EA Hints at Dropping PC Retail Games!!

this would be a bad idea for me, a 4GB game would take me over 12hours to download. This is quite frankly stupid, i have no need to upgrade my internet speed as i can watch i-player and play online easily. But if they went this way I wouldn't be able to play games for days after they where released.
 
Depends on the DRM....and if you can back up once downloaded to CD/DVD.

Something like the Level D add-ons for Flight Sim where if you do need to reinstall it's easy (and free) to update the licence or get permission to install on another machine.

A minority game I know (though originally published by EA) but digital downloads for Rail Simulator can easily be put into the proprietary rpk format and backed up future re-installation purposes.

Biggest problem in the UK is going to be bandwidth restrictions - I know BT aren't the most generous but on Package "A" it's 10Gb a month with 60p a gig after that, all adding to the cost of the game. Even on Package C which is supposedly unlimited, you can bet your boots once you start downloading gigs of game files each month, they're going to cap you. Sorry but if downloading games and (in the future) movies is the next big step then telecomm companies are going to need a major rethink of their internet services.

I'm still all for having a proper DVD or CD in the case with a manual oh and no restrictions on how many times I can reinstall it...
 
uv said:
I'm all for digital downloads, but I won't be buying a single game over EA's awful distribution system.
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My currently feelings. Bloomin' awful when I've tried to use it, several times too. My internet connection is pretty quick btw. Imho we need the option of both. Me, I prefer a hard one ;)
 
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Am I the only one that likes a case, cover art, a printed manual and where appropriate, game world maps and the like? I wouldn't buy something like Morrowind or Oblivion digitally thanks.

As for EA, I refuse to buy their games because of their horrid DRM policy. I'd like to try Mass Effect and Spore but meh.
 
Dist said:
EAs distribution system is awful, and plagued with problems. Going to a fully digital method of selling games is OK with a platform like steam, but doing it with the EA download is a huge mistake.
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I don't mind giving up boxes, game art, paper manuals and DVDs, but I agree I wouldn't buy EA games if they were only available via EAs system. Steam/Impulse fine, but I ain't touching EA again.
 
PC Games ARE dying. This further highlights it. If you believe digital download only to be a good thing you are all living in cloud-cuckoo land even more than usual. It is a system littered with inate problems ie- servers down, and the fact that it takes an age to download a game. Fastest internet available on our line is 1.7mbps, now how long would it take to download a 10+ gig game?! Let alone the extra money charged by the internet company for downloading more than the 10 gig monthly limit. If I'm paying my hard hard earned cah for something your damn right I want a Nice shiny box to rip the sellophane open! Like when I buy an xbox game, notice they aren't going digital-game only are they.
PC gaming IS dying, End of. Shame.
 
Just have a look at € pricing for Steam games. It's ridiculous - the € was almost on parity with the £ and $ yet Mass Effect is $20 and €50!!!! That's why we haven't got EA games on Steam yet because no-one in their right mind would pay £40 for PC games.
 
I can guarantee when I receive my pre-order of EA's "Fight-Night Round 4" I will gleefully rip open the sellophane wrapper and check out the nice shiny brand new manual, cd and box-art as well as be satisfied I have that £40 product in my hand. Game looks AWESOME, much more promising than anything out on PC this year.
*Not even being released on pc*
 
Steam already own in this field tbh. And with that new thing coming out soon with streaming the games from the internet I doubt it will be successfull.
 
Would be interesting to know how EA would allow for additional downloads. So if your hard drive dies, do you have to pay an additional fee to redownload?

You could backup the games yourself, but with the finite life of optical media and hard drives, I'd just prefer to buy the original retail game instead.
 
Oh great. It already takes me hours just to download updates and such like. To download the photoshop trial I had the PC running through the night. Also, there support is almost as bad as HPs. I used the support service to ask about an installation issue and they replied about a different game!
 
I like having boxed games, I wouldn't want to move to solely digi, plus I can't be leaving my PC on all day to download a game that I could have delivered to my house then installed and playing after 10 mins
 
Squark said:
I like having boxed games, I wouldn't want to move to solely digi, plus I can't be leaving my PC on all day to download a game that I could have delivered to my house then installed and playing after 10 mins
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but you could have dl'd the game in well under <3 hours when it would take over 12-24 hours for the game to be delivered :confused:
 
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