Comments on: Full-game downloads to account for 50% of console sales by 2019, says Pachter

By: Mike

Mike — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 07:48:21 +0000

I still eat with a knife and fork too.

By: Blerk

Blerk — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 07:47:25 +0000

How quaint!

By: Mike

Mike — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 07:46:53 +0000

I love buying CD’s. I buy them all the time.

By: Blerk

Blerk — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 07:46:09 +0000

The ideal solution in order to maintain the ‘retail bargains’ model would be for multiple companies to be able to provide the same products, rather than just everything being centralised on Sony or Microsoft, say.

So you can choose where to buy/download your title from, which generates competition, which reduces prices. A bit like Steam and the like – same games, different stores, different prices.

By: Patrick Garratt

Patrick Garratt — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 07:43:53 +0000

The big limit at the moment’s console hard drive space, and that won’t be a factor for very much longer at all, in my opinion. As BA says there, I’d always buy a download over a disc, and always do. I haven’t used a disc in terms of PC games for well over a year now. I haven’t bought a music CD for at least three years. I can’t remember the last time I did.

By: Retroid

Retroid — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 07:41:58 +0000

I like my retail bargains too much.

By: Mike

Mike — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 07:39:52 +0000

*batons down the hatches*

By: Blerk

Blerk — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 07:38:40 +0000

I always thought I’d never ditch physical media too, Mike. But then I tried to remember the last time I bought a music CD. And I can’t.

As broadband speeds and storage space increase, this will just sneak up on us like it did on the music industry.

By: BraveArse

BraveArse — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 07:34:18 +0000

I agree with Pat and Blerk… I’ll buy a full game from the PSN store over a retail copy given the choice. Burnout Paradise being one critical example.

A good analogy would be films imo. I’ve spent countless hours ripping my DVD collection to my hard drive so that I can stream it and not have to faff around in the DVD shelves finding what I want. The minute Sony gets their ass in gear over here with that damn video store is the minute I can stop doing that.

By: Mike

Mike — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 07:29:51 +0000

I’m never going to drop it on principle. I’m being serious too.

By: Patrick Garratt

Patrick Garratt — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 07:23:57 +0000

I’m inclined to agree, Blerk. I’ll be pretty amazed if the majority of people haven’t dropped physical media completely within 3-5 years, to be honest.

By: Blerk

Blerk — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 07:18:54 +0000

If full game downloads don’t account for 100% of console sales by 2019, something has gone terribly, terribly wrong.

By: Dr.Ghettoblaster

Dr.Ghettoblaster — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 19:06:06 +0000

I think these projected articles are so pointless. It might as well say…..”toliet paper replaced by 3 seashells by 2019″…

By: fearmonkey

fearmonkey — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 18:27:57 +0000

If I could have a 1TB drive now, and they would sell games for $39.99 to $49.99, I would consider buying it. I refuse to buy a downloadble game for full price though.
I like having the media, and printed manual.
For a game that I don’t care that much about, I wouldnt care about the disk and manual, but then i wouldnt be paying full price for it either.

I know this is the eventual future thought it might not be for every title for a long time to come. The next gen after this is going to have alot more requirements for storage.
The next gen would require a hefty drive.
1TB wouldnt cut it.
In 4 years, 5 TB plus drives will be the norm.

By: lk

lk — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 17:29:22 +0000

if digital downloads would be 20% cheaper than retail copies, I would never buy another physical copy again.

By: Bringit

Bringit — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 16:04:36 +0000

I think Michael Pachter will be a woman by 2014.

But by the time that comes around no one will remember, so I’ll never be called wrong. Which is pretty much how this joker works.

Seriously. Stop giving him column inches. He makes these statements just to get attention.

By: MushroomStamp

MushroomStamp — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 15:58:42 +0000

That’s a huge leap in logic to say people want physical copies just because used game market is huge. I think it says people just don’t like paying full price. Especially when people are tired of getting burned by majority of games not worth their full price.

By: G1GAHURTZ

G1GAHURTZ — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 15:56:53 +0000

I think that this is way off.

Since I’ve been using computers, the storage sizes associated with them has increased at a phenominal rate.

I think that my first PC that I had about 10 years ago had a 1.7GB HD, and that was more than enough at the time.

1T HD’s are totally normal for PC’s now, so I can’t see how 1T is going to be anywhere near enough for any sort of mass storage in another 10 years!

Technology has been moving much faster than they’re predicting here for a long, long time…