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[SmokedMeat]

If PS4 Pro and Scorpio were 100% digital there might've been a slight change. But they're not, so I don't expect much difference.

 

[m.i.s.]

Probably a complete transformation.

As of right now, was [slightly] shocked when I walked into Toys R us.

PS3 / PS4 demo pod - gone

X360 / XBO demo pod - gone

Wii U demo pod - gone [ok]

3DS/XL demo pod - gone

These were all working demo pods [all, except PS were playable] and all of them have been removed.

Advertising / pre-order for a NSW was black/white A4 photocopy tucked away just above the shelves of Wii U games. Wii / Wii U games section cut in half and replaced by Amiibos.

 

[dolabla]

Physical has the upper hand on digital based on price alone. I can get a brand new copy of a game for $47.99 from Best Buy with GCU. Physical goes on sale much faster than digital as well. While digital has increased, physical will have the upper hand for years to come IMO.

I think things will be the same as they are now.

 

[m.i.s.]

Physical has the upper hand on digital based on price alone. I can get a brand new copy of a game for $47.99 from Best Buy with GCU. Physical goes on sale much faster than digital as well. While digital has increased, physical will have the upper hand for years to come IMO.

Well of course it will - for you.

However, how will softco's and publishers seek to increase their profits in a declining market and increasing costs?

 

[jroc74]

The music and movie sections are still big in my area at Walmarts, DC, MD, VA.

What I have noticed is more TV show seasons showing up on disc. And bargin bins are still a big thing in my area.

Targets? They have shrunk.

I cant remember the last time I went to Best Buy. I used to get my music from Circuit City.

 

[Nokagi]

I didn't mean to completely ignore it. I just think the impact of piracy has been largely overblown. At least in the US, parts of Asia and other places is a different matter with all the bootlegs sold etc. The vast majority of people pirating things are people who wouldn't spend money on the vast majority of what they pirate anyway, be it due to lack of funds or just being immoral shits.

For instance, record labels were convinced DRM free MP3s would be the death of the industry as piracy would run rampant, and iTunes etc. losing DRM had no real impact on sales. Most people are fine paying as long as prices are reasonable and the delivery is convenient. When it's too pricey or inconvenient, most are just going to skip it rather than pirate. And those who don't want to pay mostly aren't going to pay regardless of how cheap or convenient it is.

Piracy didn't shrink the CD section at Best Buy. People started buying MP3s and streaming as they were more convenient and younger generations care less about owning media and use it more disposably than older generations with their record, CD collections etc. Same is happening with movies, and gaming will get there eventually, though pricing and file sizes will slow the trend there.

The disease of free
The battle for paying digital customers may have been lost before it had truly begun. In 1999, Napster, a free online file-sharing service, made its debut. Not only did Napster help change the way most people got music, it also lowered the price point from $14 for a CD to free.

"It's pretty easy to give away something for free," said Russell Frackman, the lead attorney for the music industry in its 1999 case against Napster. "It's not that the music industry thought the technology was bad, it just objected to the use to which it was being put."


Apple's (AAPL, Fortune 500) iTunes is credited with finally getting people to pay for digital music, but it wasn't unveiled until 2003.

In the time between Napster's shuttering and iTunes' debut, many of Napster's 60 million users found other online file sharing techniques to get music for free. Even after iTunes got people buying music tracks for just 99 cents, it wasn't as attractive as free.

"That four-year lag is where the music industry lost the battle," said Sonal Gandhi, music analyst with Forrester Research. "They lost an opportunity to take consumers' new behavior and really monetize it in a way that nipped the free music expectation in the bud."

Now just 44% of U.S. Internet users and 64% of Americans who buy digital music think that that music is worth paying for, according to Forrester. The volume of unauthorized downloads continues to represent about 90% of the market, according to online download tracker BigChampagne Media Measurement.

"People will steal music regardless, so it's not worth trying to fight against something where the fight's already over," said Dan Ingala, founder and lead singer of the band Plushgun.

When Plushgun released its album "Pins and Panzers," it was the most downloaded album on the popular peer-to-peer Web site What.cd with more than 10,000 illegally downloaded tracks.

"It's just a matter of adjusting," said Ingala. "At the same time, it's helping us create an audience."

Overblown? No, not really. Not sure why you insist on downplaying it. But this starting to get a bit off topic as music isn't really the same as video games and my point wasn't even that piracy was the main cause but rather a undeniable factor.

From a 2010 article but still relevant to what we were talking about . http://money.cnn.com/2010/02/02/news/companies/napster_music_industry/

 

[daveo42]

1st and 3rd party accessories, download/online credit cards, consoles, and a much smaller selection of current physical releases along with a shitton of previous gen games (PS4, X1, WiiU/Switch).

 

[Mass Effect]

relatively the same except maybe a few less games and a bit more merch.

 

[Mesoian]

Cards with codes.

 

[Vice]

The way books and movies look in stores now. They'll still have a presence, it will just be smaller.

 

[-shadow-]