All indicators suggest that physical media is on the way out. There is no doubt that physical media can be a more convenient way to find and purchase titles for whatever new systems are coming down the chute in the next few years – but what about the drawbacks?
Security / Loss
- Pro: We imagine that your purchases will follow a user account, be it a PSN or XBL handle or otherwise. For those of us who regularly decline the additional three dollars at Gamestop to add insurance in case your little sister kicks over your 360 and carves a nice ring into that brand new copy of Kingdoms of Amalur – this is a great thing. No longer worry about storing and transporting discs back home from college or to a friend’s, recover your info, download, play.
- Con: With all of the hacking going on these days it’s difficult to deny the sense of security that accompanies holding something tangible in your hand. Consider what might happen if there were another outage of the PSN. Would players be able to access their games and play at all?
Connected vs. Non-Connected Play
- Calling to mind network outages begs the question – how about gamers who don’t currently play on the Internet at all? We couldn’t find statistics but one must assume that there are many who elect to play offline and have no need for the services made available via PSN, XBL or Nintendo’s upcoming offering. If it became a requirement, would all users be required to pay a subscription much like the current payment expected of XBL Gold users – just to own and use your console?
Payment
- According to the demographics (i.e. according to our Wikipedia search: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_game_culture) the number of children aged 8 to 18 who own a video game system is over 70%. Keeping that in mind, how many individuals in the same 8 – 18 age range do you think have a debit card, credit card or other means of electronic payment? According to a 2008 survey by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, the average age at which young people acquire their first credit card is close to 21 years old. Debit cards work as well but typically in order to acquire a debit card before age 18, you must have a joint bank account with a guardian as a co-signatory.
- While we certainly aren’t suggesting or condoning children making purchases without their parents’ consent – we do think that a sizable amount of video game purchases are made with cash by those ages 8 to 18. It’s your method of payment as a kid: change from the movies, birthday cards, allowance, mowing the lawn, etc… The standard source of income for most children is cash money. So what happens when all purchases go electronic? We’re guessing that kids don’t always tell their parents what they’re viewing, renting, buying – so how many of those purchases wouldn’t be made if things went cashless?
Used Games Market / Borrowing from Friends
- And how about those friends that you have who basically refuse to buy any titles at all? The ones who just borrow games from you all the time. What about the used games market? Studios benefit from used games being sold, borrowed, traded. You may be thinking, “But Splicepoint! Game developers and studios don’t make any money off of the used games market.” Maybe not directly. But think about the greater reach that their games have. Someone who wouldn’t ordinarily pay $60 to play a game can borrow it risk free. Maybe they like it and buy their own copy. Maybe they play through it but buy the sequel because they don’t want to wait for their friend to finish it, or because they want to play it at the same time so they can talk about it with their friends. And how many games are bought used because someone wanted to play the single-player campaign and not multiplayer and the second owner ends up paying for the DLC?
Fandom
- One thing that brick and mortar stores support that the “cloud” doesn’t is fandom. While not everyone attends conferences and midnight releases – many line up hours in advance waiting
for the clock to strike midnight so they can stay up all night with the newest installment of Halo, Call of Duty, Assassin’s Creed, Oblivion and the like. What happens when gamers don’t get together anymore and you simply sit on the couch watching Family Guy reruns until the clock hits midnight and your console downloads the game?
Retro Game Enthusiasts
This is particularly disquieting for collectors and enthusiasts for retro games. Many of us have held onto our NES, SNES, N64, PS2 or GBC and occasionally take trips down memory lane to play some favorites, be it Chrono Trigger, Kirby’s Dream Course, any of the Ninja Turtles games, Paperboy, and dozens of other classics that invoke a heavy dose of nostalgia. Will this still be possible? We can’t imagine that these companies will want to pay for the upkeep of their new cloud networks decades after they move on to the next generation console. Even if they would – would it remain technologically feasible? Things are being updated all the time.
Gift Giving
- This last point may be a stretch – but still relevant, at least, for now. Though it is possible now to give your friend a song on iTunes by purchasing it and sending them an e-mail with a link, or printing a redeemable code for their free download – many find that much less satisfying than opening a physical item. At the end of the day, there is just something about giving or receiving that physical item you’ve had your eye on. One of the greatest challenges of our era is the valuation and protection of intangible assets such as intellectual property and electronic data. So what happens when a grandmother wants to get her granddaughter the newest Cooking Mama game?
