Video games, all day everyday, thanks to the power of the internet. What took a trip to the store now takes a few clicks and some downloading. From PSN to iTunes, electronic entertainment that was once brought to us via disk and other hardware is now beginning to be ushered in by the web. We're connected to the internet and corporations have done more than enough to capitalize on this fact. This has brought freedoms to the consumer as well as the market itself. However, the frontier of digital distribution is still a lawless wild.
Having a look at some of the positive things digital distribution has done to the video game industry, we see a transformation in the way games are delivered to the consumer. Games are now available anywhere under the cape of the internet, meaning a wider audience of gamers who may not have otherwise had access to stores stocked with shelves of games.
The lack of manufacturing, delivering, and an actual physical product saves space, is cleaner for the environment, and much cheaper and video game errors which would normally break the game can now be patched up remotely. We also have the longevity of game titles being expanded as new content that can now be downloaded into the game itself, and publishers are exploring new ways of allowing gamers to play games for basically nothing. Additionally, independently developing your own game is somewhat of a more feasible task, thanks to the lower costs and almost instantaneous advertising, granted you can go viral with your product. With all these benefits, the capitalist leviathan has slowly introduced the internet to video games and it’s been a good time for all. Nonetheless, difficulties lurk in the shadows.
Jumping into the fray here, we have a topic of hot controversy. In 2011, Sony was victim to a cyber attack which resulted in millions of customers’ accounts that were potentially compromised; the attack also resulted in the downtime of Sony’s network which lasted for weeks on end. These kinds of attacks continued with several other companies. The question was thus brought onto the consumer: Do you want the convenience of having your personal information and banking information stored for easy access, or do you want maximum security?
As Identity theft and piracy become more commonplace online, companies wanting to protect their investment are starting to come down on their customers. All this makes known the potential of abuse that digital distribution has brought to the corporations as well as the consumers.
Rumors are circulating about the next generation of consoles and the unprecedented restrictions that are being built into the systems; such as making it impossible to play used games on any other particular console than the one it was first played on. Companies now are looking for remedies because of the problem “used games sales” brought to the video game publishers. Simply put, profit made from used games goes entirely to the used game sellers, leaving video game publishes out of the cash loop. Are we content with giving companies control over your purchases, after they leave their stores?
Another new commodity of digital distribution that was previously mentioned is known as Downloadable content (DLC). DLC has been used to expand replayability, profit, and essentially allow video games to potentially be produced without ever being actually finished. This is subject to controversy, as DLC isn’t an entirely evil concept. However, people still clamor over not wanting their wallets to be frisked by the multitude of DLC available.
Disregarding the ills listed above, digital distribution of media has provided a great amount of potential and shouldn’t necessarily be discouraged; it is still something that is relatively new to the world of video games which is in need of proper direction. The market has been running through an interesting transition which can turn out to be bad or good for the industry as a whole. Ultimately, it’ll be the consumers’ wants and wallet that basically determines what happens next.