If the industry made the transition to "Download Only"..

[Gikoku]

How would you feel about it? No more hard copies of games, mass advertisements assuring you that you'll have complete convenience and save yourself tons of shelf space with no more disc maintenance for the careless. But would you really be accepting of such a thing, or would you get mad as hell?

 

[Quistrix]

It's already pretty much happened with the music industry. So, why not the gaming industry too?

If this did happen, and I didn't have the choice between actual disc copies of games or downloadable copies, yeah, I'd be pretty mad. Nothing beats that new game smell.

 

[Sephiroxas]

I'd be kind of sad. I like my big collection wall of games. People can come over and take a look at it, and know what kinds of games I like. And Disc Maitanence is a pain, but I take good care of my game discs and make sure they're NEVER scratched. Anything that has scratches came that way. I'd probably be either or, I wouldn't really care too much. I mean you can already download most games eiher Via Steam, Xboxlive, or so on. :lol: I wouldn't be mad as hell.

 

[D3m190d]

If they got rid of physical hard copies of games, I've be disappointed ='(. There's just something about going to the store, see it in the shelve, pick it up and look at it, pay for it, and go home with it in your physical possesion, while you look forward to playing it.

But after a while I'd get used to it, I guess... People are forced to be lazy that way.

 

[Gikoku]

Agreed, if there's two things I like about my games it's that new plastic smell and being able to hold them in my hands.

Not just that though, but if I ever wanted to do a trade-in of my games for another.. well.. I can't do that with a digital copy. Top that off with long download times and limited HDD storage space, and it ends up being something of a nightmare.

 

[Angel]

I'm still not a huge fan of digital copies of anything - I hate when I have to reformat my PC, for example, and remember to backup every tiny little thing in case it's lost forever (which is what happened to all my MP3 downloads after there was an error and 35 songs were wiped - they weren't iTunes so I had to buy them all over again which I wasn't pleased about).

I like how it looks on my shelf too - and I like the physical bonus items you get with hard copies like little models, tokens, maps - all that sort of stuff. A few downloadable bits like a tattoo or in-game t-shirt just aren't the same and I have no great time for my XBL avatar that I want to have special clothes just for some cartoon character of myself which doesn't exist outside of a virtual world.

Plus, there's some fun to be had queuing up at midnight for that special game you've been waiting for...much less frustrating than sitting in a download queue at your desk only to find out at the end that your code cannot be redeemed or the server has crashed or whatever. I mean, look what happened to UK customers wanting their digital copies of Brink...

 

[Dark Drakan]

Pros and cons for both ways but i think the cons still outweigh the pros currently. I mean if they made them cheaper due to less publishing costs and PDF download for the manuals then that wouldnt be that bad. However consoles would need huge hard drives to store them all and the internet speeds in the UK arent great so would take an age to download a full game. Also wouldnt be able to sell them after you were done with them.

 

[Tsuyu]

I mean if they made them cheaper due to less publishing costs and PDF download for the manuals then that wouldnt be that bad.

Yes it would be bad.

I can't read a .pdf while on the can!

 

[Arseface]

I'd be hella sad. I like having my hard copies sitting on my shelf, safe for when the time comes for me to rebuild my computer. I have a kinda ordinary internet connection, and downloading all the Windows updates each time is kinda annoying. If I had to wait for every game to download before I could play it, I would probably give up games and concentrate more on my schooling.

Ergo: Steam is bad, mmkay?

Yes it would be bad.

I can't read a .pdf while on the can!

That's why sweet baby Jesus invented iPhones.

 

[Dark Drakan]

Yes it would be bad.

I can't read a .pdf while on the can!

If i could transfer them to my phone via USB it would be fine for me. :lol:

 

[Arc Caster]

I definitely would hate a transition to download only, and would stop playing games for a few years, since I wouldn't (and don't right now) have any credit card/MS points type of thing to purchase games with. So, honestly, It would **** me off to no end. I'm totally against it. As people have said so far, there is something great about having a shelf of games, and the hard copy is something you can sell / treasure, I dunno.

 

[Zarkes]

If it somehow made modding easier for consoles which it wouldnt then Id see the brightside.

I like opening a new gamedisc, reading the pamplet and maybe admiring the preorder trinket for 5 seconds.

And I cant believe you posted that videoclip XD

 

[cheezMcNASTY]

personally, i wouldn't be opposed if it would make games cheaper, but knowing them they'd try to charge the same amount.
fun fact: a video game retailer only makes 3-5% profit on a brand new game or console. it's no wonder they rip off so much with trade-ins (20-30% profit).

it'd also bother me to need to be paying an ISP any time i wanted to purchase a game. it's not that it's a bad idea, i think steam and the console online marketplaces were fantastic ideas. i just don't want them to be the only option.

i need to be able to go buy something used when i only have $20 in spending money, and that would be an impossibility if everything were digital.

or would you get mad as hell?

i dig the network reference