Are Digital Downloads of games the future? Not at these prices!

nikebee

nikebee

nikebee

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I'll try not to turn this into a rant... It's inevitable that of course the answer is "yes", sooner or later physical media will die and for the most part we'll all be using digital media, we can all agree on that much.

But considering that the PS4 digital prices have been announced and the Xbox One's have been around for a little while now... I just cannot understand how these companies expect us to make the transition from hard copies of games to digital only titles when they're so expensive!

Every EA title on the Xbox One is £54.99, on the PS4 they're priced at £62.99 whilst a quick Google for FIFA 14 on next gen shows you can get it for £47 (and I'm sure cheaper).

The shift to digital gaming is going to happen, I'm a huge lover of Steam and the Steam Store model... but why are we paying a premium for something we cannot physically even touch? Is that extra £10 the price of convenience?

I also cannot understand how both Sony can agree to charge more for cross console titles than their competitors! Why am I asked to pay £57.99 for Assassins Creed IV on the PS4, £54.99 on the Xbox One... or £48 if I ask Amazon to deliver it to my house tomorrow morning.

Nevermind the fact that we're getting shafted simply for being in the UK. The exchange rate is roughly 1.6 pounds to a dollar right now... it's not 1 dollar to 1 pound.

edit:
It seems Eurogamer have picked up this story and there's an interesting note.

It should be noted that both Microsoft and Sony do not set the price of third-party published games on their digital store fronts.
Click to expand...

So the question is, why are titles more expensive on the Sony store?

Are Sony taking a larger cut in transactions than Microsoft, forcing publishers to increase prices to make the same revenue?
 
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Have you seen Nintendo's prices for digital games :eek: now they are some crazy prices too and most of them are first party games !

I have to say though, this gen I really wanted to go the digital route. But the prices are just awful, also considering how much "cheaper" they are if you go the US online store (PSN + Xbox Live) and the $ > £ makes you quite a saving. Not sure if you would get banned or something for using that though.
 
I like the idea of quick switching for games but not at these prices. The whole thing is just wrong as they have lower overheads, no physically manufactured copies, inc cases and printed slip covers, no physical distribution, no physical handling at point of sale, and yet they cost as much, if not more in some cases, as the physical copies.
 
Same for CDs though.

I often buy the proper cd and then rip it rather than pay for digital version as it's no cheaper, even though it costs more to make the cd and ship it.
 
Adsta said:
Have you seen Nintendo's prices for digital games :eek: now they are some crazy prices too and most of them are first party games !
Click to expand...

Is it wrong that I forgot Nintendo actually have a "next gen" console, I'd have included them in my post otherwise... :o
 
Aeleys said:
i hope there will always be choice i like collecting what can i say

but digital should be cheaper
Click to expand...

I've gotta say I'm the same to some extent.

That's the reason I don't get certain titles from Steam, purely because I want the limited edition box, or I want to keep collecting them.

There's also a certain amount of nostalgia that comes with bringing out an old game :)
 
Digital prices are a complete joke.

The fact they stay the same for ever just highlights how greedy console makers are with it. They need to adopt a policy where they get cheaper, they also need to have sales (and good ones like Steam) and have release prices closer to those prices found on Steam.

Screw retail like they screw publishers/devs, price it aggressively.

I have a digital copy of Forza 5, and switching to it without having to get a disc is amazing. Shame the prices prohibit a digital only future.
 
Anyone that thought digital game downloads were going to be remotely competitive is an idiot. Beyond just matching release pricing, just doesnt happen and right now with physical games needing to install themselves, I dont see the benefit of digital other than the lack of swapping a disc - but is that really a massive issue?

ps3ud0 :cool:
 
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ps3ud0 said:
Anyone that thought digital game downloads were going to be remotely competitive is an idiot. Beyond just matching release pricing just doesnt happen and right now with physical games needing to install themselves I dont see the benefit of digital other than the lack of swapping a disc - but is that really a massive issue?

ps3ud0 :cool:
Click to expand...

Right now digital would make the Xbox One's "Xbox go to ____" feature work an awful lot better than it currently does. :p
 
ps3ud0 said:
I dont see the benefit of digital other than the lack of swapping a disc - but is that really a massive issue?

ps3ud0 :cool:
Click to expand...

Wait til you get your PS4 and have a download game and switch between that and the disc game in your PS4, then you want to play another disc game, OH NO I HAVE TO MOVE NOW.

Yes it's an issue, I can switch between DR3 and Forza 5 so easily, it's a pain to have to put Ghosts in.

An instantly switchable game collection with no need for discs would be great. But oh dear Jo public got upset with MS's vision of the future and ruined it.
 
nikebee said:
Right now digital would make the Xbox One's "Xbox go to ____" feature work an awful lot better than it currently does. :p
Click to expand...
Not really a well thought out feature then :p. It would be nice if it auto ejected the game if it realised its not the right disc for the command you requested...
anticonscience said:
Wait til you get your PS4 and have a download game and switch between that and the disc game in your PS4, then you want to play another disc game, OH NO I HAVE TO MOVE NOW.

Yes it's an issue, I can switch between DR3 and Forza 5 so easily, it's a pain to have to put Ghosts in.

An instantly switchable game collection with no need for discs would be great. But oh dear Jo public got upset with MS's vision of the future and ruined it.
Click to expand...
LOL thats just too funny, I can understand if you were registered disabled or something. Considering how much of my PS3 collection is via PSN, Im well aware of the marginal benefit - its not all that at all - talk about purchase justification :p

ps3ud0 :cool:
 
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I refuse to pay more for a digital version of a game than a physical copy.

By buying a digital version I'm losing any resell value and so it should be cheaper.

I won't touch digital download until they are around £30
 
ps3ud0 said:
I dont see the benefit of digital other than the lack of swapping a disc - but is that really a massive issue?

ps3ud0 :cool:
Click to expand...

It would actually be worse to have a digital download especially on my broadband. If I fancied playing a game again a year down the line after playing 30-50 game installs in a year then the time to download the game again after removing it on a 500gb drive would take far more of my life than pulling a case off a shelf.

With lazy compression pumping out 30gb downloads I really dont think we are ready at all for an all digital future. If they wanted to push that they should have aggressive pricing and sales. They won't so in 8 years people will still be craving discs.
 
If digital downloads is the future then they need to bring the prices down a lot, same goes for the physical copies of the new gen console games.

No doubt in a few yrs the prices will hopefully come down to that the 360 games are priced at but i think it will be a few yrs yet before it happens.
 
It seems Eurogamer have picked up this story and there's an interesting note.

It should be noted that both Microsoft and Sony do not set the price of third-party published games on their digital store fronts.
Click to expand...

So the question is, why are titles more expensive on the Sony store?

Are Sony taking a larger cut in transactions than Microsoft, forcing publishers to increase prices to make the same revenue?
 
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