20 reasons why digital distribution is bad for gamers
Companies like Sony have already made it clear that they want full control of their software. That means they dictate who buys it, who plays it, when they play it and how much it costs. There is no better way to do this than to make games available only via digital distribution. By eliminating hard copies of games companies will be able to dictate just about every aspect of the game playing process, and assure that most of the revenue goes into their pockets alone. Although touted as the future of software and gaming, in reality there is very little benefit for gamers. In fact digital distribution is bad for gamers and gaming as we know it, and here are 20 reasons why.
20. HIGH SPEED ACCESS REQUIRED
High speed access is already required to play most games, and I'm sure the speed requirements to access future content in the midst of millions of gamers will be even higher.
19. NO MORE IMPORTED GAMES
Lots of games never see the light of day in certain countries which is why importing has become a big part of gaming. If an awesome game doesn't come to your part of the world you can just find an import website and buy the game anyway. Don't expect to do this with digital distribution.
18. DENIAL OF SERVICE
Since digital distribution is basically a type of rental service game companies reserve the right to deny you any part of a game or service they want, and for any reason they want. You don't control the games on your hard drive anymore so there is nothing you can do about it.
17. APPROVED EQUIPMENT ONLY
These days there is nothing stopping you from buying a third party controller or memory card and using it with no problem, but with the "always connected" model of digital distribution game companies can prevent you from playing your games with certain controllers, memory cards or other equipment. With advancing technology this could even apply to the TV or stereo system you play on.
16. NO BACKWARDS COMPATIBILITY
Just throw away all those plastic disc games that line your shelf if you look forward to digital distribution because there will be no disc drives in digital distribution consoles - not for long anyway. Sure older games may be available for download, but you will have to re-buy them. And once a game gets old and is not supported anymore kiss your game goodbye once it's off your hard drive.
15. MISTAKES
You wake up one day and turn on your digital distribution console to find out that your favorite game has been disabled. The game company felt you were cheating the system somehow and now you can't play your favorite game ever again... unless you re-buy it for another $60. Even then you may not be able to play, but it doesn't matter since you did nothing wrong. Online games do monthly purges that are supposed to weed out the bad eggs, but inevitably the innocent gamers get swept out with the guilty. It has happened before, it will happen again, and with millions of gamers online expect it to happen a lot.
14. NO PRIVACY
Online game companies already monitor and save your personal info and gaming habits in order to use for their purposes. They use it to tailor ads and they even sell it to the highest bidder when they want. Most gamers don't realize they are signing their privacy rights away just to play a game. Don't expect this to get any better if everything goes online and game companies become more dependant on advertising.
13. ONLINE STORES
Buying the game isn't enough anymore. Game companies want you to buy extra stuff like character skins, maps and weapons in their online stores, but what happens when gamers don't want to buy? Games will inevitably get smaller and smaller until most of a game's content is deemed "extra" and must be purchased in addition to the game.
12. FEES
Digital distribution is all about putting more money in the pockets of game companies so expect to see lots of monthly fees for just about everything on top of the price you are paying for the games.
11. BANDWIDTH CONGESTION
Imagine millions of gamers crashing onto the same website at the same time to download the same game on launch day. I can't begin to imagine the kind of bandwidth that will require. The same goes for downloading a patch or simply trying to play. Half Life 2 suffered major bandwidth problems and the game wasn't exclusively sold online!
10. NO MORE GAME RENTALS
Love renting games to see if they are worth paying full price for? How many games have you rented only to realize that the game sucked and you had just saved yourself $40? Well, don't expect to rent anymore games at all with digital distribution. Game companies don't get a dime from the rental business so they want nothing more than to squash it. Many game companies are on record saying they want to stop the rental business, and digital distribution is the means to that end.
9. NO MORE USED GAMES
The sale of used games is another thing some game companies want to abolish, and with digital distribution they will get their wish. Forget about finding that game you always wanted at a great price because it is being sold as used, and you might be able to rip out your HD and try to sell it but surely it will be ridden with DRM protections that will make it useless.
8. NO MORE BORROWING
How many times has your friend told you about an awesome new game he has, and you ask him to let you borrow it so you can check it out? How many times have you finished a game and decided to let your friend have a go at it? With digital distribution unless you plan on lending your entire system to your friend and giving him your security codes you can forget about lending or borrowing games.
7. FAULTY HARDWARE
Say your hard drive goes on vacation permanently, what happens to all those games you purchased? There is no receipt if you buy your game over a console, and if there was it was probably on your hard drive. Will the game company simply let you download all your games again on a different hard drive that is not in their records? Yeah right! And with the horrible track record of videogame hardware expect this to happen a lot.
6. FORCED UPDATES
Right now I decide when to update my programs and whether updating my program is even in my best interest, but with game companies controlling how you play their games they decide when you need to upgrade and there's nothing you can do about it. Sure, automatic updates can be good, but what happens when the latest update is buggy as hell and completely destroys your game saves or worse?
5. HACKERS & CHEATERS
Every game and console gets hacked to some degree, and every game has its share of cheaters. These people aren't going away anytime soon and they love nothing more than to make others miserable. Pray that you don't suffer their wrath and get banned from a game making your $60 download worthless, or worse.
4. FORCED ADS
Having to always have a connection with the game companies means they can force you to download and watch ads whenever they want and there's nothing you can do about it. The best part is that all of the ads won't lower game prices.
3. EPISODIC GAMES
Some game companies are already touting the episodic games model as the future, and with digital distribution it will be. By selling games digitally game companies don't have to bother with large games anymore and they can resort to selling small games as monthly downloads for $20 a pop. Instead of getting a whole game for $50 gamers will have to settle for small pieces of a game that may never end and cost ten times as much in the long run - not counting all of the extras they will sell you in their online stores.
2. STATIC GAME PRICES
Ever go to the store, see a game on sale and decide to pick it up because it was at a price you were willing to pay? Well, with digital distribution that won't happen anymore. Game companies will have full control of their game prices and the only way you will pay less for a game is if they decide to lower the price. Sure, some games may get a price reduction but some games won't, and in time no games will. Just look at the PC casual game market where price depreciation is practically unheard of. The same casual game that sold for $20 five years ago is either not being made anymore or still being sold for the same price. With digital distribution expect console game prices to stay the same until such time as the game stops being supported or even sold.
1. YOU DON'T OWN THE GAMES
The biggest deception about digital distribution is that gamers own the games they are buying. It's not true. Without the ability to backup your games, play them how and when you want regardless of whether or not the game is still supported years from its release, sell them or let your friends borrow them you are basically just paying for the privelege to play the game as long as they want you to. The fact that games have to be downloaded to a hard drive in their console helps provide this false sense of ownership. If they could stream the game to your house without you having to download it they would, and they probably already have this in mind.
