Boxed vs Download

Download or Boxed?

  • Boxed - I like physical stuff

    Votes: 114 76.5%
  • Download - quick and no clutter

    Votes: 35 23.5%

  • Total voters
    149
As far as CRPG, downloading is the way to go, IMO.

If developers change the way they sell their product, they might also be able to change the way they make it (and support it). So instead of making and selling something once, they might make a character-creation platform and sell that instead. Then they could sell downloadable content from a complex game world in a way that specifically matches a created character and how it's played.

That would be expensive to make, but developers would earn more too. And piracy might be eliminated. Different characters would have different experiences, and they could be played in multiple game worlds too.

I'm not talking about client-server, of course. I'm thinking in terms of the way content is distributed and how it's created to fit that model. Software development meets Lego, something like that.
 
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Then they could sell downloadable content from a complex game world in a way that specifically matches a created character and how it's played.

This is kind of an interesting concept, but it is not far from MMORPGs. Provided that I could play a game through with one character just for 10 bucks for example, I would save a lot of money when I realize the game sucks and I will not try another character. But how would you estimate sales for this type of a product?

Otherwise I voted for the boxed content, mainly because I appreciate a good manual. If the manual would come in a format where I can print AND easily bind it as a booklet myself, I would perhaps accept a PDF manual if it would show on the price tag of the game as well.
 
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If it were successful enough, I suppose companies might sell the base platform cheap or even give it away. So yes, players might be able to try a game by making only a small financial commitment. Developers would need more revenue in the end, though, and that money would have to come from gamers, ultimately.

I'm imagining downloadable content as a solution that would enable developers to create better RPGs with complex game worlds containing an enormous variety of options for specific character types. It would resemble client-server architecture only in the sense that players would rely on frequent access to a remote server for necessary files. But I'm talking about single-player games that run on individual platforms, just like they do now – not online games, and not MMORPGs.

Instead of making "one-size-fits-all" games that are sold once – or downloadable content that's sold piece by piece, also once – developers would make complex games that are already bursting with content designed to fit a variety of specific characters. The game itself would be the downloadable content, but the player would only have access to specific content that matches his current character.

If it were a good enough game with a good enough game world, players might play it over and over again, each time with a new character (and matching content). Why not? It would be a different experience each time.
 
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Boxed; as broadband service is still in infancy stage in my country (1MB line for mainstream/home user)
 
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yep me too - Collector gotta have that box or atleast the contents if can't get the box but if no box I'll download
 
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Boxes, of course. I avoid the DLC, like the devil avoids the grassleaf, because I'm afraid of being hacked, just like what happened with Sony and many games got deleted and fucked up. Retail edition FTW!
 
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Let's go back to Commodore 64 and Pool of Radiance. The soft 5" discs cease to work if you drive over them with your comfy wheeled chair. Ever since I have always loathed the use of a physical discs and installed cracks as soon as I got the game installed so I could stuff away the disc safely in the box. So nowadays I exclusively download new games.
 
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All things being equal I like to have a box with a nice manual that doesn't need to be printed out.
But here in the real world in Canada, although not as tough as Australia I'm sure, it has always been tough finding PC games I wanted to buy and even tougher these days.

So now about 70% of my games are downloaded versions.
 
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All things being equal I like to have a box with a nice manual that doesn't need to be printed out.

What I do is get the PDF manual and put it on a cloud storage site like dropbox or box.net and then pull it up on my tablet. You can pretty much do this on any tablet, iPad, Android, Touchpad etc. In a pinch you could probably do it on a phone as well but it wouldn't be as easy to read.

Anyway, this avoids having to print the manual or alt tab out of the game to pull it up.

These days I prefer digital unless it's a collector's edition.
 
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Download all the way.

Importing is not really an option: shipping stuff to Hungary is a pain, postal service is unreliable and you can get unlucky at customs so that you need to pay a lot of extra $$$.

The retail option has gotten a bit better over the years, but as a whole Hungarian retailers
- are overpriced (talking about 50% more expensive than just buying something on Steam, especially if there's a deal)
- get games much later
- get (terribly, I might add) localized games

So yeah, it's no contest for me! Of course YMMV. :p
 
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I never buy boxes anymore... digital download all the way.

I already have so many places crowded with game boxes and you get the game so much faster, cheaper and easier with a digital download. Better for environment too.
 
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Boxed if possible. Here in Germany DL is generally more expensive. Especially the Steam prices outside the sales are a bad joke. Why would I pay 49.99€ for a game I can buy retail for 35€?
 
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If there is no price difference between the Box and DL Version I will always by the Boxed version. For Example The Witcher 2 in Canada is $49.99 on retail shelves or from GOG/Steam. I Bought the Boxed Version.
 
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Download, especially since they converted to the ultra-large size for pc game boxes now. It used to be that you could simply put another CD case in the rack, now theyre huge and you end up w/ shelves of them. Waste of living space, all for a little disk
 
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Download for sure! nothing like being stuck somewhere out of town (like my parents' house when I'm visiting), check my online store of preference and download some game I already purchased in minutes.
 
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Download, especially since they converted to the ultra-large size for pc game boxes now. It used to be that you could simply put another CD case in the rack, now theyre huge and you end up w/ shelves of them. Waste of living space, all for a little disk

Weird… I seem to recall PC game boxes being much bigger in the past than they are now. Collector's editions aside, most of what I see are just the slim DVD cases nowadays.
 
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Sometimes they release games in boxes that are twice as thick as a DVD-case (and about the same height as one). Still far smaller than they used to be.

Why did games come in these huge boxes anyway? They never filled them, not even when you bought complex simulators with 400page manuals.

Anyway, I prefer boxed copies. While CDs & DVDs do deteriorate over time, it still feels more "future proof". We don't know if steam/gamer's gate/impulse will be around in 10 years, and we don't know if they will (be forced to) remove older games. If these sites goes down, or if they remove the games, then everyone who have bought their games from them will end up not being able to play them any more. Also, from time to time, the manual is fun to read.

Also if I don't like a boxed game, I can just give it to a friend. Can't give a used Steam game to a friend.
 
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