downloading games (legally!!!)

phoenix2181

here's a legit question about downloading games legally (no warez monkey smart answers please)

why don't all the games companies allow you download their games legally from their own sites (for a price), or why isn't there more sites like direct2 drive, which is a one stop shop for games (although they have a rubbish selection) or steam?? surely it would be an easy enough task to encryt the games to stop those evil warez monkeys uploading on the net??

maybe I'm just a lazy B*stard but I'd much rather download them then having to go out & buy them...comments please... :cool:

Retr0gamer

Systems like steam will propably be the way games will be distributed on PC's in the future. But you have to remember that there are a lot of people who don't have super fast connections speeds or even credit cards. The other factor is that these systems require a lot of bandwidth which is very expensive. Even then it might be doubtful if the servers can handle the release of a high profile game. There was lots of trouble with steam on the day it was released. One huge problem is that there will probably be many steam type programs from different companies. EA won't want Valve taking any of their profits from releasing their game through steam so they have their own online distribution scheme.

Still it doesn't stop hackers, just makes it a little harder for them to crack.

Pugsley

It would be viable as a secondary distribution system (ie: have the box in the stores and a downloadable one, ie: Red Orchestra can be got in a box or on steam), as the only distribution method however your killing a large portion of your fan base, people who can only afford small limits on their bandwidth of 5gig or less per month, downloading a 2gig game will cripple them entirely.

As for its anti-piracy use, it no more stops pirates than a boxed game, singleplayer can be beaten no bother, and the multiplayer CDkey method is just as effective as having the game registered to an account.

Dont be at yourself

Sony seem to be looking seriously at digital distribution for the PS3, but I think that broadband connections have to catch up a little for distributing these massive games.

tHE vAGGABOND

I know EA are doing internal testing of a Steam type service..

Who knows when we'll see it, but sooner rather than later Im thinking knowing EA

Fanny Cradock

It would seem like the logical step to take. I don't know much abouot this end of the games market, but I would assume that downloading games online would be a fair bit cheaper without the shipping, packing, middleman etc. costs. If not, we are being screwed!

Feargal

I know a company that released its game online, however they said, at the moment releasing a game online is a slow but constant seller. When you have a publisher and they get it boxed and put into shops, then it tends to sell faster and in much higher units.

I hope online sales become the future, I think it would give developers more freedom to create more original games.

chump

NekkidBibleMan wrote:

Sony seem to be looking seriously at digital distribution for the PS3, but I think that broadband connections have to catch up a little for distributing these massive games.

It would be a bit silly releasing a console that wants to utilize blu-ray (and blow up the size of games hugely) while also trying to start up web distribution of the same games... it'll be a while before people have the patience/bandwidth/limits/storage in/on a console for downloading games that are 10+ gigs

Balfa

NekkidBibleMan wrote:

digital distribution

Dammit, I hate that phrase. As if a PS1 CD isn't digital distribution. Or even a spectrum tape. No offense to you, Nekkid. I'm just dissing Sony :rolleyes:

Fanny Cradock

Are downloaded games any cheaper?

jonski

tHE vAGGABOND wrote:

I know EA are doing internal testing of a Steam type service..

Who knows when we'll see it, but sooner rather than later Im thinking knowing EA

EA already have their EA Downloader , which is currently used for , downloading and paying , expansion packs for BF2 plus some demos and trailers .

monument

Balfa wrote:

Dammit, I hate that phrase. As if a PS1 CD isn't digital distribution. Or even a spectrum tape. No offense to you, Nekkid. I'm just dissing Sony :rolleyes:

Tape for sure isn't purely digital.

“Digital distribution”, of course, unlike CDs, doesn’t include being packed into a non-digital truck and shipped to the warehouse/shops/your house.

humanji

Fanny Cradock wrote:

Are downloaded games any cheaper?

They should be but usually aren't . You might be lucky and get a couple of Euro off but nothing significant.

Retr0gamer

The money saved on packaging and distribution is usually used up in bandwidth and the servers to run the digital distribution.

Dont be at yourself

It would be a bit silly releasing a console that wants to utilize blu-ray (and blow up the size of games hugely) while also trying to start up web distribution of the same games... it'll be a while before people have the patience/bandwidth/limits/storage in/on a console for downloading games that are 10+ gigs

Yes, at the moment, it will not work on the latest blockbuster that struggles to fit onto a single disc, but look at their appraoch to SingStar - it is now a service, rather than a packaged game. You'll go out, buy the mics, and go home and download whatever songs you want to sing along to from the SingStore. With other similar games (EyeToy minigames, Dance Dance, Guitar Hero?) or PSOne back catalogue stuff, I think that's where the waters will be tested.

Fanny Cradock

Retr0gamer wrote:

The money saved on packaging and distribution is usually used up in bandwidth and the servers to run the digital distribution.

So why can you download demos ~1gig for nothing? If you follow this logic, sites like downloads.com etc. would have to charge for their services. This aside, I refuse believe that the cost of physically producing the game on disk and shipping it to a shop (who then place their own costs ontop of the bulk price) happens to work out EXACTLY the same as the costs involved in maintaining a server. Hummmmm....!

Generally speaking, it's cheaper to download albums (and they still make a healthy profit), and it should be cheaper to download games.

Giblet

Haha the costs of bandwidth are nothing. NOTHING. Lets see, HL2 make what, 50 dollars for 4 gigs of traffic? That's probably about the same cost as a dvd. The overheads from that far exceed the cost of additional servers.

Retr0gamer

Fanny Cradock wrote:

So why can you download demos ~1gig for nothing? If you follow this logic, sites like downloads.com etc. would have to charge for their services.

Advertising pays for it all.

Fanny Cradock

And?

Again, if I'm to follow your logic, the actual cost of purchacing the game will more then cover the expences. Besides, EA etc. can put up all the banners on their site for all I care.

The high profits made from games will only get larger if/when downloading becomes the norm. Despite what you have said about bandwith and server costs, to my mind they couldn't possibly compare to costs involved now.

Retr0gamer, do you really believe that there is NO difference in price? Would you would be happy paying the same price for a download, which if you hard drive packs in you no longer posess? For this reason, AND the fact that it costs LESS to provide "digital distribution", is why these games should be cheaper.

Stephen

download services such as steam will allow you to redownload any games you purchased as many times as you like. It also provides a handy backup tool that lets you back up your whole steam installation and compresses it down a good bit. My full steam install (HL2, cs:s, dod:s and a few other bits and bobs) is way less than the size of a single dvd-r when compressed using steam's backup tool.

Fanny Cradock

Wasn't aware of that. Good to hear!

Balfa

monument wrote:

Tape for sure isn't purely digital.

“Digital distribution”, of course, unlike CDs, doesn’t include being packed into a non-digital truck and shipped to the warehouse/shops/your house.

Heh, a tape is no less digital than a DSL line.