Do you think a "digital games only" future could happen? Would you still buy consoles?

I just want to say. If it ever did happen, which it most likely will, it will be a sad day for gaming. No more discs and everything is digital...HECK NO. What if my internet goes out?

I think it's inevitable at this point. It's not just gaming, but media in general is shifting from physical to digital storage. It's only a matter of time, and a question of how each company will handle the transition.

That being said, I'm against an all-digital setup, so I wouldn't invest in consoles at that point. I'll stick with handhelds as long as physical storage media persists, and probably quit after it converts to a mostly digital platform.

I love video games, it doesn't matter where or how I get them. I'm definitely not going to stop buying consoles if they go digital in the future. They're many games that still won't be playable on the PC.

@JangoWuzHere: Amen brother.

If gaming goes all digital, they might as well just stop making consoles. Just make games for PC. There is no point in making 3 or 4 different PC platforms. If the games are digital only, what reason is there for consoles? Brand? Give me a break.

Why aren't there more comments??? Oh come on, people! You know it could happen one day.

I will still buy consoles even with the digital only age approaching.

I would hate it, but assuming that hardware still dictates gaming, i would still buy a console.

I would not buy a new console, on the other hand, if gaming turns streaming only.

Im pretty much 100% digital now except for WiiU. I have all the consoles and a gaming PC. Been digital for so long with PC so Ive become used to it.

I am certain it will happen, In the end consumers only have THAT much pull, If a Corp wants to to change something to thier favour, we gamers have shown we lack absolutely all kinds of backbone and will break Down and go along with it.

But for me the notion of digital only does not seem that bad, in the area of bad decicions made for us, DD is far from the worst. Heck my Vita never had a cardridge in it, and I suppose I have around 60 games for it? The Wii U have a 50/50 split

Ironically the only console I have with an exclusive physical presence is the PS4. Mostly due to the fairly poor sales online.

I do have to be honest I have very Little faith in Sony and MS to keep services open for a system after it discontinues. So better have a shit ton of storage options to grab everything you own, so far they have shown absolutely no will to make it safe for consumers, and the prices in general are piss poor for DD games for consoles.

Why would you not buy a console?

I buy all my video games digitally now and own a console, can't see that changing anytime soon.

I've gone all digital this gen so far because of game sharing and being able to get free credit, so far most of my games are free or heavily discounted. But I will still buy a game on disc if it's a slick deal, so far I haven't had a chance to jump on any of these deals. I've saved more going digital so far. I also use my console for other entertainment purposes like watching movies on blu-ray so having a disc slot is a must.

I think it will just depend on the price of the system and its games and the kind of games and services the future all digital gaming system will have. Also it depends on how far technology and internet speeds have gone. So if it's a big improvement from this gen, then I wouldn't mind. Someone has to do it, someone should do it. Just as long we have options then it's all good. I don't think many were comfortable with all digital this gen, that's why the Xbox One got some hatred. So if it's not MS, someone should take this option of going all digital and just go for it.

Hate digital only. One reason I stopped gaming on PC.

Get ready.. full out digital games 55-80gb big, 250-300gb data caps with US ISP,s, extra fees as you go over your cap to download that one game. We already starting to see it now and its only gonna get worst.

Actually,

Gamer package: unlimited downloads from microsoft, sony, nintendo, and steam for the low additional price of 29.99 ontop your base internet tier..

Digital is great but with loss of net neutrality and no rules to protect customers from ISP's, its gonna suck with everyone going full digital.

It will eventually happen. Sony tried it years ago with the PSP Go, but the market wasn't ready yet. I don't remember the last time I bought a physical copy of a game. I've been buying digital games for years on my PS3, PS Vita and now my PS4. I bought a PS4 at launch and own around 40 games and they're all digital.

Same, and the only reason my WiiU is not digital is because Nintendo didn't give us more than 32gigs of storage :(

When it happens I'd retire from gaming. :P

Yeah maybe PS7.

As long as enough of those games have splitscreen multiplayer, i would still buy consoles. But without local multiplayer, I would game exclusively on PC.

We'll get there, eventually.

The only reason I think this is challenging on consoles, at least as far as being implemented by Sony and MS and Nintendo, is that it's far too advantageous for one company not to do it if their competitors attempt it.

Then again, maybe change won't come by their decision, maybe certain publishers will just decide at a certain point only to release their games on the digital stores only, or offer a discount or free season pass bundle deals or something to make people buy digital over retail.

not sure if consoles will ever go all digital but if they do I would never consider buying another console

"Could"? Are you serious? Now I know MS fucked up with their reveal and policies as they were trying to shoehorn consumers into it NOW. But if any of you for a second doesn't see the writing on the wall with Game streaming then god help you. It is the future, whether you like it or not.

Yes it will happen eventually. Will I still buy consoles? I don't know, depends on the type of games they get that I can't play on my PC. I won't drop PC gaming, but I'll drop consoles the older I get, and the less time I get to play my video games.

I said the same thing when DirecTV and Dish network launched. I watched my brother, as an early adopter piss and moan about no TV service during inclement weather. Did Satellite TV go under? Its going to be the thing, I am betting investment money on it.

All digital is inevitable. I'll still buy consoles, if they're still around.

I see it this way too. It's hard to say what the evolutionary process will look like, but an 'instant-on" system seems inevitable.

Progress is of course tied to infrastructure and net speeds need to be faster. I have 20Mbps dsl and use Onlive occasionally since it's an easy fix on a laptop or any device. I have Batman AC and JC2 and they still look 75%-ish of a 360/PS3 title. Cell service providers will push traditional fiber-based services in the long run.

Whether this will eliminate disc-based completely is questionable.

MS and Sony will both go streaming services. Their 'console' will be a small box that plugs into the internet that receives the signal from the controller. Otherwise it will be on a myriad number of devices that already can accept it. MS actually is working on a streaming service. Its called Rio. MS and Sony will both go there because they are doing the crazy expensive hardware wars and they can't compete with PCs. Nintendo does their own thing so I don't see them buying into mega hardware, and Sony and MS streaming services won't need heavy hardware. I expect MS and Sony will have their services on Nintendo's console along with PC.

That's exactly my perception of the near future as well. Except the last bit, i don't ever see Playstation brand, Xbox brand, and Nintendo intermingling.

I'm very excited to see what happens. It makes sense, do they ever see a profit in hardware?

Provide the service, provide the games. They will be able to reach to millions of more people on several different platforms and accumulate a larger playerbase and subscribers = $$$ without losing any in hardware.

Edit: in response to your thread, a lot of people are going all digital even when they have the option to buy physical. I don't see how it "could" happen when it already is. Next step is all streaming.

It's going to happen, and when it does I'm out. I prefer to actually own what I pay for, and I have more than enough games, movies and books already to last the rest of my life.

The way gaming is going, I might be out way before that. The whole shift to DLC and microtransactions is really putting me off.

It depends how they will handle it. How annoying the DRM will be....

I would quit console gaming, i love to collect my games in the bookshelves

Digital only is inevitable, without question. I would honestly be surprised if we see physical copies on the next generation of consoles. Look at all other forms of media - CD's are practically extinct, physical copies of movies are still common but streaming services and digital movies are becoming more and more prevalent by the day. PC gaming is pretty much already completely digital and most all of my PS4 and XBO games are digital - some developers are even pushing for it, giving you early access to games if you predownload certain games. So yeah, it's just a matter of time - not sure if it'll be the end of consoles or not though but it's very possible.

There is no doubt at all we are heading towards a digital gaming era. It would be weird for all of us since we're use to hard copies, but the people of the future won't mind. It will be the norm and we'll all be made fun of and called dinosaurs while they laugh at discs....kind of like how some people do with VHS tapes and 8 tracks.

I don't mind services like Steam that only require an internet connection once to activate a digital game, but I'll never use a service that requires a constant internet connection...

Digital distribution allows for easy and relatively non-intrusive DRM. Steam has shown great success in this business model, and consoles are only falling behind staying largely physical.

There will still be a market for physical games, but it will shrink drastically over the next 10 years.

I still don't really trust digital games even though I use it from time to time. I have a feeling some publishers may abuse it somehow.

Also would ISP have a detrimental effect on digital games like limiting your downloads or make you pay extra. There are a few things that need to be ironed out before I go full digital like a stable, reliable and secure network.

I wouldn't like it one bit, but I wouldn't stop gaming. I would limit my purchases and only buy one system, though. They'd have to put a very large standard HDD in it though, like 10 TB for me to consider buying it.

No more consoles for me.

If games ever go all streaming then I would 100% quit gaming. I don't mind digital PC gaming because I can easily back everything up and play regardless of if I have an internet connection, but I will never pay a penny for anything that is streaming. However, I do not see the move to streaming happening for a long time, if ever.

Sony is already debating whether to go to the cloud or not.

Source

One thing for sure is that Sony doesn't want to waste billions developing hardware that will be obsolete in a year. Or even worse. Overdevelop hardware to last longer, but will be forced to sell at a loss like PS3.

I have a significant PS and PS2 library and was recently thinking about trading in or selling on e-bay some games to flesh out my Wii U library, but I just can't make myself do it. I think all digital is coming, and when it does physical games are going to skyrocket in price. And I don't think digital gaming is going to be inexpensive when that happens. I have major concerns about backwards compatibility or availability for digital. My wife cautioned that some people (she was not one of them) spent allot of money on SuperPoke! Pets and the developer took the money, stopped making content, and closed shop leaving all of their customers with nothing. When you own a physical video game its like a table-top game to an extent because you can take it off of the shelf and play it again, loan it, trade it, or sell it. Others have said that some digital contracts are like renting a video game instead of owning it.

Yes, I will continue to buy consoles despite the fact that a digital only future is inevitable. Steam has been a resounding success and shown that it's a proven technology.

With increasing internet speeds, the very definition of a home "console" will likely change, especially if cloud processing turns out to deliver on its promises.

I mean really...is having a little disc with some data on it THAT important?

If it is just "a little disc with some data on it" and unimportant why not let gamers have it?

If gaming went all digital I'd call it quits with modern gaming. I have a massive gaming library that spans 30 years. I have many old games yet to play. I would just stick to paying old games. Ever since gaming has gone more digital with dlc and microtransactions developers have been exploiting the hell out of gamers. I refuse to pay full retail for games that hold content hostage for extortion fees. If they want to sell me a unfinished product or a product lacking content I'll wait for it to hit the bargain bin. They wont get any money from me. If gaming went completely digital they'd probably charge you for the title screen when you load the game. **** digital content I'd rather pay $200 for an old retro game then use an emulator. I like to own something when I pay for it.

Heres what needs to happen for digital only to be a plausible reality in the next 10 years

#1 VASTLY Improved "Play As You Download". This technology needs to be perfected to reduce download sizes before you can start playing. When I downloaded Battlefield 4 I had to finish something like half of the 40GBs before I could even play the first level. And thats all I could play until it was completely done....10 hours later. That has to get much better.

#2 Enormous default Hard Drives (several TBs). With digital only, deleting a 50gb game to make room for another isnt an option (download time, bandwidth useage, etc).

#3 Improved compression techniques. 4K blurays only require roughly double the space of 1080p blurays thanks to the improved H265 codec. The size of games cant continue to increase at their current pace.

#4 Promise that the game will forever be made available to download, and if not a physical disc version can be shipped to you. I think Steam has a similar stance?

As much as I like Discs I would still buy digital games because I enjoy playing games and it doesn't matter how I get to play them.

Something that should be added to this is the convenience of being able to take your game anywhere. It won't just be a traditional home console. It will also be available on your phone, your tablet, your smart TV, your PC, other game consoles and every other device that can install the streaming app.

Unlike traditional consoles, you will be able to take your games everywhere with you. People will say you don't get your games anymore, but your games will always be with you at all times, just waiting for you to access them. It will be far more convenient than any setup right now.

It will happen eventually, I purchasing consoles when it happens completely is a matter of how the companies will behave, if they try to force me to be on-line to play the games I purchased then NO, I will not purchase games/ consoles that demand such thing. For me it is already happening, I have more digital games in my X360 than physical ones and so far only "free" XBL games require I have a paid subscription to the XBL network ( which is fine for me ) , the only thing that beefs me is a DLC that I got for GOW3, no other profile in the console can play it.

When the 5G networks are installed i expect everything will be digital.

Same reasons there are now? What does a game being digital has to do with it being on console or PC? Basically all console games are already available digitally. It would change nothing at all.

Lol, no. CDs are far from extinct. And I don't know any movie fan who buys a movie in digital form. Sure, if you only want to quickly watch it once you can stream it but if you want a movie in your collection you go and buy the bluray. Does anybody out there seriously have a digital movie collection? And I'm not talking about pirated crap.

Resolution gets higher and higher and movies and games become bigger and bigger. Here's a secret. USA is not the complete world. Internet connections are far from ready to quickly download 80 GB everywhere. Do you really think any industry would be stupid enough to alienate most of the world by going all digital? Try again in 20 years.