Physical Disks Going Away

[soupdragon1234]

I consider myself pretty much oldschool too, and I have big CD/DVD collection of the old games, but at the same time I think era of phys. disks is over and should go away as main distribution method. There surely must be collectioner editions in box with art books and some other stuff, but not mainstream.

 

Oh absolutely and if you want the box+discs and whatnot thats fair enough provided you want to pay whatever they're asking for it, I bought the TES collection boxset with Morrowind, Oblivion and Skyrim on discs together with a paper map etc. The important thing was the Steam key inside which I used and then downloaded the entire lot I don't think the discs have even left the box. Its a nice thing to have as a collectors item, but its worth nothing more than that.

[RGMage2]

I understand the march of progress, but it can still be frustrating. I bought a hard copy of Fallout 4 on the day it was released, cost about $90 with tax as I recall. I made the foolish assumption that the box contained multiple disks. I did ask the clerk and he didn't really know anything. I put on my glasses for small print and read every word on that box looking for clues, and yes it did say it needed an internet connection. But that was to be expected for validating the game on Steam, and of course I would have to download part of the game just as I had with Skyrim. But 80% of the game? That is not something I would expect when buying what is supposed to be hardcopy - alternative to digital download.

 

My problem - and yes it is my problem and not their problem - is that my internet is exclusively DATA. No home phone line and no cable, just me, my cell phone and my rocket stick. Money isn't the issue, it's expensive but it meets my needs. When it no longer meets my needs than I will change my setup.

 

What it would have cost me to download that 80% would be $400 on top of the $90 I already spent. I actually considered it because I do have the money, but having the money isn't the same thing as being willing to throw it away. Also considered returning the game and paying the extra for a XB1 bundled with the game, but decided I didn't want to give up PC gaming. So I still have the game in the box and it will wait patiently until my situation changes, and some day I will play it.

 

If they had sold a true hardcopy and charged extra for it I would have been willing to pay double. If they released it on blu ray I would have upgraded my drive, which I would like to do anyway, I just need a reason.

 

On a side note one of my laptops had a hard drive failure. I need to buy a new HD and an OS for it so I've been shopping around to see my options. I see windows is available on a USB thumb drive which is the obvious choice for this small laptop that isn't much more than a netbook with no optical drive.

 

Now it occurs to me that the optimal solution for PC gamers who still want Hardcopy would be if the games were available on USB at whatever price was appropriate. Well, dream on I guess...

 

 

 

(edited spelling)

Edited August 1, 2016 by RGMage2

[TheMastersSon]

The progression is from paying something for something tangible to paying the same something for nothing tangible.

 

IMO this problem should have been nipped in the bud when Microsoft started pulling it with their "oem" licensing, which requires people to pay $100-150 (or more) for absolutely no media or support whatsoever. What a flipping scam.

[Vagrant0]

The progression is from paying something for something tangible to paying the same something for nothing tangible.

 

IMO this problem should have been nipped in the bud when we started trading usable goods and quantities of uncommon metals for slips of paper with numbers printed on them. What a flipping scam.

 

Fixed that for you. It's the same exact progression, just one is more familiar and accepted. Physical money you have in your pocket have no value (burning doesn't count) unless backed by a bank or government reserve. Arguably, now that we're off the gold standard and the value of a given unit of currency is even less meaningful since it is backed only by its perceived value by other countries in relation to the rate at which that currency is made available for circulation. You cannot use that piece of paper (plastic) to do anything on its own, but instead requires a third party to acknowledge the meaning behind that currency and give you something in exchange, while also deducting their portion (and whatever taxes may also be present). Without this third party to facilitate the exchange the money remains relatively useless and the desired product or service remains out of reach. Scarcity in this instance is not a factor since it only relates to the quantity of goods that a third party is able to exchange, not the existence of the third party nor how much that third party is exchanging goods for. Even if you had a third party with an infinite supply of a given good or service, they would still want their cut for providing that good or service to you (bottled water being a close real world example since most of what is sold comes from a municipal source that is not much different than what comes from the tap).

[PieBamp007]

When I initially download games on Steam, GOG, or even Abandonware sites, I tend to want to burn the games to disc. Especially with Steam's Backup feature which I find to be completely helpful. I have a decent ASUS Blu-ray disc burner drive on my tower and it gets lots of use.

Also since I've been manually downloading mods for quite a long time, I tend to make custom discs for it too. No, I haven't made Excel spreadsheets detailing which mods are on which discs yet.

 

Sometimes when a game only has an online only method of distribution in the USA and has a physical release in the UK, I honesly don't mind importing a physical release. (I'm also a Blu-ray collector, still rarely buy DVDs, and I've been importing for a long time.)

[AlarictheVisgoth]

Isn't it annoying or even infuriating to anyone that video game companies are throwing away the physical disks? Now it's all digital. Paradox hasn't released a single physical disk that I know of, and even Bethesda's Fallout 4 is just a download disk. Without physical copies, you can't just hand the game to a friend or loan it out or sell it when you're done with it, which means that others have to buy the digital version online if they want to play it. I think it's stupid since the digital copies seem to only have one pro: They're easier to buy than physical disks because you can do it on your computer quick and easy, and have the game downloaded within the hour.

 

The physical disks are so much better, though. You can physically see how many games you have, you can share them with friends or resell them if you don't like them, you get the cool box art, and the physical disks are a thousand times easier to play on another computer because unlike the digital ones you don't have to download them all over again.

 

I understand that indie developers and very small game companies can't afford to make their own physical disks, but bigger companies that can, should (in my opinion).

 

Scam or no scam (and yes I 100% believe in the former as it's backed by Wall Street quarterly) this can be summed up in two words: Profit & Convenience.

 

They (big companies) the likes of EA, Rockstar etc won't. Simply because it's no longer cost effective to do so in today's gaming market. Far cheaper & easier to provide the digital download direct to the consumer. Eliminates cost of packaging, distribution and 3rd party middlemen the likes of Walmart and other retailers etc.

 

Personally, I'm old school hand that prefers the retail hard copy of the game. Enjoyed collecting titles so I could display franchise memorabilia on my DVD and gaming shelf library etc. Especially since a retail disk does NOT require pervasive or temp online access just to launch the game. The other downside is if you have a poor internet and download connection. I'm fortunate to live in a metro area, and so can take high speed cable internet access for granted on a daily basis. But for someone else who lives in a geographically challenged region (like a mountainous or snowy/rainy areas) or demographically challenged area (like country, remote areas where low population has poor wireless/cable access) accessing digital exclusive content can be a nightmare.

 

But the advantages and benefits of digital is obvious. Especially where the big titles are concerned. It only took some 15-30 mins to preload/download games like Fallout 4 and Mafia 3 on my rig. That was only because this was the easiest most convenient way to access and unlock the game the moment it went live. I remember the night when Fallout 4 unlocked in my Steam library. Immediately began playing minutes afterwards with zero issues. After playing for about an hour, headed out to the local Gamestop to pickup the gaming manual I'd reserved earlier. Only to find an extensive queue extending from the store --- that would make fan bases the likes of Star Wars & Twilight envious. These were the folks who wanted to buy the retail hard copy, and stuck with waiting in line. And if they had failed to reserve a copy, they were out of luck. Decided to return later that day. When I finally did, the Gamestop clerk said the last person in line got into the store around 3am that morning. And unfortunately lucked out on the retail copy because they didn't reserve the game. So I basically saved myself a lot of grief by pre-loading days before FO4 unlocked. And was able to enjoy the game within a minute of it unlocking in my Steam library.

 

Unfortunately, digital DLC is the way of the future with the gaming industry. I suppose this is about the only way the industry can protect itself from piracy, while guaranteeing/protecting their revenue streams :confused:

Edited November 3, 2016 by AlarictheVisgoth

[RGMage2]

For myself I've solved the "no physical disk" problem. Xbox One = physical disk. I'm an old school lifetime PC gamer and I finally bought a console last week and I must say I am very impressed with it.

 

The whole game is on the disk with no validation issues. I can stay offline for as long as I want with no problems. It feels very retro, reminds me of playing games on my old Atari ST. However it will take some time to get used to the controller, I think I'll always prefer a keyboard and mouse.

 

The price can't be beat. For roughly the same money I would have spent upgrading my graphics card (and without spending anything to upgrade my CPU) I get the whole system with really good graphics. And when it becomes outdated in a couple of years I can replace it just as I would a GPU. The Games are cheaper to buy and you get a better selection, and you can even buy used games in major retailers.

 

And the real kicker, Xbox One can use mods. So if I still want to do some modding I can buy the PC version when it comes on sale and make the mod on my old outdated PC and export it for Xbox. For me that's the future of gaming and modding.

 

SO if you want hard copy with the whole game on it, simple, get a console.

[TheMastersSon]

Just so I'm clear, you're saying people should spend $400 to get a $0.25 game disc.

[RGMage2]

I'm saying if you are in a position where you need to upgrade your rig to play the latest games and you like having the disk, you should consider a console. You will save a lot of money and the situation might be more to your liking.

[JimboUK]

I'm saying if you are in a position where you need to upgrade your rig to play the latest games and you like having the disk, you should consider a console. You will save a lot of money and the situation might be more to your liking.

 

I got a PS4 Pro last week, I did smile as I put the disk in but that smile didn't last long, it took an hour to update the game along with 50GB of drive space, 50GB for one game and only a 1TB drive, brilliant. To be honest modern consoles have all the negatives associated with PC games, patches, drive space, updates ect and none of the pluses, had I got that game on Steam it would have downloaded the entire thing in less than an hour and all that would be left to do is press play.