Topic: Atari to drop nearly all of its retail games.

[animecyberrat]

I wouldn't use Nintendo as a shining example here.

[NWR_Lindy]

Solid state is definitely the way things are going.  Broadband is pretty "slow" now, but what's slow now will be blazing in five, ten years.  I also don't think that a lot of companies are trying to optimize the digital download arena either, since most of them can still hedge their bets with retail.

[ShyGuy]

I don't think going digital will completely kill the retail game market, due to the demgraphics. Download has killed most of the PC software market, but there are still certain applications that people purchase at the store. Nintendo has aged the overall market which means a greater portion of these new older gamers prefer to buy games brick and mortar, plus little kids still go to the store to get games. Ten years from now, it will be another story. Gamestops will change or die or get bought out, just like they swallowed up Babbages and Software ETC, who used to sell as much retail software as they did games.

[Flames_of_chaos]

I also don't think that a lot of companies are trying to optimize the digital download arena either, since most of them can still hedge their bets with retail.

I disagree with that, digital distribution allows companies to cut their expenses that they have to pay for retail to stock their product. So that means console maker makes more money, game publisher makes more money it's a win/win for them. Publishers won't have to worry about distribution channels. Or to sum it up nicely less overhead and more profit.

[NWR_Lindy]

I'm saying that they can still make money in retail, therefore they aren't putting all their efforts into setting up really good digital distribution because they don't have to rely on it 100%.  If a company only sold their games online, you can bet that their digital distribution setup would be pretty slick.  It would have to be.

Retail won't completely go away for a long time, because there's a lot of people out there that simply can't afford broadband internet (or internet at all, for that matter).  But once it becomes as ubiquitous as cable TV, watch out.  That's when retail distribution may become nearly extinct.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

Here's a thought:  how does the Used Game market influence retail vs. digital distro?

Digital distro won't let people get cash/credit back for all their last-generation junk.

[animecyberrat]

Good point there. What I wonder is if it really is cheaper to go digital, I mean sure there is no shipping or manufacturing cost, but there are server and bandwidth costs and you'd think those would be higher than the cost of going retail.

[King of Twitch]

OK, what about letting people download games they've already bought at retail for greatly discounted prices, by sending in the proof of purchase or something. Win-win.

[Deguello]

Bill's got the best point here.

I have NES games and an NES that still work perfectly to this day.  23 years after the fact.

Can I trust MS, Sony, or even Nintendo, to still even be in the games business, much less have a game be on their servers, after 23 years?  I think not.

[KDR_11k]

there are server and bandwidth costs and you'd think those would be higher than the cost of going retail.

naah.

[NWR_Lindy]

Can I trust MS, Sony, or even Nintendo, to still even be in the games business, much less have a game be on their servers, after 23 years?  I think not.

Agreed, but somebody will own the rights to those games, and they'll put them up somewhere to make money off of them.  Look at Steam's id Super Pack.  Some of those games are 18 years old, but there they are, available for download.  Granted you have to pay for them, but they're available.  And then there's also the Virtual Console...some of those games are 20+ years old as well.

As "retro gaming" has risen in popularity, companies have finally realized the value of their back catalogs.  I don't think games will fade away like they have in the past.  They'll either be re-released or repackaged, because the market has shown that there's a demand there.

[KDR_11k]

Yeah, I can get games from id Software but they're still in business, where could I buy Descent or Wizball?

[NWR_Lindy]

If somebody's smart, they'll buy the rights to those games and put them up somewhere.  As digital distribution matures, I'm sure we'll see that.

[UltimatePartyBear]

That depends on whether it's even discernible who owns the rights.  With all the mergers, acquisitions, and bankruptcies, details like that can get very muddy.