The Drawbacks of Digital-Only Distribution

Google Stadia and Microsoft's All-Digital Xbox could be the beginning of the end for physical media, and that worries us.

[PhoenixUp]

“So although recent reports suggest that the PS5 will still have a disc drive, allowing it to thrive in developing markets where bandwidth is still an issue, it was inevitable that we would be seeing a non-disc version of a current or next gen console on the horizon.”

Why was that inevitable. There’s still no benefit or purpose in having a discless console. Xbox One SAD in particular reeks of halfassed decisions and just shows how bad an idea that concept is.

“And despite several setbacks and waning consumer interest, Sony continues to push its PlayStation Now service.”

Having the most successful game subscription service on the market is a sign of setbacks and waning consumer interest? What does that say about the lesser successful game subscription services?

“And whilst it’s heartening to learn that the new PS5 will have a disc drive and full backwards compatibility, there’s always the fear that we will just end up being sold games we already own, rehashed with better textures but none of the charm of the originals.”

So what if PS5 has remakes or remasters? There’s nothing stopping you from playing the original game if you still own it. That’s something irrational to be afraid of. Plus you make it sound like majority of released games don’t have the appeal of the original game when that couldn’t be further from the truth.

“But as games are the only physical media we still buy nowadays, the risk of them going the way of books, CDs and DVDs has become very real, and that makes us nervous.”

You can still buy movies, TV shows, music, magazines, newspapers, books and comics physically. Same thing with gaming. No matter how pervasive digital distribution becomes, we’ve rarely seen any medium where the physical format of that medium has gone completely extinct.

Digital will always remain an option because a large audience will always value and support physical media.

[darthv72]

The only aspects of the XBO:AD that are half assed is that they chose not to redesign the board (which would have resulted in an overall reduction in the units footprint) as well as the pricing. But to be fair, many of those retailers are selling the S units below the $300 MSRP on their own so MS did price the AD to be $50 lower than the MSRP of the S. They just didnt take into consideration that retailers were doing their own thing with current stock of S units.

As to your comment about movies and music and books, etc. I dont know about your retailers but many of the ones in my area (Northern California) are starting to scale back on their available space for music, movies and even printed publications and in the space they are expanding other stuff.

I'm constantly seeing the $5 and $7 bins at wal-mart being filled with all sorts of DVD ($5) and Bluray ($7) movies. Even the game cabinets are starting to thin out and there are more titles being pushed to the clearance end of the isle. It's good they still have something but I know my stores arent the only ones doing this.

Even many Best Buys were cutting their gaming selection (and movies and music) sections way back as well so it isnt retailer specific. It's happening more and more. I'm having to go to Amazon or ebay for my games.

[Hardiman]

Yeah the infrastructure just isn't there and it won't be for a long time. GI did s piece on the Stadia presentation, that demoed Doom Eternal and there was lag, not game breaking but lag . In a game like that where reflexes matter, it's not good. ALso that was a "best case" controlled environment not out in the wild either.

I believe some powerful companies want this as THE future but it's just not possible for everyone with games getting bigger and bigger. Its not hard to read between the lines and why some tow this "streaming is the way to go!"

I applaud Sony for just continuing to do what they've been doing and having Cerny do the Wired interview was pretty shrewd. I imagine they'll continue to do what they've done since they got in this game and that's elevate it with awesome hardware and exceptional software.

[PhoenixUp]

@ darth

XO SAD has the same 1TB HDD that present in every other current model. There’s no reason to get it over a disc based model as it doesn’t incentivize you to go digital moreso than any other console. A 2TB or 4TB would’ve been far more preferable, but alas it’s another halfhearted design decision.

It’s interesting that’s happening in North Carolina. Here in California I still see various stores selling physical media

@ Hard

They need to get cloud gaming to be just as even an experience as physical or digital gaming. And even then it’d still be blasphemy to neglect physical since that’s the method that millions of people still rely on or prefer to use. No reason to turn their back on a huge portion of the market

[darthv72]

The hdd size is ify... meaning there are plenty of S with only 500gb while there are some later bundles that include 1tb so it is what it is. It should have been 2tb at least for the AD.

Also, I said im in Northern California (not Carolina). The scale back of physical media is happening and it could be regional.

[Atom666]

When you consider that console gaming is pretty much the only sector still relying on physical more than digital, I do think it inevitably is going the direction.

PC shows that digital only is viable to millions of gamers. I don't think physical games are ending tomorrow, but inevitably, digital will become more popular than physical.

While you can still buy movies, CD, and books in physical formats, it's undeniable that digital has taken over. Big box stores are drastically cutting back on shelf space dedicated to them, and independent music, movie, or bookstores are on their deathbed.

My guess on MS's console is that they knew it wasn't worth the $$ to invest heavily in the production of completely redesigned hardware. The price is at least $50 too high, but the HDD argument doesn't hold much water to mr. Even if you buy physical, you need just as much storage space to install games.

[darthv72]

That's what I said above. I'm seeing it in my local retail stores. More and more of what used to be on the shelf (movies/music) are now finding their ways into the bargain bins. The stores are just trying to recoup some of the cost of initially ordering stock that filled the shelves.

One of my favorite stores was Fry's Electronics. They used to have a huge selection of PC software as well as rows and rows of games, music and movies. I used to go all the time to look at the PC parts and browse but had not been in there in some time. I went last weekend and to my surprise they really cut down on the amount of physical media and replaced the space with more things like As seen on TV stuff and really strange odds and ends. and lots of washer and dryers and tv stands. Basically stuff from other departments are now taking over space that used to be for movies, music and games.

[Atom666]

I moved to my town 18 years ago (New England). Same thing is happening here. We also went from multiple music, movie, and game stores to the scraps being sold at Best buy, target, etc.

[BlackIceJoe]

The best way we can combat this is by Not buying a digital all console. If we show companies that we want physical media they'll be forced to continue to bring out games on a disc and never bring out a discless video game console, as the only option.

[3-4-5]

* Game from 2016 online = $40-60
* Game from 2016 at Gamestop = $15-30

Until Internet speeds increase, and there are more price drops that mirror physical media, then I'm sticking with physical discs as long as I can.

I don't trust any of these companies to keep their word.

It's a glorified rental and there is nothing you can do about it......only a moron would offer away their rights and allow somebody else complete control over something they paid for IF there is another option out there.

* Solutions = Increase hardrive to 2tb HD or 1tb SSD.
* Increase internet speeds = Nintendo,Sony & Microsoft need to pressure internet companies into increasing all around.

[IMissJimRyan]

You know the article has a problem when the authors can't differ digital distribution from games as a service.

[phoenixwing]

To be honest sony is combating streaming gaming themselves. They've literally made it so that the ssd bandwidth is through the roof and loads faster for the physical console with a disc when it comes to the ps5. The only way for a streaming service to keep up is offering the option to download the game. Which basically makes it a moot point because both disc and non disc download to the hard drive. Sony doesn't bet on one horse though, they keep their options open. Which is why they stream older games while offering newer ones on both disc and digital. Sony aren't morons, they know a huge portion uses discs and another portion simply prefers discs. They're not gonna abandon that anytime soon because they don't want to be in microsoft's shoes when they tried to push all digital.