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The Downsides to Digital Distribution
The gaming industry's ongoing shift from physical media to direct downloads has made buying new titles much more convenient, and in some cases cheaper. However, as this article in The Escapist notes, there are downsides as well, such as an increased dependence on console makers and the inability to sell your used games. Quoting:
"Microsoft and Sony might end up charging publishers an arm and a leg to enable game downloads, especially as they gain more and more control over distribution. Think about it: What if, 10 years from now, 50 percent of software sales for Microsoft's latest console come through Xbox Live? Or, in an even scarier scenario for consumers, what if there is no physical media drive at all, and everything goes through Xbox Live? Sony's marriage to the Blu-ray format ensures its continued support of game discs, but Microsoft has no such restrictions. They could cut console production costs and take control over the entire supply chain in one fell swoop. There would be zero room for publishers to negotiate anything in such a de facto monopoly. The perfect comparison is Wal-Mart. As the world's largest retailer, Wal-Mart is able to demand pretty much whatever it wants of suppliers because it grants access to such large numbers of consumers."
and simultaneously abandon all customers without high speed internet access. For the sake of a DVD/Bluray drive? It's not going to happen.
Of course people can say Marxist theory is insane, but the predominant economic theory is that everything is fine, markets correct themselves and all of that nonsense. So what is really more off-the-wall, the Marxists or the Panglossian head-in-the-sand economists of today who say everything is fine? This is from someone who has seen the US economy stagnating since 2000 (other than some slight growth in the mid-decade with the real estate bubble, which is currently popping).
Probably - they've figured out that underpricing everyone out of the market will keep them unfathomably rich. If they raised them that would open the door to a new competitor rising up and spoiling the currently perfect scenario.
It's like in those old sword fighting movies when the hero is disarmed and the villain just for shits and giggles tosses him back a sword - and he inevitably regrets it. Wal-mart isn't stupid enough to keep tossing competitors back a sword by lowering their prices. They've found something that works and seem to be sticking with it.
"People who think they know everything are very annoying to those of us who do."-Mark Twain
Digital distribution is fine, as long as these guarantees are in place:
1) I can transfer my rights to the game to some 3rd party (ie, selling it on the 'used game market')
2) I can play the game without it needing to 'phone home' (so I can play it offline, and I can play it even if the activation servers go away).
3) I can play my game on any other device (eg, my wii breaks down and I buy a new one-- i should be able to play all my purchased games on the new one).
4) If the next generation console is backwards-compatible, I can transfer all my old games onto it and play them there (again, hopefully this would work even if the old activation servers no longer exist).
wrap it all up in drm if you want, but it needs to walk and talk like physical media, including all the freedoms (rights) i have now with my physical media.
I work for Walmart and am treated far better than the mom and pop shops I worked prior. No family run stores where inbred family members call the shots and change store policy to suit them. How many mom and pop stores pay their employees profit sharing and match stock purchases at 15%? There have been many associates that I have worked with, who left the store complaining about Walmart this or that, only to reapply wanting to come back. It is not a perfect company, no company is. All companies do what they can legally to minimize costs and increase revenue. They all do. Walmart is better at it. Criminalize efficiency! Don't like Walmart, that is fine! It is your choice! Shop where you like. Just don't tell me and others where to shop. Don't blow smoke about things you know nothing about.
Steam keeps a record of your purchase history, so your extra copy is not "lost". Valve will likely eventually extend the "gift games you already own" feature to any games you own two copies off in the future. Right now it's limited to HL2 and EP1 as part of the Orange Box package, and L4d as part of the L4D 4-pack package.
I will admit I'm puzzled as to why they haven't already extended the feature.
Many 'monopolistic attributes' die. Wal-Mart demanded music companies stop selling to iTunes, and they were ignored. Wal-Mart fills their store with cheap junk, so people switch to Target. Wal-Mart demands lower prices and the cheaper products end up with higher return rates and product failures, which also lead to increased legal and insurance costs.
Many manufacturers choose not to sell their products through Wal-mart while many others have their own oligopolies that Wal-Mart has to contend with, such as car batteries and name-brand pharmaceuticals.
The shipping of jobs to China is not a Wal-Mart issue nor even a China issue, it is a U.S. immigration policy and labor policy issue. For over a century the U.S. was the destination for opportunity and freedom from oppression. Immigrants would come here to seek better lives for themselves or for their children. They would come here with no skills, empty stomachs, and a strong desire to make the world a better place for themselves and others. They would work terrible hours for terrible wages in poor conditions. They saved every penny they made and lived in poverty so they could afford to send their children to good schools and better colleges. On the backs of their eager labor, entrepreneurs would make millions, employ thousands, and establish and expand schools, churches, and other not-for-profit organizations. The Smithsonian, Harvard, Stanford, Carnegie-Mellon, Howard Hughes Medical Institution are just a few of the largest and most prestigious, with countless small and mid-size organizations created by them that make daily differences in people's lives.
But today only 10,000 people who are do not have direct relatives are allowed to entry into the U.S. Even if you have a direct relative, it is still not an easy or fast process to gain citizenship. Wage laws make hiring people a significant risk with large tax liabilities and insurance payments attached to hiring. Minimum wages make it impossible to hire unskilled labor and maintain a profit. These policies mean that we are not going to make very many things that people want to purchase.
Wal-Mart cannot be held to blame for this policy for many reasons, not the least of which is that they are doing what every company in every industry in the U.S. is doing. Go to just about any non-Wal-Mart store, online and offline, and you'll find many of the products are made in China. Design a product and figure out how much it is going to cost and how many you have to sell to make a profit, and you'll quickly decide that the U.S. is not a smart choice for your manufacturing needs.
To get an even better feel, take a look at how many products are made in the U.S. China is the nation that we have the largest trade-deficit with, but it is not the only one. In fact, there are no countries with which we have a notable trade surplus. If special tariffs were created just for Chinese imports, companies would quickly move to Taiwan, Thailand, Singapore, India, South Korea, Eastern Europe, etc.
However, believe it or not, nobody enjoys doing business with China. If fact, everyone hates it. There is an 8-11 hour time difference. Simple questions take a day to get a response to. When there are warranty issues, it's hard to deal with when the supplier is in another country. The payment terms are awful, long lead times make forecasting a constant nightmare, and high minimum order quantities give headaches and nightmares to executives everywhere.
This problem is not about preference, it is about market forces. Wealth is leaving this nation at an astonishing rate and we are only doing things to increase that rate.
I once took an excursion to Reddit, and later HN. Unlimited up/down voting sucks when dealing with a hive-mind.