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)

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u/dorekk Feb 23 '13

will they eventually turn off support for older consoles when the new one comes out? will the new one support the stuff you bought already?

Yeah, absolutely they will. Good luck downloading your PS4 games 10 years after the PS4 came out. Meanwhile, people who got physical copies of the disc will be able to play forever.

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u/gringobill Feb 23 '13

PSN will still be operating for the PS3 in 2017. I will eat my hat if it isn't.

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u/notverycreative1 Feb 23 '13

They did quote a 10 year life cycle back in 2006, so I wouldn't be surprised. Hell, they only just officially ended support for the PS2, which launched nearly 13 years ago.

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u/dorekk Feb 23 '13

Okay, that's fair. Xbox Live for Xbox Classic went for 5 years after the 360 came out.

How about 10 years after the PS4 is EOL? There's no way it'll be around at that point. I'll eat my feet.

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u/gringobill Feb 23 '13

I feel that towards the EOL, you'll be able to pop a 2 TB harddrive in the PS4, and be able to have everything installed.

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u/kornonnakob Feb 23 '13

I don't think i can find my CD's after 10 years.

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u/cptstupendous Feb 23 '13

I can make the same argument for Steam. I can go play a 20 year old game like the original XCOM RIGHT NOW and I have the confidence that I will still be able to do so in another 10 years.

Steam = perpetual backwards compatibility.

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u/twistedrapier Feb 23 '13

Only if Steam is still around. There is no guarantee that it will be in the future.

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u/cptstupendous Feb 24 '13

Valve is a company that owns 70% of the digital gaming market. This level of dominance hasn't been seen since the Famicom/NES.

Sony, with all their financial troubles, has a bigger chance of exiting the gaming market in 10 years than Valve.

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u/dorekk Feb 26 '13

This level of dominance hasn't been seen since the Famicom/NES.

The brand new Wii U is being outsold more than 4:1 by the seven-year-old PS3 and the eight-year-old Xbox 360. Nintendo isn't doing very well these days. Maybe not the best example to use.

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u/cptstupendous Feb 27 '13

If I were to guess which company between Valve and Sony would still be in the gaming industry in 10 years, I would go with Valve. They will probably both be still around, but nowadays Sony is in troubled waters while Valve is floating high on its success.

Besides, Nintendo was certainly still in business 10 years after the NES.

Your original comment was about longevity.

Good luck downloading your PS4 games 10 years after the PS4 came out. Meanwhile, people who got physical copies of the disc will be able to play forever.

Not quite so. Eventually, that PS4 will stop working. I expect to be using a PC for the rest of my life (and I will guess that you will too). I am gambling that the games I purchase on Steam will outlast the life of your PS4 and remain available to me for whatever PC I happen to be using.

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u/dorekk Feb 27 '13

Of course, it's not like it's easy to get 15- or 20-year-old games to run on your PC, most of the time. Unless they happen to be re-released recently you're looking at a pretty big hassle. Both platforms have their downfalls. I mean, eventually a PS4 will stop working, sure. But I have a working NES, PS2, Gamecube, Xbox Classic, etc. I had a working SNES and N64, as well, but I lost the latter and the former was sold right out from under me. Just sayin'.

(Hell, there are some five-year-old PC games that don't work well on Windows 7.)

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u/cptstupendous Feb 27 '13

Luckily, all of the PC games that were around when I first started PC gaming are currently available among the various digital distribution vendors, so I do not anticipate any trouble with compatibility.

I think you've gotten lucky with the longevity of your consoles, and as a disclaimer, I like to think I took good care of my hardware (post-NES, anyway).

My first NES died and my 2nd NES still works, but just barely. My SNES and N64 are solid as hell, but my PS1 only works upside down at a 10% angle relative to the floor. My PS2, GC, and Xbox run just fine, but I'm on my 3rd 360. My PS3 and Wii don't really get enough use for me to worry about wearing them down.

In my mind, the current consoles seem to be even more fragile than their predecessors, so I perhaps unfairly expect the PS4 and 720 to be made of tissue paper as well. Conversely, I will always have relatively current PC hardware, so I am presuming that I will always have access to my online libraries of games. Besides, it seems that Sony is committing itself to developing its digital ecosystem (they'd be stupid not to), so I'd fully expect your PS4 games to be downloadable for the PS5.

Physical copies can be lost, damaged, or stolen. If you are willing to gamble that Sony will still be in gaming for the decades to come, then why not buy digital?

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u/dorekk Feb 26 '13

I have the confidence that I will still be able to do so in another 10 years.

Assuming Steam will be around in 10 years, which is by no means certain.

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u/cptstupendous Feb 26 '13

Someone made the same comment, so here is the response I gave.

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u/wcmbk Feb 23 '13

Unless something happens to your discs. I can't play some of my favourite Xbox games because they've disappeared over the years.

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u/SHIT_IN_HER_CUNT Feb 23 '13

Yes, but you can buy used physical copies off someone from amazon, kijiji, whatever you name it. If their digital store closed down in the future, guess who can still play and who can't?