A survey of British gamers has found that a quarter prefer to purchase and download their games online, often through their console's store, rather than purchase a physical copy from a retail store. According to TNS, who conducted the survey, digital distribution will outstrip retail sales within three years.The results of the UK National Gamers Survey 2009, which surveyed 13,000 people in the Netherlands, France, Germany, Belgium, the UK and the US, were unveiled at the London Games Conference last night.
The results show that more than half of gamers in the UK prefer to play video games on a console, with 35 percent preferring to play games on their computer instead. Of these numbers, 7 percent of console gamers said that they would buy a game or additional levels for a game directly through their console instead of going to the shops. This doubles to 14 percent for PC gamers.
Nineteen percent of respondents said they played games on their mobile phones, of which 44 percent download new games straight to their phone.
According to the Daily Telegraph, this is quite concerning for video game trailers, as stores usually recoup losses from game console sales by bundling them with a selection of games. With more and more titles becoming available directly from the console maker's online stores, this is becoming more difficult.
Industry insiders cite the recent price cuts on the PSP Go handheld console, which uses digital distribution only, as evidence of game downloads hurting profit margins.
However, at the same time the market is being stifled by the fact that most ISPs insist on imposing download limits. Most base tier web packages in the UK impose a 3GB download PER MONTH limit, which means that a lot of people couldn't even download a DVD if they wanted to!
I mean, ISPs are going to get away with treating customers like **** as long as customers keep doing absolutely nothing about it.
If they got the initial pricing correct, then this wouldn't be an issue. You would feel like you had value from the software only product. You wouldn't then feel ripped off for not using it again.
they need to make software downloads cheaper so this perceived resell value is not lost on the user.
Never say never. Unless you plan on not playing games in the future, since that's the direction it's headed in.
You can also look at it like its a cinema ticket with much better value, because game lasts much longer and its interactive.
Or you could play it again over and over, and never sell it.
Do you think you would play games more than once through if you couldn't sell them?
I've never resold games ... I only tend to get ones I'm really sure I'll like and then I will probably play them to death .. go play something else for a while, go back to them, etc.
I've never resold games ... I only tend to get ones I'm really sure I'll like and then I will probably play them to death .. go play something else for a while, go back to them, etc.
Same as, steam is a godsend, with the added advantage that you can just purchase a game and have it almost immediately. My only main quibble with steam is that a lot of non valve games are really expensive
I like Steam but fact is that some TOP games on amazon.com or amazon.co.uk with free delivery are sold sometimes much cheaper than on greedy Steam.
Steam is great, but I'd never advise someone to buy something on Steam or anywhere when there's a much better deal from another trusted retailer.
Anyone remember the huge boxes that you'd get in the Amiga days? My stack was over 8 foot high!
I still have some of those
I can't see digital distribution taking off big time in the UK until ISPs, or BT lifts those caps tbh. Streaming TV is off the cards for now for me.
i prefer having the box, just so i have some physical evidence of where my money went, so i can hold that lovely new manual, and so i can return it if there are problems and potentially resell it if i can ever be bothered (steam also won't allow you to resell games you've bought through their service).
steam's idea of 'ownership' seems very different to mine. it's a shame retail here is usually almost double the cost of buying through steam.
Last edited by CL114C0777498D on 29 Oct 2009 - 02:23
Steam provides a "service", not a "product", so you never own anything whatsoever. In essence you are paying to rent the game for an indefinite period of time--a period which is defined by Steam, not you. If the game never works or stops working or they later decide to ban your account (for any of various reasons, including accepting a "suspicious" number of gifted games) you are left with no game and no money.
For comparison, see GOG.com, which sells both a product and service, all at low prices and DRM free. GOG could shut down tomorrow or be hit by a meteor or whatever and it wouldn't matter; buyers can install and play their games with or without GOG's existence or permission.
Having increased battery performance, no thrashing UMD noise and less popup was well worth it to me.
Commenting has either been disabled on this article or you are not logged in. Click here to login or register, its free!
Note: Anonymous commenting is disabled in order to keep the quality of responses to a high standard.