I'm still amazed when I hear people talk of this. Why they didn't package a hard drive to the core system is beyond me. I think it was to simply be able to say "We can offer this system for $399. Oh if you want to actually save anything, you need to pay more for a hard drive."
I've often wondered if there would be a time when all video game purchases would be "online" and going to a store to "buy" a game would be a thing of the past. I think that we are in the beginning stages of seeing that transition.
Take a look at Valve and their Steam application. There you can buy Half-Life 2 and a host of many other games, online, CD-less, and without having to drive to the store. Yes, you do have to download them, and the inital download takes time, especially if you're on a 56K modem. But Steam runs on your computer all the time, downloads in the background, and even updates itself in the background. Though the implementation of Steam was poorly done, the concept is valid and given enough time, I think they will improve it 10 fold.
I speculate that even the 56K modems will be a thing of the past in 5-10 years. Why? Consider companies like Sprint, Verizon Wireless, and other wireless companies. Wireless Broadband is becoming more and more popular, and more and more accessible. Internet clouds are increasing in popularity. Even your local Krystal burger joints have free broadband wireless capabilities. I live in a small neighborhood 30 miles east of Nashville. Some would call it backwoods. I was surprised to see just how many wireless routers were available. Now, yes, it's illegal to actually hook up to these, but if you think about it, it's not to far off when you'll be able to get broadband everywhere. So, having to download gigs and gigs of install files to play a game might not be that bad afterall.
What I see happening in the very near future are options for people. If you want to buy a game, great! Log on to our website, purchase it, and download it. But if you insist on going to the store, browse the game section. You'll see a host of game boxes available. Some might contain the instruction manual, poster, stickers, maybe even a T-shirt. But no CD's. Only a code and a web address that would allow you to download it.
Take World of Warcraft for example. I have 2 sets of CD's and even 1 DVD for install. All nicely kept in their packaging. I haven't even used them! I downloaded the World of Warcraft online, downloaded the Retail update, and downloaded the patches. Why do I have CD's? You don't even need them to play.
Farewell Game CD's... I think that they will soon be a thing of the past.
Slashdot Mirror
I'm still amazed when I hear people talk of this. Why they didn't package a hard drive to the core system is beyond me. I think it was to simply be able to say "We can offer this system for $399. Oh if you want to actually save anything, you need to pay more for a hard drive."
Please...........
I've often wondered if there would be a time when all video game purchases would be "online" and going to a store to "buy" a game would be a thing of the past. I think that we are in the beginning stages of seeing that transition.
Take a look at Valve and their Steam application. There you can buy Half-Life 2 and a host of many other games, online, CD-less, and without having to drive to the store. Yes, you do have to download them, and the inital download takes time, especially if you're on a 56K modem. But Steam runs on your computer all the time, downloads in the background, and even updates itself in the background. Though the implementation of Steam was poorly done, the concept is valid and given enough time, I think they will improve it 10 fold.
I speculate that even the 56K modems will be a thing of the past in 5-10 years. Why? Consider companies like Sprint, Verizon Wireless, and other wireless companies. Wireless Broadband is becoming more and more popular, and more and more accessible. Internet clouds are increasing in popularity. Even your local Krystal burger joints have free broadband wireless capabilities. I live in a small neighborhood 30 miles east of Nashville. Some would call it backwoods. I was surprised to see just how many wireless routers were available. Now, yes, it's illegal to actually hook up to these, but if you think about it, it's not to far off when you'll be able to get broadband everywhere. So, having to download gigs and gigs of install files to play a game might not be that bad afterall.
What I see happening in the very near future are options for people. If you want to buy a game, great! Log on to our website, purchase it, and download it. But if you insist on going to the store, browse the game section. You'll see a host of game boxes available. Some might contain the instruction manual, poster, stickers, maybe even a T-shirt. But no CD's. Only a code and a web address that would allow you to download it.
Take World of Warcraft for example. I have 2 sets of CD's and even 1 DVD for install. All nicely kept in their packaging. I haven't even used them! I downloaded the World of Warcraft online, downloaded the Retail update, and downloaded the patches. Why do I have CD's? You don't even need them to play.
Farewell Game CD's... I think that they will soon be a thing of the past.