Hardcore gamers not looking to abandon physical product

According to a Wedbush Securities report, casual players may be leaving for mobile and social titles, but "hardcore" users will stick with packaged products. Everyone is betting on digital for the future, with rumors that the next generation Xbox will ditch discs as a delivery mechanism for its titles. Wedbush report states that all consumers moving toward digital is a "commonly held misperception

Gamers will migrate to a mostly, if not entirely, digital platform wether they want to or not. The advantages are too numerous for both publishers and gamers with very little downsides.

There is no market more diverse than PC gaming and its trend is that of digital only games. Consoles have always only mimicked what the PC has done several years before it.

You used the terms "hardcore gamer" and "casual gamer", so your thread is fail. Sorry but there is no such thing, there are only gamers, and no one can even define what a "hardcore gamer" is, the terms a joke.

You used the terms "hardcore gamer" and "casual gamer", so your thread is fail. Sorry but there is no such thing, there are only gamers, and no one can even define what a "hardcore gamer" is, the terms a joke.

ShadowMoses900

Wedbush? Isn't that where Pachter works?

You used the terms "hardcore gamer" and "casual gamer", so your thread is fail. Sorry but there is no such thing, there are only gamers, and no one can even define what a "hardcore gamer" is, the terms a joke.

ShadowMoses900

It's just like the old-school PC strategy grognards I knew. When turn-based PC strategy games started to wane in popularity in favor of FPS and other action games, they chose to quit gaming, period.

I admire the principles of the core gamers because I too prefer physical discs whenever possible. But, the majority will take it and like it and I'll go with the flow.

I will never buy a full priced retail game that I can't own a physical copy of.

[QUOTE="ShadowMoses900"]

You used the terms "hardcore gamer" and "casual gamer", so your thread is fail. Sorry but there is no such thing, there are only gamers, and no one can even define what a "hardcore gamer" is, the terms a joke.

mario-galaxys

Makes sense, I have no idea what the terms mean really, I hear so many different things.

Some say it's someone who plays 9 hours a day, which is impossible because you wouldn't be able to pay the bills and just sounds like an unhealthy obsession.

Others say it's someone who plays harder games like Demon's Souls, but sometimes people like to play easier games just to relax a bit and any game with practice can become easy.

And then there are some people that say it's only people who play for money and whatnot.

I find the whole thing to be silly, games are about fun, some of us may find more challenging games to be more fun than others. But still doesn't make us better than anyone else, we are still in the same group.

Besides I know plenty of people who got started off playing games like Mario Dance Party or whatever and then later moved onto games like Skyrim, so it's really just games expanding to a bigger market and getting more people involved. It's a good thing.

IF Sony and MS handle digital distribution the way Steam does and have awesome sales all the time people will definitely buy. The consoles also need to have big enough HDD so users don't have to constantly uninstall/reinstall games

IF Sony and MS handle digital distribution the way Steam does and have awesome sales all the time people will definitely buy. The consoles also need to have big enough HDD so users don't have to constantly uninstall/reinstall games

BPoole96

Cloud gaming is not the future, its crap and it needs to be flushed.

Gamers will migrate to a mostly, if not entirely, digital platform wether they want to or not. The advantages are too numerous for both publishers and gamers with very little downsides.

There is no market more diverse than PC gaming and its trend is that of digital only games. Consoles have always only mimicked what the PC has done several years before it.

XaosII

The DD trend on PC has nothing to do with its diversity of games. It's more diverse because development costs can be significantly less. This is due to a thriving indie scene on PC, as well as its gamers not expecting high production values.

IF Sony and MS handle digital distribution the way Steam does and have awesome sales all the time people will definitely buy.BPoole96

That won't happen. Steam sales work the way they do because of strong competition; another service is always just a click away. There is no such competition in console digital distribution since each console has only one service and jumping to the other platform requires spending hundreds on new hardware. You can already see this in effect on the current consoles, where buying a retail game digitally is always the same price or more than buying a retail copy (a new copy at that; used is cheaper still).

[QUOTE="BPoole96"]IF Sony and MS handle digital distribution the way Steam does and have awesome sales all the time people will definitely buy.garrett_daniels

That won't happen. Steam sales work the way they do because of strong competition; another service is always just a click away. There is no such competition in console digital distribution since each console has only one service and jumping to the other platform requires spending hundreds on new hardware. You can already see this in effect on the current consoles, where buying a retail game digitally is always the same price or more than buying a retail copy (a new copy at that; used is cheaper still).

[QUOTE="BPoole96"]IF Sony and MS handle digital distribution the way Steam does and have awesome sales all the time people will definitely buy.garrett_daniels

That won't happen. Steam sales work the way they do because of strong competition; another service is always just a click away. There is no such competition in console digital distribution since each console has only one service and jumping to the other platform requires spending hundreds on new hardware. You can already see this in effect on the current consoles, where buying a retail game digitally is always the same price or more than buying a retail copy (a new copy at that; used is cheaper still).

Good point. I forgot that Steam actually faces competition from other digital retailers whereas MS/Sony can charge whatever they want. It i irritating how that works with consoles since most of the time digital items go on sale maybe once or twice a year (at least on PSN)

I will never use steam, I still buy all my games seperately, even pc games.

I heard a story of a guy who owned over 250 games on steam, had his account banned and lost access to ALL of them. I will NEVER subject myself to that kind of nazi controlism. No one has an on/off switch to my games and I will never allow them to either.

[QUOTE="garrett_daniels"]

[QUOTE="BPoole96"]IF Sony and MS handle digital distribution the way Steam does and have awesome sales all the time people will definitely buy.WilliamRLBaker

That won't happen. Steam sales work the way they do because of strong competition; another service is always just a click away. There is no such competition in console digital distribution since each console has only one service and jumping to the other platform requires spending hundreds on new hardware. You can already see this in effect on the current consoles, where buying a retail game digitally is always the same price or more than buying a retail copy (a new copy at that; used is cheaper still).

Steam of course is the most popular but when major sales come aroud Amazon, Greenman, Gamersgate, Impulse,Origins, Direct2Drive, GOG, etc all have sales items worth checking out. I ahve bought several games from other distributors simply because they were cheaper. I can then just add them to my Steam library.

I will never use steam, I still buy all my games seperately, even pc games.

I heard a story of a guy who owned over 250 games on steam, had his account banned and lost access to ALL of them. I will NEVER subject myself to that kind of nazi controlism. No one has an on/off switch to my games and I will never allow them to either.

Zonned87

That rarely happens and if it did he probably deserved it. If this was a widespread issue I would completely agree, but I hardly ever hear of that stuff happening

I will never use steam, I still buy all my games seperately, even pc games.

I hard a story of a guy who owned over 250 games on steam, had his account banned and lost access to ALL of them. I will NEVER subject myself to that kind of nazi controlism. No one has an on/off switch to my games and I will never allow them to either.

Zonned87

i have 116 games and counting and i enjoy every one of them on steam and wouldnt buy hardcopies again. hardcopies have dumb cd keys and have the critical flaw of a storage medium. storage mediums break cd's can crack or get dirty. this way all my games are right there and never break and need replacing.

it also lets me install them on any pc i wish and play them through my login..

if your hosue burns down.. your games are gone period. me.. i collect the warranty on whats left of my pc parts.. then rebuild my house.. then get a new net connection hooked up and im back to my games.. you.. gl with that shilling out of a few 100 bucks to get your games back.

[QUOTE="XaosII"]

Gamers will migrate to a mostly, if not entirely, digital platform wether they want to or not. The advantages are too numerous for both publishers and gamers with very little downsides.

There is no market more diverse than PC gaming and its trend is that of digital only games. Consoles have always only mimicked what the PC has done several years before it.

Pug-Nasty

The DD trend on PC has nothing to do with its diversity of games. It's more diverse because development costs can be significantly less. This is due to a thriving indie scene on PC, as well as its gamers not expecting high production values.

It doesn't matter, they have the ability to do it and I don't like that, its bull$hit. I will never subject myself to that kind of crap. If you want to be sheep and obey your masters then go ahead.

....there is competition in DD on pc? it would seem to me that steam controls the majority of the market there gog, greenman all pale in comparison...WilliamRLBaker

Plenty.

http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/SebastianLindig/20110606/89588/Market_Share_for_PC_Digital_Distribution_Platforms_2011_based_on_unique_users.php

Most importantly, DD grew 220% over on year. Theres plenty of room for anyone to gain or lose marketshare considering it has hardly reached market saturation.

I am a hardcore gamer and I made the shift long ago. I don't need to have a physical disk that I can look at down the line and remember how much fun I had with that game. I will just listen to music from that game to remember my good times with it. I like digital. Can access the game anywhere with internet, and the saves, no need to deal with switching out disks, I like having the files on a 7,200/10,000rpm HDD or a SSD over a disk as that loads fast, optical drives are loud, less cluter, and the best part is that I can download the game before it is out and play it the second it is ready. I already have Diablo III downloaded and ready.

I am a hardcore gamer and I made the shift long ago. I don't need to have a physical disk that I can look at down the line and remember how much fun I had with that game. I will just listen to music from that game to remember my good times with it. I like digital. Can access the game anywhere with internet, and the saves, no need to deal with switching out disks, I like having the files on a 7,200/10,000rpm HDD or a SSD over a disk as that loads fast, optical drives are loud, less cluter, and the best part is that I can download the game before it is out and play it the second it is ready. I already have Diablo III downloaded and ready.

arto1223

Glad for you but there are many who don't feel that way.

Zonned87

Theres almost no reason to feel that way. A well designed DD system is far superior to a physical-only market in almost every aspect.

[QUOTE="Zonned87"]

Glad for you but there are many who don't feel that way.

XaosII

Theres almost no reason to feel that way. A well designed DD system is far superior to a physical-only market in almost every aspect.

The day I can't buy games over the counter is the day I stop gaming.

after psn got hack there is no way im giving my credit card number to those people. or any gaming network for that matter. and quite frankly i think this is a scam. if they make us switch to DD they will probably make special memory cards like sony has and charge us up the behind for it. if this happens im not buying anymore consoles. i will most definitely be switching to PC.

and if im shelling out $40 (or more) for game i expect a box,with a cover and a booklet. to make me feel like im getting my money worth. and i like seeing my collection and taking pride in it.

after psn got hack there is no way im giving my credit card number to those people. or any gaming network for that matter. and quite frankly i think this is a scam. if they make us switch to DD they will probably make special memory cards like sony has and change us up the behind for it. if this happens im not buying anymore consoles. i will most definitely be switching to PC.helwa1988

[QUOTE="Pug-Nasty"]

[QUOTE="XaosII"]

Gamers will migrate to a mostly, if not entirely, digital platform wether they want to or not. The advantages are too numerous for both publishers and gamers with very little downsides.

There is no market more diverse than PC gaming and its trend is that of digital only games. Consoles have always only mimicked what the PC has done several years before it.

ionusX

The DD trend on PC has nothing to do with its diversity of games. It's more diverse because development costs can be significantly less. This is due to a thriving indie scene on PC, as well as its gamers not expecting high production values.

Yep, those pesky monthly PSN fees are a real bite in the ass.

For someone with a fiber connection, it would take me days to download an HD game on my connection

Strange.... I'm using a copper cable modem capped at 10 Mbps and regularly download 20+ GB games in about 4 hours or so. Even so, many DD stores have the concept of "preloading" where you can downlod the game a few days before it release date and then it becomes decrypted and playable at 12:00 AM of the release date.

It is, in fact, more convenient than going to a store and buying it.

Cloud gaming does not take into consideration that over 1/4 of Americans don't have adequate internet connections. Zonned87

Progress shouldn't be stopped because a minority of people arent on the bandwagon. I cant quickly find statistics for 2011, but as of 2010, only 53% of US home owners have an HDTV. Would you advocate for lower gmae resolution back to SD levels because so many people dont have HDTVs?

You also lack the feeling of "having" and "owning" the game its more like a movie you have recorded on your dvr, its there but you don't "own" it. There is no box or manual to put on your shelf either. Zonned87

Nearly all DD markets on the PC allow you to burn a copy of the game unto a disc as either a backup or a form of disconnected play/install. Burn your copy, and tack it unto your shelf. The "ownership" argument is incrediably weak; When was the last time you bought a physical music album CD? Did it make the music sound any better or worse?

The day I can't buy games over the counter is the day I stop gaming.Zonned87

Wont happen this coming generation, but i can promise you the one after will be nearly exclusively digital.

I think ultimatelly all platforms will move to primarly DD. But there will always be thriving niche of boxed products, altough regular editions will proapbly dissapear and be replaced by more lavishly produced collectors edition.

Wont happen this coming generation, but i can promise you the one after will be nearly exclusively digital.XaosII

Anyone who thinks it will should go buy an ipad now.

[QUOTE="XaosII"]Wont happen this coming generation, but i can promise you the one after will be nearly exclusively digital.Zonned87

Anyone who thinks it will should go buy an ipad now.

My first post in this thread is pretty clear evidence: Consoles have only mimicked what the PC has done years ago. If PC is moving to largely digital, consoles will follow suit.

Console gaming and PC gaming split years ago there have been few similarities the past decade. I think the console gaming industry is smart enough not to follow PC gaming down the toilet.

[QUOTE="XaosII"]Wont happen this coming generation, but i can promise you the one after will be nearly exclusively digital.Zonned87

Anyone who thinks it will should go buy an ipad now.

"Real gamers?" Just because you're a disgruntled gamer who is afraid of impending changes in the industry doesn't mean that everyone who feels any differently than you is something other than a real gamer. I have my reservations about DD, but the fact of the matter is that is where the video game industry is headed. Companies will cut costs however they can, and one way to do so without directly affecting the quality of games or the quality of life of those who develop them is by getting rid of the "brick and mortar" side of the equation.

Console gaming and PC gaming split years ago there have been few similarities the past decade. I think the console gaming industry is smart enough not to follow PC gaming down the toilet.

Zonned87

i think its the reverse mr pc on its side XD one day more functionality will be demanded from a console beyond movies and music.. then you will become us and lose to our highly honed blade of multi-tasking and multi-processing. your ----ed my black star friend and thats the truth of the matter. the laws of technology are also gaining on you. pc's are getting cheaper while your getting more expensive. sure your smaller for now but even that will change with time. we already ahve the more reliable bit on lock and were going on 100-200% faster than a console within a year.

the laws of technology im afraid arent in yoru favor. and utility is the only way to start appealing to a wider audience. when you cant stack up to us on that.. the doors are sealed tight on you boys and then the compactor gets turned on XD

Screw digital, might work for PC users but I highl prefer to own my products physically.

I will never buy a full priced retail game that I can't own a physical copy of.

Zonned87

Thankfully, I haven't either. Steam has sales all the time.

No real shock that the only people pushing for DD is PC heavy gamers. I do own steam, and really enjoy it, but I perfer physical disks for console games. No arguement will persuade me different, at this time in my life anyways.

No real shock that the only people pushing for DD is PC heavy gamers. I do own steam, and really enjoy it, but I perfer physical disks for console games. No arguement will persuade me different, at this time in my life anyways.

immortality20