Has to be boxed and without this activation protection bollox.

The thing about downloads is that you can't sell something on after you have finished with it. It's much better to have an actual product then a virtual one.

Originally Posted by Dhruin
You won't buy anything you can't hold in your hand? Gen Y doesn't care. They're buying $5 ring tones and DRM limited music for their mobile phones faster than the servers can get the stuff up. I'll bet a lot of people here have cable and, of course, everyone has internet access. Don't laugh it off as different - again, Gen Y doesn't make that distinction.

The beauty of individualism though, is that I in return don't care about the fact that gen Y is stupid enough to pay $5 for nothing (you gotta remember I'm in the "a phone should be a phone, not a phone/internet/tv/game/dishwasher" camp).

Just because the rest of the world is duped into spending money on air doesn't mean that I have to follow. I know myself well enough to know that once digital distribution is the only form of purchase I will stop purchasing. And I have a feeling that you may overestimate the entire world population's willingness to cling to a new technology very quickly (10 years or less). We'll still have boxed copy products for many years to come…

of course I could be wrong We'll just have to wait and see.

After years of game collecting, I want a box so if the mood strikes me I can reinstall an oldie and play. I have a fear of going back two years post purchase of digital DL and being told it is gone, I didn't buy it please pay again or some such mess. lol

I'm with narpet; I'd love to be able to buy a phone that's a phone, and NOTHING BUT A PHONE!!

20 years ago, I bought games based on the weight of the box. If there was a thick manual inside, it usually meant it was a deep and interesting game.

Today, I would never consider buying a game in a box. Direct2Drive and other similar services are good and Valve's Steam service is the current cutting edge of digital distribution.

One of the main arguments against digital downloads is the fear of not being able to get your game if you buy a new PC and the company is suddenly gone. Personally, I think I will not be re-playing games long enough for this to happen.

Wizardry 1-7, Ultima 1-7 Bards Tale 1-3 Warcraft 1-2 Diablo 1-2 etc are all classic games that I loved playing but I don't need to hang on to CDs of those games. Out of all of those games, I have a copy of Diablo II in a box in some dark corner of my closet.

Originally Posted by Corwin
I'm with narpet; I'd love to be able to buy a phone that's a phone, and NOTHING BUT A PHONE!!

Here in Japan, the kingdom of cutting edge cell phone technology, there is a line of cell phones that is just that. The advertisements are great. They are usually scenes of men and women in their 60s and 70s sitting at a table grumbling "What the heck, I just want to pick up the phone and call someone, I don't need all this junk" The brand is called Tu-Ka and it is just a phone, it does nothing else.

EDIT: Yes, Tu-Ka sells cell phones that can shoot and edit a feature film too so don't go Googling and call me a liar! It's just one of their many product lines.

Just think, sometime in the future there will be matter transmission.

Essentially, your digital download will be a physical box. OMG!

(Yes, I've watched too much Star Trek)

Trust a database with my precious games? NOT!

As, Sorcha Ravenlock mentioned, games go on and off my hard drive so often, I would never have fast bandwidth available for everything else, since it would be downloading games all the time.

Maybe in time when the Digital Distrubtion is more reliable, experienced and we're getting a Terabyte a second.

Definitely digital for me. Assuming it all makes sense - i.e. I download iso and burn the backup for the future. Which is actually possible in a few (one ?) rare cases now (i.e. Galactic Civilizations series). With those game I can actually download them through any p2p and then just buy serial online. Pretty fantastic if you ask me, too bad I'm not a fan of 4x games.

As it is now, the all cons regarding digital purchasing presented above are quite valid. But the problems are no less present even in boxed scenarios (i.e. recent bioshock ridiculousy).

For obvious reasons boxed.

a) i'm a collector and seeing all those great games on the shelf gives me pleasure :-)

b) If a company goes bankrupt or something, i still have my game nonetheless. I even tend to burn updates, mods and patches. because you never know the future..

c) I don't need to worry about online connection. Sure I have a broadband like anyone thse days, but in case i want to play a game and my net connection is not working then..I can just install it. (online activation trend is still an annoyance though)

d) I can borrow a game to a friend or sell it forward If i wish. I can't do that with steam, can I?

e) Printed manuals and other goodies

Definitely boxed for me.

Here in Germany …
… budget games are cheaper than downloads, due to a highly developed low cost market down to 2.5 EUR per game, not counting compilations.
… clearance items can be even cheaper occasionally.
… many games are cut by publishers to avoid problems with USK and / or BPjM (-> "The Index").
… download versions are only available as official German versions(*). This includes censored games on Steam!
… imports from Austria or Jersey are ca. 1/3rd cheaper than German versions. And usually uncut!

As you can see DD has lots of disadvantages compared to boxed in Germany.



(*) This means the version officially released to retail in Germany, whatever language & subtitle combination it may have. Shooters are almost always cut, RTSes quite often, other action games sometimes. Steam checks the country via IP.

Gorath sensible standpoints.. Lets hope germany get rids of that silly cencored shit some day..I can't imagine how frustraiting it is to see many games raped…

I have become a case in point.

Got a new PC today. Plugged it all in and got ready to stretch its legs with some NWN2, Bioshock, HL2 and Company of Heroes. Get myself all excited and then…my ADSL modem is not compatible with Windows Vista.
Ergo I can't get to Steam on the new computer, can't "activate" Bioshock and CoH and, slightly off-topic but still annoying, can't patch NWN2 up. Have to switch out all the cables from the new PC to the old to change my broadband contract, in order to get new modem. 17th of October is the earliest they can deliver. Argh.

And I bet Vista won't run BG2, Fallout and the like. So I'll be spending more time on my bloody old PC than the brand spanking new one. Stupid Vista. Stupid online activation. Stupid world.

We have a thread for Vista problems, but I think from memory it will run those games. The modem problem surprises me!!

What surprises me is that after 200+ years Corwin still has a "memory"!

Yes, it sometimes surprises me too, when I can remember to be surprised. Writing things down helps a LOT, but usually, I can't remember where I wrote it down!!

@Dyne: I play all those games on Vista so you should be ok. Not a 100% sure why you need a new broadband contract though can't you just go out and buy a new router?

Ah, cheers for the ray of hope regarding the games guys

I guess I could buy a new router, but my ISP's software won't install either, so I can't set up the connection. I need them to send me another starter bundle thingy that will hopefully work.

The new contract thing stems from my current contract not actually technically existing any more. They don't seem to advertise it or mention it at all, or have any support pages regarding it. The path of least resistance seemed to be changing contract.

Both things equal, but I'd take boxed version. Why? Just because I like to throw an eye on the nice, shining box on my desk

Boxed gives me the chance to look at something even when it has become unplayable; I can still see - in a physical form - what I have bought back then.

Pure binary data can get lost easily with a headcrash, aslthough things are better nowadays.