I was a bit surprised to read this piece from GamesRadar today. For those of you who can’t be bothered to click the link, it’s a piece decrying the fact that 73% of UK-based console gamers still exclusively buy boxed copies of games on disc, without ever purchasing any digital download titles. The article then goes on to pontificate as to how this can be “fixed”.
My immediate response was “why does this need to be fixed”?
The piece does make some good points. Digital distribution cuts down on a considerable number of overheads and organisational considerations when compared with physical distribution — particularly on console platforms, where the platform holders still have very tight control over what can and cannot be released and sold in a box. Digital distribution allows smaller developers to release games to the public without having to worry about these overheads and organisational consideration — or even working with a publisher in some cases. It is ideally suited to the indie movement, in other words, though the article appears to espouse a philosophy of “all digital, all the time” being the way forward for interactive entertainment.
I’m not resistant to the idea of digitally distributed titles being available. The vast majority of my PC game collection is digital, and in fact I threw out a whole bunch of physical PC games when we moved this time — largely because they were old copies of games that no longer run on modern systems, and in most cases there are downloadable modernised versions that will happily run on newer hardware and operating systems. Similarly, if the only way to acquire a particular game on console or handheld is to download it, I will happily hand over my money and download it.
Here’s the thing the article is missing, though: some people are collectors. I consider myself a collector of games, and I display my shelf of PC, PS1, PS2, PS3, Xbox 360, GameCube, Wii, Wii U, PSP, Vita, DS and 3DS games with a great deal of pride. I like being able to look at that shelf, think “oh, I used to enjoy that game”, pull it down, pop it into a console and be playing it again a moment later. With the increasing speed of broadband these days — particularly if you’re lucky enough to have fibre-optic like us — it doesn’t take very long to download an older game, but there’s still something very pleasant about seeing that box art, holding the box in your hands and putting the disc into the device. And for newer games — particularly with the excruciatingly slow speeds the PS3 downloads from PSN — I’d much rather just put in a disc and play than wait for 10GB or more to download.
The other consideration, of course, is that console online stores are closed ecosystems that theoretically could close down at any time, denying you access to content you’ve purchased a license to. Note: purchased a license to, not purchased. That license can be revoked at any time, meaning that there’s always the risk that, having deleted a game to make space on your hard drive at some point in the past, you might not be able to get it back ever again at some point in the future. This issue is hopefully a way off for now, but it will become a problem in a few years, I imagine.
The newer consoles, the Xbox One and the PlayStation 4, have another problem, and that is the size of the downloads for newer games. Many new “next-gen” games are weighing in at 40 or 50 GB each, and with both consoles only coming with a 500GB hard drive as standard, that’s only ten games you can have installed before you have to start deleting things. Granted, most gamers will probably only have one or two games on the go at once, but then there’s that old concern again: what if, for some reason, you’re suddenly no longer able to download something you paid £40 for? That sucks, and it does happen, even well before the whole store closes — recently, Europe saw the removal of Persona 4 Arena from the PlayStation 3’s PSN without explanation.
Ultimately what is needed in this regard is not someone slamming down a gavel and saying “The Digital Future begins now!” — what is needed is the acknowledgement that consumers like choice. Collectors like myself who value games as cultural artifacts to be displayed with as much pride as books should continue to have the opportunity to add to their collection, while those who prefer to declutter and have their digital entertainment on tap — or who perhaps see games as a more “disposable” form of entertainment — should also have the opportunity to enjoy their games without acquiring things to find a home for in their house. Small developers should continue to have the opportunity to release their games as digital-only releases, with the most successful ones — see titles like Journey and its ilk — eventually making it to a physical release if the demand is there.
In other words, so far as I can see, pretty much the ideal situation is what we’ve got now. So why is that a problem that needs “fixing”?
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I agree. I had the problem of the no longer available download copy of quite a few older games when RealArcade Games closed – they were taken over by BigFish Games thank goodness who were able to provide the redownload for most of my existing games, but there were many that were just no longer available. To their credit, as a courtesy, they provided Game vouchers for both Standard and Collector Editions that were missing. But of course I could no longer regain the old games. Mind you I find that with the progress in the quality of graphics, design, and gameplay of the continual stream of new games, I tend to play ‘forward’ with only the occasional revisiting of old faves.
Like you I like the box and disc, but also like the quick downloads. The trick is to keep an older PC around and running, so when you want to play an older game you can chuck it in there and it will play. Of course there is no doubt that the graphics aren’t as sophisticated as those now.
A question – how can we game players get through to TellTale Games and Ubisoft to let them know that we NEED ANOTHER CSI GAME!!! I have tried every way I can think of but get no response, and don’t even know if they receive my pleas. I know from my own site that there are huge numbers of CSI game fans just waiting for the next issue – but nothing has come out now for several years. It is a great format – unusual in that you walk physical characters through the crime scenes, collect evidence, ask questions, process evidence in the Lab, and more. There is even one that has a Case involving Gaming. I don’t know if you have played one, but they are so popular – I get the most traffic on those games in my site, always. Is there anything you can suggest that I try? Is there anyone you know in the industry who might be able to help?Can you ask your contacts, your gaming pals, put your great mind to this little problem of mine and let me know if there is anything I can do, or we as a body can do, to get through to these Developers/Producers? I would really appreciate your help. Jud 😀
I’m just sad that so many producers seem to think that their games don’t deserve to exist as long as we want them, and only as long as *they* want to provide them. It goes against the idea of games and other technology that communities have created. It sounds like Shakespere choosing to take his own plays away, also forbidding anyone to perform them, just because he isn’t making enough money off of them. (Guess that’s why museums and books are around longer than games, bleh.)
Some people are more comfortable owning something they can control completely, and having the option to try and make it still work 10 years later. Maybe that’s just what business hates, that we take the control of their product or service out of their hands this way, I don’t know. XP