The Digital Transition Won't Happen Anytime Soon

PushStartSelect: "There a ton of rumors going around that the next generation consoles will be digital only and of course retailers like Gamestop will be on their way out the door. While a theory like this is common, it’s more or less similar to a scare tactic. You know, like a scary story that you believe as a kid, but in reality it can never happen. A “what if” scenario that got a bit out of hand. It’s nothing more, nothing less."

[Crap_Turtle]

we all know this

[PopRocks359]

360 and PS3 currently support full retail downloads. The Vita also has them and the 3DS has been announced to get them in the future. The Wii U will also support full retail downloads.

It seems like we're transitioning already.

[Soldierone]

The article talks about a full transition and also explains the flaw about those full retail games. The first paragraph alone talks about the "full" transition of download only, but that really requires reading past the headline.....

[Jihaad_cpt]

The WiiU will have a hard time with full downloads it doesnt have a HDD. I know it supports external HDD but with piracy that is never a good way to store games.

[PopRocks359]

Nintendo has handled data management and security on SD cards pretty well on the Wii, DSi and 3DS. I reckon that similar data will be utilized on HDD's. We'll see what happens I suppose.

[TheController]

It will be quite a while. With each passing generation of consoles, game sizes will continue to grow, yet download speeds stay roughly the same. Some places can't even get good download speeds if they can get the internet at all. It will be more than a decade before we see the full transition of digital download only.

Let's cross our fingers in hopes of either google, or the gubment stretching high speed internet across the entire country sometime relatively soon.

[mynameisEvil]

Google give us internet? Haha, Google only does things that makes them TONS OF MONEY. So, if they were to provide an internet service, they'd charge you up the ass. Charter is pretty damn fast, though, at least where I live.

The day the government provides us all with internet is the day the internet dies (See: SOPA/ACTA). Unless you're joking about both of these, in which case, I'm friggin' stupid for not realizing that.

[TheController]

http://www.seobythesea.com/...

Guess where google makes almost all of its money... oh yea, The Internet! providing faster internet and internet to more people makes them more money. They've been talking about doing it for a while.

P.S. adjust your tin foil hat.

[Hellsvacancy]

Yes, you are "friggin stupid"

[mynameisEvil]

@TheController
Google makes a ton of money off of YouTube and has for years. Look at the current state of YouTube. Now, let's say you have a complaint, so you file one. You never get a reply. You try to go to the forums only to realize that it's been hidden and it looks absolutely AWFUL. You state your problems, others agree, Google SAYS they're listening, then never do anything except screw more stuff up. Google doesn't care about you and everybody knows it. Even Charter, who's customer service is universally hated, has better CS than Google does.

P.S. Learn when you implement the "tin foil hat" comment. (Screw it, I'll tell you: It's for conspiracy theorists.)

@Hellsvacancy
Haha, I can see you're still butt-hurt from earlier. Just as a general rule of thumb, consistent hating WILL get your comment privvys taken away, sometimes permanently.

-That is all.

[TABSF]

Well like it or not Developers/Publishers want Digital Downloads

Larger profit margins
More protection of IP (Onlive model)
Greener (No cases, Manuals and distribution/shipping)

BTW TheController
Google makes almost all their money from Google Ads through Google Search

[jlukee]

In maybe 30 years time, but currently there are so many problems with going fully digital.
I think the thing that puts me off most about digital copies of games is the possibility of my hardware crashing, meaning I would have to spend literally hours downloading them again.
Not to mention that I just like to have a physical copy of the games I've bought!