down all the options to minimal doesn't resolve the issue.. Anyways.. besides that game no game has given me problems.

Do I support Digital Distribution? Hellz Yes! Do I plan on playing these games to the time I die? Yessum. Will I sue/ask for a refund, if the STEAM service stops completely? You becha!

zbiggie

i hope you understand if they get rid of steam, itll prob mean one of two things

either they lost so much money they cant support it anymore

or they are going bankrupt

either way they wont send you a hard copy, and you wont get your money back so youll be SOL, thats why i hate all of the D2D game sites, if they go out of buisness, how the hell do you get your money back, or a hard copy, hell WW3 is on the way and i want to be able to play my games but i wont be able to unless i can connect to the interent, LOL, but seriously think about it, if they offered a hard copy i would have no problem paying an extra 5$ for shipping but other wise ill get the few games that dont come out in this area that i really want but other then that i wont touch it

Steam will make sure you do not lose anything if they go bankrupt.Period.

Steam will make sure you do not lose anything if they go bankrupt.Period.f617682657

[QUOTE="f617682657"]Steam will make sure you do not lose anything if they go bankrupt.Period.xMedHeadx

And how do you know your house wont burn down or a quake will destroy it and all your games?... Makes just as much sense being scared of those things as Valve going bankrupt and you losing your games, i don't worry about it.

[QUOTE="xMedHeadx"][QUOTE="f617682657"]Steam will make sure you do not lose anything if they go bankrupt.Period.gozalo

And how do you know your house wont burn down or a quake will destroy it and all your games?... Makes just as much sense being scared of those things as Valve going bankrupt and you losing your games, i don't worry about it.

When i said Period i meant it. They have already said that we would be fine in the case thatthey go bankrupt. Even IF...IF! they managed to go bankrupt think about the chances of it. Steam just keeps on growing and getting more games. They even get entire collections all of a sudden like the Eidos deals. You shouldn't give yourself a heart attack about this don't worry about it you'll be fine.

You really honestly think that Valve is going out of business any time soon? The first game they ever made is one of the greatest games of all time, and alot of people think that the sequel was an improvement. They're sitting on one of the most lucrative franchises in PC gaming, and they haven't shown any signs of slowing down. The quality of their games has been consistantly excellent.

Now with steam I can almost guarantee that they get a comission from every game they sell, simply because it's their digital distribution client. They keep adding games, and they just signed a deal that brought Id's entire back catalogue to Steam.

Valve is making money, and will continue making money for a very long time. At this point, it would take a decade or two of horrible business decisions to bring down a company that valuable, and given their track record, that's highly unlikely to happen.

[QUOTE="xMedHeadx"][QUOTE="f617682657"]Steam will make sure you do not lose anything if they go bankrupt.Period.gozalo

And how do you know your house wont burn down or a quake will destroy it and all your games?... Makes just as much sense being scared of those things as Valve going bankrupt and you losing your games, i don't worry about it.

well if theres my house gets destroyed my insurance will cover that, a company going bankrupt you will not get covered

You really honestly think that Valve is going out of business any time soon? The first game they ever made is one of the greatest games of all time, and alot of people think that the sequel was an improvement. They're sitting on one of the most lucrative franchises in PC gaming, and they haven't shown any signs of slowing down. The quality of their games has been consistantly excellent.

Now with steam I can almost guarantee that they get a comission from every game they sell, simply because it's their digital distribution client. They keep adding games, and they just signed a deal that brought Id's entire back catalogue to Steam.

Valve is making money, and will continue making money for a very long time. At this point, it would take a decade or two of horrible business decisions to bring down a company that valuable, and given their track record, that's highly unlikely to happen.

Mediocre_man90

if you know anything about the american econonmy you know its about to go into a recesion, with that the world is going to be hitting a depression, now when you have little money or none will you spend it on getting games or food, now i agree they probably will be able to stand out for a little but, i probably wont, like most on these boards, so when i have to give up my interent connection, there my last oppertunity to get my games. Being as rich as they are they will last a lot long then most gamers at which point they may offer a patch to be able burn yourself a hard copy, but by that time most people who couldnt afford to buy such a game will no long even have a internet connect to get the damn patch

seriously, this is a good possibility but it might not happen thats why i do my best to stay away from D2D games

[QUOTE="xMedHeadx"][QUOTE="f617682657"]Steam will make sure you do not lose anything if they go bankrupt.Period.gozalo

LOL, it's not just about bankruptcy, anything can happen to a company, bought out, taken over, etc. What if EA buys them, move all games to their system? I mean you just never know what could happen, don't even try.

Anyway, personally I think it's just retarded that a single player game would require a connection to a distant server in order to install/unlock/play/etc. There's owning a game, and "owning" a game. This is "owning" (i.e. not entirely) in order to install your game, you MUST connect to THEIR system, THEIR servers, which MUST be available. If I'm traveling and don't have access to the internet, I can't on a whim decide to install and play a game I "own" for example. Catch my drift?

If you like that, then so be it, no biggie, it has some advantages :) I personally don't (looking at the big picture).

Back when Half-Life 2 was nearing release (you know... the REAL release), I remember people complaining a whole lot about digital distribution issues. Most of them stemmed from technical issues such as busy servers, slow Internet connections, spotty steam connections, etc. I was one of those people that were plagued by issues with unlocking my copy of Half-Life 2. I had to wait a full day after release and I was pissed.

I decided that I hated digital distribution, however I heard talk from the Gamespot staff and other various sources about digital distribution possibly becoming the medium of the future. Back then I really didn't want that to happen.

Well, it's actually becoming pretty prominent now, and I've totally changed my views on digital distribution. A few days ago I bought Id's Doom 3 off of steam, the games downloaded in a little over 45 minutes and I was playing within no time. Sure, I don't have a nice new box to smell, but at least I got to keep my fat ass in my chair while my computer did the work of getting my game for me.

So, what are your thoughts on digital distribution now as opposed to when it first started to make big differences in gaming?

SemperFi10

To be perfectly honest, I'll be disappointed if the future of gaming will be distributed online.

Maybe I'm being cynical, but I just don't trust anyone. Thats why I won't be buying Microsoft's Vista (because I don't like the fact that Microsoft through Vista, can monitor my computer habits, purchases and general information) and I'm not interested in games via Valve, or EA Link, or whatever, for similar reasons.

Right now I own Red Orchestra, and Half-Life 2 which I bought before I found out they required an account online to play. I was a trifle upset, especially since I was waiting quite a while for HF2 to come out. They now sit on a shelf collecting dust after I uninstalled them.

Now Battlefield 2142 is also a game requiring an online link, and I won't purchase that. And if Crysis comes out and it indeed requires an online link again, well sorry but that'll be another I won't touch.

I can understand the reasons why publishers and distributors want to do this (basically economics and piracy issues), but I have an aversion to any type of Big Brother, even one that provides games I want to play.

[QUOTE="SemperFi10"]

Back when Half-Life 2 was nearing release (you know... the REAL release), I remember people complaining a whole lot about digital distribution issues. Most of them stemmed from technical issues such as busy servers, slow Internet connections, spotty steam connections, etc. I was one of those people that were plagued by issues with unlocking my copy of Half-Life 2. I had to wait a full day after release and I was pissed.

I decided that I hated digital distribution, however I heard talk from the Gamespot staff and other various sources about digital distribution possibly becoming the medium of the future. Back then I really didn't want that to happen.

Well, it's actually becoming pretty prominent now, and I've totally changed my views on digital distribution. A few days ago I bought Id's Doom 3 off of steam, the games downloaded in a little over 45 minutes and I was playing within no time. Sure, I don't have a nice new box to smell, but at least I got to keep my fat ass in my chair while my computer did the work of getting my game for me.

So, what are your thoughts on digital distribution now as opposed to when it first started to make big differences in gaming?

grimfate

To be perfectly honest, I'll be disappointed if the future of gaming will be distributed online.

Maybe I'm being cynical, but I just don't trust anyone. Thats why I won't be buying Microsoft's Vista (because I don't like the fact that Microsoft through Vista, can monitor my computer habits, purchases and general information) and I'm not interested in games via Valve, or EA Link, or whatever, for similar reasons.

Right now I own Red Orchestra, and Half-Life 2 which I bought before I found out they required an account online to play. I was a trifle upset, especially since I was waiting quite a while for HF2 to come out. They now sit on a shelf collecting dust after I uninstalled them.

Now Battlefield 2142 is also a game requiring an online link, and I won't purchase that. And if Crysis comes out and it indeed requires an online link again, well sorry but that'll be another I won't touch.

I can understand the reasons why publishers and distributors want to do this (basically economics and piracy issues), but I have an aversion to any type of Big Brother, even one that provides games I want to play.

What's the difference between that and credit card companies collecting info on your purchases? You can go debit.. but then your using a card and trusting a bank not to use your info about purchases to third parties.. The only way you can stop any third party from getting your information is by not using a bank.. and paying everything in cash..But that is "almost" impossible today.. the IRS collects lots of information about you.. and you HAVE to pay your taxes. You could choose not to.. but then you'll wind up in jail, and your DNA and fingerprints will be in the system..

[QUOTE="grimfate"][QUOTE="SemperFi10"]

Back when Half-Life 2 was nearing release (you know... the REAL release), I remember people complaining a whole lot about digital distribution issues. Most of them stemmed from technical issues such as busy servers, slow Internet connections, spotty steam connections, etc. I was one of those people that were plagued by issues with unlocking my copy of Half-Life 2. I had to wait a full day after release and I was pissed.

I decided that I hated digital distribution, however I heard talk from the Gamespot staff and other various sources about digital distribution possibly becoming the medium of the future. Back then I really didn't want that to happen.

Well, it's actually becoming pretty prominent now, and I've totally changed my views on digital distribution. A few days ago I bought Id's Doom 3 off of steam, the games downloaded in a little over 45 minutes and I was playing within no time. Sure, I don't have a nice new box to smell, but at least I got to keep my fat ass in my chair while my computer did the work of getting my game for me.

So, what are your thoughts on digital distribution now as opposed to when it first started to make big differences in gaming?

Alkpaz

To be perfectly honest, I'll be disappointed if the future of gaming will be distributed online.

Maybe I'm being cynical, but I just don't trust anyone. Thats why I won't be buying Microsoft's Vista (because I don't like the fact that Microsoft through Vista, can monitor my computer habits, purchases and general information) and I'm not interested in games via Valve, or EA Link, or whatever, for similar reasons.

Right now I own Red Orchestra, and Half-Life 2 which I bought before I found out they required an account online to play. I was a trifle upset, especially since I was waiting quite a while for HF2 to come out. They now sit on a shelf collecting dust after I uninstalled them.

Now Battlefield 2142 is also a game requiring an online link, and I won't purchase that. And if Crysis comes out and it indeed requires an online link again, well sorry but that'll be another I won't touch.

I can understand the reasons why publishers and distributors want to do this (basically economics and piracy issues), but I have an aversion to any type of Big Brother, even one that provides games I want to play.

What's the difference between that and credit card companies collecting info on your purchases? You can go debit.. but then your using a card and trusting a bank not to use your info about purchases to third parties.. The only way you can stop any third party from getting your information is by not using a bank.. and paying everything in cash..But that is "almost" impossible today.. the IRS collects lots of information about you.. and you HAVE to pay your taxes. You could choose not to.. but then you'll wind up in jail, and your DNA and fingerprints will be in the system..

Taxes? What is this concept of taxes? lol

But in all seriousness, maybe I just want to be an anarchist or anachronism. Either one will do...

Like I said I'm not too thrilled about the looming future. George Orwell was right about whats to come. He just never thought or realized how seductive and pervasive the future will be...

Do you own a Social Security card? A Birth Certificate? A Driver's License? Trust me.. your "in the system". You may want to be an anarchist.. but that doesn't stop the government from knowing you exist. From the minute your born.. your fingerprints are taken, well footprints actually.. lol, then your "registered" as a "new birth". You then are assigned a social security number. later when you decide to drive you need a driver's license.. and your "screwed" once again. Then when you rent an apartment or buy a home.. your address is broadcasted to merchants.. which send you "junk" mail. You sign up for an ISP? Your info as well as on-line activity is recorded by the Internet Service Provider. You pay for cable? Your info is given... There are millions of ways a company/government can get your information.. even applying for a job you need to submit your Social Security card. (At least in the US)

1984 is a good book... but, how can you see the "rat, the cat, the dog, if your living in the fog" ;)

I never really liked DLing full games because I like having the CDs around if I need them.

I remember a while ago, I lost my whole iTunes collections because my PC completely broke. It was a shame and although it was partly my fault for not backing up, I would never trust downloading things that cost money again.

Another thing is, I bought Norton Internet Security online and because I don't have the CD for it, I can't install it on my other computer.

One last thing, I never, ever liked Steam and other sources because I thought they were over priced. I could always find lower prices in stores. Why whould I pay more for a non-physical copy of a game when I could have a disc for cheaper so that whatever happens to my PC, I'll always have a backup that I can install on other computers.

if you know anything about the american econonmy you know its about to go into a recesion, with that the world is going to be hitting a depression, now when you have little money or none will you spend it on getting games or food, now i agree they probably will be able to stand out for a little but, i probably wont, like most on these boards, so when i have to give up my interent connection, there my last oppertunity to get my games. Being as rich as they are they will last a lot long then most gamers at which point they may offer a patch to be able burn yourself a hard copy, but by that time most people who couldnt afford to buy such a game will no long even have a internet connect to get the damn patch

seriously, this is a good possibility but it might not happen thats why i do my best to stay away from D2D games

zbiggie

What the hell? First off, recession does not mean depression. Yes, the economy rises and falls, but it stays relatively stable. We've recently climbed out of arecession so we will be due for another recession in the near future, but that doesn't mean we're suddenly going to drop into another Great Depression.

Second, if we were to experience a depression of the magnitude that you're describing, playing video games would be pretty low on the list of priorities. If you barely have enough money to pay for food, you won't be able to pay the electricity bill, so you wouldn't be able to access your games, regardless of whether you have a hard copy.

I'd like to know where this random doomsday scenario came from, and why it's affecting your purchasing decisions.

Digital Downloading is here and it will stay for a long time to come into the future. NPD figured about $960 million have been spent onthe retail box for pc gamingin 2006. Increase $960 million by 40% and you will get a $500 million increase. Digital downloading games will continue and it will keep on growing.

In the past, people had slower internet connections. I remember when I downloaded a 10 mb demo on a game on a 33.8 internet connection. It took me 3 hours for a 10 mb demo. Now I could download 2 gigabytes in an hour. With more and more people signing on to high speed internet connection, more will be willing to buy their games online then go to the store.

I think there is a matter of personal preference if someone want to download a game or not. Personally, I dont care to download games off the internet. Rather buy the physical box from the local store or off the internet. How I see it, if there is an seen event, like my hard drive were crash, I dont need to wait hours to redownload then wait another 30 minutes to install. The physical box I would be able to cut the download time and just wait for it to install. Plus I like to see the cool retail box the games come in. There is nothing like flipping through the manual while the game is installing.

Ive said it before and I will say it again: Steam (and legit digital distribution programs) are going to save the PC gaming sector.

Whats the biggest obstacle for an independent or small-time developer? The Middleman! aka the publisher. They need to pay for advertising, fees, etc. Now, if a studio decided to develop their own game engine and then code a distribution software, they can develop a game (that they have a lot riding on, thus increasing quality since they need to increase sales through reputation) and sell it to us!

Viva la Steam!

[QUOTE="zbiggie"]if you know anything about the american econonmy you know its about to go into a recesion, with that the world is going to be hitting a depression, now when you have little money or none will you spend it on getting games or food, now i agree they probably will be able to stand out for a little but, i probably wont, like most on these boards, so when i have to give up my interent connection, there my last oppertunity to get my games. Being as rich as they are they will last a lot long then most gamers at which point they may offer a patch to be able burn yourself a hard copy, but by that time most people who couldnt afford to buy such a game will no long even have a internet connect to get the damn patch

seriously, this is a good possibility but it might not happen thats why i do my best to stay away from D2D games

Mediocre_man90

What the hell? First off, recession does not mean depression. Yes, the economy rises and falls, but it stays relatively stable. We've recently climbed out of arecession so we will be due for another recession in the near future, but that doesn't mean we're suddenly going to drop into another Great Depression.

Second, if we were to experience a depression of the magnitude that you're describing, playing video games would be pretty low on the list of priorities. If you barely have enough money to pay for food, you won't be able to pay the electricity bill, so you wouldn't be able to access your games, regardless of whether you have a hard copy.

I'd like to know where this random doomsday scenario came from, and why it's affecting your purchasing decisions.

well tell me how do all depressions start, thats right with a recession, basically thats the first step. it starts being a depression once about 20-25% of the population become unemployed, now with the us 3trillion in debt, and still having a negative trade surplus, meaning they import more then they export, whats going to happen is the us is not going to see a great depression, but THE DEPRESSION,

why is that, well when the people in the world finally start taking money back from the US investments, you will see all of a sudden the dollar drop, when that happens, most countries will quickly start dropping any and all US stock and funds, meaning that crazy inflation will start in the US, now your original 1$ loaf of bread might cost 5 or 10$, when this happens all that is good in the world will drop, the countries that rely on exports to the US will be hurt the most, Asian, African, and even Canada and Mexico.

Now we might have enough luck not to also feel a drought, like the last depression, but all being said and done, people will not have money to support new gaming, and will there for fall back on older cheaper, or owned games for past time, now how are to be able to play games when by this time internet will be at a premium and those game publishers are out of buisness

Well, I think the whole idea of digital distribution is genius and will definitely be the norm in a few years. I don't use Steam but have downloaded many games from Direct2Drive and a couple from other sources like Gamespot, Trygames, and Boonty. The whole biz is still somewhat in it's infancy but is gradually working the kinks out. The KEY to successful digital downloads in my book is self updating games. Some examples are Civ4 and NWN2, which I purchased from D2D. These games have updaters included that keep the game all patched up. Now D2D does give you the latest patches anyway, but it's just easier to update directly and digital patches are often different that the retail patches, that is, compatibility wise.

So here are my benefits to digital distribution:

1) No CDS, packaging, manuals etc. to keep track of or worry about losing. You can download the game as many times as you want if say, for instance, you get a new pc or your pc goes whack job on you. Furthermore, like a paperless society, it does not waste all the natural resources that go into making, packaging and marketing pc games.

2) You can usually get your game before it reaches the store. In other word, you can usually be one of the first to own the game.

3) I find D2D and others have the best market price for pc games. Someone mentioned that the games should be cheaper. I don't necessarily think that's true, but may work itself out in the future as digital download becomes the norm and publishers can give that saving back to the consumer. However, one has to consider that pc games are still primarily sold over the counter, so the economics just don't work out yet. Publishers/developers are still paying quite a bit of money to package, market and distribute their games. It's like hybrid cars - there going to be more expensive to produce and buy until more people own them. Also, back to pricing, I find that D2D will have the latest market price for the games and sometimes offers discounts. I find that retailers often sell games at a higher price when said game has already come down in price. D2D is always consistent in pricing

4) Download speeds are pretty fast on D2D. I don't know about other guys, although I found Trygames was pretty slow so I gave up on them quickly. Anyway, people may complain that they don't have a fast connection, but honestly, if you don't have broadband in this day and age then you shouldn't own a computer.

5) On major games, at least with D2D, you can preorder your game and predownload it almost a week or two in advance of the game. Therefore, when the game is released you only have to download a bit more to have the complete game.

6) No worries about huntin around for a popular game. They don't run out of copies in the digital world.

Anyway, digital downloads are definitely the way to go now. I hope they release more games on digital distribution including older ones. The library is still rather small, but growing.

I've never disliked the idea of downloading games. Though, I do prefer to have a hard copy when I can. Most of the sites I use will let you download another copy. While it might take longer to recover if you don't back up the game, you can still at least access the install files if you need them. I started when downloading games when I was in college without a car. It was a pain to get to the stores that were carrying games in that town. The first game I downloaded was Guild Wars off of the Play NC site.

I do like the convenience quite a bit. Especially when I'm working late shifts. Without too many stores open, digital distribution feeds my impulsive buying habits in the same way iTunes does for music. There's also the matter of getting games that are no longer in print, or extremely difficult to find. In many cases, there's used copies from online retaliers you can pick up, but that can be spotty as many of them tend to come from private sellers. Especially if you want a used PC game. It can be a lot more convenient to just purchase and download online.

Digital Distribution is okay, but it will never replace my desire for having a physical copy of a game that i really really like.

For one, digital distribution is not a big difference from getting an illegal copy of the game, and if its onlysingle player then you can just get it faster and easier trough illegel means, because trough digital distribution you dont get any real benefits if itsonly a single player game.

I personaly hate digital distribution. Its a good idea, I'll admit, but I won't use it for a long time. My internet is to slow for a start, you might be able to download Doom 3 in 45 mins and I really wish I could, but it would take me 3+ days at best. Not to mention my internet cuts out for 5 minutes or so every few hours. I've tried downloading games in the past and have always suffered the problem of not being able to actual download them. It would definetaly become a more mainstream way of getting games, but the internet services in countries like mine (UK) need to be uprated before it could really kick off.

But to be honest. Even if I could download games straight off the internet and play them, I don't want my options taken away. I like going out meeting the people and seeing the places and I see going to the shop for my games as an extension to my hobby rather than a chore.

I sort of like DD but really there's no benefit for me esspecially since I buy alot of my games at reduced prices, and DD is always full retail. There's also something about having a phsyical token in your game collection. Hell I load every single one of my games off the hard drive, but I still like having the boxes around as decoration, or "trophies" if you will.

It's sort of like food. If I'm getting fast food I don't mind getting it togo, but if I'm gonna eat at a fancy resturant and pay $30 for a meal I'm not gonna get it togo. It's the same with games if it's a small casual game I'd rather buy it online, but for most of my major games I want the full package.

I only buy games from the store. I don't trust things like steam. It has been hacked in the past, and will be hacked in the future. Well when it is hacked again, my credit card info won't be there for the taking.l-_-l

make use of the services your credit card provides..and it won't happen. :) Generate a number for use only one time for one transaction.. ala "virtual cards" where charges are placed on your credit card but your actual card number is never given..

I personaly hate digital distribution. Its a good idea, I'll admit, but I won't use it for a long time. My internet is to slow for a start, you might be able to download Doom 3 in 45 mins and I really wish I could, but it would take me 3+ days at best. Not to mention my internet cuts out for 5 minutes or so every few hours. I've tried downloading games in the past and have always suffered the problem of not being able to actual download them. It would definetaly become a more mainstream way of getting games, but the internet services in countries like mine (UK) need to be uprated before it could really kick off.

But to be honest. Even if I could download games straight off the internet and play them, I don't want my options taken away. I like going out meeting the people and seeing the places and I see going to the shop for my games as an extension to my hobby rather than a chore.

Platearmor_6

Applications like STEAM auto-resume so if your connection gets lost you don't loose the progress.

Sure it will take a while .. but at least you don't have to start from scratch every time.

I support it for a few reasons :P:

1) I don't have to go somewhere to get it and take the chance of the game NOT being there or being out of stock.

2) You can't lose your CD cause there isn't one, so therefore you won't EVER have to buy a new copy.

3) No box! No losing **** kinda goes with reason 2 but still.

4) Easy to set up mods in my opinion.

I hate it for these reason:

1) It's steam.

2) Still Steam.

3) When Steam decides to bug out and say I haven't bought my game (even though just restarting it fixes it, it's annoying.

4) Steamz.

[QUOTE="Platearmor_6"]

I personaly hate digital distribution. Its a good idea, I'll admit, but I won't use it for a long time. My internet is to slow for a start, you might be able to download Doom 3 in 45 mins and I really wish I could, but it would take me 3+ days at best. Not to mention my internet cuts out for 5 minutes or so every few hours. I've tried downloading games in the past and have always suffered the problem of not being able to actual download them. It would definetaly become a more mainstream way of getting games, but the internet services in countries like mine (UK) need to be uprated before it could really kick off.

But to be honest. Even if I could download games straight off the internet and play them, I don't want my options taken away. I like going out meeting the people and seeing the places and I see going to the shop for my games as an extension to my hobby rather than a chore.

Alkpaz

Applications like STEAM auto-resume so if your connection gets lost you don't loose the progress.

Sure it will take a while .. but at least you don't have to start from scratch every time.

I'll have to try steam some time then.

My country has currency exchange control, so Imports, speccially of "luxury" items (like games) make the prices go up, and the games end up costing double. But if I get to buy directlly with dollars instead of my countries currency, I can pay the same reasonable price of a game. And that means I can only get games from Ebay, via paypal, or direct visa mastercard payment, and digital download is the fastest way of getting a game from my options.

So I love it.