Oh noes teh sky is falling!

[PenguinMaster]

Originally Posted by StingingVelvet

Once a service like Vudu or Amazon takes over the vast majority of the market (such as Steam on PC) and their app is everywhere then more consumers might jump on. Funny enough of course this causes all the problems monopolies always do, but consumers never care about that stuff (again see Steam). However I still think this research proves the majority of consumers will just stream stuff from a subscription and maybe rent a little.

People who care about owning movies forever are going to opt for physical media for a long time to come I bet, even if we're a small niche and a ton of us are happy with DVD.

Both industries have shifted to focusing on low-priced transactions. For games this means cheap mobile games and downloadable content for free-to-play games. For movies this means subscription services. In both cases the price is low enough that most customers barely put any thought into their purchases.

But when buying an individual game or movie for more than $20 most still opt for physical media. For major game releases Steam can't compete with Playstation 4 and Xbox One discs. For major movie releases iTunes and Amazon can't compete with Blu-ray and DVD.

That's why I'm not at all worried that in 50 years I'll still be able to buy the latest blockbuster movies and AAA games on physical media. But for everything else digital could become the only option.

[StingingVelvet]

Originally Posted by PenguinMaster

But when buying an individual game or movie for more than $20 most still opt for physical media. For major game releases Steam can't compete with Playstation 4 and Xbox One discs. For major movie releases iTunes and Amazon can't compete with Blu-ray and DVD.

Not sure about Steam not competing on the big games. I haven't played games in a few years but when I was quitting Steam sale numbers were skyrocketing and stuff like Skyrim and Battlefield were selling very well on PC even compared to consoles. I'm sure it depends on the game and genre though.

That's why I'm not at all worried that in 50 years I'll still be able to buy the latest blockbuster movies and AAA games on physical media. But for everything else digital could become the only option.

I agree with this though. We're going to see more and more going digital only just because there aren't enough disc sales to bother. Either that or burned on demand media like Sony is now doing. Very few seem to be buying digital according to these numbers, but very few are buying certain things on disc too, like old niche movies and TV shows. Avengers type stuff though? That will be on disc for decades probably.

[PenguinMaster]

Originally Posted by StingingVelvet

Not sure about Steam not competing on the big games. I haven't played games in a few years but when I was quitting Steam sale numbers were skyrocketing and stuff like Skyrim and Battlefield were selling very well on PC even compared to consoles. I'm sure it depends on the game and genre though

About 2 years ago an article was released saying that Destiny's digital sales were about 20% of it's total sales and that was unusually high. Most high profile games only had about 12% digital sales. That 12% accounts for all Steam, Xbox Live, and Playstation Network sales so Steam is probably less than 10% of total sales of most high profile games.

I haven't heard anything since but obviously Steam has a long to way to go before it can compete with Playstation 4 and Xbox One disc sales.

[Member-222782]

Originally Posted by cakefactory

Not surprising. I think the last sentences there are probably prophetic. Netflix really seems to want to be a TV channel instead of a streaming service with a large variety of content.

If this happens it'll truly be a sad day. TV and cable networks only exist as an outlet for the advertising industry. Notice how TV shows' running times get shorter and shorter? Television today is just ads with the occasional TV show sprinkled throughout in bits and pieces.

[Cranston37]

This all reminds me of a report I was reading that when it comes to iOS and Android people just don't like paying for apps - they always go for the free one - and because of that app developers are having a tough go of it. It's not really physical vs digital, etc, issue but it's getting people to pay more than the bare minimum (Netflix) issue

[ArmyOfDarknessAW]

Originally Posted by PenguinMaster

About 2 years ago an article was released saying that Destiny's digital sales were about 20% of it's total sales and that was unusually high. Most high profile games only had about 12% digital sales. That 12% accounts for all Steam, Xbox Live, and Playstation Network sales so Steam is probably less than 10% of total sales of most high profile games.

I haven't heard anything since but obviously Steam has a long to way to go before it can compete with Playstation 4 and Xbox One disc sales.

There is more updated info out there that refutes that a bit. CDprojektred reported 1.3 million of the 4 million sold (at the time of publish) was on PC. All 1.3 million of those would be digital while the other 2.7 million on Xbox and PlayStation is a mix of digital and disc. That isn't a runaway, but that is neck and neck sales with consoles.

Even PC gaming revenue is surpassing consoles. And all of that PC revenue would be digital games. Even the physical based games for PC you can buy (few and far between) it is usually just a steam code in a box or you download the game from the disc and never use the disc again.

[ArmyOfDarknessAW]

Originally Posted by Cranston37

This all reminds me of a report I was reading that when it comes to iOS and Android people just don't like paying for apps - they always go for the free one - and because of that app developers are having a tough go of it. It's not really physical vs digital, etc, issue but it's getting people to pay more than the bare minimum (Netflix) issue

That can be blamed on the developers too. On mobile they all raced to the bottom undercutting each other for sales and to get on the top of the charts that they devalued mobile games. A mobile game that charges $7.99 or $9.99 people scoff at which is crazy. Broken Age is a damn fine game yet it has only sold 5,000 on Android because it cost $10. And a chunk of that probably came while it was on sale. Yet the same game is $15 on Vita and I've seen it higher on sales charts there. When your games don't have value nobody will want to pay for them.

[balthazar_bee]

Originally Posted by Cranston37

This all reminds me of a report I was reading that when it comes to iOS and Android people just don't like paying for apps - they always go for the free one - and because of that app developers are having a tough go of it.

I can't remember if it was in something by Matthew Crawford or Michael Harris or that most stalwart of "digital age" curmudgeons, Andrew Keen, but I remember reading that the odds of being successful in the app industry (assuming you're not operating with the full weight of a mega corp behind you) are roughly equivalent to becoming a rock star. And by "rock star", I don't mean Pixies' new bass player; I mean Bono. You have a better chance of being struck by lightning.

Yet young people continue to spend tonnes of capital (literal and, even more precious, time) trying to break into this industry. It's like working really hard to anticipate a winning lottery number. And apparently post-secondary schools aren't doing anything to discourage it; quite the contrary, because they know that "dynamic, tech-based programs!" are going to draw students (and their money).

[PenguinMaster]

Originally Posted by ArmyOfDarknessAW

There is more updated info out there that refutes that a bit. CDprojektred reported 1.3 million of the 4 million sold (at the time of publish) was on PC. All 1.3 million of those would be digital while the other 2.7 million on Xbox and PlayStation is a mix of digital and disc. That isn't a runaway, but that is neck and neck sales with consoles.

I assume you're talking about The Witcher 3. The PC version has a DRM-free version on disc. It is the only major PC release in years that can be played without ever connecting to the internet so that puts it in the same category as console games on disc. Anyone who has a problem with DRM or downloads (like myself) wouldn't have a problem with the PC version of The Witcher 3.

But regardless I expect The Witcher 3 would sell a lot more copies on PC than most major releases. The first game in the series was PC exclusive and the second game in the series launch a year earlier on PC than Xbox 360.

[ArmyOfDarknessAW]

Originally Posted by PenguinMaster

I assume you're talking about The Witcher 3. The PC version had a DRM-free version on disc. It is the only major PC release in years that can be played without ever connecting to the internet so that puts it in the same category as console games on disc. Anyone who has a problem with DRM or downloads (like myself) wouldn't have a problem with the PC version of The Witcher 3.

But regardless I expect The Witcher 3 would sell a lot more copies on PC than most major releases. The first game in the series was PC exclusive and the second game in the series launch a year earlier on PC than Xbox 360.

Fair enough. However the segment of people who absolutely never connect to the internet is very very very small. Even on consoles you miss tons of fairly substantial day one patches without internet. On my One PC it is rarely connected to the internet because it doesn't have WiFi and is far from the Ethernet. I just out Steam in offline mode and it works fantastic. I just move it to connect every once and awhile to get new patches.

Even still I posted the diagram showing the PC revenue is exceeding consoles and basically all of it is digital.

[PenguinMaster]

Originally Posted by ArmyOfDarknessAW

Even still I posted the diagram showing the PC revenue is exceeding consoles and basically all of it is digital.

The majority of PC revenue comes from downloadable content (mainly for free-to-play games).

[ArmyOfDarknessAW]

Originally Posted by PenguinMaster

The majority of PC revenue comes from downloadable content (mainly for free-to-play games).

Not sure what that has to do with anything.

[LeeFanatic007]

I have all but quit playing current video games due to the fact that you must have internet to play most of them. The Xbox One is so reliant on the internet it is ridiculous, every game I put it to play, it needs to download an update before it can play.

I live in a rural area where I don't have unlimited high-speed internet. I've got satellite internet with a set amount of data a month. A major game download could go through my whole month, and if I'm already out of data the download takes hours.

I do use the PS4 which seems to be better, the few games I've played on it have started right up with no downloads needed and in fact its not even set up to connect to the internet. Otherwise I play a lot of old PC games, when I'm not watching movies of course.

[PenguinMaster]

Originally Posted by ArmyOfDarknessAW

Not sure what that has to do with anything.

My point was that major releases are primarily bought on disc. The majority of PC revenue is from free-to-play games and MMO games. The majority of console revenue is from disc-based games. Major releases get far more sales on disc than on Steam (or PSN or Xbox Live).

Unfortunately the gaming industry as a whole is becoming like McDonalds or Starbucks: making billions of dollars by people spending just a few dollars at a time... over and over and over.

But for the developers that are interested in making compelling single-player experiences, who care about making art not just money, their games are primarily being bought on disc. As long as that continues I'll be satisfied.

[ArmyOfDarknessAW]

Originally Posted by LeeFanatic007

The Xbox One is so reliant on the internet it is ridiculous, every game I put it to play, it needs to download an update before it can play.

.

That isn't an Xbox issue that is a current gaming issue. Almost every major game has day one patches. The patch for No Man's Sky was extremely substantial and changed quite a bit. What you buy in store on disc is the version they had to rush out to meet their deadline. That isn't something unique to any system or PC. It is a problem of gaming now. You basically need Internet to get the actual promised experience these days. There is no need now to iron out most of the bugs because they'll just fix it before release.

[balthazar_bee]

Originally Posted by LeeFanatic007

I have all but quit playing current video games due to the fact that you must have internet to play most of them.

I'm the same way. Even more so, as I don't even have a home internet connection.

At roughly the same time every year, my PS3 just stops playing blu-ray discs because I need to "update my encryption code", which is annoying as shit, and involves jumping through hoops to get things rolling again.

Maybe I'm old fashioned, but if I own a player, and I own a disc, and they both work, I should be able to play them whenever the frack I want. Encryption code, indeed.

Just last week my son got a game for his birthday that says "Requires Internet" on the front. Guess he'll have to play it at his mom's.

[PenguinMaster]

Originally Posted by ArmyOfDarknessAW

That isn't an Xbox issue that is a current gaming issue. Almost every major game has day one patches. The patch for No Man's Sky was extremely substantial and changed quite a bit. What you buy in store on disc is the version they had to rush out to meet their deadline. That isn't something unique to any system or PC. It is a problem of gaming now. You basically need Internet to get the actual promised experience these days. There is no need now to iron out most of the bugs because they'll just fix it before release.

I've played dozens of games on my PS4 without ever connecting to the internet. They all ran great: the patches are not required. There may be a few exceptions (I have no interest in No Man's Sky so I can't comment on that), but it is fortunately not the norm.

[ArmyOfDarknessAW]

Originally Posted by PenguinMaster

I've played dozens of games on my PS4 without ever connecting to the internet. They all ran great: the patches are not required. There may be a few exceptions (I have no interest in No Man's Sky so I can't comment on that), but it is fortunately not the norm.

Not sure what exactly I'm supposed to say here. Because you didn't have issues that means what? The day one patches are fixing issues in games that weren't fixed before the game went gold. Maybe you're lucky or you just don't realize the things updated and changed in patches. I've dealt with many patches fix major issues in games I've loved. So you being content without patches really means nothing to my opinion on the matter. Either you're very lucky or very tolerant of any issues that arise.

[ArmyOfDarknessAW]

Not that I expect people here to be NASCAR fans or care about the games, but the recent Eutechnex NASCAR games were in a deplorable state when they shipped. They didn't fix nearly everything people wanted, but the patches fix quite a bit. They took me from the level of wanting to throw the disc at a wall to actually having some legitimate fun.

[PenguinMaster]

Originally Posted by ArmyOfDarknessAW

Not sure what exactly I'm supposed to say here. Because you didn't have issues that means what? The day one patches are fixing issues in games that weren't fixed before the game went gold. Maybe you're lucky or you just don't realize the things updated and changed in patches. I've dealt with many patches fix major issues in games I've loved. So you being content without patches really means nothing to my opinion on the matter. Either you're very lucky or very tolerant of any issues that arise.

Many people act like games are buggier now then they used to be just because patches exist. I had a lot more crashes and glitches on Sega Genesis and Playstation 2 than I've had on Xbox 360 and Playstation 4.

Patches can certainly help things but they aren't required and games for the most part don't run any worse now just because the developers can make patches. Games also get delayed a lot more than they use to and I see that as a good sign.