Computer games on DVD/CD’s will become Extinct

May 18, 2009 porkchop 13 comments

I am a gamer and I only purchase games online, usually through Steam, http://store.steampowered.com/ Direct2Drive, http://www.direct2drive.com/ or the EA store, http://eastore.ea.com/ I think many gamers are going this route now a days, since it is a lot more convenient to purchase a game online, then go to the store, it makes sense since CD/DVD’s can get damaged easily, resulting in a game that is ruined, for example my local EB Games shop, upsell warranty on game disc’s, all profit. Another great thing about downloading games online is that you can preorder games and you usually can pre-load them before they are realised in stores, or get them at midnight, usually when stores are closed. Also you do not need to make your way to the store to buy the game, not everyone lives close to a game store. The games will be stored onto your account you create with the company forever, you will always have a digital copy available to download from the online store you bought it from. Steam has to be probably the best place to buy games, since they handle the install, and there download server’s are very quick, with download centers all over the world, also there community is great with friends list and the availability of creating custom group’s that people can join, it also shows people on your friends list which game you are playing.

I believe in the near future DVD/CD’s will become extinct, especially with games first, since probably most people on the Internet purchase their games online. You can usually find deals on games online, sometimes Steam puts games on sale, for a day, or they let you play a full game, for a couple days then you can buy it, this can’t be done with a CD or DVD of a game. This also has advantages for the game companies, they don’t have to pay the store a big cut in profit for selling their games, and also they don’t have to worry about hard copy game manual’s, and box art, and also the risk of some DVD’s or CD’s becoming defective. They can also release game updates through the Steam client automatically so, the games are always updated. This also eliminates the cost of manufacturing the CD or DVD, and materials. A lot of people now have Internet, and broadband Internet connections, so this makes downloading games a lot easier. There is a company that is working on streaming games to the gamer, so you actually don’t need to install the game, it plays the game on your monitor/TV, it is called Onlive http://www.onlive.com/ If this works, this will be another reason why CD’s/DVD’s will become extinct. I know there are some people who enjoy the copy of the game on DVD or CD, and also like the box art, but the future is moving towards this, resources, transportation are all becoming more expensive, and these companies have to look at these ways.

Pro’s
-Purchase and download game at anytime, no store hours
-Digital copy, that is always available, no risk of damage to the disc
-Store’s like Steam, include community’s (friends list, instant chat)
-Discounts, promotions on games
-Games are instantly updated (Steam)
-Cheaper for game companies

Con’s
-Not everyone has Internet, or slow, dial up
-Businesses such as EB games, who sell new/used games, would go out of business
-Would be difficult/impossible to sell electronic copy of games
-No box art, or physical copy of manual
-People still prefer to go to the store and buy the game
-Credit card/Paypal some sort of way to pay online required, have to be over 18 to buy.