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The Downsides to Digital Distribution

Posted by Soulskill on from the severe-coaster-shortage dept.

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."

2 of 371 comments (clear)

  1. Tendency toward monopoly by br00tus · · Score: 5, Interesting
    Capitalism has a tendency towards monopoly. This was pointed out by Marx in the 19th century, and expanded upon by Lenin 95 years ago. The Monthly Review crowd and others have written about this tendency in the modern day - nowadays finance capital is a big thing, but according to Marxist theory is very volatile. You can look at the markets nowadays, with Citigroup staying solvent only due to government subsidies to decide on the truth of this.

    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).

  2. digital distribution can be ok... by psyklopz · · Score: 4, Interesting

    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.