Games: The Gamecube's twilight, and the dawn of digital distribution.

[Cataferal]

I use the word Twilight for two reasons. Firstly, and obviously, Zelda: The Twilight Princess is due by the end of the year, after being delayed multiple times. This is the game a majority of people originally bought the Gamecube for. By time it hits the shelves though, the Revolution will have been released, and consequently as we approach summer a lot more of the Gamecube stock is going to be discontinued. Whilst the PS2 should go on to excess of 3 more years of strong shelf life, just as its predacessor did, the Gamecube is very much facing its twilight this very year.

So, lap it up while you can. With Nintendo, Sony and Electronic Arts all announcing digital distribution services for their future games (through downloading protocols in particular), the actual physical products out today are going to become the collectors items of tomorrow. Being the underdog of the generation, most Gamecube titles especially will see their prices inflated, with select PS2 titles also being coveted for by determined eBayers and amazon marketplace sellers.

Im personally looking forward to this format of game distribution though. Certainly, theres something satisfying about buying a physical product, taking it home, and putting it into the console, but it'll mean everyone gets a chance to play even the most unpopular or niche of games, where previously you would struggle to find a copy. There will no longer be any rarity as a result of discontinued stock: all you'd need to do is download the game for the said price, and in a few hours (or less, by then) you would have a legitimate copy of the game. Everyone gets to play what they want.

However, while a game will soon be readily available at the click of a button, with the reduced costs of publishing games, companies should slowly begin to provide more oppurtunities for ardent fans to extend the experience for themselves. In particular, they will be looking to provide the documentation, the artbooks, the soundtracks, and even the limited "Making of" DVD's to compliment the main product. The Japanese have approached games with this level of appreciation for years now, with, for example, the Tales of series, Guilty Gear and Xenogears all receiving Dissections, Perfect Works and Encyclopedias to highlight the games' artistic values in more detail. This is also becoming a trend in the west, with games like Half Life 2 receiving concept art and interview laden equivalents. With the online distribution of games, this will be where the rarity should factor in: everyone will have the oppurtunity to buy and play a game, and so they should, but to relish it as art will take more than just a quick download.

<font color="#345E81" size="1">[ March 14, 2006 09:36 PM: Message edited by: Cataferal ]</font>

[Cataferal]

And now i watch this thread fall faster than an anchor... Or not, considering so few users come here anymore.

To those who did read, heres a present for you:

http://www.animebooks.com/imgamrelbook.html

This is where you can find all the encyclopedias, ultimania omegas, and dissections to your favourite games, just in the manner i mentioned. A lot of the older stuff (such as Xenogears Perfect Works) has gone out of stock now, but there is a lot of rare stuff there still. Also, be warned almost all of these products are in japanese - but then if your a collector, you probably wont care.

<font color="#345E81" size="1">[ March 14, 2006 09:33 PM: Message edited by: Cataferal ]</font>

[Xellos]

Eh. As long as they give us a way to take our games anywhere without the entire console, and a way to insure that we can download the game again anytime, thenw orks for me.

However, I don't see either of those happen. I'd rather just pay a bit more to get my hard copy.

[mrwiseman]

I'm an IT professional, so I should be excited about this kind of thing, but I'm not. On the contrary, I'm worried, just because I know how this works.

Where they say "digital distribution", I read "digital rights infringement" or "digital restrictions management" (DRM), which is AIDS for software.

I'll see if I can pay for my license, then provide myself with the media off eMule. In fact, I'd rather trust a 14 years old girl to osama bin laden than trust media corporations.

[Cataferal]

Well, i doubt retailing chains will go away, i just imagine they'll lose a considerable chunk of their popularity. There will always be a market for the physical products, but the prices will rise as a result of diminsihed sale counts.

Oh yeah, Sony had a conference today on the PS3. Read here for all the details. To summarize it all:

-PS3 delayed due to unfinalized Blu-Ray disc specs.
-It will now be released in all territories on November 2006.
-Sony are to provide an online service to rival Xbox Live, called the "Playstation Network Platform".
-This online service will be free of charge (although no doubt third party developers may charge subscriptions in some cases).
-Shortages of the console are going to be avoided, with 1 million units of the console being made per month once production begins.
-Will use a 60Gb 2.5" HDD, loaded with the Linux OS. This will be upgradeable.
-A HDD will be a mandatory prerequisite for all PS3 games. All developers are being told to create games with the use of the HDD.
-Can be used as a "home server", connecting directly to the internet without use of a hub or router.

My comments: I like everything mentioned there, but thats mainly because once again they neglected to mention the actual cost of the console. Analysts recently dissected the production costs of of the PS3's specification, and it came to just in excess of $800 per console. This was before they announced the necessity of the HDD, however. Either Sony are going to be taking great losses per console sold, or the retail price of this thing is going to be very unmarketable.

Nevertheless, i am genuinely pleased they've gone down the HDD route. Thats a major asset for the console, and something the Xbox 360 will be missing out on. Im willing to pay the extra for that.

[phaq]

the 360 does have a hard drive, it's just part of the more expensive package.

[Cataferal]

Yeah, and as a result, Microsoft have told developers for the console not to rely on it being there. Im pretty sure everyone will pick it up for when Halo 3 is released though, otherwise they'll be missing out on all the potential downloadable content (at least temporarily).

[Xellos]

I heard that they announced the price was 350$. Guess just some random rumor.

[Cataferal]

Seems so. Its not long now though, we'll find out soon enough: just dont expect it to be any less than that $350 ^_^;;

[mrwiseman]

IRT Cata: the prices will rise as a result of diminsihed sale counts.
Physical production costs of software are so low prices shouldn't change much. They will likely change because they want to penalize those who don't like their digital rights violated by digital restrictions management (DRM) and treacherous computing (TC) practices.

By the way, since suckers invented digital rights infringement (DRM) years ago and suckers used it (M$, Windows Mierda Player, Apple iStuff, etc.), I've never gotten a single DRM license, even those required to watch contents that are free but still DRMed, under my policy that if something requires DRM then I don't require it, and I haven't looked back since. I don't think I would be much willing to buy games "protected" by modern digital restrictions.

-PS3 delayed due to unfinalized Blu-Ray disc specs.
I've heard it's delayed because they're looking on ways to be even more anal with protections and rights infringement than they already are.

-It will now be released in all territories on November 2006.
This is good news. Now we need no territorial violations.

-Will use a 60Gb 2.5" HDD, loaded with the Linux OS.
This is great news! A console that's useful for more than that and attractive to geeks. I'd rather have a 3.5" HD because of production costs and me not caring about the console's size, but it's ok.

-Can be used as a "home server", connecting directly to the internet without use of a hub or router.
Do you have more information on what they actually meant by this? Servers are something different from the way you connect it to the network and what kind of network it is, so this doesn't make sense.

Sony are going to be taking great losses per console sold
All console companies have been doing this since the Dreamcast, so I don't see why the PS3 will be an exception. This said, it doesn't mean they are willing to lose $750 a console to sell them at $150. If they weren't using that sodding blu-ray crap with asshole protections, they could be making consoles for $50 or $100 less (really, I'm serious), and they would have had it 3 months earlier. They are investing time and money on protecting the product rather than making it a good product.