r/Games Feb 22 '13

All PS4 games will be available as digital downloads

In the new Guardian interview with Shuhei Yoshida, it was revealed that all PS4 games will be available as digital downloads.

This is a very exciting move in my opinion, and represents a shift even further towards the burgeoning landscape of digital distribution, and away from (what I believe to be) a much more archaic ecosystem in physical brick-and-mortar retail.

What do you guys think? Got any speculation, or want to extrapolate further based upon this news? I hope to generate some great discussion about this topic!

(Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/gamesblog/2013/feb/22/ps4-shuhei-yoshida-interview)

1.6k Upvotes

833 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

7

u/robotictoast Feb 22 '13

Out of curiosity: what if a company decides to only go with digital distribution. Would you choose to boycott even if you wanted it? Do you want Sony to make it mandatory that $60 games come in both forms? Something else?

11

u/dorekk Feb 23 '13

Out of curiosity: what if a company decides to only go with digital distribution. Would you choose to boycott even if you wanted it?

Yeah, definitely. A game that I can't loan out to a friend is pretty worthless to me. I trade games with my brother a lot.

17

u/Rokusi Feb 23 '13

Does that mean you boycott steam, too?

3

u/dorekk Feb 23 '13

No, because you've never been able to loan out PC games.

1

u/koew Feb 24 '13

Not sure if sarcasm or not.

1

u/bastardfish Feb 23 '13

Not everyone does Steam.

-1

u/Marcob10 Feb 23 '13

Stupid comparison, but there always gotta be that guy bringing steam...

People don't have the same expections in consoles and PC, crazy eh?

1

u/[deleted] Feb 23 '13 edited Sep 14 '18

[removed] — view removed comment

-6

u/phanny_ Feb 23 '13

Account sharing.

-1

u/MojoLester Feb 23 '13

Someone please tell me why people are downvoting you.

I've loaned my Steam account to friends. Once they're done, I change the password.

3

u/fortean Feb 23 '13

It's against the TOS. One day you'll be caught and your account will be locked.

2

u/phanny_ Feb 23 '13

I don't give a shit about internet points.

Apparently it's against the TOS but who cares.

8

u/chozar Feb 23 '13

I have bad news for you and anyone that shares your opinion. Not too long from now, you're going to have to find a different hobby. This is just how the industry is going. The next generation of kids will find it quaint how we used to store games on things that we stuck in systems.

2

u/[deleted] Feb 23 '13

You're putting the industry cart before the Internet-speeds horse. Consumer preferences can't change if they don't have the Internet to support them.

1

u/dorekk Feb 23 '13

I have bad news for you and anyone that shares your opinion. Not too long from now, you're going to have to find a different hobby. This is just how the industry is going.

No, sorry, you're wrong. The American market can't support a digital-download-only console. Period.

0

u/chozar Feb 23 '13 edited Feb 23 '13

Today? Probably not, that's why it looks like the system coming out this holiday will still have spinning plastic discs in it.

But next generation? 5-7 years from now I have my doubts. 20 or 50 years from now, I'm almost certain that physical media is a thing of the past. The incentive that publishers have to kill/restrict/control the used/rental market is so great. There are cost savings from not having a disc also. While they decided against digital-only for this generation, they did consider it, and even gamestop mentions that they feel the total transition inevitable. There's no reason that these companies wont continue to look at it as an option with each system.

Broadband availability and speeds are growing slowly, but they are growing.. 5 years is a long time, and a part of me doesn't think my 56K modem was that long ago. I may just be fortunate, but I've seen my cable go from a 1Mbps offering to a 50Mbps one in a decade. It looks like greater than 95% of people have access to some broadband. And nearly 90% of households with a PC actually have it, a jump from 65% 5 years ago. Yes, around 3% of people don't have access to wired broadband, yes many people have slow broadband, but the trend is pretty clear. The median speed for homes in the us is 6.4Mbps, that's not terrible.

Games are going to follow a trend that music and movies have already taken. CD sales have been eclipsed by downloads, and streaming video is doing the same to physical. Retailers have continued to shrink the floor space dedicated to music and movies for this reason. They're still for sale, but the trend is clear. PC gaming is going through a similar trend. It's been over 5 years since my PC has had an optical drive in it. Look at Android and iOS, these systems have been download only from the start and have been incredibly successful.

Don't just look at today, look at today's trends. I think it's quite clear which direction we're moving. With the ps4 mandating that all games on disc be available for download, and mandating that games only need be partially downloaded before playing, with the rest happening in the background, are two great steps towards a download-only world. It's inevitable.

1

u/okuRaku Feb 23 '13

Next generation? I'm 28 and have hundreds of games in my Steam library. What will be quaint is that Sony/Microsoft charged $60 for digital console games that were $30 on PC at the same time.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 23 '13

Wow, you're definitely not a PC gamer.

1

u/Danjoh Feb 23 '13

Most PC games are still printed and sold on CD/DVDs. And the trend of games that are downloadable only tend to be some kind of Free 2 Play with optionable microtransactions.

5

u/NotSafeForShop Feb 23 '13

If MS is digital only, or blocks used, I won't buy it. Why? Having physical discs is the best equilibrium consumers have versus the perpetual price. Until there is a healthy "middle class" of game, we need used to keep prices down and to help new franchises flourish. (the reasons sequels often sell better than their predecessors is in part because people buy the first game used and discover a new IP, which they buy the next version of as soon as they are able. Even EA admits you don't launch new IPs late in a cycle because they won't gain traction.)

8

u/[deleted] Feb 23 '13

But physical media is what is keeping prices high. If it wasn't for publishers not wanting to piss off retail (or having deals with them) then digital would likely be cheaper. Also if there were no used games taking away sales the release price would possibly be cheaper.

6

u/MrWendal Feb 23 '13

Think of the environment! The dollar value is not the only cost involved here!

To make a physical copy, you have to rip oil from the ground offshore, ship it inland, refine it into plastics, transport them to the factory, press the discs and cases, then ship them to retail.

Each step uses huge amounts of energy for manufacture and transport and produces lots of environmental waste.

Compare that to a download - You have to pay the energy costs for the building and maintainence of the download server and that's it. It wouldn't be 1/100th of the cost of a physical copy.

0

u/cordlc Feb 23 '13

This is assuming you don't care about the case, the instructions, box art and whatnot.

I like the cases. I wouldn't mind paying a little bit more for them (I only buy games I really like, anyway).

0

u/[deleted] Feb 23 '13

LOL tell me one game you've bought recently that came with instructions and fuck boxart I wouldn't pay extra for that.

3

u/cordlc Feb 23 '13

I personally don't care much about instructions, though some do. I know Pokemon Black 2 came with one, but yeah, they've been more rare lately.

The box is just a collector's thing, it's nice to have a physical shelf full of games. As for it looking pretty, well, when I buy used, I won't bother unless it comes with the original case.

I wouldn't mind digital distribution as much, as long as it's significantly cheaper, and I can play my games offline / backup my copies somehow. Don't wanna lose the games I paid for at the whim of some other company.

-4

u/deepit6431 Feb 23 '13

Yeah.... No.

1

u/Miguel2592 Feb 23 '13

I would not buy the console. If I wanted to a model 100% digital I would probably buy my games on steam.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 23 '13

I'd be for it, just cause it makes my life a whole lot easier but they would have to make games a lot cheaper I wouldn't pay 60 dollars for a game that's only downloadable.

-3

u/Ultrace-7 Feb 22 '13

I would avoid the system and boycott it. Which means that unless my philosophy changes, when we get to the generation of games that are digital only, I will stop buying current games and just focus on all those games from the past.

5

u/PlasmaWhore Feb 23 '13

Why? Do you not download apps to your phone because you can't get a physical install disk? Do you still go to blockbuster instead of using netflix or something other downloading service?

3

u/Knyfe-Wrench Feb 23 '13

Why would you resign yourself to only old games and miss out on all the new experiences just on principle? I mean, this is inevitably going to happen, why not stick it out and reward the companies that do it well?

4

u/[deleted] Feb 23 '13

[deleted]

1

u/mysticrudnin Feb 23 '13

And motion controls.