EA - Future Lies in Digital Games

I don't presume to speak for everyone, I speak for myself.

I don't understand what you're saying, except that for some reason you want the physical box as a "play-thing"?

Again, for me the "spiritual" part of the game is the actual game, and it was also so. The manual is part of the game, to me, but it's only because of the physical attributes that I miss it in paper form. I mean, reading PDF or "online" documentation just isn't convenient.

But as manuals today are crap and pointless, I don't see any reason for a physical copy - except in those rare cases where an "out-of-game" item would enhance the experience for me. Something like a real physical map can be quite convenient, but a properly done in-game map is preferable.

But "economy-driven"? Oh yeah, we agree here. The core problem of the entire industry - and so many other industries - is that they ARE industries. You mix art and business, you get less art than if business wasn't part of the equation.

Unfortunately, to change that - you'd have to get people to seriously reconsider how the world should work, and have the will to change it. That's not exactly an easy thing to accomplish

DArtagnan said:

You mix art and business, you get less art than if business wasn't part of the equation.

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I mix art & business ? Then why do some people consider video games as "art" or at least being on the step towards it ?

If I would rely so much on the "business factor" of creating games, then I would make sure that a game would reach the most possible/reachable audience ... Which would crystallize in the development process.

An *entirely* economy-driven philosophy would eliminate niche games at first hand - and *only* develop mass-compatible games.

And you did mix the box - as a symptom - with the philosophy that is shaping it.

Mind you, you need a concept, a philosophy before you shape things. Of course you can go on shaping things on-the-fly, this works with art maybe, but in business this is a very risky undertaking.

So, you need a concept, a business-plan, a philosophy first. In it you write down how you consider things - games, gamers, market potential - and how this will be expressed through the development.

If the package didm't matter at all ... Then you could sell high luxury things (like jewellery) in a shoe-box. It wouldn't matter at all.

But this is what happened to the gaming indistry : They began selling rather expensive games in show-boxes. A German publisher even had this name : "Shoe-box". Expensive games are sold in cheap-looking DVD boxes.

This is like selling a top-rate diamond by putting it raw into a simple letter, put a stamp on it, and send it to the customer (ans assume that it won't be stolen during the sending process).

Alrik Fassbauer said:

I mix art & business ? Then why do some people consider video games as "art" or at least being on the step towards it ?

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No, not you personally Alrik. You, as in those who would do it.

I'm talking about an approach that wouldn't represent a loss without sales, because sales wouldn't a part of it. This is an approach without any kind of business aspect.

Again, such a thing can't be, because people aren't willing to do what it takes to accomplish it.

DArtagnan said:

Sadly, it hasn't exactly changed the price of games or the nature of greed, so there's really no benefit beyond the convenience. But the convenience is pretty huge, especially for non-US gamers like me, who'd otherwise have to wait or turn pirate.

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Actually, I've found that US gamers are the ones who have had to wait for a lot of good titles to reach us lately, at least the games I want to play..

Divinity 2, KB: Armored Princess, STALKER CoP, etc.

Of course this might have to do with the fact that I've been less than impressed by US developed games recently, especially RPGs. In fact, I can't think of a single really good RPG this year that was developed in the US. Torchlight was ok, but it's pretty sad if that's all we have to brag about.

I keep reading a lot of bad opinions about "steam-alike" systems, but for me, over half the games i own are on steam and GOG-purchaged.

There is one VERY important thing to distinguish where you get your digital download game wich is :

- Can i download it and install again and again and again with no extra cost ?

If the answer is yes, then the game is yours. For me, there is no question about it. Some people mention they WANT the "setup.exe", but i ask, why? In the Steam system (for example) you play the game 100% as it was made to be experienced, you can even use mods (like oblivion, etc).

If the answer is no, you must pay €xx to download it more than X times, or you must pay us to get it "saved on our servers" then for me thats a MAJOR ripoff. You pay the game, you must be allowed to install/uninstall as you want.


About pricing, you are absolutely right, digital download versions should ALWAYS be cheaper than retail. There is no boxing costs, no manual costs, etc. Recently in all the major digital download sites there are a VERY growing system of discounts on major selling titles, sometimes over 50% discounts - this seems to be that those major sites already understood that major DD discounts don't cut on profits, but they actualy increase them a lot.

KnightPT said:

Some people mention they WANT the "setup.exe", but i ask, why?

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Why not? Why should anything else be required?

do you also want the seed instead of the tomato?

No, and I don't want the broken metaphor along with the non-sequitur either.

whatever floats your boat.

DArtagnan said:

I don't understand what you're saying, except that for some reason you want the physical box as a "play-thing"?

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A lot of people in this thread make great arguments in favor of digital downloads. And really, I don't disagree with most of them.

One person lives in a remote area and their only access to games is via digital downloads. That's great.

Another person finds that digital downloads from places like GoG provide older games that have been updated to run smoother on modern operating systems… again that's great.

For me though, the physical box is not about having a 'play thing.' It's about physical ownership of the game. Unless someone is willing to break into my house and pull it out of my grubby little hands, no one can take it away from me.

Someday, when steam disappears will everyone's purchase record disappear too? Unless you have a crystal ball that sees into the future, no one can say for sure.

To me, this possible outcome is a deal breaker and compells me to stick with physical boxed copies of games as much as possible.

I also don't buy games where I need an activation server to install it, I vote with my wallet and just say no - and there are a number of games I would have loved to play if it weren't for that DRM paradigm.

In short, I'm not at all against digital downloads. There are a lot of people who can benefit from that type of distribution. At the same time I'd put out this little warning: Buy at your own risk.

Digital's the future really, even on the current pricing structure of often paying more for digital only release I can't be bothered making a (<10minute) detour to a physical store.

I resisted for a while with vinyl vs mp3s where there's actually a massive difference in the user experience as you actually touch the product all the time (rather than just slotting it into the cd drive the once), but games there's just no point even putting up a fight for me (especially since manuals are all so shit).