Nintendo Okie

Chances are if you have a video game console in your house you have it connected to the internet.  If you’re one of that constantly growing number of people, you’ve probably purchased a game online.  Those chances go up even more if you own a PC.  We’re in the beginning of the world of digital game downloads.  That market is growing every year.  Recently EA CEO John Riccitiello stated that 40% of their business was conducted digitally and that he expects that number to grow to 50% in 2010.  Companies are beginning to see the benefits of this type of business.  

There are, as with everything, good and bad qualities to having your content brought to you over the internet.  First, you have instant access to whatever you want to purchase.  This is the argument that gets used most often in favor of the digital age.  This is probably also the biggest point for me.  I have immediate access to whatever titles I want, and there are no discs that get destroyed through accidents or carelessness.  In having stores where you just download what you want all you have to do is choose from a list of available titles, hit a button and it starts downloading straight to your machine.  It’s the ultimate in convenience.  On the flip side of that content providers can choose when and how long things are on sale and available for purchase.  If they decide to pull it from the store it’s gone and no one has a second hand digital store where you can find it in. 

Second is the cost.  Ultimately having things brought to you digitally would result in lower prices. The content providers, in the end, have the final say over the cost and there are no sales unless they say so.  Sony, for example, currently has a number of items on the Playstation Network that cost more than they do in a brick and mortar store.  Many of these are older titles that are cheaper in physical form.  On the other hand, places like the iTunes store are showing that consumers want their content cheaper.  There have been numerous examples of games coming out at a higher price and not selling well.  The second the price drops sales of some of those titles skyrocket.  This could be anything from a game debuting at $10 and dropping to $5 or a $4 game dropping to 99 cents.  There haven’t been any hard and fast rules and that’s an area that companies still need to experiment in to find the sweet spot. 

The third point is the trade in aspect.  Many gamers thrive on being able to trade in older games towards the purchase of newer ones at a reduced cost.  If you purchase a digital copy you can’t trade it in.  Some people don’t really care about that argument, but there are many who do.  Businesses like Gamestop thrive on the used game business.  If that market disappears so do they.  On the other hand if you like having large amounts of titles in your library to choose from having a digital “vault” so to speak of games would be nice.

There are a few companies out there right now that I think are doing it right, at least for now.  The first one that comes to my mind, and many other people’s minds, is Valve with Steam.  They have a decent DRM solution, allowing you to download a game as often as you like, as long as you’re logged in to your account.  Big Fish Games, a leader in the casual market, has a similar solution.  The games are inexpensive, and if you’re a member of their service you get the games even cheaper.  You can download them to any computer you’re logged into as often as you want so multiple computers in your house have access to that content.  With Big Fish you also don’t have to be online to play the games after you download them.  These two companies also frequently have sales on a number of their titles reducing the prices to sometimes unbelievable lows.

The issue of Digital Rights Management, or DRM, is one of the biggest in the world of digital distribution.  Who doesn’t remember the flap over EA and Spore?  These companies need to protect themselves from piracy, but consumers also expect to be able to access their content when and where they want.  It’s a fine balancing act, but one that I think can be resolved.  Those two companies mentioned above are the ones I use most often on the PC and I like those solutions.  Companies like Nintendo and Microsoft also tie your downloads to an a system meaning you can re-download games on the same system that purchased the games originally.  There is still some issue as to what happens if you get a new system and that will have to be looked at.  I think the best solution is to simply tie the game to an account, rather than a system, and as long as you’re logged in then you have access to all your games.

The other thing that needs to be looked at is what happens to your games after that system is no longer available.  Are those games going to transfer to new consoles in the future?  Will you have to have that system working for the rest of time?  Some companies work around that now by allowing you to purchase the game digitally, but also to request a physical copy of the game at a small price.  It’s a good solution, but ultimately not the best.  We’re not to that point in this generation yet, but I think in the future those games will have to be tied to you in some way so that you can access them.  I would be very upset if I spent hundreds of dollars for digital games now only to have them obsolete when the next system rolls around.  We’re now to the point where all your games if they’re not physical media need to be available in some form going forward.  Who knows what that solution will be? 

What are some of your thoughts?  Are you looking forward to the world of digital gaming or do you prefer to have the physical copy of a game?  Leave us a comment and let us know.