How Much Is Too Much For A Digital Download?

[DinnerX]

For me there are four tiers

1. Physical Games- I get a box, manual, and CD in addition to the game, so I'll pay more for this. I can resell the game.

2. Digital Downloads- I get the game, but no box, manual, or CD. I am getting less than I get with physical copies so I should be charged less. I can't resell it. I would probably pay $15 bucks tops.

3. DRM'd Physical Games- In most DRM schemes I have no assurance of being able to play forever so I feel I shouldn't be charged much. I do get a box, manual, and CD. In some DRM schemes I can't really resell the game because it has install limits.

4. DRM'd Digital Downloads- I have no assurance of being able to play it forever. I do not get a box, manual, or CD. I can't resell it. In short, I think these things are basically worthless, haven't bought any yet, and don't really intend too. But that is just my opinion.

[BoringSupreez]

For me there are four tiers

1. Physical Games- I get a box, manual, and CD in addition to the game, so I'll pay more for this. I can resell the game.

2. Digital Downloads- I get the game, but no box, manual, or CD. I am getting less than I get with physical copies so I should be charged less. I can't resell it. I would probably pay $15 bucks tops.

3. DRM'd Physical Games- In most DRM schemes I have no assurance of being able to play forever so I feel I shouldn't be charged much. I do get a box, manual, and CD. In some DRM schemes I can't really resell the game because it has install limits.

4. DRM'd Digital Downloads- I have no assurance of being able to play it forever. I do not get a box, manual, or CD. I can't resell it. In short, I think these things are basically worthless, haven't bought any yet, and don't really intend too. But that is just my opinion.

I didn't even know there was such a thing as a DRM'd digital download. Every time I've downloaded a game, I had just as much freedom as if I'd bought the physical version. DRM in addition to having it be a download sounds horrible. I wouldn't buy something like that for any price.

[MrPopo]

Steam can be considered a form of DRM'd digital download. The old games don't have any protection, but modern games do; they require Steam to be running to play them. And Steam had to be put into offline mode on that computer while you had an internet connection before you can take your computer off the net.

[SpoonyBard]

XBLA games are DRM download as well. You buy a license that only your gamertag can use. No guarantee that you can keep it forever, and you can't sell it. And you're only permitted to move your licenses to a different console once a year.

[BoringSupreez]

XBLA games are DRM download as well. You buy a license that only your gamertag can use. No guarantee that you can keep it forever, and you can't sell it. And you're only permitted to move your licenses to a different console once a year.

I never knew that. I only ever had one console, and one gamertag, and assumed that if I loaded the game to a memory card and put it on another system, I could play it there. Are PSN and WiiWare the same way?

[DinnerX]

XBLA games are DRM download as well. You buy a license that only your gamertag can use. No guarantee that you can keep it forever, and you can't sell it. And you're only permitted to move your licenses to a different console once a year.

I never knew that. I only ever had one console, and one gamertag, and assumed that if I loaded the game to a memory card and put it on another system, I could play it there. Are PSN and WiiWare the same way?

WiiWare and Virtual Console games are basically the same way only worse. A wii download is locked to a specific console rather than an account. I would have to do lots of hacking to cram my downloads onto another wii if my current one ever broke, unless I wanted to send it to Nintendo and pay them who knows what to fix it.

EDIT: I have got some DRM'd downloads, because I've got some VC games. Forgot about them earlier. Nintendo is so sneaky. That or I was just so ignorant.

[jfrost]

Contrary to most people here, I find physical products basically worthless these days. Filled shelves are pretty, but to me they're a waste. Same reason I don't care about physical books. DRM is an annoyance, obviously - but it is a losing battle for the publishers.

[RyaNtheSlayA]

And Steam had to be put into offline mode on that computer while you had an internet connection before you can take your computer off the net.

I'm not so sure about this. Last week on a car ride I opened up my laptop and when Steam couldn't find a connection, it gave me the option to go into offline mode without an internet connection at all. Played a few Portal chambers no problem.

Are PSN and WiiWare the same way?

I'm not sure if it will change with the new PSN Store etc. but, if it's the same, as long as you have the account that the games belong too on the system, you can play the downloadable games, even on a different account. I also believe it's limited to 3 or 5 PS3s at any given time. I'm not sure though.

I like Steam, GOG, and MacGameStore. They're the only download services I ever use anymore, as I can easily put GOG and MGS games onto DVD's with the activation key and Steam isn't going away any time soon.

[irixith]

I never knew that. I only ever had one console, and one gamertag, and assumed that if I loaded the game to a memory card and put it on another system, I could play it there. Are PSN and WiiWare the same way?

XBLA -- Downloads are locked to both your console and your gamertag. If your console breaks, you can go through a license re-authorization process once per year in order to enable your games on your new console. Or if you upgrade to a new unit, same process applies, etc. There are allowances for an additional transfer through their phone support, but I can tell you from personal experience it's not great. Almost one year after buying my slim, they still can't get the license transfer working, and as the bulk of my 360 purchasing was XBLA, the console sits unused.

PSN -- Downloads are tied to your account, which you can authorize on five devices. (This is why and how PSN game sharing is so popular.) Your account must be authorized on the PS3 in order to access the full versions, and a PS3 can have multiple authorized accounts. The PSP on the other hand, can only have one authorized account on it at time. Each time you want to play the games tied to a different account, you need to re-enter that account's information while removing the old information. Most people are surprised to learn that PSN downloads are, in terms of console download services, the most flexible of them all.

WiiWare/VC/DSiWare -- Downloads are locked down to your console. If for some reason you need to transfer them to another console, you must send Nintendo both the old and new consoles, and they will do the transfer for you. The same currently applies to the DSi/DSi XL, although soon you will be able to do the transfer yourself from DSi to 3DS (still not DSi to DSi).

(If you're of the eyepatch wearing persuasion, there are obviously ways to circumvent them all. One must allow for the possibility that the only way to hang on to these games in the future is through illicit means.)

The best DRM'd solution of course is Steam on the PC. You are allowed to download the game on to as many computers as you want, games are locked to your account. Once you sign in to Steam, everything is available to you. You can't log on to Steam in two locations at once (obviously), but any location you log in to, you have free access to your games. In the past year or so, there has been an alarming trend of many big name releases employing other DRM on top of Steam, which is completely unnecessary. You have to look for that on each game's store page under "third party DRM".