A Question About Today's Video Game Consoles...

[Sinmastah]

We'll see man. I'm curious as much as everyone else. I can't wait to see what is next though. Tech has come so far already.

 

[djwilbanks]

I still believe physical copies will never go out of style. They have been around since vinyls, and won't go away for a while IMO.

You're probably right, but this is the first time digital has really been an option. To say that they won't all go digital eventually was like those guys refusing to go to CD based games because games had "always been cartridges."

 

[djwilbanks]

We'll see man. I'm curious as much as everyone else. I can't wait to see what is next though. Tech has come so far already.

I just know what I've been told by plenty of the guys I talk to on the inside of the industry. Of course, their views may or may not fall in line with everyone in the industry, so, time will tell.

 

[Skintaster]

I still believe physical copies will never go out of style. They have been around since vinyls, and won't go away for a while IMO.

I admit, I have my doubts as to how long physical media will be around, but I certainly hope you're right. I collect all that stuff. Rare LPs, 7", old video games... Heck, even rare video tapes.

I'd hate to see companies quit making games, movies, and music in a physical copy.

But again... I think things are going in that direction. I hope not, but it makes me worry.

 

[Howard2k]

I suspect physical media is here to stay for a while longer.

An average XBox360 game is probably 3-6GB, up to 9GB potentially, although a game like LA Noire that comes on 3 discs must be more than 18GB. But we could assume that there are coding inefficiencies that could have been optimized with a more scalable media. Over a good Internet connection, say 15Mb/s, that is, best case scenario, 1/2 an hour to download 3GB. 1 hour to download 6GB. But we all know about best case scenarios... That is probably workable when we are talking about a game that is well structured. But would it scale? PS3 games can scale to 25GB on a single sided disc, MGS4 was > 1 side so somewhere from 25GB to 50GB apparently. Over that same 15Mb/s connection were talking 8 hours of downloading.

And sure, there are people here who have more than 15Mb/s, but there are people that have less too. And remember that we are talking about throughput, not bandwidth.

Finally, some providers have usage caps too. I have a 60GB cap at one point, perhaps I still do. That is a decent amount of data but nothing mind blowing. Would I pay for the title and then eat the download costs too?

There is certainly a market for download only games, but I suspect that it is still too exclusive and limiting for the next few years.

 

[djwilbanks]

I suspect physical media is here to stay for a while longer.

An average XBox360 game is probably 3-6GB, up to 9GB potentially, although a game like LA Noire that comes on 3 discs must be more than 18GB. But we could assume that there are coding inefficiencies that could have been optimized with a more scalable media. Over a good Internet connection, say 15Mb/s, that is, best case scenario, 1/2 an hour to download 3GB. 1 hour to download 6GB. But we all know about best case scenarios... That is probably workable when we are talking about a game that is well structured. But would it scale? PS3 games can scale to 25GB on a single sided disc, MGS4 was > 1 side so somewhere from 25GB to 50GB apparently. Over that same 15Mb/s connection were talking 8 hours of downloading.

And sure, there are people here who have more than 15Mb/s, but there are people that have less too. And remember that we are talking about throughput, not bandwidth.

Finally, some providers have usage caps too. I have a 60GB cap at one point, perhaps I still do. That is a decent amount of data but nothing mind blowing. Would I pay for the title and then eat the download costs too?

There is certainly a market for download only games, but I suspect that it is still too exclusive and limiting for the next few years.

Physical media is certainly here to stay for a while, yet. But we'll see how broadband Internet stabilizes in the near future and we'll have. Clearer picture of how long physical media will remain.

Also, if we're streaming a title from a system that has it loaded onto it, initial download amounts no longer matter, only data usage while playing matters.

 

[Howard2k]

Also, if we're streaming a title from a system that has it loaded onto it, initial download amounts no longer matter, only data usage while playing matters.

Absolutely. I imagine there will be an increase in DLC cash-ins... Games will get less content out of the box with more paid DLC.

That annoys the piss out of me to be honest!

 

[Skintaster]

Absolutely. I imagine there will be an increase in DLC cash-ins... Games will get less content out of the box with more paid DLC.

That annoys the piss out of me to be honest!

Yes, that's BS in my book. Charging more for things that should be included already clearly sucks.

 

[djwilbanks]

In the future, you'll game on your smartphone, tablet, PC, and TV all with a system similar to this: Welcome to OnLive

Each major company will probably have their own version. All we need is broadband to get cheap, widespread, and a little faster.

In fact, I can use a combination of Splashtop and OnLive to play Arkham City on my iPad, right now. The controls are terrible, but the tech is there, the implementation is just a bit off.

 

[bildozr]

Netflix was supposed to put mom and pop stores out of business, yet Family Video is busier than ever.

Both Blockbusters in town closed. There aren't any physical rentals besides the Redboxes. It's happening.

 

[Skintaster]

Both Blockbusters in town closed. There aren't any physical rentals besides the Redboxes. It's happening.

Blockbuster is dead. The two nearest me closed this year, and the company filed for bankruptcy a couple of years ago. There are several forces working against video stores, but a lot of them are changing consumer habits, and technological advances. Won't be long and the only ones left standing will be specialty shops in certain markets.

 

[Username1]

I'm not going to even bother with the next generation

 

[nauc]

I didn't want to derail the other thread, but this is a question I've had for awhile.

It seems reasonable to expect that in another console generation or two, that the manufacturers are going to go to machines that download the games entirely without a physical copy existing. We won't have a collection of game disks, but games we've paid to download, and play for a limited amount of time before they "expire".

Now, I don't like this model, but I figure that it's the way things will be.

I'm curious what the longevity will be for the current games that are still on disk. Every one seems to download updates almost every time I fire up my system.

Will these updates be stored indefinitely on some giant server so that a person owning a functional PS3 and the games will be able to play them... Say, in 20 or 30 years?

I own vintage game systems that old, and since the game data is stored on cartridges, they still are playable.

I have no idea how this will work, or if it will in regards to the console games being made now. Will they be completely non functional?

Enlighten me, I'm not a tech head at all.

someday, im sure all of us will have our own server and we'll all DL whatever from other servers

ps, iirc, Twit was supposed to have a new show starting today called Game On

you might keep an eye out for it... Home | TWiT.TV

 

[Sinmastah]

Both Blockbusters in town closed. There aren't any physical rentals besides the Redboxes. It's happening.

Well apparently block buster doesn't have it going on. The two rental places here are popping. Netflix is nice, but doesn't compare to the volume of rental places. Family video has it going for them.

 

[nauc]

actually, Game On did start today

FF to 1:10:55

Justin.tv - TWiT Live -

forgot.. co host....

o yah, hurt me

 

[Skintaster]

Well apparently block buster doesn't have it going on. The two rental places here are popping. Netflix is nice, but doesn't compare to the volume of rental places. Family video has it going for them.

It might be where you live, I guess. But video rental places in the US "In general" are really hurting.

In Houston, Blockbusters are folding left and right. I don't care about them, but lots of the cooler mom and pop places that are still around, are either closing, or about to close.

There's an enormous specialty rental place here that supposedly has the nations biggest rental selection. You don't pick a video off the shelf, they have these huge phonebook looking things FULL of titles. You pick one, they run off into this enormous warehouse, and bring you the film.

Place has weathered changes in the rental business market since the 70's.

Just found out it's about to go out of business.

There just aren't many brick and mortar rental places left here anymore.

 

[nauc]

what about Red Box. i havent really done much with them or read much about them

 

[djwilbanks]

what about Red Box. i havent really done much with them or read much about them

Redboxes are great. I love them, but they're going to dig their own grave if they don't come up with an Internet solution.

That said, carrying games was a brilliant move.

 

[Leendrix]

I can defiantly see games going downloadable, like music. But I don't think they will "expire" after a while. If you purchase Angry Birds for your Android, it doesn't tell you "You have six moths with this App".

I don't know if Nintendo's new Wii U will catch on or not. A lot of their stuff has been hit and miss. Though (a few years too late) Microsoft and Sony came out with motion controlled devices for their consoles, it's by far not swallowing up the majority of how games are played for those systems.

Just like with everything else, if things start to suck, they will go back to how things were before and pay the price for it. Literally.

I just hope we get to keep wireless controllers, and still be able to play Team Slayer in Halo in ten years.

 

[proudamerican]

i belive that when you update something it saves to your hd and will remain there if you hd in intact