Boxed PC games market 'gone by 2011'

[thefabe]

Well I personaly like my discs. As for the agrument on packaging price I belive it has merit. But then I just purchased GTAIV from Amazon "Like New" and was for a total of 13.85. So this is another situation we'll have to wait and see what driection the industry decides to go. I also am aware of the problem with the disc becomeing unplayable in time but then I use Gamejackel (purchased) to create the startup image so I don't have to use the disc and can keep it nice a clean.Fabe

 

[Wishmaster]

I run cracked games with no CD patches. DRM is bad, nor do I need a CD in if it does a full install. PC gamers are giving up because they're being treated like criminals. This is the fault of the companies.

maybe we wouldn't need DRM and copy protection if you bought your media...

I thought he meant he uses them on older games that has the DRM requiring aCD in the drive/ though still owns the physical discs/game.

No CD executables are nice on older games that do this so you do not have to swap the CDs in and out. IF YOU OWN THE GAME!

I do think pirating has put us in this mess ..

By the same token, If companies went with a diff. approach such as:
We know the game will be pirated and cost to much to try to stop what we cant so ...
Work out something with Free DLC (I think they are actually experiementing w/this now) that must be Digital.
this way theres still physical disks, yet some Digital means that cant be pirated as easily in frquent small portions. And more incentive to buy the "full" game so-to-speak

If it would work, and the game is good theyd sell more in the long run Id think.

And the pirates can keep going with a stripped version of the game (As large amounts of conent were DLC on release.

 

[swarfega]

Im not fussed about discs any more. The last 173 games Ive bought are all from steam. The only time I buy a disc is due to bandwidth considerations because of the large download.

 

[DarkRhystar]

Sounds awesome… NOT! Who wants to give greedy companies MORE money for less, at your inconvenience? Not me, they already raise profits unfairly by well over $20 as it is! They do NOT need an extra $10 or more on top of that inflated $20, again at YOUR inconvenience!

However, if these companies guaranteed two conditions:

1) They LOWER the price by $10 to $15 to account for using NO materials AND 2) Allow you to BURN A PHYSICAL BACKUP DISK of the game - then hell yes, I’d say bring it on. BUT – we all know that will never happen. So… nope, not going there.

Recently there have been a lot of game companies with layoffs or simply going out of business so while I'm sure there is corporate greed in the environment, it's not like every game company on a digital distribution platform is rolling in dollars laughing maniacally when someone buys their game.

Also, your $10-$15 per game for materials is highly exaggerated. Let's look at an older breakdown of the cost by ars.*

Manufacturing costs + Distribution = 6.5% or $3.25 per $50 game.

Bioshock 2 is releasing on February 9th on Steam for $44.99 and it includes Bioshock 1 so that's below retail, below these approximated %'s without distribution, and with an added bonus of getting the original game. You can shout and stomp your feet about how they could be charging less but realize that they're not offering a bad deal compared to retail.

Also, I'd love the ability to burn copies of downloaded games. The ability to buy online and play offline is the ideal of course.

*Chart is from 2006 so it's a bit dated. Also note that PC games don't necessarily have a "console owner fee" associated with them.

 

[EvilOzzmess]

Also, your $10-$15 per game for materials is highly exaggerated. Let's look at an older breakdown of the cost by ars.*

Manufacturing costs + Distribution = 6.5% or $3.25 per $50 game.

Bioshock 2 is releasing on February 9th on Steam for $44.99 and it includes Bioshock 1 so that's below retail, below these approximated %'s without distribution, and with an added bonus of getting the original game. You can shout and stomp your feet about how they could be charging less but realize that they're not offering a bad deal compared to retail.

Also, I'd love the ability to burn copies of downloaded games. The ability to buy online and play offline is the ideal of course.

*Chart is from 2006 so it's a bit dated. Also note that PC games don't necessarily have a "console owner fee" associated with them.

So they say, anyway. Just like the US Government had been claiming unemployment was only at 10% a few months back, when we ALL knew it was really 15% or over! Don't believe everything you read or are told, dude. And I see there is 20% retail markup - there's where they're hiding some of those steep markups on physical materials right there.

By the way, do you have ANY idea how much they want for you to buy those DVD-ROM cases used (the ones most games today are coming in now, such as Sims 3)? $2 - the distribution marks those up to at LEAST $5 - and they only spend 5 cents on them, let me tell you. Then as I said is all the fancy artwork and color paper, and the paper itself which is already by itself very expensive, and then they're paying the people putting those things together as well - it all adds up to at LEAST $10-$15, trust me!

The point was, these damn companies will keep the games the SAME, exact prices instead of lowering them to account for the money they WON'T be spending on materials and also distribution. It's a blatant rip-off, because they DO suck out as much money as they can from you just for that cheesy case, artwork, paper and crappy, cheap disk(s)! Big Business is all about ripping you off as much as they can, but without pissing you all off - at least it is today.

But yeah, my other core point is that in exchange for loosing the "security blanket" of a PHYSICAL HARD COPY, we should pay less for it. Only fair.

 

[JonM33]

Retail is a waste of time, go with e-tailers. I purchase my games online but not through D2D or Steam. I'll buy the boxed version from NewEgg, etc. I really doubt that boxed PC games will cease by 2011 though. I'll be buying the boxed PC version of Aliens vs Predator and Assassin's Creed 2 as well.

You couldn't pay me to put Steam on my computer.

 

[Zepher]

By the way, do you have ANY idea how much they want for you to buy those DVD-ROM cases used (the ones most games today are coming in now, such as Sims 3)? $2 - the distribution marks those up to at LEAST $5 - and they only spend 5 cents on them, let me tell you. Then as I said is all the fancy artwork and color paper, and the paper itself which is already by itself very expensive, and then they're paying the people putting those things together as well - it all adds up to at LEAST $10-$15, trust me!

Your figures are way overly inflated.
The paper and printing is very cheap, the packaging is automated. $5.00 max for a standard game.

 

[Zepher]

Retail is a waste of time, go with e-tailers. I purchase my games online but not through D2D or Steam. I'll buy the boxed version from NewEgg, etc. I really doubt that boxed PC games will cease by 2011 though. I'll be buying the boxed PC version of Aliens vs Predator and Assassin's Creed 2 as well.

You couldn't pay me to put Steam on my computer.

You know what the coolest thing with steam is? You can copy your entire Steam Folder to an external drive, bring it to a friends house, install the steam client and then point the install to the external drive and then play all of your games without needing to install anything but the Steam Client.

When I load a new OS, I install Steam and point the installer to my other drive where my Steam Games are loaded and then just play.

Steam also auto updates all of your games so you don't need to keep running patches manually.

 

[Frostmourne]

Retail is a waste of time, go with e-tailers. I purchase my games online but not through D2D or Steam. I'll buy the boxed version from NewEgg, etc. I really doubt that boxed PC games will cease by 2011 though. I'll be buying the boxed PC version of Aliens vs Predator and Assassin's Creed 2 as well.

You couldn't pay me to put Steam on my computer.

You know what the coolest thing with steam is? You can copy your entire Steam Folder to an external drive, bring it to a friends house, install the steam client and then point the install to the external drive and then play all of your games without needing to install anything but the Steam Client.

When I load a new OS, I install Steam and point the installer to my other drive where my Steam Games are loaded and then just play.

Steam also auto updates all of your games so you don't need to keep running patches manually.

Steam is junk - if the patch breaks the game you can't remove it. What kind of app forces you to update? Its a waste of bytes. If you can connect. I prefer Games for Windows Live anyday.

 

[Zepher]

Retail is a waste of time, go with e-tailers. I purchase my games online but not through D2D or Steam. I'll buy the boxed version from NewEgg, etc. I really doubt that boxed PC games will cease by 2011 though. I'll be buying the boxed PC version of Aliens vs Predator and Assassin's Creed 2 as well.

You couldn't pay me to put Steam on my computer.

You know what the coolest thing with steam is? You can copy your entire Steam Folder to an external drive, bring it to a friends house, install the steam client and then point the install to the external drive and then play all of your games without needing to install anything but the Steam Client.

When I load a new OS, I install Steam and point the installer to my other drive where my Steam Games are loaded and then just play.

Steam also auto updates all of your games so you don't need to keep running patches manually.

Steam is junk - if the patch breaks the game you can't remove it. What kind of app forces you to update? Its a waste of bytes. If you can connect. I prefer Games for Windows Live anyday.

You don't have to have it patch the game, you have the option of turning off auto updates.

 

[Frostmourne]

You know what the coolest thing with steam is? You can copy your entire Steam Folder to an external drive, bring it to a friends house, install the steam client and then point the install to the external drive and then play all of your games without needing to install anything but the Steam Client.

When I load a new OS, I install Steam and point the installer to my other drive where my Steam Games are loaded and then just play.

Steam also auto updates all of your games so you don't need to keep running patches manually.

Steam is junk - if the patch breaks the game you can't remove it. What kind of app forces you to update? Its a waste of bytes. If you can connect. I prefer Games for Windows Live anyday.

You don't have to have it patch the game, you have the option of turning off auto updates.

No, you install the game, update Steam, then you must update the game at least once - when the patch can be 1GB plus. USELESS.

 

[ManOwar2]

Honestly having a disc is a must when you can. No need to constantly download/redownload/backup your files and your games to have them working.

But what does really get annoying are thoses actual pc games that you buy boxed but require internet for activation (like empire total war on steam) and then when you install the game it is linked to the digital download and become a part of the lists of your digital games !

This is kinda abusive on my opinion and it is only forcing people to move to digital version.


Of course, the responsibles for the disppearence of PC games in stores is mainly because market like EBgames or Wal-mart only display poor main stream title and do not bother to be innovative at all.

And, the fact that since a couple years it's not possible anymore to exchange your pc games in stores, no ones want them because of piracy.

Somehow, people prefer to pay a console 300$ and spend 80$ for each their game rather than having a 1500$ gaming rid and paying their games 50$.

The funny thing is every game I played on console, I also played them on PC and PC games are so much more superior in graphics and gameplay.

A keyboard and a mouse beat any console controller easily, as any machine of 1500$ will beat a 300$ console...a simple question of mathematic !

Sadly we are far away from thoses old gigantic attractive pc games boxes filling out half the place in compucentre stores with games on 8 floppy disk, early 90's. lol

 

[Frostmourne]

Honestly having a disc is a must when you can. No need to constantly download/redownload/backup your files and your games to have them working.

But what does really get annoying are thoses actual pc games that you buy boxed but require internet for activation (like empire total war on steam) and then when you install the game it is linked to the digital download and become a part of the lists of your digital games !

This is kinda abusive on my opinion and it is only forcing people to move to digital version.


Of course, the responsibles for the disppearence of PC games in stores is mainly because market like EBgames or Wal-mart only display poor main stream title and do not bother to be innovative at all.

And, the fact that since a couple years it's not possible anymore to exchange your pc games in stores, no ones want them because of piracy.

Somehow, people prefer to pay a console 300$ and spend 80$ for each their game rather than having a 1500$ gaming rid and paying their games 50$.

The funny thing is every game I played on console, I also played them on PC and PC games are so much more superior in graphics and gameplay.

A keyboard and a mouse beat any console controller easily, as any machine of 1500$ will beat a 300$ console...a simple question of mathematic !

Sadly we are far away from thoses old gigantic attractive pc games boxes filling out half the place in compucentre stores with games on 8 floppy disk, early 90's. lol

Solution - don't buy games that force you to accept the SSA - steam subscriber agreement. No steam, just an installer - some have internet activation - Mass Effect 2 doesn't.

 

[DarkRhystar]

No, you install the game, update Steam, then you must update the game at least once - when the patch can be 1GB plus. USELESS.

It's tragic you had a bad experience, but that's all it was--a bad experience.

As someone with some degree of technological knowledge you should know the value of keeping an open mind. It's one thing to say "I had a bad experience with this product a while back when an update broke a game" but another to say "This product is useless because updates break games" or the like.

Imagine if you had stopped using Windows back in the 3.1 or '95 days because it crashed on you once. You'd have missed out on a lot of great advances and wouldn't be enjoying Windows 7 as much as you hopefully do today.

 

[Frostmourne]

No, you install the game, update Steam, then you must update the game at least once - when the patch can be 1GB plus. USELESS.

It's tragic you had a bad experience, but that's all it was--a bad experience.

As someone with some degree of technological knowledge you should know the value of keeping an open mind. It's one thing to say "I had a bad experience with this product a while back when an update broke a game" but another to say "This product is useless because updates break games" or the like.

Imagine if you had stopped using Windows back in the 3.1 or '95 days because it crashed on you once. You'd have missed out on a lot of great advances and wouldn't be enjoying Windows 7 as much as you hopefully do today.

Steam isn't Windows - I would persevere and fix the issue with Windows. Steam is useless and boxed games are an alternative for now.

 

[chrishellmax]

Heres my two cents.
We bought dawn of war 2,
spend hours getting the steam to work, spend hours trying to register the game
spend hour trying to get the windows game thingy to workd
And guess how many hours i have played the game?
0 zero.
Right now i am not convinced steam is for me, i might change my mind, the same i
changed it for vista. While trying my best to make something work for me
i get easily frustrated when all those things you have to do and the final
product still dont work
chris

 

[Zepher]

I like how you state Steam is useless and boxed games are an alternative.
If Steam was useless then Steam would be an alternative, and not the other way around, as you stated it.

Steams been working great for me since I got 5 or 6 years ago and I still have the same Steam install folder with the games I installed way back then and used them on XP, Vista, and now 7.
I didn't have to re-download them or reinstall them from CD/DVD with my major OS and hardware changes.
Just had to install the Steam client and I was back to gaming.

I do buy boxed games as well like Battlefield 2 which happens to require 2GB in patches to be downloaded after you install the game if you want to play on current servers. Now granted, BF2 is 5 years old but if it were on Steam I wouldn't have to keep reinstalling it when I reload the OS or have to patch it if I were to re-download it as it would be patched already.

The only drawback to Steam is the inability to resell games you beat and might not play again and a quite a few Boxed games are requiring you tie your CD/DVD Key to an email or profile, like Games for Windows when playing multiplayer, which makes it hard to resell the game.

 

[Pieloi]

What ?! OUTRAGE.

Do you remember when pc games came in REAL boxes, you know those giant boxes with the normal CD case inside ? Man those were the days.

Its just like owning a DVD collection ! They are nostalgic ! And all those goodies you can pack into a big special edition box !

Argh. This is unthinkable..

 

[Zen00]

I would much prefer to be able to buy game content on thumb drives or SD cards. Something that doesn't scratch and get ruined, but is still physical.