Beginning of the End for Game Ownership?

Mcmasters

Mcmasters

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Sep 11, 2013
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Found this little opinion piece pretty interesting. I'm all for a digital future and games should
become a service. Thats just me. More at the link below....

The price is relatively low. $30 a year gets you access to games, early access to content and a discount on new releases and DLC. If you're a fan of more than two or three EA franchises it's almost a no-brainer. You're going to save money, and EA likely has enough betas and fun surprises lined up that you'll feel special for signing up.


Hell, I'll likely buy a subscription once this story is up. I want to try the first few games, I'm looking forward to seeing how the experiment plays out, and early access to content will help me work. It's a slam dunk.

But let's be clear, this is a shift of power from the buyer to EA. You'll lose access to content if your subscription lapses, just like the free-game initiatives from Sony and Microsoft that are designed to keep you paying month after month, year after year. EA has an easy way of tracking your spending habits and buying habits, and could begin to offer you tailored content to match your playing patterns.
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http://www.polygon.com/2014/7/29/5948829/ea-access-owning-games
 
I would love to see gaming become more like Netflix. Give it a year and I'll probably be done with retail entirely.
 
Can't be great news for GS. Since the EA Access announcement, it's stock has dropped 10%. Its leveled off the last few days, but the first day it was announced, the stock dropped $3-4.
 
Z A C K said:
I would love to see gaming become more like Netflix. Give it a year and I'll probably be done with retail entirely.
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Even if the product offering and price are great, you still have lag if it's a streaming service. If it's like a EA Access, GFG or PS+ type of method where you totally download the game, that helps. But I don't see how many companies would do this type of thing when so many people buy games on day one at $60.
 
We've had digital distribution on PC with Steam for many years now. My games go nowhere. This obsession with "owning" a game is a dated concept. For DD, you own the game unless the company providing it falls apart. Neither Steam nor Xbox are going anywhere anytime soon.

The EA service is a little different since you need to keep paying to keep playing, but this is clear to anyone.

People fear change though. Most PC gamers (myself included) hated Steam and the drm that came with it back in the day. It was new, it was change, and it was scary. Fast forward a few years and nobody on PC complains about DRM. I've heard people complain when games aren't on Steam.

Physical media is slowly dying. Movies, music, games, etc. It isn't going to happen overnight, but slowly over time it will keep diminishing. The idea of brick and mortar retailers selling you a physical disk will come to an end.
 
Some of the comments below are silly though. Having concerns for losing a digital game you bought ages ago because no one's playing it anymore shouldnt even be a topic right now. Even then I'm sure these services will have an archive of some type.
 
Intellivision said:
Even if the product offering and price are great, you still have lag if it's a streaming service. If it's like a EA Access, GFG or PS+ type of method where you totally download the game, that helps. But I don't see how many companies would do this type of thing when so many people buy games on day one at $60.
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Yeah I didn't mean fully like Netflix in the sense of streaming, I meant more like the EA Access concept. But in the future, say 10 years from now, maybe streaming will be viable.
 
Z A C K said:
Yeah I didn't mean fully like Netflix in the sense of streaming, I meant more like the EA Access concept. But in the future, say 10 years from now, maybe streaming will be viable.
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I hope so!

I have no idea how good these cable internet wires are, but it's not like the cable company is changing people's wires. They just keep releasing more bandwidth every few years to keep people happy, but its the same cabling.

Who knows, maybe the typical cable wiring everyone has is actually great enough to stream heavy doses of movies and gaming at 1080p and virtually zero lag but they don't want to open the floodgates too soon, so they can milk consumers as long as possible.
 
That would be a sad day for me. I'm a big buy and re-sell type of gamer. Hunting for the physical copies of these days are what makes it fun. Also having a physical collection just looks a lot better. Just a few days ago, got TLoU Remastered brand new sealed physical copy for $38.50 after price-matching. There is nothing called "price-matching" in the digital world. This policy came up because of the competition between B&M stores to get your business. If everything is digital... guess what happens... no competition therefore no good deals.
 
Mcmasters said:
Some of the comments below are silly though. Having concerns for losing a digital game you bought ages ago because no one's playing it anymore shouldnt even be a topic right now. Even then I'm sure these services will have an archive of some type.
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Go way back 10 years or so and people were making the same comments about Steam.

It simply takes time. People need to dip their toes in the DD pool before they jump in. After they buy a game or two and realize that the boogie man isn't coming in the middle of the night to delete it, they'll be fine with it.

They'll also discover that they don't need to deal with the snarky nerd working at Gamestop who's going to waste an extra 10 minutes of their time trying to sell them stuff.

It would also help if DD console games had more benefit too.
 
Kerosene31 said:
Go way back 10 years or so and people were making the same comments about Steam.

It simply takes time. People need to dip their toes in the DD pool before they jump in. After they buy a game or two and realize that the boogie man isn't coming in the middle of the night to delete it, they'll be fine with it.

They'll also discover that they don't need to deal with the snarky nerd working at Gamestop who's going to waste an extra 10 minutes of their time trying to sell them stuff.

It would also help if DD console games had more benefit too.
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PC is in a different boat as the store level support decreased a lot over the years so PC game makers had no choice but to support internet downloads. Even before the internet picked up steam in the early 2000s, the PC section in game and electronic stores was already shrinking fast in the late 90s since console gaming really took off with PS1 which added another player to the market (Sony) which just takes up more room.

PC gaming has always been big in piracy, so when CD burners became big it just fueled it.

Used gaming really took off too with console gaming which takes up even more store space, while I've almost never seen any store sell used PC games ever.

So add it all up, and PC shelves got squeezed out, but the internet took off helping. And it goes hand in hand too because PC gaming is done on....PCs!

If PCs never got shut out of stores (lets say we go back to the 80s and 90s days where PCs had tons of store presence), I don't believe PC downloading would be as successful as now.
 
Intellivision said:
PC is in a different boat as the store level support decreased a lot over the years so PC game makers had no choice but to support internet downloads. Even before the internet picked up steam in the early 2000s, the PC section in game and electronic stores was already shrinking fast in the late 90s since console gaming really took off with PS1 which added another player to the market (Sony) which just takes up more room.

PC gaming has always been big in piracy, so when CD burners became big it just fueled it.

Used gaming really took off too with console gaming which takes up even more store space, while I've almost never seen any store sell used PC games ever.

So add it all up, and PC shelves got squeezed out, but the internet took off helping. And it goes hand in hand too because PC gaming is done on....PCs!

If PCs never got shut out of stores (lets say we go back to the 80s and 90s days where PCs had tons of store presence), I don't believe PC downloading would be as successful as now.
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Kind of the chicken and the egg. I don't remember stores cutting PC game shelf space until after Steam started to take off. I bought the original Orange Box on physical disk back in the day. Many other games back then still offered physical copies that could be plugged into Steam. Obviously things like indie games and smaller titles went all digital, but even today you can still buy physical copies of at least the most popular games. Sure, PC game disks have very little shelf space, but it isn't zero.

Plus, PC gaming is making a comeback (that's if it really even went anywhere to begin with). The demand for physical media is just so low that nobody bothers. The way retailers (especially electronic ones) are struggling, they'd put anything on the shelf that would sell.
 
Kerosene31 said:
Kind of the chicken and the egg. I don't remember stores cutting PC game shelf space until after Steam started to take off. I bought the original Orange Box on physical disk back in the day. Many other games back then still offered physical copies that could be plugged into Steam. Obviously things like indie games and smaller titles went all digital, but even today you can still buy physical copies of at least the most popular games. Sure, PC game disks have very little shelf space, but it isn't zero.

Plus, PC gaming is making a comeback (that's if it really even went anywhere to begin with). The demand for physical media is just so low that nobody bothers. The way retailers (especially electronic ones) are struggling, they'd put anything on the shelf that would sell.
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I'm pretty sure PC store support started dying years before Steam. According to Wiki, Steam was released in 2003 and didn't really pick up steam (no pun intended!) until the mid-2000s. By that time, PC games at stores was already getting limited to the popular games and typically stores would have a rack of of those bargain binny jewel cased oldies.

Right now, some stores do sell PC games, but it's typically only the most popular games. For consoles, just about every console game will be released at stores physically (unless it's sole a digital download).
 
when I read stories like this it brings me back to when we used to actually have physical music CDs verses today's time where we download all of our music.
 
For me, it's not so much to be a me to play a game 10 years later, but the ability to lent, trade my games with physical media. I am a PC gamer too, but I also never buy a PC game at full retail price due to this.

On top of that, For physical game, I have the possibility can return the game within a short period for whatever reason, no chance on dd game.

If dd have a return policy within maybe 2 hours since you first log in, & some form of trading back. I totally have no other major complains.

Other than missing the smell of a new game unpacked, & all the goodies for limited edition.
 
Kerosene31 said:
Go way back 10 years or so and people were making the same comments about Steam.

It simply takes time. People need to dip their toes in the DD pool before they jump in. After they buy a game or two and realize that the boogie man isn't coming in the middle of the night to delete it, they'll be fine with it.

They'll also discover that they don't need to deal with the snarky nerd working at Gamestop who's going to waste an extra 10 minutes of their time trying to sell them stuff.

It would also help if DD console games had more benefit too.
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Steam and DD consoles are two very different things given the two platforms are largely different. PC is more adequate for the type of ecosystem Steam provides.
 
Kassen said:
Steam and DD consoles are two very different things given the two platforms are largely different. PC is more adequate for the type of ecosystem Steam provides.
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Why? They are much similar than most people think. The difference is just in people's mind. The whole PC vs console thing is silly. People play PC games on their couch with controllers. People use mouse+kb on consoles.

The differences that do exist have little to do with DD (mods, indie games, etc). Most of the big titles hit all platforms.

A game console is just a PC with a more closed operating system and set hardware specs. SteamBox is basically going to be a "PC" console.

If Sony and MS opened up their systems so you could upgrade hardware and open up the OS so you could mod, what would be the difference??? None of this impacts DD. PC gamers went through the same growing pains. They hated change, but they eventually adopted it. Console games will be the same... eventually. There's no way when the next gen comes that we'll be using physical media.
 
Kerosene31 said:
Why? They are much similar than most people think. The difference is just in people's mind. The whole PC vs console thing is silly. People play PC games on their couch with controllers. People use mouse+kb on consoles.

The differences that do exist have little to do with DD (mods, indie games, etc). Most of the big titles hit all platforms.

A game console is just a PC with a more closed operating system and set hardware specs. SteamBox is basically going to be a "PC" console.

If Sony and MS opened up their systems so you could upgrade hardware and open up the OS so you could mod, what would be the difference??? None of this impacts DD. PC gamers went through the same growing pains. They hated change, but they eventually adopted it. Console games will be the same... eventually. There's no way when the next gen comes that we'll be using physical media.
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"A game console is just a PC with a more closed OS." That closed OS makes all the difference. It's control that we will never have with consoles. That's the whole point of consoles' existence, to have gamers and developers play by the console manufacturer's rules. Consoles have many restrictions in place that can never go away. In fact, those restrictions are trying progress as the X1 DRM fiasco has shown.

If a game is removed from PSN or XBL, the game will most likely be lost forever even if you attempt to use difficult/risky illegitimate means of reacquiring the game, which also adds the risky of losing all PSN/XBL functionality and that including YouTube, IE, etc, on the Xbox side; (not that illegitimate means should be encouraged). And with these new consoles, you can no longer even play MP3 songs without paying Microsoft and Sony a monthly fee, and even then, you can only listen to approved/published music on their service. But with Windows, Microsoft can never put such restrictions in place. The lack of MP3 support is by itself is a clear example that restrictions are the nature of a console.

PC as an open platform has enabled gamers to: play any and all MP3s and videos at will and at your convenience while in-game or out-of-game; play disc-less games for over 20 years; bypass intrusive DRM with greater ease; create indie games without paying a publisher, publishers who of which restrict and control the content you create; make use of true and unlimited multi-tasking; play OG Xbox and PS1 games, gain access to better web browsers (sorry IE!); unrestricted modding and creation on all fronts, and best of all, bypass any and all restrictions that do or will exist on consoles. Consoles will always be at the whim of the manufacturer and will always play by the rules they set. They can make all games free on their platform one day and lock it all down the following day. It will always be up to them what freedoms you do or don't have on the platform. But Windows is untouchable. It is not in Microsoft's power to restrict and control Windows as they can with a console. Microsoft cannot do to Windows what they have done with Xbox. Microsoft has abandoned PC gaming just so they can push a console on to you that they control, restrict, and monetize. Similarly, Sony is no different.

I apologize for the rant. I just wanted to get out a good explanation if I could.
 
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Z A C K said:
I would love to see gaming become more like Netflix. Give it a year and I'll probably be done with retail entirely.
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As long as it doesn't become a streaming service like Onlive was, which failed miserably.
 
entrer1 said:
when I read stories like this it brings me back to when we used to actually have physical music CDs verses today's time where we download all of our music.
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Still buy physical CD's for albums and download for the odd song.
 
I do not download songs simply because my car cannot play them. No external media connection. I am also not the type that listen to song while I work, or doing stuff.
 
Kassen said:
"A game console is just a PC with a more closed OS." That closed OS makes all the difference. It's control that we will never have with consoles. That's the whole point of consoles' existence, to have gamers and developers play by the console manufacturer's rules. Consoles have many restrictions in place that can never go away. In fact, those restrictions are trying progress as the X1 DRM fiasco has shown.

If a game is removed from PSN or XBL, the game will most likely be lost forever even if you attempt to use difficult/risky illegitimate means of reacquiring the game, which also adds the risky of losing all PSN/XBL functionality and that including YouTube, IE, etc, on the Xbox side; (not that illegitimate means should be encouraged). And with these new consoles, you can no longer even play MP3 songs without paying Microsoft and Sony a monthly fee, and even then, you can only listen to approved/published music on their service. But with Windows, Microsoft can never put such restrictions in place. The lack of MP3 support is by itself is a clear example that restrictions are the nature of a console.

PC as an open platform has enabled gamers to: play any and all MP3s and videos at will and at your convenience while in-game or out-of-game; play disc-less games for over 20 years; bypass intrusive DRM with greater ease; create indie games without paying a publisher, publishers who of which restrict and control the content you create; make use of true and unlimited multi-tasking; play OG Xbox and PS1 games, gain access to better web browsers (sorry IE!); unrestricted modding and creation on all fronts, and best of all, bypass any and all restrictions that do or will exist on consoles. Consoles will always be at the whim of the manufacturer and will always play by the rules they set. They can make all games free on their platform one day and lock it all down the following day. It will always be up to them what freedoms you do or don't have on the platform. But Windows is untouchable. It is not in Microsoft's power to restrict and control Windows as they can with a console. Microsoft cannot do to Windows what they have done with Xbox. Microsoft has abandoned PC gaming just so they can push a console on to you that they control, restrict, and monetize. Similarly, Sony is no different.

I apologize for the rant. I just wanted to get out a good explanation if I could.
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These points are mostly true, but still have nothing to do with DD on consoles. If games are removed from Steam, they go away too. I can only think of one game ever getting pulled from XBL - I think it was Doom 2. Even then, if you bought it, you could still download it.

There's only two simple reasons that DD hasn't taken off on consoles yet:
-People fear change
-There hasn't been a lot of good price breaks
(I would probably add a 3rd - no pre-loading option yet)

I don't own a PS so I can't comment on PSN, but I would guess that when XBL offers games for $5 or so DD that people are all over it. I just bought Arkham City off XBL for $5. I don't even have time to play it right now as my 360 backlog is huge, but for $5 it is a no-brainer. For $5 am I going to worry about not "owning" the game? Of course not.
 
A PC is almost always connect to internet. Not always true for console. With DD; the possibility of playing without network is taken away or limited.

Before, 'everyone should have internet'. I used to bring my PS1 to my barracks where internet is banned in barracks. I am sure this apply to other people who work on ships, rigs etc where access to internet is limited.

It is not a major point, but a valid one.

Also, the PC main argument for DD is piracy. Now not saying there are no piracy on console, but far less, so there is no compiling reason why physical media cannot continue to exist.

From an employment standpoint (not that it affects me), but Physical media do provide more jobs than pure DD. I know it may be inevitable, but many jobs will be lost as we go towards DD.
 
starseeker said:
A PC is almost always connect to internet. Not always true for console. With DD; the possibility of playing without network is taken away or limited.

Before, 'everyone should have internet'. I used to bring my PS1 to my barracks where internet is banned in barracks. I am sure this apply to other people who work on ships, rigs etc where access to internet is limited.

It is not a major point, but a valid one.

Also, the PC main argument for DD is piracy. Now not saying there are no piracy on console, but far less, so there is no compiling reason why physical media cannot continue to exist.

From an employment standpoint (not that it affects me), but Physical media do provide more jobs than pure DD. I know it may be inevitable, but many jobs will be lost as we go towards DD.
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Please just stop. The "I want to take my console on vacation" argument is silly. Your console is connected to the internet as much as your PC unless your entire internet goes down.

Piracy has nothing to do with it either. It is very easy to pirate Steam games. Steam's DRM does little to combat that.
 
Kerosene31 said:
Please just stop. The "I want to take my console on vacation" argument is silly. Your console is connected to the internet as much as your PC unless your entire internet goes down.

Piracy has nothing to do with it either. It is very easy to pirate Steam games. Steam's DRM does little to combat that.
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Why the hostility. Its a bit uncalled for if you asked me.

How is this silly when there a real life scenarios. People who work on ships, subs, oversea deployments etc. Its not a huge percentage, for sure, but there are people who do not have internet connection for long period (& I am not talking about 3rd world nations).

In any case, I never said it was a major point, I am saying its a valid point. Why do you think a lot of resentment of the DRM came form the military?

I have been though this, so no, my console is not connected to the internet as much as my PC, during the period when I am confined to a barrack with only weekends off, if I was lucky.

Maybe the point about PC games still easy to pirate is true. The already low price on stream sales do make pirating a game dicky.
 
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