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Will Your Digital Spending Increase In The Next Generation?

Like it or not, the industry is in a transitional period. Traditional physical media is being supplanted by digital media.

Digital sales are rising fast while sales of boxed products aren't doing so well, and all analysts and industry insiders are predicting the same thing. This is why every game for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita will be available digitally, but not all titles will be sold in physical form. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, the days of actual, tangible game collections are going bye-bye.

The youngsters that are coming up behind us are just fine with that. They're growing up in a world where little to no value is placed on the physical, and they want everything to be digitally available. So they're already on board. But what about the older gamers out there who have been collectors their whole lives? And I'm not only referring to the crazy hardcore (like the dude who owns the collection in that pic). I'm just talking about people like me, who enjoy having a decent-sized collection of select titles, and simply aren't that keen on having a "collection" that's symbolized by files on a screen.

Do you see yourself spending more on digital offerings in the new generation? They're more convenient, right? And what if a lot of those games are cheaper than their physical counterparts? I think one of the things that's still holding digital back is that most times, digital versions aren't any cheaper than the boxed product. That makes zero sense to me, by the way. But do you see your digital spending increasing, simply because that's the way the industry is headed? Or will you continue your staunch effort to purchase, you know, actual things that are part of an actual collection ? Yeah, I'm a tad bitter.

Capcom: What Should We Be Doing In The Digital Game Space?

The digital age is basically upon us, and it seems inevitable that in due time, digital will be the preferred delivery choice for video game manufacturers.

But what do you think about it now ? That's what Capcom wants to know. Although they've said they've got their "own ideas" about the future of digital gaming, they're also interested in hearing what the fans have to say.

As you'll see over at the Capcom Unity blog , the publisher wants to know your take on the digital vs. physical issue, and what you'd like to see. The survey also asks questions about Capcom's legendary franchises, like Mega Man , Street Fighter , and Bionic Commando ; they want to now if you'd like high-def remakes, sequels, or straight ports. We're sure the die-hard veteran gamers have something to say about that , so make your voices heard!

As for the digital age, I figure we have to take it, but we don't necessarily have to like it.

Explain How This All-Digital Crap Is Preferable In Any Way

Most seem to agree that the future of the video game industry is digital. Sadly, I think the future of a great many things in this world lies in the cold and remote digital realm.

For the record, I am not against progression or advancement. I'm not against technology. What I'm against is the deification of enhanced technology that defies common sense and utilizes smoke and mirrors to create the illusion of progression.

The appeal of digital seems absolutely nonexistent to me. One can argue download speeds will get faster and despite the increasing size of games, all games will eventually be delivered digitally. All right. Say that works fine. Say it saves you a trip to the store. I understand the argument; it means you save on gas, save yourself the headache of (God forbid) having to go outside and interact with other humans for scant seconds, and saves you – ideally – time. So say you download the game you've been waiting for and you're all happy.

Explain to me the next day. Or the next year. Explain to me what happens when your hard drive shits the bed. Explain what happens when a file gets corrupted (yeah, it has been known to happen). Explain how uploading to the cloud, saving on a USB or backing up in some other way, is somehow supposed to make our lives easier, simpler, or faster. Explain how updates, patches, DRM, and downloadable content is more efficient or more practical. Explain to me how something as trivial as a power outage can royally screw your gaming hobby in the future, while decades ago, it just made me lose my place. It didn't mean I couldn't get my damn game from the store.

Twenty five years go – a full quarter-century – I put a game into a system, pressed a button and played.

Yes, everything is vastly more advanced today. I get that. But I'm really not convinced that even the best advancements we've got are worth the future headaches that I'm anticipating. We've already reached the point where playing on a console feels suspiciously like playing on a PC, what with the patches and constant "connected" incentives and requirements. Now you tell me delivering a game digitally is preferable or better? What if my connection just gives out halfway through? What if there's a flippin' power outage? What if I want to upgrade to a new system later on? How long will it take to transfer game files and game saves in my collection? What, do I black out a whole day on my calendar?

I fail to see how any of this is better, besides the obvious fact that this will allow the industry to save some money. The packaging and shipping aspect is very expensive, after all. But that should translate to cheaper costs, yes? If the physical copy of a game costs the same as the digital copy (and it often does right now), what's the point ? Just so we can point at another video screen and go, "looky looky at what I'm doing now !" In foreseeing the potential problems involved, the sheer amount of irritation, frustration and yes, time lost on dealing with this digital crap is beyond ridiculous.

The worst part is that the seemingly mindless younger generations, who may already be partly robotic due to spending the majority of their lives staring at a video screen already, don't seem to get it. For those of us living in the real world, it's painfully obvious. This is all besides the fact that a tangible physical collection should be far, far more important to anyone who actually cares about this hobby. Oh, and I could spend a lot longer talking about the constant threat of identity theft completely invading this industry if everything goes digital; I don't know about you, but I'll miss a time when I could play a game without having to worry about who just stole my personal info. But I suppose nobody notices or cares.

EA: Digital Will Rule, But We’ll Never Abandon Physical Media

It seems inevitable at this point.

Electronic Arts says that eventually, the majority of their revenue will come from digital products rather than traditional boxed products. This is what company COO Peter Moore told Reuters in a recent interview. And as expected, he says the switch is "not far away."

" There will come a point, whether it is two or three years from now, when we say, 'We are doing more in digital media now than we are in physical media,' and it's clearly … not far away. "

Moore cited EA's record $1.2 billion they earned in the digital sector over the previous fiscal year and obviously, that number is expected to rise in the future. The publisher has 41 social mobile and free-to-play games in the hopper, with even more looking to be developed for the near future. However, this doesn't mean EA will cut out boxed products altogether. Added Moore:

"We will never abandon physical media. As long as the consumer wants to buy something on a disc, we will be there to offer it."

Well now, wait a minute…doesn't that statement sort of imply that if too few consumers care about physical media, EA won't offer it? No company as big as EA will continue to produce something only a tiny handful of consumers want, right? That just doesn't seem logical.

NPD Group: Digital Sales On The Rise

Like it or not, gamers, digital = the future.

While traditional packaged goods have fallen off in 2012, there's one aspect of video game sales that is on the rise: Digital distribution.

According to the NPD Group , downloadable content, subscription fees, mobile and social sales hit $1.47 billion in the April-June period, which is a 17% year-over-year increase. And that's higher than the packaged good business, which only came in at about $1 billion.

Still, NPD Group analyst Anita Frazier said the good performance by the digital branch wasn't enough to offset the continual decline in overall software and hardware sales. The firm's expectation is that the US industry was down 16% for the quarter, which falls in line with the rest of a disappointing year. Sales have been down year-over-year between 15 and 20% throughout 2012 thus far; here's hoping a busy fall can halt the slide.

PSXE Poll Update: Downloadable Games Are Entitled To GotY

Downloadable games may not have the budget and may not aspire to vast, epic greatness.

Nevertheless, the majority of PSXE readers believe digital titles have every right to be considered among the year's best. In our recent poll, most said a fantastic experience like Journey deserved to be ranked among the elite; they'd have no problem with Thatgamecompany's subtle masterpiece winning this industry's most prestigious honor: Game of the Year. We don't have any problem with it, either. It just might happen, too, unless Assassin's Creed III or other titles impress the hell out of us.

This week, it's once again time to select the best User Review for our So You Think You Can Review Video Games user review contest. We didn't get as many submissions this time around (not a heck of a lot of games being released this time of year), so that's why there are fewer to choose from. But for the record, no matter how many we get in the future, I'm only going to select five (at most ) rather than ten for the final community poll. There are two reasons for this:

Firstly, I think it's too much to ask the community to read ten reviews to make a decision. I mean, people have lives and we should probably acknowledge that. Secondly, we want everyone to get better at writing these reviews and the longer the contest goes, the higher the quality should be. Hence, the competition should get stiffer. Gotta impress!

Also, don't forget, follow the links to see all available prizes. I'm throwing in Spec Ops: The Line as well but…uh…I wouldn't recommend it.