The end of physical media is near........

[GSZX1337]

Recently I wanted to buy Fallout 3 for PC. The downloadable version was more than twice as expensive as buying the actual game (DVD and all). Insane.

I'm guessing you missed out on the Steam sale. Steam had Fallout 3 for $25.99.
When these kind of prices (or whatever the equivalent is after inflation) become the norm, that's when I'll ditch my boxes.

[the7k]

While I liked the PSP Go's design, the lack of a UMD kills it for me.

If I get a PSP, the main way I'm going to be getting games will be through either GameStop or Amazon. There's no way in hell I'm going to pay $30 for a game I know I can get elsewhere for less than $10.

In fact, I'm willing to spend more for a game if I get a physical copy. I'd rather spend the extra money + shipping on getting a European version of Ratchet & Clank: Quest for Booty than buy it off of PSN. It's not even a memory issue - I just want it on my shelf.

The only reason these DD games are the same price (or more) as their physical counterparts is to keep the retail stores from rioting. So, basically, as long as physical copies exist (that have to be distributed through retail stores), DD will remain extremely expensive.

Of course, even if physical media was done away with, there is no guarantee that they'd lower the prices. Maybe, after people get used to spending $60 for nothing more than hard-drive files, big brother will see no reason to lower the prices. After all, where else are you gonna get it?

[MaliceValentine]

wow lol its go online 11 of August thats my birthday >___>

I'm going to miss my physical copies and any form on new PSP games on umd -____-

[Erik_Twice]

There's always going to be a retail version. T put it blunty, most of my friends that play WoW buy it in a shop instead of using the net. And they keep the boxes

[Dakinggamer87]

I really enjoy having the physical media over digital copy because I like displaying my collection of games with artwork but at same time I don't mind digital distribution as long as I actually own the copy I download and it's transferable..

[gtmtnbiker]

At work, we've been not using physical media for a few years. We download ISOs from Microsoft, Macrovision, Atlassian, and other companies. They're placed on our file servers.

So I can definitely see this happening for the console market in the future (10+ years). It's happening with the iPhone. Can you get physical media for it?

[Incognito D]

I'm in favour of this but only really in the case of handheld consoles, where it's a major advantage to be able to carry all your games around with you at once without need for a rucksack. It's the main reason I use a flashcard with my DS.

[General Chaos]

I think the reality is that anything that can go digital will, not just games. Fuel prices will continue to rise, making shipping of all components much more costly and the price of just about everything will inflate unreasonably. If you look at it that way, digital distribution might actually save gaming. If food could be digitally distributed I'm sure it would. Now that's something I would buy.

[BoringSupreez]

If physical media dies, then classic gaming in the future won't exist for those consoles. Consoles that have only digital games will have very little resources for games once the servers are taken down. Unless pirating/downloading those games exists, it's a lost cause...

That's how I feel, and it makes me unhappy. I don't want to lose Braid and Bionic Commando Rearmed forever just because my Harddrive fried after the service was discontinued.

[deathred]

At work, we've been not using physical media for a few years. We download ISOs from Microsoft, Macrovision, Atlassian, and other companies. They're placed on our file servers.

So I can definitely see this happening for the console market in the future (10+ years). It's happening with the iPhone. Can you get physical media for it?

Right, but you can burn those ISOs and they give you CD/Reg codes for them.

They can't possibly keep this up in the long run. If every game was Download only, imagine the amount of servers they would need not to just carry the games, but to keep track of who owns what.