Ok everyone, there is a great deal of talk about how disc games may be well coming to their end. Honestly, I can see how people can say that with the way digital is being pushed. However, I don't see discs going out of style just yet. Maybe after the next console cycle. But not for the coming one. As long as there is a market for people that want physical media, there will always be buyers. What do you all think?
Actually, I think the next generation will arrive fast than you think! How much people are already buying games on Steam? If you buy a game on steam, you will get a legal download of the game!
I don't know, steam's been around since before this generation started. Onlive is a service struggling so badly they're constantly give people games free. I never said there wouldn't be a buyer for digital games. I just have doubts on digital putting physical out of its misery anytime soon.
I think the time is fast approaching, but it is still a generation or two away. Not everyone has the ability to download digitally yet.
Not yet but maybe the next generation. The internet infrastructure we have not couldn't support download only games. There are still people with out high speed internet.
No, because it would alienate a large part of the market since a significant chunk of the population is not yet internet savvy. Like little kids or the tech illiterate parents.
Printed discs are much cheaper than flash based storage, so probably won't see a return to small cartridges or cards. Also the current internet structure is badly suited for digital distribution, heck piracy and p2p traffic is already so high. ISPs want to start charging companies for delivering content to people. Also having a physical copy for some games is still decent, at least you can trade it in - unlike digital copies.
Yeah, I think the disc, as well as all physical media, is on the way out. I personally haven't bought a physical game in about two years. I just download them, and I mostly play free to play games and I ocasionally purchase premium content. If the government would pull its thumb out of its butt, then I think the country's infrastructure would improve bandwidth for everybody.
Eventually I think discs will be obsolete. Bluray and Dvd movies are becoming obsolete with the success of Hulu and Netflix and so I don't doubt that gaming discs will also be phased out (like cartridges). I am not suggesting that gaming will now turn to streaming or online services however. I am just thinking that there will be a different type of physical media that is more efficient and easier for developers to distribute.
