Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Game Retailers Facing Digital Distribution Transition

Posted by Soulskill on from the adapt-or-perish dept.

This editorial at Eurogamer examines how the games industry is dealing with the growth of digital distribution — a transition they're handling better than other entertainment industries, but not without a few stumbling blocks of their own. "The examples from other industries undergoing this transition are not promising, since they tend largely to focus on metaphors involving creeks and a distinct lack of paddles. Bricks-and-mortar retailers of music and movies have largely sat back and grumbled while their businesses were hijacked, first by online retailers of physical product and then by digital distribution services. ... Specialist games retailers who follow that model face little more than a decline into insolvency in their medium-term futures. Worse again, they face competing with far bigger companies to retain their slice of an already shrinking pie — as boxed game retail sales fall off in favor of digital distribution, supermarket chains are increasingly seeing high profile games as a worthwhile loss-leaders."

13 of 155 comments (clear)

  1. Why are there still game retailers? by Animats · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Record stores are dead. Video rental stores other than a few major chains are dead. Why should game stores stick around? The only one near me is a tiny one next to a Cartridge World (ink, not ammo).

    The A titles may still justify some shelf space at WalMart, but I don't see any remaining need for standalone game stores.

    1. Re:Why are there still game retailers? by badboy_tw2002 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Two words: used games. You can't sell a digitally downloaded game back after you've played it. A game store will take a box title back. Though I guess if there were digital download rentals that would put another nail in the coffin.

    2. Re:Why are there still game retailers? by sopssa · · Score: 3, Insightful

      That's probably some people, but most also don't care about it. For me it seems just a lot of work to get something like $10 back from it (and then you really lose the value you spend for buying the game because you dont have it anymore).

    3. Re:Why are there still game retailers? by Ifandbut · · Score: 4, Interesting

      1) If I lose internet one day and I want to play a random game I have it is alot easier to install it with an actual disk (however some DRM is making this moot).

      2) If I move and have to go back to 1.5Mb internet connection then it will be faster to install from a disk then patch online instead of downloading the whole game.

      3) For some games the manual is extremely valuable (NWN, KOTOR, even WoW for the lore) and it is easier for me to thumb through a hard copy instead of a PDF.

      4) This may make me appear old fashion but I still like a physical version of the product.

  2. If I can't sell if used on Ebay... by commodore64_love · · Score: 3, Insightful

    ...I'm not buying.

    The Digital download would have to really, really cheap (less than $10) to make it worthwhile for me to participate in this new economy. Why 10? Because oftentimes I buy a game on DVD for $20, play it, and then sell it used for $10-15, so my actual out-of-pocket cost for most games is less than $10 overall.

    --
    "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
    1. Re:If I can't sell if used on Ebay... by carou · · Score: 3, Funny

      I generally buy games "behind the curve", after they've come down in price, and after enough time for the hype to wear off, and for it to become common knowledge whether the game is actually that awesome or not.

      Oblig xkcd.

      The cake may or not be a lie! (I wouldn't want to spoil the ending for you).

  3. One thing though by dagamer34 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Digital downloads need to be loads cheaper because of the following reasons. They can't be: 1) Borrowed 2) Rented 3) Returned which means that if someone wants to buy a game, they have to get it straight from the publisher. Plus, our broadband infrastructure isn't really equipped to download GBs of data as the primary way of purchasing games. And then you have to factor in the cost of bandwidth that we'll probably pay for in one way or another and you begin to see that the real benefits are only for the publisher and not for consumers. I'll stick with discs, thank you very much!

    1. Re:One thing though by Narpak · · Score: 4, Informative

      I have a 12mb line and always seem to get a nice 1.2mb/s download rate from Steam. Also I find using Steam for the majority of my computer game purchases very handy, I can buy it from home, set it to install (and it does relatively quickly with my line), have it automatically update to the latest patch, and during those rare moments when I lose my DSL connection (happened twice last year, both lasting about two days) I can set it in offline mode and continue enjoying my games. Visiting my parents I installed steam, logged on my account, installed one of my smaller games (their computer is getting on in years), played it until I left and un-installed. Everything worked without no fuss. Considering that, for me, a computer game only have a few years (at best) expiration date this system suits me fine; and it is so convenient that I now buy more games than I did the years before I started using steam.

      --
      The Long Now Foundation
  4. NO!NO!NO! by XPeter · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Uggh. I've had some HORRIBLE experiences with digital distribution for games (EA Download Manager, Steam).

    Give me a hard copy over digital any day.

    --
    "The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has it's limits" - Albert Einstein
    1. Re:NO!NO!NO! by MetalPhalanx · · Score: 4, Informative

      The tl;dr version: Steam Support can really suck and that is the reason that many people hate it. See below for an example.

      In my experience, there are three camps for Steam. Those rabidly against it due to the rights management, those who love it, and those who have had an experience with Steam "Support" and now loathe it. I'll give personal experience as an (anecdotal) example for you:

      I bought Champions Online off of Steam on Sept. 7th.
      To my dismay, when I attempted to activate my CD key, it was already activated. I called Cryptic for support, and after speaking to a couple of employees, was told that since Steam was my distributor, I needed to contact Steam to get a new CD key. i.e. it was Steam's fault. I submitted a support ticket with the requested information within an hour of buying the game. I received the confirmation email and a ticket number from Steam Support, everything to verify that they actually did receive my support ticket. Researching their average response time, I gleaned a community accepted value of "3 to 5 days".

      Fast forward about 4 weeks (October 9th).
      After weeks of checking, my ticket was closed with no reply. I logged in to check it, and status was set to closed. There was no indication that anyone had even looked at the ticket. I re-opened the ticket, left a polite but firmly displeased message about the quality of the support and restated my request to get this resolved.

      Fast forward another 2 weeks (October 23rd, this past Friday).
      I FINALLY receive my first reply from Steam support. It's a one liner asking me to paste my conversation with Champions Online support into Steam. Since I talked on the phone, I can't do that. I sent a note explaining this, and have yet to receive another message back.

      The situation as it stands now, is that the close group of friends I bought Champions Online to play with spent about 5 weeks intensively playing it, and have since moved on to other games (Our usual schedule for many games). I'm now left paying $50 for a game I never got to play, and by the time their glacial support gets around to solving it, I've lost all desire to play.

      I'm now a wary customer as well. I've been burnt and am now much more reluctant to deal through Steam, with their lack of phone support and awful online support. Given that my friends and I tend to consume at least one new game a month or so, they've lost a pretty regular customer. Due to my experience, some of my friends are also starting to buy games elsewhere as well.

    2. Re:NO!NO!NO! by MetalPhalanx · · Score: 4, Informative

      If you chargeback they suspend your account, removing access to all the games you have ever bought.

      I looked into it and discovered that little gem. It seems almost criminal.

    3. Re:NO!NO!NO! by Alpha830RulZ · · Score: 3, Informative

      If they do that, report it to the card issuer (VISA/MC) . The card issuers are quite firm about how the people who use their cards are treated. Retaliatory behavior not supported by a court judgement could result in the vendor losing their capability to take credit cards. That's a healthy sized hammer.

      --
      I was taught to respect my elders. The trouble is, it's getting harder and harder to find some.
  5. Re:And the hardware? by WhatAmIDoingHere · · Score: 3, Insightful

    They would love to offer the games for cheap on Steam, but the game publishers don't want to piss off the B&M stores.

    Also, 90% of the games I buy through Steam are weekend deals, where you can find new releases for maybe 30% off. Impulse is the same, I just bought the new Red Faction game for $15.

    --
    Not a Twitter sockpuppet... but I wish I was.