Pros and Cons of Digital Video Game Distribution
A colleague of mine sent me an instant message this morning with a link to an article written over at the Advanced Media Network. I’ve never heard of AMN before, but looks like they have some excellent content around the video game industry of which I look to explore.
Anyway, there is a list put together that I’ll recap – but check out the article to read more in-depth.
Pros
- You don’t have to leave your home to do it
- Opens the door to more demos
- You don’t have to wait in line
- Games are always in stock
- Open for game buying 24/7
- Lower game prices
- Physical copies don’t take up extra space
Cons
- Slow download speeds
- No physical copies
- No returns/refunds
- You can’t sell your old games
I’ve been the biggest proponent of bandwidth penetrating the video game industry for multiple reasons, some of which are labeled above. Practicality of releasing a 3GB video game to a mainstream audience may be difficult today because gamers will get frustrated with the wait time to download as well, as, some gamers ultimately will get hung/stuck in the middle of the download (it’s inevitable). Also, to be realistic, the majority of the USA doesn’t have extremely fast connections (though that’s changing) but even with a cable modem, a 3GB video game will take some time.
Once connection speeds and infrastructure increase, I don’t see any of the cons above holding back the digital distribution industry. You CAN sell your old games – those services are just a few months away from launching and once digital distribution becomes a reality (for the mainstream), we’ll see a half dozen taking venture money.
Who else is excited about where the games industry is going? 