Do you begrudge paying for digital downloads?

[cutmymilk]

With the launch of the PSPGo and the success of iTunes, I'd guess that most people can now see that the future of entertainment distribution is digital. I know there have been discussions in the past but it is interesting to me to see if anyone has changed their views.

I personally hate the idea of only having the option of this, but can see the merits of being able to get something *now.* I can see that in the not-too-distant future full release games will only be available via the Internet, ready to play on your console in 10 minutes.

The worrying thing for me, and for a lot of others having read the PSPGo thread is the cost. No longer will games be £17.99 mere weeks after launch. They will stay at £35 or so for months, or perhaps for the entire console lifespan. Add that to the fact that you can't resell them and I don't see a very cost effective way of gaming should this be the only way to legally buy games.

Of course, with this type of hardware there's always going to be piracy and I believe that it will rise if anything, should this be the way things go. After all, I like to own my games but if I'm buying code then the pirated version is essentially exactly the same, right? Without the devs being paid obviously but the average Joe doesn't care about this. This is *not* a piracy discussion but I do think it will play a big part in the next gen if there are no physical discs to buy.

What are your thoughts on this?

[Junko]

I cant ever see myself going the digital download route completely , sure I dont mind small games wiiware or dsiware for example but I really dont want to be shelling out full rrp for a product that I dont physically own

[Dogg Thang]

I don't begrudge paying for digital downloads at all. I have bought tons from the iTunes App Store. Though those comparing the PSN PSPGo! store to that aren't really taking the biggest factor into account - price. That the full PSP games are much more expensive on the PSN store than actually just buying physical copies is plain crazy and I do think it's going to hold bacl sales.

While the odd impulse buy will be a certainty, beyond that, I think there will be a reluctance to pay high prices on the PSN store. Especially when, for better or worse (and I'm not all that convinced it's for better), a game priced at a tenner on the iTunes store is branded as ridiculously expensive.

Although you say you don't want it to be a piracy discussion, you have brought that into it and you're probably right to. It's an important part of it. But, when it comes down to it, I see piracy as theft (and I think it's only not theft because the ability to perfectly replicate didn't exist when defining the word), and will always want to go legit channels and actually support not just devs but those who set up and maintain distribution channels, marketing, communication and all the other people doing jobs that most people like to pretend don't exist when it comes to getting products out there.

And, while I mourn the loss of many aspects of the physical copy, I think I accepted the digital download method when the ease of buying from the iTunes music store overcame my distaste for the quality (which has now improved though could go much further), the lack of physical artwork and the fun of browsing through music shops. I still buy physically too but the ease of the iTunes store in finding what I want in an instant won me over.

As you've mentioned, I think the big thing for me will be price. Bargain bins seem to have a quicker turnaround these days. And they do in the iTunes App Store too, with prices dropping alarmingly quick. But not so on PSN. So it will be interesting to see how that all pans out.

[cutmymilk]

I think a quick look at the latest PSPGo thread on HOTUKDEALS sums up perfectly what the average Joe thinks of the PSPGo and digital downloads.

http://www.hotukdeals.com/item/483489/sony-psp-go-console-black-white-199/

Some quotes from the first page:

"boo to this product a total rip off insted buy normal psp with large memory card for way cheaper or the best choice buy ps3 you wont regret it"

"but only one source from where you can get the games is what puts me off! That means they could charge whatever they wanted no running to shopto.com or play.com for bargain games."

"Thats my biggest fear, im waiting to see the price of the games on PSN before i buy. If too dear i'll get an ipod touch."

I personally hope that the PSPGo fails. I'd hate for physical games to stop being produced and for the monopoly over the market that would generate. It is kind of the guinea pig for the videogame market so it will be interesting to see sales data over the next few months.

£10 as the max that a digital download should be sounds about right. I think N64 games are a rip off on the wii. In fact, the only worthwhile games on VC for me are the ones that are rare and hard to find in original form. The PSN store on PS3 and XBLA has some bargains, though.

[Goldenballs]

I don't mind paying for downloads, but I'd like the choice. Recently I've downloaded new release music albums from Amazon for £3 which seems a fair price. I haven't ever bought music through iTunes though, as it's cheaper to buy the CD.

If the only way to play games was to pay RRP for a download, I'd pack it in.

Last year I bought FIFA09 on release day for £30, played it for the best part of a year and then sold it for £10, so unless the downloads were about £20 (which they wouldn't be) I wouldn't be up for it.

[Psyduck]

In theory, no.
In practice, yes, because ultimately I end up paying £5-£10 for a boxed game on average once I've recouped money by selling it on when I'm done, and probably paid less than RRP for it.
Given they're not paying any production or distribution costs, or having to worry about over/under stocking they should be an awful lot cheaper than boxed games.

[Matt]

As you say, it's the continuing high price that irks me. Firstly, a digital title should be considerably cheaper than a physical copy - got to figure maybe half the price, without duplication, packaging, shipping, and the retailer cut. When your only cost to distribute is paying someone to put a link on the store and 16cents per gig (which was the cost last I heard), I fail to see how anything anywhere near full retail is good value. Nothing should be above £25; on the PSP, nothing should be above £15.

And of course, the price never drops. You just have to look at the biggest console DLC, Live, to see that they keep prices forever. No I don't consider a 400 MS point drop for one week a sale! A sale would be a 1200 title selling for 400 points.

No trading, no sharing with friends, no selling on. Without a great saving in the price, the consumer is losing big time.

Funnily enough, Steam has some amazing deals every weekend; large packages of titles for a fraction of their original cost, good deals on pre-orders. Steam should be the business model for others to follow.

If digital downloads were our only choice, I think we'd be in trouble. And a lot poorer.

[abigsmurf]

Console digital downloads = monopoly on publishing = not good for the consumer.

Steam has so many offers because it has competition (albeit not on Valve titles where you see questionable 'you have to buy the bundle, even if you already own it' things like Orange Box). They have huge competition in Direct 2 drive (who seem to get all the MMOs) and Gamestop digital.

Unless the EU clamps down on exclusive download stores like they clamped down on Nintendo's exclusive publishing for the NES, We're going to pay far too much for downloads.

[Flabio]

I can see a middle ground forming, where games do become digital downloads, but where different retailers are allowed to sell them. We have this with mp3 now after all, you can buy from iTunes, Amazon etc...

[Btang84]

Agreed with you there Chain, Steam is so far the only distribution service that has worked. You can download from there, you can buy physical copies and use them with Steam. I was in China and wasn't able to buy The Orange Box, so got my mate to buy another copy and he sent me the CD-key and I used that to download the game through Steam. That was one method that worked brilliantly.

My main gripe is definitely with the fact that the price stays consistently high. Steam has price drops every week and some of the deals can be absolutely fantastic. Games like Burnout Paradise and GT5 Prologue are still more expensive than their physical copies, so where's the incentive in buying those? Small games like Pixeljunk Monsters are fine at their low pricepoints but I won't be so willing to just splash out ?30 on a digital download when I can't get a refund or trade it in if I dislike it or am bored.

[Mayhem]

If the download is not available anywhere else, then fine. I'd always prefer buying a physical product however.

[sj33]

Digital distribution still has some teething problems, but I don't subscribe to the idea that you're not actually paying for anything. Games, movies etc. have traditionally been tangible out of necessity, but we're not just paying for the plastic, booklet etc - that's one small fraction of what we're paying for when we purchase a game. It's not unreasonable to take a cynical view of digital distribution, especially when the primary motivation for many companies to embrace digital distribution is to tackle the resell market (as opposed to embracing new technology), but I think it's worth considering both the positives and the negatives.

Steam is an excellent example of a good digital distribution service. I am at university where I have no access to my install discs. No problem - I can reinstall the game from within Steam. Excellent stuff, no need to bring my game discs across the country. Steam is also an excellent example of what is wrong with digital distribution - the publisher and distributor has greater control over the pricing of a game (unlike in retail stores where they buy stock at a set price, and can sell it for whatever they want). The result is that games like Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare still cost an absurd £29.99 on Steam. This problem is even worse on consoles where you only have one distributor for each platform - Live Marketplace is the only option on the XBox, PlayStation Network is the only option on the PS3. The PC is a tad more open in this regard because Steam has to compete with Direct2Drive etc, but the lack of resell option means the games usually stick very close to RRP for a long time.


In fairness to Valve, they attempt to offset this problem with their weekend deals (and sometimes even mid-week deals), and I've picked up some real bargins. For example, The Orange Box for £4.50 over a year ago, and I picked up each remaining part of Half-Life 1 and 2 for just over a quid a piece the other week. I bought Fallout 3 on there for £13 about 5 months ago, too. So Valve do seem to be trying to help things, because the sales of software take a huge jump during promotion weekends, and this encourages other publishers to take part. On the other hand, Microsoft seem determined to make the problem worse, by forcing publishers to keep a fixed price point on content to influence the customers perception of 'value'. It does not work, as the Left 4 Dead DLC backlash displays.

But getting back to the point, I think I'm long past the attatchment to the tangible object, but I think there needs to be greater openness in the digital distribution space to encourage publishers to become more competitive and give customers a deal that makes sense over the physical options.

[peeveen]

I don't mind paying for DLC, but as has been mentioned the pricing models are largely a joke, especially on XBox Live. Tuppence-ha'penny discounts over one year down the line are NOT how it should be done, and the prices they're asking for downloadable versions of last season's retail games are laughable when you can usually find better and more modern games for less from play.com.

[Wil]

I'd rather have a physical product but like it or not, downloading is only going to get more prevalent. And why not? Companies don't have to actually make the physical thing, they make more money per unit, can keep prices higher for longer and the used market goes away - they love it! They don't love you.

[Neon Ignition]

To me the long history of iTunes comparisons is stupid, I know there are connections but digitally selling a 79p track or ?8 album has nothing in common with a ?25-40 game. I'd buy an XBL/PSN release but if a physical copy exists I'd pick that even if it cost a little more. Hell, if I want an album I still pick up the CD.

To me a digital only future is a corporate pipe dream which like the DVD/Blu Ray switch to digital isn't gonna happen.