I like to have a boxed game, its tangible.

Heck, I still go to the store and buy an actual CD to listen to.

iCAME is right, having the box in my hands just seems nice. I think I would feel somewhat disenchanted if I paid $50 to download a game. It would just seem wrong to me...but I'm old.

Love boxed games.

Also, Reggie is right about those games beating online and downloadable games.

If only Nintendo actually made those 50 hour games.

I agree with everything he says there, no need to bring out new consoles yet.

And no need to switch to downloads either, as people like boxes to show of there vast collection and be proud of it, and switching to DC only would ruin gaming specific stores since all they'll really sell is consoles, and that isn't a stable business plan. Plus alot of people don't like giving there details away online.

It's the first time Reggie has made sense in ages.

boxed games all the way, without them internet service providers would be laughing all the way to the bank

I think boxed games are awesome, it's great to have tangible versions of your games. Also the art and manuals are awesome

I dont love boxed games at all.
None of you should.
The huge amount of enviromental resources used to make what is essentialy a container for non-physical data is disgusting.

Humanity is wastefull and the fact that cds/dvds/games are still made from oil,chemicals,trees and then shipped accross the world (using more fuel etc)...and at every step of the way...every person those componants change hands by....use's more human labour thus adding to the cost of the end product.

Really think about what goes into your "shelf of games". Dont take it for grantage.

Thing about just how that lot reachs your home.
This isnt enviromental hippy talk, this is simply a huge amount of resources used yearly for something we dont need anymore.

"50, 60 hours - is pretty difficult to provide through an Internet connection."

Not many games are honestly 60 hours.

Zelda might require a dvd, but WiiFit, WiiSports etc certainly do not.

By the time the Wii's successor is released, most people will have 4Mb/s.
That would easily let you download a complete game overnight.

You have already laid the groundwork with the WiiConnect24...its no bother to leave a silent, SDD based machine running, and power use is very small.

Downloading games to be ready in the morning would easily let anything be downloadable.
You need more internal space, of course...by 2011-2012 that will be easy and cheap....you can even use fractuals and procedrals if you want more space.

Games can be tiny if you only try;
http://www.theprodukkt.com/kkrieger
(97kb, full 3D FPS...amazing stuff)

Of course,
Consumers *will* need a price drop that reflects the non-physical nature of downloads though.
The retail,distribution and manufactor all cost zero with DD.
Those savings should be at least half pased on to consumers. (the other half going back to the developers).

And there has to be more legal garentys in place for hosting firms (ie, Nintendo) to keep games redownloadable for a minimum fixed timescale.

But honestly, as a species we should try to move award from physical products as much as we can.

The advantages hugely outweigh this silly primative "But I like my carboard box!" thinking.

And yes, ISP's would make a bit more money and they probably would charge a little more.
But (as long as net nutrality stays) ISP's are a lot fairer, cheaper, and more efficiant way to swap games then retail are.

Heck, retailers make games firms pay for shelf space often. And if your game dosnt sale quickly enough..Bam! its gone for good.

With DD your game can always be there, games can sale years after they are released, not merely the ones that became big initualy.

eg. If Eternal Darkness was on DD it would still be sold, and SK would still be making profits from it. Small profits, but still there.

Because its not they arnt making a penny.
They had one shot at retail sales, and now its all gone. They dont earn squat from second hand.
Unless Nintendo does a re-release and makes more discs they arnt getting any more profit.

Look sorry for the long rant.
But DD really is better for everyone.
Give up your bits of plastic and let developers make more money AND consumers get cheaper games AND lets us buy games from a few years back regardless of how successfull they were.

The "middle men" are the only losers here.

( Edited 14.11.2008 23:08 by Darkflame )

Do you realise Darkflame how many jobs would be lost if we all switched over to downloading games in the morning?

I'll tell you, too many.

I most certainly don't take my shelf for granted, which is why I prefer it so much to downloaded games. Having a well organised game shelf is one of my favourite things about being a gamer, sad as it may sound.

Nothing's stopping anyone from coming up with a more environmentally sound storage solution, but I'm pretty sure the unecessary amount of food packaging and shopping bags we get is in far worse condition than the mass media. At least boxes aren't like the old huge VHS ones.

I don't mind either, but that said downloadable titles can have the potential to give as much depth as regular retail ones.

I do feel home console games and dvds need a size rethink with the boxes. Sure, there's a DVD standard but do the cases and books really need to be that big? We can have a near cd-sized box and the booklet a similar size to the DS manuals.

The Futurama movie "Bender's Big Score" was released on DVD in a carbon neutral manufacturing and packaging process.

Purchasing games in retail form can be done in an environmentally sound way if companies really desired to, so arguing against retail boxes for the sake of the environment isn't that great of an argument. Yes, of course the current method may be wasteful, but environmentally sound solutions are possible.