News Sony: Market not ready for download-only consoles

@TheStockBroker

ah - sorry I miss-understood - thought you were meaning private sector being for companies and stuff.


anyway - the solution is still to do away with physical media and just have a re-usable usb stick for those that need it.

 

Good bit of empathy from Sony there, or that's how i'm going to see it. Keeping the physical alternative there keeps the console open as an option for those with a bad connection.

 

well luckily Steam only has to download installer files that tend to be a 1/3 or less than the actual size of the game then install it which uncompresses it. I wonder why console couldnt do similar. It would still take forever using the console manufacturer's pathetic network to do it, but still would be faster than downloading a massive 50GB Blu-ray file as 15GBs than an uncompressed 50GBs.

 

I'm still on 1mb/s broadband speeds so theres no way me or anyone who lives in my area will ever buy something that needed me to dl a 15gb file just to play the game instead of going to the shop.

Also I should think they want someone like me and see the 3 for £40 sale instead of just buying the one as I would if I would get a game off steam etc

 

They're right. While I myself have no trouble using online distribution for getting my games (though I have been buying a few second-hand games from retail stores), there are still a considerable amount of people not knowing about, or not wanting, the ability to buy games digitally.

I know it's not exactly the same, but I work in a (relatively high end) Hi-Fi store, and people still walk in the door asking for DVD players. Those people make up an important part of Sony's target market, so I think they (Sony) are right in keeping on pressing discs.

 

hell, for me it's faster to download from steam than to drive 10 minutes to the mall, find a parking space, buy the game, come home, and install it.... waaaay faster

 

I have a 100 GB per month cap so the prospect of downloading 21 GB games such as RAGE on Steam just do not appeal to me, especially after all the horror stories about The Witcher 2's 9 GB patches. Although the few games I have bought on Steam have downloaded quickly, I'm not yet ready to give up on physical media as I find them handy as backups; after all, it is far, far quicker to install a game from disc than to download it plus it doesn't eat into my monthly usage allowance. And Steam are overpriced anyway, they're selling RAGE for £30 yet I bought my copy from ShopTo.net for £24. That saving goes towards new games, for example, they've just sent out Dead Rising 2: Off the Record, which only cost £14 at ShopTo (I suspect it'll be £20-£25 on Steam).

Until new release digital downloads drop in price and my monthly cap goes up then I can't see myself not buying disc-based games.

 

@Volund - Have you ever heard of online shopping... you know... where you pre-order a game or whatever and get them at the same time they go on sale in the shops, or more often in my experience, a day earlier? It's been years since I last went into a video games shop, I do all my shopping online and save a considerable amount of money too.

 

I'm going to go with some complete conjecture here... but if you are willing to fork out on new gaming hardware ever now and then and see yourself as a bit of a computer enthusiast, you're probably going to have a good broadband package with lower contention. So, for PC gaming the online model works because we're ahead of the curve

 

Unless you're a pc gamer that doesn't live where virgin/bt want you to :/

 

Ar... yes. There are those half in the dark areas/places. I hear the I.O.W for instance, just got fax!!!

 

Sony is a global company. They don't just look at the 'developed worlds' internet connection. They need to think of the rest of there customers/consumers. I purchased my PSP in Sri Lanka while I lived there, I had no internet connection and although there where net cafe's they where incredibly slow. If Sony had gone the digital only route, id be screwed. Even in the Caribbean I used to struggle with the internet, often having non or moving at a crawl.

Going digital only does not just pose to be a issue for those who live outside of the more 'highly developed countries' but for those inside as well. You cannot always be 100% sure you will always have a internet connection. When I first moved to the U.K it took months to get a stable internet connection (thank BT for that) and since then have the occasional day where my net refuses to co-operate.

Then you have to consider how well servers will handle the load. Id say very few games distributors could handle a few million downloads on a big name title on the release day. Clearly with the issues customers get with both PSN and Steam only serves to echo as such.

Then we can move unto issues such as DRM and Cost. If Sony went fully digital, I can bet the channels that you could obtain the games would become a whole lot more limited. That would not only effect where you buy but at what cost, no more shopping around for the best deal. I can also bet if Sony went fully digital, they'd try to slip in some painful DRM, perhaps go the S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2 or AC2 Route, I mean if you have to have a internet connection to download a game, its not to much to assume that the majority of your customers have a permanent internet connection.

Not to mention some people actually enjoy browsing in store, seeing what's available and asking questions (some employee's are genuinely helpful). Some people just don't like to or understand how to use online digital services. On Bit-tech I am sure the majority are fully able to use digital services. However I can tell you most of my family would be totally lost. Even if the U.I was simplified.

I for one am glad Sony has made this move and I think it was the right choice. I want the security of being able to game when and where I want and choose what price I pay for my games as well as what I can do with them (re-selling etc...).

I think digital distribution is a viable way to obtain games, however making it the sole option would be bad on all counts, well apart from the money you'd save by omitting a disc or card reader.

 

Even tho I've got enough speed top download games, software or music I still like to have hardcopies of them, preferably without any DRM.

If you download something you simply don't get the same feeling compared to owning a physical copy with a nice booklet etc.

 

Perhapse I should elaborate then.... if you really think I've never hear of online shopping .

I don't pre-order, and if I'm buying a game, it has most likely been out for months already. If I order it from steam or another digital download provider, I have it downloaded and installed within half an hour. If I order it from amazon/newegg/etc, I'm looking at 2 days minimum from time of order, plus I have to wait around the day it is being delivered, seeing as UPS refuse to leave packages unsigned for in my neighborhood .

I was just making a point with the shop comment

 

Physical copies are a good thing. I for one like to have physical copies of games especially if I pay more then $50 Australian.

Solution for digital only however is to have game stores that offer devices with game demos for testing/browsing, then supply a high speed Internet connection where you can hook up your device or USB drive and download at the store. (local server with gigabit Ethernet anyone?)

 

Hell, I stopped buying games entirely on steam and I just order the 360 version because it takes longer to download a 500mb game (yes, 500, much less a 4-10gb full size modern PC game) than it does for international APO shipping from amazon to get to me.

I pay $100 a month for 10-20kbps, when the service is actually up.

 

You're absolutely right there.

...if that's uncompressed (BluRay) that's 40-50GB it takes me about a week
GTAIV took me two days to pull from Steam.

 

What about people who do not have web access, there are people who only have internet access at work as they dont need it at home, or move house regulary or live in rented accommodation. this would block these people off from gaming.. admittedly a small market but i know if i was living somewhere for 6 months wth no net id turn to a console for evening entertainment