Has Minecraft On Playstation 3 Proved Microsoft Were Right

Microsoft have been through the wringer in the past 12 months and rightly so for the PR disaster that was the Xbox One Launch.

Digital Downloads are a medium that Microsoft were telling people that was going to be the dominant force in this generation of consoles.

Sony's Reply was that gamers did not want to rely on digital content and wanted boxed games to stay, but were Microsoft only announcing the dawn of the next generation, if they were they blew that message up and got their fingers burned.

[Bundi]

I don't want digital only games because it limits my use of a game. I like having options. That plus I have a limited monthly data plan...an expensive one at that since it isn't fixed.
I do however want the digital market to become more and more like the physical market. I want to be able to trade or sell games between friends/acquaintances (platform holder can charge a small fee per transaction or get a cut of the sale) or borrow games between friends with ease.

[Docknoss]

I understand having a choice but I'd be fine with just digital. It's so much easier and I don't trade in my games anyway's. The only flaw is the Data limit with the larger game sizes this Gen will have.

[guitarded77]

You wouldn't like it when there is no competition. Some games at $60 for digital download are available at retail for far less on a daily basis. If you eliminate the competition, they can charge whatever they want.

[Mr_Writer85]

Then you just don't buy.

Don't forget it's publishers who set the price.

If Call of Duty is £70 and Battlefield is £60 which one are people going to buy?

Also consoles do have sales you know, at Christmas I bought Dragon Age 1&2 cheap, I got Final Fantasy 14 for £12, and quite a few more.

Yeah most games launch at a high price, but you won't always get them on disc for much cheaper at launch.

[mikeslemonade]

Microsoft is usually never right in the gaming industry. They're wrong again here because last generation when they wanted nobody really cared and it is now this generation where it is taking off.

[Volkama]

I understand we've been trading and selling games since time immemorial, but it's not a fair model for the people that make the games.

I say support the industry, and pay to play.

I also say the industry should support us right back though, and cut the damn prices.

[Omegasyde]

EXACTLY.

Point #1 - Why going all digital will sucketh suck

If you are in the USA, net neutrality is going to bone you in a few years.

When you play online, you spend your bandwidth.
When you stream netflix, you spend your bandwidth.
When you download 30+ GB games, you spend your bandwidth.

I have a 100gb soft limit with my cable company. Everytime I exceed this limit, I get a e-nastygram stating to watch my downloads or buy a more expensive data plan. They state this because they are prepping me for an a##raping.

Combine a digital future with net neutrality, and we are all screwed. Sony and Microsoft and anybody else with servers will have to a pay a higher premium if they want quality speeds. The FCC states that Internet providers can charge companies for "better" access speeds, and that ISPs are not going to charge our customers.....

In order for companies to stay competitively with premium speeds that cost a lot more, they will pass the buck to the customer. Robbing Peter to pay Paul.

This Means - the possible return of online passes, Likely higher costs with Xbox live and PS+, or more games going towards peer-to-peer hosting instead of dedicated servers.

/RANT/RAGE ESSAY SUBMISSION

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TL DR - Going all Digital is going to f^^^ us.

[Omegasyde]

#2

Point #2 - Why going all digital will sucketh even more suck.

Say Nintendo, Sony, OR Microsoft left the gaming business completely. (we will refer to them as "they")

When they left, they closed down thier respective consumer store i.e. Xbox Marketplace, PSNstore, Nintendo Eshop....

Before the "they" left the gaming business, you spent close to hundreds if not thousands of money
buying "digital" games.

Well because your Hard Drive was only 1 terrabyte (or even smaller), you could only store ~10 games on it. You would often rotate the games out to make space for new games, which a total collection of 40 Full priced AAA games.

Since they closed thier digital store front, guess what? You're stuck with 10 games, and lost out on the other 30. Now if those games were physical discs, you wouldn't have that problem.

Separate example -

If you are reading this, and it seems unlikely this will affect you - imagine when 2 generation of consoles come out (Ps6, XboxThree,WiiX) and you want to play a retro game.

If you kept the old console and wanted to play some old games for nostalgia, you could just quickly pop in a disc and go on it. With a digital version, you have to worry about licensing expire or if a publisher goes out of business.

http://kotaku.com/5662675/a...

http://www.polygon.com/2013...

[Baka-akaB]

your arguments arent wrong at all , but usually two generation later .... truth be told ... there will be ways to emulate (be it "legally" via renting/rebuying stuff or via other means) your old console content .

And most wont have the old hardware intact to even pop a disc . Let alone the state of the disc themselves . Having seen it first hand a bit in retail shop , plenty people are pigs and slobs with their game and movie discs

[DragonKnight]

@Baka: Emulation should never be counted as a consideration. Not only because it's unreliable, but because it requires at least 5 times the resources of the original hardware to do it any justice.

Even now, PS2 emulation is a hassle. PS3 emulation is impossible.

An all digital market is laced with bigger cons than there are pros. Especially considering that the availability of digital games is entirely dependent on whatever 3rd party developed and hosted them.

Right now, if I wanted to, I can buy a NES and whatever NES game I want to on some store like eBay for cheap. Why? Because it's physical hardware.

If PSN goes offline completely, my download list goes with it and all the games I paid for vanish into thin air, having nothing to do with how well I've taken care of them or not.

That's why all digital should never be an option.

[Volkama]

As a gamer I certainly wouldn't avoid playing a game on the grounds that I might not have the option to re-play it in 20 years time.

As a publisher I certainly wouldn't care for these concerns either. As a publisher I'd recognise that a digital purchase guarantees I get my revenue, and also confirms that the buyer is one of those oh-so-lucrative consumers with a connection (those valuable chaps that can potentially keep spending on DLC and microtransactions).

So the only things holding back a digital future are limitations on bandwidth (mostly just in America) and this strong consumer sentiment that it's an attack on their rights. That sentiment will be so easily eroded when the time is right.

Digital future is inevitable.

[DragonKnight]

Volkama: You know, I personally detest it when people have such a defeatest mentality that they say something is inevitable. That's only true if it's allowed to be, and wouldn't be true if consumers stick to their guns about their rights.

I'm also glad you're not a publisher, because you have the wrong attitude. Yours is one that says "I don't care about the consumer, I only care about dat money."

But you're not thinking that once people realize that they don't get to use the product they spent money on at some point, and that it has nothing to do with that product being broken or not working for some reason, that's when they're going to get pissed. Because the only reason they don't get to use the product they paid money for is because someone else didn't want to spend money to keep it available.

The 50 or so EA games that are offline now because of the end of Gamespy is proof that an all digital future should not happen. That's 50 or so games that people who spent money on can not use to their fullest function, or even use at all depending on the situation.

Arguing in favor of something like that? It's that kind of attitude that has allowed the corporate B.S. to infest gaming as much as it has and continues to devolve gaming from art and entertainment to just another business model and marketing scheme.

[Volkama]

@DragonKnight, no it is not really a defeatest mentality. That would imply this is something I do not want to happen, but will allow anyway. Not the case, I fully embrace an all digital future.

I want physical distribution (or at least the associated ecosystem) to end. That might sound selfish, but I do not want this for myself. I want it to end because it is a bane to the industry that I want to see thrive. And because I know that devs deserve to receive money for their toil.

As for the risk of a service being taken away, I simply don't see that risk as a good reason not to enjoy said service. When you get free games with Playstation Plus do you enjoy them less, knowing that you can't go back to them if Sony terminate PSN?

What about the digital ecosystems on phone platforms? Do you avoid those, or is there something that separates them from a console marketplace? Could any difference not be adopted?

Have you ever known anyone say they avoid downloading PSN games, and instead purchase the disc copy because they want to own it? People embrace the DRM and the lack of ownership simply because they see good value. That is how easy it will be to erode any resistance to a digital marketplace.

Of course you are entitled to prefer physical distribution, and you can kick and scream as much as you like in order to keep it. But don't "detest the mentality" of people that do not share your perspective.

[DragonKnight]

Volkama, physical distribution has sustained the gaming industry for nearly 4 decades. It has never been the bane of the industry, and I gather you're talking about the used games myth. I'm not going to bother going into, again, why used games aren't hurting the industry because all the points have already been made about it.

Physical distribution is better for consumers and doesn't hurt developers or publishers. The only thing that hurts developers IS publishers, and what hurts publishers is their inability to form a decent business model.

Digital distribution will also eliminate the need for competitive pricing. Publishers have seen how much we are willing to pay for games. They have no reason to lower the price of digital games when people are still willing to pay full price for them.

You keep bringing up this notion of "who do you know that avoids buying online games because they may not be able to use them later" and that's not the issue. The issue is that it is a fact that online games will one day become useless. A lot of core gamers love to go back and play the games they grew up on frequently. A generation of core gamers who grew up in a digital only market won't be able to do that if, say, Activision decides to close some servers hosting X amount of game downloads. People do switch out games on their hard drives because they don't have space, and suddenly games they paid for are gone when they want them back again.

That's a problem that physical distribution doesn't have at all.

Your attitude is decidedly pro-corporate and part of a huge problem with apathy from gamers. I bet you love the fact that Watch Dogs has 5, count them, 5 special editions. None of which offer a complete experience, meaning you have to buy all 5 to get the full experience. More money for Ubisoft eh?

[TankCrossing]

Eh? Prefering digital distribution somehow equates to an endorsement of Watch-dogs collectors editions now? That's a stretch, perhaps we'll just brush that aside and address the more reasonable points lol

Physical distribution did serve the industry well for a lot of years. But the landscape has changed. Most notably the internet has totally altered the way we share and distribute data, including games. It's also changed the way we play games, and they way publishers monetise them. You can't just cover your ears and shout "I like things just the way they are!". Adapting is necessary.

As for used games and trading (and piracy according to some) not hurting the industry, you only need to look at the continued attempts to tackle that from all publishers to know that the people with a real vested interest disagree with you, regardless of any opinion pieces that champion it.

Pricing is a fair concern, particularly with the prices Sony and MS are currently listing games. I am not accepting of that. I have not bought a single console game this year for that reason.

Competitive pricing does not have to be lost for the sake of going digital though. Competition can (and surely must) exist. Look at PCs, you can't say digital distribution locks us into bad prices. The PS4 already has a fledgling Amazon store, that alone should be enough to set both consoles on the right path. Greedy publishers is something worth guarding against though, agree with you on that front.

Your concerns about losing access to games are legitimate of course, that can and will happen. As I say, that just is just a pill I am willing to swallow for the advantages (and imo necessity) of digital distribution

PC gaming has essentially been all digital for several years now. Give it a try sometime, it might alleviate some of your doubts.

[DVS-Zev]

One of the worst submissions i ever read here.Doesn't even make sense.

It's as if you have some point in your mind, but you can't properly convey it in writing.The result was this.

[CBaoth]

Ha I had to read it because of your post. Just terrible.

"And it still sells in large volume on Xbox and Steam as well."

Just sad.

[xboxpete]

fixed apologies :(

[majiebeast]

Wtf did a drunk monkey write this?

[Riderz1337]

"Xboxplayers.com"

lel...

[macethedon]

As long as the digital price is more expensive than the retail price, I'm never going to go digital, you can get brand new games for around £20 cheaper, the digital prices are criminal.

[BISHOP-BRASIL]

Here in Brazil it's the opposite... I mean, the digital price is still high, but many stores put whatever pricetag they believe they can get away with, specially around small towns with little to no competition.

I recently bought BF4 (note it's a 6 monthes old game) on the PS Store for full price of R$199,99, at around 90 USD this is not a good deal, but the few stores in my city were trying to charge R$229,99 (that's just under 15 US dollars difference), while buying online from a more honest store, they still want 199,99 (and the mailing would just push the price around up there too).

And all this is while Sony's MSRP is officially set at 179,99 (about 80 US dollars) mind you, but so far I've only found this price on first party games, and you need to get it on the PS Store or on Sony Style stores (physical or online), every other stores I've seen charge at least 199,99.

[805Junior805]

The game is small. Less than a hundred MB's. People that have Data Caps can handle this download. Games on ps4 and xbone are huge, which is why people are hesitant to buy digital. Took me a couple hours just to download Ghosts on my xbone even though i have the disk which is ridiculous...

[Majin-vegeta]

*Facepalm*

http://youtu.be/5hfYJsQAhl0

[shallowpoint]

I will always choose physical first!

[ape007]

me too

sometimes i get turned on(gaming wise xD) from just seeing the game box

[T2]

I trade all my games with friends

[jnemesh]

I latched onto downloading my games first with Microsoft. I bought into the whole concept of the "XBL Arcade" games, and bought MANY of them...several were better that so called "AAA" games, including "Bionic Commando Rearmed", and "Castle Crashers".

Later I started buying more games (and playing more) on my PS3...but I continued to buy a lot of these "indie" games. I kept avoiding buying the "AAA" titles, preferring to buy them on discs, because the pricing (ON BOTH CONSOLES) was too high! Often you would see games that routinely sell used at Gamestop for $20 or $30 selling for $59.95 on Xbox or PSN for download!

However, a strange thing happened over the past 8 months...Sony first made a commitment to "Day 1 Digital", offering brand new titles for download on the same day they were offered in stores! Additionally, they started running INSANE sales on older titles! I bought "Ni No Kuni" for under $7! This was a game I was fully prepared to spend $60 last year...but never got around to buying. I also picked up several other full games for my PS3 at significant savings.

Now, having just bought a PS4 last month, I see no reason at all to buy discs. I bought "Infamous" for full price right after buying my PS4 (the sales gal at Fred Meyer was perplexed when she asked what games I wanted with my console, and I told her "none"!). And most recently, I purchased "Tomb Raider" for half off ($30) when it went on sale.

Do I lose some freedom in buying digitally, instead of buying the disc? Yes, sure. Do I mind? No, not if I can buy the games I want at a good price! I also have some benefits too...I never have to worry about losing a game. I never have to worry about scratching a disc. I never have to worry about my brothers "borrowing" a game and not returning it. If my hard drive (or system) fails, I can always re-download my game. Are there downsides...yes...but I feel the benefits outweigh the negatives.

[DragonKnight]

"Now, having just bought a PS4 last month, I see no reason at all to buy discs."

You will when the day comes that you lose access to those digital games.

[Volkama]

I'm with you there. I own 1 next gen game on disc. Ryse. Bought because I wanted something to play immediately (lol 1 hour install), and knew I was unlikely to revisit it. Everything else is digital.

I really don't like having discs. Having to put it in the machine to play the game may sound trivial, but it's not trivial if you can't find the disc. I have children, so not finding the disc is a very real possibility.

I don't sell or trade games, so that's really not a consideration.

If Microsoft had stuck to their original plan then I would have bought all my One games on disc at least on launch day. Install, discard. Perfect for me. Definitely not perfect for everyone though, so it's good that they bowed on that.

Digital prices need to change though. This calendar year I have bought ~50 games on my PC, and ~0 games on my consoles. I don't impulse buy £50 games.

Sony have the right idea by allowing Amazon to host a digital store on the PS4.

Oh, and when Ryse is eventually <£10 on the digital store I will probably buy it again.

[Skate-AK]

Author needs a proofreader.

[e-p-ayeaH]

pro xbox articles like this only makes it look xbox look bad

[xboxpete]

you didn't read it did you

you just looked at the headline, i criticized Microsoft several times.

Sony are benefiting out of digital so im not trolling i just put an opinion out there for people to discuss.

how is this pro xbox it is a genuine question

[Th3o]

Did you read your own article?

and I quote:

"Minecraft for PlayStation 3 has sold in buckets on week 1. And it still sells in large volumes on Xbox and Steam as well. "

First off, "And" after a period is terrible writing. Although it's common for writers, it's very poor practice.

Also Minecraft is NOT on steam, which pretty much puts all your facts in jeopardy.

To add:

Is your title a question? A statement? It seems to be a question that wants to be statement...Also aren't you bending Sony's words a little? Didn't they state "Gamers Don't want digital right now?" Which again is about a year ago?

[Pogmathoin]

So pro Sony bs sites make sony look good? You can see what the author was trying to say. The best most here can do is post a gif or a meme like a drunk monkey......

[DragonKnight]

Microsoft isn't life.

[Soldierone]

Makes no sense. Minecraft was never a full retail game, and games like that sell fine as digital. HOWEVER once the game hit actual retail circuits as a physical game, it topped charts for months, proving that physical is still needed.

Digital is a pure rip off by pure greedy companies. YES by all means is digital more convenient and could easily be a great technological achievement, but what stands in the way? GREEDY ISPs that want you to pay 500 bucks for a megabit of data, GREEDY publishers that think their games are worth 200 bucks on top of 500 dollars of DLC, and GREEDY road blocks that want to milk your wallet dry. This new capitalism world isn't about HELPING its about "how do I make a quick buck?" That thinking is absolutely killing any advancement this country is capable of making.

Why don't we have fully electric cars that function just as well as gas cars? Because the government can't lose tax revenue from Gas prices. That's why the government constantly attacks Tesla. Why is the government so up in arms about electronic cigarettes? Because tobacco companies are losing money.

Why do game publishers want digital? Because they can milk your wallet dry, not pay a third party (Gamestop etc), and never have to reduce prices for "clearance." They get FULL control of their games and get 100 percent of the profit. Don't fall for it.

[Funantic1]

Sony fanboys don't wanna hear it. They only wanna hear sugar coated good news about the PS3/PS4. Both the Xbox and Playstation brand have their pros and cons.

[Spotie]

You make as little sense as this article.

[BDG]

lets get physical...physical :-)

[memots]

Let's get animal, animal
I wanna get animal, let's get into animal

[RosweeSon]

Not really it's at the tail end of a generation, next gen sure I think digital will get much larger but 12-15 million (Minecraft sales) still isn't barely 20% of the so called 80 million plus xbox 360's in homes, at least Microsoft got Minecraft first and got as much from it as they could, probably a good job as I don't see them having much else to brag about in the next 12 months just like they haven't in the last 6, one success story does not a console war win. Minecraft has no doubt been massive for xbox but considering it was already available on PC soon to be on oretty much every platform going Microsoft need some Triple A's to go alongside the not a lot else they got going on with the game front, sure ps4 doesn't have many triple A's yet but sure there on the way and they have plenty of indie games to keep us busy, the fact most of the best ones are free on ps4, win win.

[ZombieStalker]

People keep forgetting that a vast majority of the US population does not have high speed internet. Slow speed DSL and satellite internet are still very prominent throughout the middle of the country.

And lets not forget a hard drive crash. With a physical copy I can start playing games in a matter of minutes instead of having to download an entire game again.

And don't forget the small hard drives in the latest generation of consoles. It doesn't take but a few 30G+ games to fill up a 500G hard drive.

[BitbyDeath]

There are no benefits to digital only.
Argument is about as silly as stating we should go disc only.
It does not have to be one or the other it benefits nobody in limiting consumer options.

[MysticStrummer]

No.

http://www.ign.com/articles...

[uth11]

I want the flexibility of both.

I like being able to just boot up a digital only game and not have to go find the disc..

but my internet connection isn't fast enough to download the larger games, so physical media is still important. Plus it has trade-in value.

[AceBlazer13]

Stores in my country sell new games at about $500, that is roughly $77.00 USD.When I buy digitally however, a new game costs me around $380. So while I prefer retail copies, the money I save going digital is just to much for me to look pass up.

Importing is another viable option but it's such a bother sometimes

[paulogy]

I'm just going to leave this here:
http://www.gamestop.com/ps3...

[SpideySpeakz]

Man, I should become a writer. It seems like such an easy job.

[sovkhan]

Ok guys, let's make it clear, i seldom buy digital and prefer rather get my boxes...

It does not mean i'm against digital, but hey, i want the choice.

Having the choice is all that matter to me, so bring me the games in digital format, as long as boxes follow i'm in.

And by doing so please make the price fits the format, no excuse here, even if for me paying more isn't an issue...

I stand by my choices.