Are Digital Downloads A Cost-Effective Game Solution?
Wipeout HDThe situation is simple: there are about twelve million games coming out between now and the end of the year, and with the slumping economy, fewer people have extra money to spend on leisure hobbies. Analysts have already talked about the "cocooning effect" - as have we - which means the economic lag won't hurt the industry (it could actually help it, really), but shouldn't we be looking at more cost-effective gaming experiences?
New games cost $60; we all know that. And we can always turn to the cheaper used games if we want to save a bit of cash, but is there a better option? Well, Wipeout HD may have dispelled several important myths and could indicate a long-term solution. First of all, it was widely believed that only small, puzzle-like titles could be turned into a digital download, but that's obviously not the case. Sony's awesome futuristic racer proves this idea incorrect, as does the fact that Burnout Paradise (with all the extra goodies) is now on the Store. Wipeout HD is a full experience from top to bottom, and it only costs $20, while Paradise goes for $30. Yeah, the latter came out back in January, but even so, you get the point. Shouldn't more digital downloads be considered for the future if these are the prices we're looking at? This isn't a matter of a few bucks; we're talking about brand new games that can cost half - or even 1/3 - of what the retail releases cost. Just think about how much can be saved if you don't have to release the game on a disc and send it to retailers around the world...
We're of the philosophy that if it can be done once, it can be done again. Wipeout HD proves that this is a viable option, but we will freely admit that it's still not reasonable for giant blockbuster titles like MGS4, GTAIV, or something like that. Still, this doesn't mean we can't get some great stuff as downloadable software, right? Just tryin' to look out for the consumer's best interests, you know.
10/9/2008 Ben Dutka
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Comments (18 posts)
The Cheat
Thursday, October 09, 2008 @ 10:56:57 PM
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ray taylor
Thursday, October 09, 2008 @ 11:59:36 PM
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www
Friday, October 10, 2008 @ 6:35:13 AM
I luv to see the the thickness of the blu-ray disc anyday heck i even use it for mirrors now.I can carry the game disc anywhere n play not the whole system.
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Cavan
Friday, October 10, 2008 @ 1:55:10 AM
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LightShow
Friday, October 10, 2008 @ 8:25:39 AM
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1. Sony Comes up with an official way to transfer data from a smaller HDD to a bigger one. With all the digital downloads, any aficionado will need to replace his HDD with one that isnt so small. and it's going to be a pain making sure all your data gets over. a sony-produced program would hopefully catch anything that might fall through the cracks.
2. Sony's Servers get a major upgrade. My online multiplayer is solid, but my downloads take sooooo long, and my buds tell me that they have the same issue. if sony wants to make Downloads a viable option, they're gonna have to boost their servers. Big time.
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Dan
Friday, October 10, 2008 @ 8:31:08 AM
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With disks, you can just keep them aside when you don't need, but if you only have them on your hard drive, what would you do if it became full?
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bamf
Friday, October 10, 2008 @ 5:41:17 PM
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xStatiCa
Friday, October 10, 2008 @ 9:30:05 AM
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m2tbo
Friday, October 10, 2008 @ 9:47:46 AM
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mk ultra
Friday, October 10, 2008 @ 11:32:55 AM
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And I'm one of those people who still buy CDs. So even if this becomes the trend I'd still prefer to have a hard copy in my hands. I have really enjoyed both Super Stardust and Wipeout though, so I guess it is a good option for games I probably wouldn't consider for purchase if they cost a full $60.
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Joe_III
Friday, October 10, 2008 @ 1:16:01 PM
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We all know the stringent rules behind the PSN for redownloading paid content, and that has been cause for concern already. We've also seen this problem with iTunes, Yahoo Music, Spore and many others. DRM affects digital downloads more than it does physical copies, because HDD problems (failures, swaps, and upgrades) happen more frequently than Optical Discs.
Also with the current trends moving away from Net Neutrality from both ends, digital downloads could soon be more cost prohibitive when publishers are going to be paying for bandwidth and players are having to choose which games they get per month carefully because of bandwidth caps from their ISPs.
Don't forget that market saturation for broadband is still only around 70%. It's probably 85 for gamers alone, but I still don't think that that's high enough for publishers to rely on it -- especially with AAA titles like MGS4 and R2.
And personally, I like discs more than I do digital downloads. It takes a lot less time for me to go buy a game at a local store and play it than it does for me to download one.
Don't forget: games are big. The ISO for MGS4 is like 46GB. Even if you got japanese broadband speeds (50Mbps) on your connection that would take 2 hours to download. Would you like to wait 2 hours to dload? and then possibly dload it again after you deleted it to dload something else? and then dload again when you get a new HDD or PS3? no thanks.
Last edited by Joe_III on 10/10/2008 1:20:48 PM
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xnonsuchx
Friday, October 10, 2008 @ 3:29:53 PM
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bamf
Friday, October 10, 2008 @ 5:38:49 PM
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shaydey77
Friday, October 10, 2008 @ 5:51:16 PM
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shaydey77
Friday, October 10, 2008 @ 5:51:17 PM
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Xplicit
Saturday, October 11, 2008 @ 2:13:34 PM
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Gabriel013
Monday, October 13, 2008 @ 1:21:38 AM
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LCF
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Thursday, October 09, 2008 @ 10:50:48 PM