Digital Distribution of AAA games on consoles

    So...I'm really curious about what people think about buying large games from PSN/XBL etc. onto their consoles directly, rather than getting a disc. Given this issue impacts all of us in the industry one way or another (i.e., directly or indirectly)...


    Keep in mind, i'm not talking about digital only games that you cannot buy in the form of a disc from a store or Amazon etc. In other words, I mean Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto, Forza, Halo, Last of Us, etc.


    - Have you done it? Are you doing it? Are you planning on it?


    - if yes, How's that working out for you?


    - if no, why not?


    Some obvious concerns/questions:

    - not everyone has broadband due to where the live

    - not everyone who has broadband has good quality of broadband

    - even if you have "good" quality broadband, does downloading of big games to consoles work about as well as it does for Steam/Battle.net/Origin etc. to your PC? Better/worse?


    Edit: I'm asking because given where things are going it's a good time to update this conversation and see where people are at compared to the bits and pieces of this discussion scattered through old threads here.

    I would do it in a hearthbeat. Right now the games there are extremely overpriced, more expensive than buying in stores where they already cost too much compared to a PC game you get on steam. Atleast in northern Europe broadband issues is not a problem


    edit: the price will probably stay high since they have no competition on their closed plattforms, besides other consoles that is.

    Only concern is having to manage the HD, which would fill very quickly. With discs deleting and installing it's a tad quicker.

    Think we're gonna go to streaming faster than we will get to digital download?

    I'm thinking there's some debates about DRM - plus the fact that it is likely locked to one console/one console generation. I can still play Fallout 1 on my PC, something console backward compatibility will never be able to achieve for a reasonable sum of money.

    I'm not a huge fan of digital distribution on console.

    1. They tend to be just as expensive, if not more, than ordering a physical copy from Amazon.
    2. Purchases are temporary. Microsoft have already announced they're turning off the 360 servers in 2016. Steam might not be around forever, but they're not going to pull this shit every generation.
    3. I've been burned with things like buying Ninja Gaiden Black on 360 and being told I can't play it because of my consoles region. Here's an idea: put this check in somewhere before I give you money. Generally they do not inspire a lot of confidence in me.

    I was very annoyed to find that my ps4's copy of the last of us was actually a code for a 45 GB download. I'm just glad I didnt figure that out when I actually wanted to play the game. I don't like it. I like my discs.


    holy shit the 360 servers go down that soon? That's terrible.

    Let me check through our databases on pricing off XBL and PSN vs. Gamestop etc. All the comments are spot on so far so please keep them coming. Also, geographic differences are really important, too.

    Quote from Taylor

    Purchases are temporary. Microsoft have already announced they're turning off the 360 servers in 2016. Steam might not be around forever, but they're not going to pull this shit every generation.

    I know this was supposed to happen but WHAT?! Isn't that a bit too early? What about all the Marketplace games I bought.Steam is not much of a concern, it's so in the long run and publishers can easily remove steam works and you can easily backup the games… but on console you need to buy additional EXPENSIVE drives >: (

    To be fair they haven't said they're going to pull the servers in 2016. They're going to stop supporting the platform. Which is probably not the same. I am made of lies.

    Pricing is the main issue here. Digital versions are often 60 to 65 euro. I can get a retail copy for around 50 euro but I usually get it second hand for around 30 euro a week or 2 after release. This saves me a lot of money and allows me to resell it if I'm disappointed in the game. Even if they do lower the prices and allow game trading I would still be very skeptical. Bandwidth isn't an issue but consoles come and go. I'm a collector and I still have all my consoles plus physical games. I wouldn't want it any other way. In fact, I'm pretty annoyed that nowadays I have to keep updating my consoles and install the games. The price of progress I suppose.


    You could use a bunch of these arguments for Steam as well. But by now, I'm too invested in the platform. Games are cheap, lots of useful features, easy multi player, sales and so on. Hell, I even repurchased games I already own physically just to have them in my Steam collection. For those reasons I've decided to stick to Steam and avoid Uplay/Origin. If Steam ever goes down then we're all fucked. I can't even remember the last time I physically bought a PC game. Probably around 2009 or something.

    Sorry for bump, but thanks again for the replies. I did some digging about the pricing issues of retail vs. digital, and it does indeed support the obvious concern that often you can get a better price with a physical good then through a digital...which is what we have all been scratching our heads at for a few years now on console.


    A few years ago we did an analysis of pricing of digital vita games vs. their retail counterparts. Comparing PSN pricing vs. Gamestop and Amazon in the US market showed totally inconsistent pricing where the digital was often higher than the retail, and sometimes on recent product. We extended this out for PS3 games and found the same problem.


    Now, looking at PS4 (and XB1) online stores vs. retail and Amazon, the pricing between PSN and XBL vs. Gamestop for most new and non-used games is actually very consistent right now. Amazon is typically where you find the deals but there is shipping typically unless you are a Prime member.


    An odd example, take last year's Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag. As of right now:

    Amazon:

    [Blocked Image: http://i.imgur.com/RZT4Eik.png]

    GameStop:

    [Blocked Image: http://i.imgur.com/VwMUosU.png]

    PSN Store (on the webiste, not through your PS4)

    [Blocked Image: http://i.imgur.com/Lxg568d.png]


    Sorry for the huge screencaps.


    Notice how ACIV isn't even showing up in the listing on the PS website?

    Of course when I access the PS Store on my PS4 you can buy ACIV for $49.99.


    This is just ONE example but to the people complaining about this issue, you are right to complain because this is very, very consistent. To be fair, it has improved from the even worse pricing disparities of the past, but in my opinion it is still somewhat broken.


    Meanwhile...anyone try PS Now? I got a sub code from Sony to test it out. I'll I can say is that Last of Us in singleplayer is legit on the service, but I haven't tried much else yet, much less any MP games.....but that's another thread...

    Yeah they have SF4 on PSNow. That seems like a bad idea.


    Although if the multiplayer was local and streamed it could potentially have better performance due to SF4's unbelievably bad netcode lol

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