Tim Ellis, head of games for HMV, has told GamesIndustry.biz that high street retailers still have an advantage over digital distributors when it comes to benefits for publishers and platform holders.
Speaking in an interview at the UK launch of the Nintendo Wii last week, Ellis said, "There's a lot of doom-mongering about downloading, but downloading audio has been big for quite a long time, and we're selling more music units than ever.
"You've got to be rational about it and think, 'Where will we be in five years' time?'. Yes, downloading will be an element of it, but can Microsoft do without retail partners? Can Nintendo? I don't think they really can, because they wouldn't get the standout," he continued.
"You need standout on the high street to get that perception out. If you're just relying on people sitting in bedrooms to buy your product, you're not going to get that excitement factor."
According to Ellis, HMV is "only seeing growth" for the games market at present - although, he conceded, things could change in the long term.
"In ten or fifteen years' time, will we come under pressure? Perhaps we might, but I don't think it's in the interest of publishers or platform holders to do away with retail, because they won't get the standout any more," he warned.
"So I think there will always be a retail element. Where we'll be in 20 years, who knows, but I think there will be a retail element to all the formats we currently sell."
"The most important games event of Latin America, gamescom latam, has unveiled the finalists for its flagship award ceremony, the gamescom latam BIG Festival, which celebrates the best in the global market of games." - Gamescom.
Microtransactions have gotten ridiculously overpriced in recent years, with titles now offering cosmetic skins worth more than some games.
The elephant in the room tho is personal accountability. It’s easy (albeit basic) to blame the big, bad corpo, but microtransactions wouldn’t be where they are if gamers didn’t spend money on them. As it stands the MTs usually make more than the game. Publishers know raising game prices will cause backlash, so they do MTs to compensate. But the adult conversation is consumers determine the success of products with their wallets. So if MTs are a huge thing, it’s because we as consumers told them we like them by giving them a lot of money for them. So if you don’t want them to be a thing, convince your fellow gamers to stop buying them and expect that games will be decently more expensive. You all can disagree all you want, but reality is a bitch, and eventually you have to live in it.
Trying to convince people is the least realistic thing. If we are trying to be adults, actual action is what changes things not "convincing campaigns" on platforms owned by the people 'you' are going against. It's madness and idealistic.
Easier said than done. I've told gamers for years to not buy micro transactions, expensive dlc, etc. Gamers bought it anyway. Didn't fit on a DVD that would have fit on a Blu-ray disc.
I also told some gamers to not pay for online like Xbox Live because it would force the rest of the industry to only offer playing online if you pay for it. Told them not to support a broken console that Red Ringed. To not support Xbox One because Microsoft tried to take away game ownership and how you play your games. To not pay for a console by one manufacturer where a, now 3 trillion worth, didn't make enough games at the level of Nintendo or Sony who are worth less money.
How much of that did you support anyway with your money then go back and read your comment again.
yeah that was like telling people not to do drugs or alcohol, these game companies invested a lot of money in researching about how to make people buy MTs, from creating mechanics like loot boxes, purposely make the game grindy, all the way to menu designs and what color and sound effects played when gamers bought MTs.
It was specifically engineered to take advantage of vulnerable and prone to addiction people.
@z2g
People always struggle with issues like drinking, drugs, and gambling. But in games, especially those played by kids, microtransactions are another way companies take advantage of them. It's a problem that needs addressing.
I recommend everyone read this article.
My suggestion is to name these transactions, what they ARE: Hidden-fees.
There never was, the only time I paid for a microtransaction was on Blacklight Retribution (PS4) and it was because I enjoyed the game a lot so I felt the devs should get something for all that entertainment (€5 "membership")
The devs wouldn’t get that though, that shit goes straight to the higher ups who do f*** all let’s be honest.
Probably, but I wasn't as cynical back then and €5 wasn't a big ask to get the guns with grinding instead of renting them, and the game was good (still is on the PS5/4)
I couldn’t believe what Blizzard charged for horse armor and cosmetics in Diablo 4…
I remember back in the day when a season pass was $15 and you got everything included in it. Now, I see them at $60 and you still don’t get everything.
That's just Blizzard. Unlike Bethesda's $0.99 horse armour, Blizzard's first microtransaction, Sparkle Pony, cost $15.
Bethesda out did themselves a few years back with 76. They released a Xmas bundle for half price on day of release! So, was meant to sell for only $12 from day 1, but tried to convince everyone it was half price, by marking it at $24!
As soon as gaming wasn't deemed nerdy anymore, and reached the casuals this happened. We're smart, but casuals play mobile games and other stuff, and don't really have anything to compare. They think gaming is supposed to be like this and pay for in game purchases.
A famous actor from Starship Troopers has showered praise on Helldivers 2 and said he is open to the idea of playing General Brasch.
There will always be a need for retail channels for electronics and content. People will always want to try out a machine before they buy it, so you need retail displays in stores and there are many who still don't trust putting their credit card info online and will only buy from a local retailer. Any console maker who tries selling their machines and games through online channels only, will end up losing big.