@instigator81 All those other forms of media are very diverse in how they are distributed too and don't have ONE retailer for each device. The problem with only digital for gaming is that because it's so young and not very main stream, like movies, there isn't enough digital competition, not even for PCs let alone consoles. MS completely owns the Xbox live Marketplace and Sony completely owns PSN and there's no competition there to bring down the prices. We need physical copies to help bring down the prices for consoles.
@instigator81 @SpookyHoobster @freedom01 That rule doesn't have to apply here because there is no supply. They don't need to move units off the shelves to make room, there's no date that says the product goes bad. In other words, they don't LOSE money if they don't sell. In situations like this you need competition to lower prices and no one else has access to the Xbox digital market other than MS.
Steam has to drive the price down because they have competition over a smaller portion of the Gaming market in general.
@instigator81 @freedom01 The problem is situations like this:
Alice:Madness Returns (2011)
XBL Marketplace $49.99
Steam $19.99
It's not a game a I give a damn about but illustrates the problem with consoles going digital perfectly. The Xbox 360 doesn't have any other retailers competing for customers, MS can slap whatever price they want and there's no competition or reason for them to EVER lower the prices. Steam has this problem too: Skryim stood at a full $60 for 2 years before it went down in price, BUT I could've bought it at amazon for cheaper, there was at least some sort of alternative to the shitty way Digital distribution works.
Digital distribution is great for the PC market because it makes a small portion of the Gaming market in general. If everything was only digital it'd be a worse place.
@mickyfinn84 It's completely stupid how they market it right now. They cut the costs of production and shipping with digital sales yet they charge the same price as a physical copy, usually more after a few months because with physical copies you have to move units for shelf space so a year old game still goes for the full $60. I was a bit pissed at steam for doing that with Skyrim.
@Dannystaples14 the problem with consoles is that you cant have competitive prices for digital content. Amazon, GOG, Desura, Steam, Gamestop, etc all compete with each other for the PC market. No one is going to compete for the Xbox market unless MS pulls a good samaritan and lets other retailers compete on it. That's why they wanted to cut out the used copy sales, it would've just about defeated the point on buying a physical copy then everyone would shift over to digital.
MS did say they were going to have day one Digital sales for games so there you go.
@Lord_Python1049 I don't know. Angry birds is hardly a huge title or needs a large budget but is probably the most popular video game title and bringing more new people into the industry than any AAA title on consoles. I think it's mainly accessibility, hardware is a major roadblock as a casual gamer isn't going to shell out the cash for a console or a gaming PC and if production costs stay the way they are casual gamers aren't going to buy the games we want to be mainstream. We also need a broader range of games so we can appeal to more people.
@kade1001 @JustArtificial I don't know why your questioning him as a developer, it's not important. What is important is what he's saying and whether it's right or not using logical arguments. Socrates was uneducated but formed the basis of philosophy. Knowing how something works doesn't mean you can make it and vise versa, so he can make shitty ass games but he might know exactly what makes the industry tick in general.
@spindie and most of those people are not seeing the real revenue this game makes. The people who work a regular 9-5, the people who can't control how the powers-that-be run their company, won't get affected directly because of people hating this game. It make the company as a whole look bad but it affects those who caused the fiasco way worse.
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