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What would make an "All Digital" future be acceptable to you?

I download all my games and have done since the PS4 launch, I'd started dong the same on the PS3 and 360 a couple of years before the currant consoles launched.
 
Permanent price drops. I think that's about it. Waiting for Steam/PSN sales works out okay, but digital goods don't drop in value ever and it's weird. I don't want to pay full price for a game that came out 2+ years ago.

That's basically it. I'm ready for all digital forever.
 
I've already accepted it on mobile and PC for one main reason: full control over where I install my software, so I'd start with that on consoles. More specifically that means:

  • A stable software ecosystem with assumed backwards compatibility across hardware models and generations.
  • Control over where I take my account and software. It needs to have perceived value across devices from the same manufacturer.

Also required:
  • At least 10 percent, ideally 15 or 20 percent off retail price, with consistent permanent price drops.
  • Aggressive marketing that utilizes the advantages of digital libraries: pre-loading (already happening), immediate pre-order bonuses like free older games, Steam-style sales. Generally, just things to keep people constantly engaged with the digital store.
  • Let me back up individual games to external media so I never have to download them again.

Two more ideas that might be nice:

  1. Allowing for many digital storefronts, allowing for price competition and creating more bandwidth so games don't get crowded out as much.
  2. Allowing developers to choose to make console digital games DRM-free. Mostly only indies would use this, but it would conceivably let uses back up a digital game and install it on any PS4 or any Xbox.
 
Refunds would be a big one. The use of codes to facilitate alternative storefronts (ex. Humble Bundle, Kickstarter) is another. I believe Steam allows devs to generate codes freely for use with the platform, whereas Sony/Microsoft/Nintendo probably don't. Could be wrong, though.

The biggest one, though, is that I want some kind of guarantee that the games I buy will be mine. Steam and Origin don't have this either, but at least there's continuity because the PC ecosystem remains the same even as new computers and components come out. Meanwhile, there's no guarantee that Sony will keep PS1 games on PSN if the PS4 and PS5 never support them. What happens then? Do I lose access to them? Can I never download them again even if I have a working PS3, PSP or Vita? Same thing with Microsoft and Xbox 360 games. Nintendo is already kind of lousy with this, with entire storefronts being locked to specific console generations.

What I want is a guarantee that if Sony sells a PS1 game now, that I'll always be able to download and play it on any device that supports PS1 games. I will reluctantly accept reasonable exceptions (ex. publisher pulls a Konami and removes their games from PSN entirely) but I want that to be the general rule.
 
Complete ownership. AKA no chance of them somehow pulling it off your system or off the store download system. Fine, you can pull a game from being sold anymore. But if I bought the game, I should still be able to download it regardless in perpetuity.
 
I am on my second PS4 console that constantly tries to eject whatever is in the tray, so I have had to buy 2 games on digital. So make your console broken, then you got me!
 
Lord of Ostia said:
You guys are making some great points about competitive market places that I hadn't thought about before. People often say that if more people went digital then pricing would go down because of a lack of physical manufacturing costs; in fact, Colin made that argument today on the podcast. However, if the digital storefronts on console remain as they are, there is no competition to drive down prices. So what incentive would, say, Sony have to significantly reduce the cost of games on their storefront if they are the only game in town? I just don't see this as a possibility with the closed nature of consoles and their storefronts.
Click to expand...

From what I understand, part of the reason (I'm sure the console makers are perfectly happy to get every dollar they can) that prices are so stagnant is because they don't want to significantly undercut the retail market. Now, if they were going to eschew their retail presence entirely, then I would think that competitive pricing in the digital space might acutally happen (if not between the console stores themselves, then perhaps via 3rd-party sellers), as it'd be one more "pro" to get people to buy a game on their platform.

On that note, how are retail prices of PC games in the countries that still have them? Kind of curious about that now, especially when it comes to older games that may have seen significant discounts in the digital storespace.
 
For me -as someone who is primarily a console gamer- it has to be price. I refuse to pay and feel uncomfortable paying full price for a digital game.

Many have pointed out stuff like the following

1. Renting games
2. Selling games for PSN/XBL credit
3. 2 step verification on PSN
4. Better online infrastructures
5. ISP not having data caps

But for me, in addition to all of the above it's about price.

I think this generation I've been very open to digital. I've purchased many only digital games and have even purchased a few "fully retail" games at discount.

On PS3 I've purchased more than 2 dozen full PS3 games because of the flash sales that Sony occassionally puts up.
 
the only problem i have with "all digital" is memory space.

i've had my steam password hacked so i'm fully aware of the risks, but some of the hand wringing over the issue is kind of ridiculous.
 
Lime said:
Future cross-platform support (backwards compatibility).

Sony is a prime example of how horrible they can be when it comes to this. All my PS1 and PS2 purchases on PSN don't work on the PS4 for some reason. PS3 might be understandable from a hardware perspective, but it's just deplorable how little care to the past that Sony has shown when it comes to their legacy and the creators who've helped create that legacy and memories.
Click to expand...

This is the biggest issue with digital software on consoles. While I liked to say I can't believe a unified marketplace wasn't a priority, I also kind of foresaw this and limited purchases to $1 sales.
 
120v said:
the only problem i have with "all digital" is memory space.

i've had my steam password hacked so i'm fully aware of the risks, but some of the hand wringing over the issue is kind of ridiculous.
Click to expand...

My favorite is the super-duper altruistic "my internet is fine, but what about the poor souls who don't have good internet?"
 
I understand refunds for accidental purchases, but I don't see why it's absolutely necessary for anything else. If I buy a game at Best Buy and don't like it I don't go back and return it. Edit: I could sell it though... Ehh
 
I went all digital over 10 years ago. It's been fine. Many games these days are so tied to a company maintaining an online infrastructure that having a game on disc doesn't even feel like a guarantee that I will be able to play it in the future anyway.
 
No game ever being more than £20 at launch, no questions asked refunds within 2 hours of game time, the ability to sell the license to others for whatever amount you decide it's worth, steam level deep discounts during sales in consoles.

It's still bollocks mind, and the day it happens fully is the day I give up on buying any new games and just play my backlog for the rest of my life.
 
Lime said:
Future cross-platform support (backwards compatibility).

Sony is a prime example of how horrible they can be when it comes to this. All my PS1 and PS2 purchases on PSN don't work on the PS4 for some reason. PS3 might be understandable from a hardware perspective, but it's just deplorable how little care to the past that Sony has shown when it comes to their legacy and the creators who've helped create that legacy and memories.
Click to expand...

this has nothing to do with the fact that these titles are digital or not. the exact same complaints/concerns can be made about physical games
 
I suppose some sort of traumatic brain injury might do it.

Well, also TBH, if the discs didn't really mean anything anyway, because the versions of the game programs actually pressed to them were actually broken or incomplete, necessitating massive downloads patches to bring the game into an acceptable state, forcing you to deal with all the connectivity, bandwidth, and storage issues that it would take to buy the damned thing digitally anyway...

Hey... wait a minute!
 
Good sales and account bound purchases, it's why I'm all digital on PC, mostly digital on vita/ps4, and wouldn't buy a nintendo digital game even if my life depended on it.
 
Basically two reasons would be enough for me to make the switch:

  • Prices being comparable or cheaper. I'm not going to pay $100 dollars for a new game online when I can get it for $70 physically
  • When the network eventually gets shut off (or at least access to a particular systems games), I want the software to be completely unlocked/transportable so that I can make backups of it for the future. Maintain any encryption or protection on it, I just want to save it in case the HDD dies so I can basically play them again in another 20 years on the same or a different system.
The second reason is probably asking a bit too much, but I think the first should be already implemented, considering the reduced costs with digital (I know its a very tiny reduction, but it is still a reduction, not a $30 increase).

It would also be nice for multiple online stores to be selling the software as opposed to the systems own respective store like PSN. I worry that this will basically give all selling power purely to a single store, which would be terrible for consumers and competition, but again, I highly doubt this.
 
Actual real life, make sense sales.

I was never thrilled on the whole "used digital" thing. Like how do you even account for that when digital can be unlimited? Well, I guess you can revoke someone's license but idk. Whichever the case, for me, just entirely sales.

Refunds would be nice too, like a refund window, 15 to 30 minutes tops. Maybe a try before you buy. Not a refund but just allowing a timed 1 hr session with the game to see if its for you or not. Or better incentives to buy digital, such as a point system, rewards, etc..
 
I wouldn't like it, because retail is almost always cheaper than digital is on consoles and handhelds, plus I like being able to resell my games as I like.

...but we'll eventually forced into it, so it's not like we can stop the march of time or anything anyway.
 
When I can get DRM-free files that I can back up and preserve for posterity without relying on a company's promise to maintain its servers indefinitely.
 
The original Xbox One.

Disc prices
Digital game
Still have the option to have a case on a shelf should I be so inclined

God i would have loved it so so so much.
 
icespide said:
this has nothing to do with the fact that these titles are digital or not. the exact same complaints/concerns can be made about physical games
Click to expand...

Digital distribution is simply a matter of data between a server harddrive and a local harddrive, while physical requires the proper technology to read the data from a physical disc. There are less barriers to the former than the latter. Both forms of distribution require emulation of some sort, but they differ in ease of distribution and access.

Additionally, you could argue that by giving over more power to the distributor/publisher by going for a digital license, in turn you should receive compensation of some sort. Backwards compatibility and buying into an ecosystem would be such a compensation.
 
No.
DRM.

It's very simple, I want to be in charge of my game "purchases," not some bean-counter somewhere who lost the rights to a game on their service who then decides that everyone else needs to lose it too. I want to be able to make a back-up of my digital games that I can do whatsoever I want with it, and use it on any console that I own. That's why I really dislike Valve's Steam as a "service" that is nothing more than DRM in disguise. Fuck that noise. For PC games, it is Good Old Games every single time as they don't infest their digital files with DRM.

Failing that, every single digital game has a maximum price of $10. No exceptions.
 
Lime said:
Digital distribution is simply a matter of data between a server harddrive and a local harddrive, while physical requires the proper technology to read the data from a physical disc. There are less barriers to the former than the latter. Both forms of distribution require emulation of some sort, but they differ in ease of distribution and access.
Click to expand...

reading it from the disc is trivial. the real issue is the emulation which is a problem for both physical and digital
 
It already is. Replaying halo or gow 40 years from now doesn't do much for me. I think there will always be a way to play them in some form in the future, legal or not.
 
1. No ISP data limits. Too many of them do it for all digital to be viable.
2. A DRM-free copy of every singleplayer game I can download and back up. No I don't trust services to be around forever.
 
I'm all digital on PC but given that PSN/XBL charge Australian RRP on digital games with few decent specials I couldn't see myself buying many digital games on PS4/X1.

I always buy digital PC games on sale as I generally pass a game once on normal or nigher difficulty then delete it and move onto the next game.

I expect console game sales to tank in internet wastelands like Australia if console manufacturers do try to go all digital with no physical way of obtaining content in the near future.
 
open platforms

open platforms everywhere

digital stuff on consoles is worse than on PC because you always have to go through the platform holders
 
More than half of the video game software created these days is digital only and will remain like that.

Digital won.

It's over.
 
Nah, will never buy a digital game until better Internet options become available. It'd take days to download a game on my network, and when I've tried downloading beefy programs I've been cut off several times. That wouldn't be a huge deal if it didn't mean that in some cases the failed download counted as my only download, which meant I paid for programs that never made it to my computer.
 
Nothing. I trade in games to fund buying new ones, which I usually buy at a discount (vouchers, lowest priced website, etc) because I haven't got much money to spend on gaming. I only buy PC/Steam games on sale, and almost never when they're over £10.
 
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