Streaming will fail hard people prefer to buy what they want

People like buying 2-3 games a year.

You buy and own the game you can sell the game at the end of the year and buy a newer game or just play the game for the rest of your life without paying a monthly fee how bout that.

You get a ton of value out of these games.

A streaming service you get a bunch of hot garbage that you don't even wanna play and don't own (think netflix/hulu/amazon prime/just trash stuff) you know what I mean, its not Ala Carte you don't pick your favorite like omg Event Horizon just came out on bluray oh its not any streaming service well shit i guess ill buy it like a normal person and not sit around waiting to stream god i fucking hate streaming services.

Yeah so streaming a bunch of garbage vs 3 games you wanna play no matter what. hmm tough choice for year.

Casuals LIKE being able to sell their games and not have to download a long patch they like to physically own it trust me on this, where it downloads off the disc quickly.

Now streaming is anti casual you got have the quickest internet available so you have to be rich to stream with no data caps. Its for the hardcore honestly like a hardcore gamer who wants it all or something the complete of like moving/music streaming.

Folks its over streaming is over its not coming soon its not almost there its not even close and digital is also not coming around either its not close either. Physical media is king xbox sad failed and is dying as we speak. Steam is being overrun by a garbage store called the epic games store and people hate it LOL casuals will stick to physical media on consoles imo.

You show zero data to back up your point. Streaming is becoming more-and-more viable, and these large companies do extensive market research before investing so heavily... It's not a guarantee, but it's a much better indicator than your opinion.

Streaming took over in the Movie/TV space. Input lag needs to be reduced heavily, but game streaming is on the way.

Id imagine the initial push would be content control, similar to how parents can control and limit what their children do on a Kindle.

there's plenty of emerging markets in which streaming could not only work but thrive.

i mean, you shouldn't really have to say this, but i guess it's system wars so...

@Macutchi: If it wasn't TC, I probably wouldn't, but he's a special kind...

You really shouldn't have brought up movies if you were wanting to make physical media seem strong. The utter collapse of the physical Blu-ray and DVD market (link, pg. 46)should show you that "casuals" are more than willing to give up a small measure of quality for a large measure of convenience.

What? Subscription services are insanely popular, every service you trashed has a large following.

Probably one of the worst thought out threads of the year lol.

It's Protoss... I think he takes the "Worst Thought-Out" title with every thread.

@lundy86_4: I already had low expectations going in knowing it's Protoss. I didn't think it could go any lower, but I was wrong lol.

@XVision84: Yeahhhh... Dude's a pleb.

I buy on average about 2 games a month myself. I greatly prefer getting them on physical format not because I want to sell or trade them later but because it gives me the most amount of control over when and how I use the product. I also just really enjoy having a physical collection of games to display. I don’t necessarily want streaming to fail per se I just don’t want it to become the only or even prominent way to play games. As long as I can just as easily get a dedicated console and physical copies of games to play on it as I do today then I have no problem with streaming being just an option for those who want it.

The problem with the streaming subscription model is that it's going to face stiff competition from the free-to-play model which currently dominates the industry.

@Jag85:

Thats not necessarily true. Game streaming would be for the core market that want to play every release.

For someone like myself that doesnt play a game every week or even month or even year, it makes no sense. Games dont work the same way as the tv/film industry. Publishers see how netflix and amazon have got people hooked on a constant flow of shows, but i dont see the games industry working like that.

Game streaming is fine for the convenience, it's the maintaining of quality content that's going to be the challenge. You can't turn around a decent game in the same time you can a TV show or movie. Testing alone extends the process tremendously. If these stores are anything like PSNow, they're going to have to fill the space with old content, and old games don't always hold up as well as older movies. On top of that, if they have games from multiple pubs, then that's the pie getting split multiple ways in revenue too.

I'll say again, game streaming could work, but, it could also implode hard. Considering how many people want in on the action, and the returns may not be worth it.

Streaming is not going to fail. The old ways of thinking however, will eventually fail (physical media for example).

So people request "data" when criticizing ProtossRushX's thread suggesting it will fail?

Okay..

So where's the "data" to show that game streaming will be successful?

I mean, WTF kind of half argument are you guys satisfied with gloating about when you fail to match your own criticism of not showing "data"?

And then double down by countering with your own baseless speculation? Great job.

That ^

Also im happy rushx made a thread that slightly makes sense.

Yeah, like Spotify and Netflix failed, right? If it's cheap and reliable, it won't fail.

I don't think so at all. Gamepass is pretty good. I get it here and there when they add new games.

Is it me that I feel that there some kind of xenophobia (not the fear of foreigners, but the fear of the unknown) regarding streaming video games by some users on this forum? I think we have seen this type of attitude before time after time again.

On topic:

I thought about making a similar thread but with different reasoning than yours.

I don't think game streaming will "fail" (that's a strong word) but I don't think streaming will play out how these get rich quick hustlers are expecting it to.

The major flaw in this entire "streaming" and "cloud" to reach 2 billion *gamers* mind set is...different MARKETS!

Yes, there may be:

2 billion gamers...

The problem is, they aren't all from the same market and 9 times out of 10 they don't intermingle or even want to!

EASY TEST

How many people here are primarily cell phone gamers? How many people are going to switch from being PC or console gamers to primary cell phone gaming next gen? Show of hands ?

Guess what, any one of you guys arguing for streaming, the kind in which Google and MS expect to reach 2 billion gamers with, and you said to yourself "No", you just owned yourself and proved my point.

MS and Google are looking at the CELL PHONE demographic (psst that's where most of that 2B number is pulled from) to try to stitch together this idea they can get them all together because "gamers".

The problem is, console gamers don't look into or care about cell phone games! Cell phone people don't even look into hardcore console gaming outside of the indie ports they casually play on their phone. Even PC gamers have certain kinds of games they like to play and religiously stick to that format.

You expect all these people to SWITCH from their preferred way to play games to paid stream service where they don't own their games based on WHAT? lmfao! The conclusion is so idiotic to me it's funny.

The point is, certain people like to play their games a certain way on certain platforms and corporate suits aren't going to change that no matter how much smoke they try to blow up our ass or corporate shill screaming, "it's da future".

But that's just the current game market, I think that willc hange and people will want over 10-20 am games a year which will make streaming viable for people.

@calvincfb: Game streaming won't be reliable though. Hell movie streaming can't get blu ray level quality yet and that's with zero interaction, game streaming is going to be utter shit.

Last game I bought was RDR 2 and haven't played it nearly enough to get value.

I also have gamepass and played 5-6 games already through that.

Subscription type purchasing (including streaming) can be good value.

However streaming could fail for other reasons. But if 5G unlimited came to all phones with really good access the whole idea of playing on mobile might work. But we are ages of that.

@ProtossRushX: You are saying the exact opposite of reality.

By the way, Event Horizon is available for streaming on Youku if you pay for the premium service.

So the entirity of the OP was an opinion. Nice. Reality proves you wrong. Look how popular streaming services like Spotify or Netflix became. Why wouldn't the same be possible with games?

Wait....what, Digital is a failure, Steam is a failure?

I hope streaming will be as successful as protoss threads, if that happens I know streaming will be a mega failure :)

WTF are you talking about, none of that has to do with the OP.

Digital services are very popular these days. Streaming (stadia), is where companies might have a problem. The industry will eventually switch to that route, but not this gen or even next. I do hope however, that it doesn't become the ONLY option for gaming. I'd personally like it to be accompanied by physical media.

Gamepass, while I probably won't sub to it any time soon, is a must have service for many people, and it already has millions of subs. The ability to play any Xbox game you want for $1-14 a month is a steal. Even if you don't own the games.

That said, I probably won't sub to it due to me wanting to own my games as you said, but you can't deny it's a great service with a lot of popularity.

Were you expecting to go somewhere with this thread?

@boxrekt: OP himself brought in steam as a case for why it will fail... also not sure how it’s unfair to ask OP to show some data for all his ridiculous claims??

Anyway a bit unsure if OP is talking about streaming games on the go or buying games digitally... if it’s actually streaming half of his arguments makes no sense at all... Also the success of other streaming platforms has already shown that most people don’t give a shit about owning a product as long as it’s available to stream online!

If it’s buying digital, well that’s just ridiculously...

Put your money where your mouth is. Invest your money in gamestop. I guarantee, whether we like it or not, streaming is here to stay and will play a huge part in the future, as much as I wish it were not so. Same with films and TV. I bet blockbuster video said the same, where are they now?

tbf the burden of proof is on the tc. and the op is just one long incoherent mess without anything to back it up.

there's definitely evidence to suggest streaming could be a success. off the top of my head -

• widespread roll out of 5G over the next couple of years (usa, europe, china)
• affordability / value for money vs traditional gaming (play on solid pc hardware, stadia free tier coming next year, xCloud promising all 3500 xbox games)
• play on any device (standalone vr headsets like quest could be interesting)
• convenience - no installs or updates, switch between devices and screens
• a general culture shift in the younger generation to one more interested in experience / on-demand than pure ownership

all that's pretty easy to verify with a google search. there's no guarantees and a ton of reasons to cast doubt over streaming adoption but the op doesn't cover any.

and purely anecdotal but as someone who owns 90+ physical copies of ps4 games i look around my collection and there's a bit of me that wonders why i've spent so much on so many games of which i'll probably only ever play a fraction of again if at all, especially as soon as next gen hits. i've probably played 10 360 games on my xbox one from a collection of ~100. if the catalogue is tempting and suits my platform i'd give streaming a go

It will thrive, because people like consuming poo. They don't care that their movies are playing at one fourth the quality of Blu-ray or that their streaming app has a very limited selection and they won't care that their games have terrible input lag.

This thread is a steaming pile....

lol :P

I’m google 4k60 HDR stadia ready biiaches

Though they can stick that founders edition for £119 quid right up their hoops

I’ll wait till it’s properly released in 2020

I never thought I would quit buying movies and music physical or digital download.....and I have almost completely except for my favorite videos/albums. I buy maybe 1 CD a year and maybe 2-3 movies a year...

However gaming is my hobby, and I want the best experience possible so I still buy physical; not just for the best play experience, but for the tangible assets as well.

I think physical gaming will always be a thing, look at music, RECORDS came back!!!! They have new albums released on records, new record players, high end head phones and speakers.

I think there will always be a hobby crowd for gaming.

That's fair.

But I didn't just leave that criticism without adding in my own reasoning why I don't think streaming will be the end all easy money for gaming these greedy companies are expecting it to be.

I didn't say streaming would our right "fail" because there may be people who find that way of playing more enjoyable than others.

I do think, however, that people who have an established way of playing games that they enjoy will not simply give up that method to adopt steaming because it makes these shitty cash grab companies more money with less investment.

There even more draw backs like internet reliance, data caps, and non owenership. I'll take owning my games without restrictions and I'm sure most console and PC gamers will likely feel the same way.

Well yea, people intricately don't like change. No great secret.

Publishers haven't exactly endeared themselves either. Gamers are now more aware than ever of how they operate. Handing over the keys for more control than ever raises alarm bells.

I think a loud minority will be on board for "Netflix gaming" until the rest of us get to point and laugh at them when their favorite games get rotated out of the lineup.

I think most gamers find a lot of value out of owning and sharing games. When the industry gets a bloody nose by letting the Madden/Fifa/CoD/Yearly crowd out of the coop, I will be laughing silly. The truth is that the lowest common denominator would be okay with it.

Thirdly, and most importantly, GOOD LUCK selling dlc and expansions to people who dont actually own a game. The value proposition of long-tail content delivery will be utterly dead. GAAS is just bean counters flirting with their own demise.

But Vinyl is making comeback and people love limited run games. I could see nintendo still making consoles 40 years from now. Why would nintendo go streaming when they can have the whole console market to themselves.

NINTENDO will save consoles and kill the streaming networks.

Paid tv-services technically already do something to the equivalent of premium dlc with pay-per-view events, or channel packages.

Not sure why this wouldn't work with game streaming when it comes to additional content.

Great post.

The lowest common denominator portion is spot on.

@boxrekt: well, shit man, imagine these suckers being upsold for a 4k streaming package then get upsold for a Premium 4k package where the games have updates... then have to do it for every publishers walled garden! Goddamn suckers, I tell ya.

I don't really care about streaming, but...

I also don't want to buy what I want either. I want to play 90% of my games via a sub service like Game Pass if possible. I give zero shits about replaying most games, and I feel the same way about 'owning' a game.

I always play what I want, but I could sure spend less money doing so.

I hope more companies adopt the sub service idea.

You are not wrong. I prefer digital games over physical but I prefer the game installed on my device of choice as opposed to massive amounts of data streaming over my not always reliable internet

And own absolutely NOTHING!

LMFAO, how do you buy games for something that is hosted on a server that you don't control?

So even if you "buy" a game there is not guarantee you'll always be able to access it. What happens if they decide to call it quits? Do you get all the "streamed" games you paid to "own" refunded to you? Yeah...

I just spent $13.39 CAD on 12 games on a Fanatical Bundle last week (worth $240). Two of which I already own.

Don't presume to know what people "want". If I could pay $10-15 a month for a Netflix-like service to play all the new games coming out, rather than $89.59 CAD (after tax) for a single game, I would. At $15 a month, that's $180 a year, as much as I would pay for only TWO brand new games.

I have not only an enormous digital game library across Steam (420), GOG (59), UPlay (33), Origin (33), EGS (14, all free) and Battle.net (3) (for a total of 562 titles), but an extensive physical game collection from the SNES/Genesis days all the way up through N64/PS, PS2/GC/XB and PS3/360/Wii and the Wii U (numbering likely in the 250-300 titles range).

Moving forwards, I'll take the convenience of streaming (along with the "risk" of losing access to the title down the road) to buying physical or even digital copies anymore. And if I really, really like something, enough to want to have it forever, I'll be able to know before buying it, and be able to wait for it to come down in price over the next 2-3 years before buying.