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Gamestop released a rather interesting tidbit about their policy in carrying consoles with a digital title. In fact, they flat out said they refuse to carry them anymore. Here's the breakdown:

During a recent earnings report conference call, GameStop executives outlined their decision to move away from "digital" bundles and highlighted their recent effort to provide "physical" bundles instead. This new strategy went into effect just last month, with the release of Madden NFL 16. While other stores sold Xbox One and Playstation 4 bundles featuring digital copies of the football game, GameStop "worked with Sony, Microsoft, and EA" to reach an arrangement for the retailer to provide a physical copy with any new console purchased. This isn't just a little experiment either. GameStop COO Tony Bartel explained that if Sony and Microsoft continue to release digital bundles, GameStop will turn to "third party" physical-bundles. This could mean that they'll work out a deal with a major publisher like EA or Ubisoft to include a free physical copy of a recent release.

The obvious stance here is, Gamestop's only continued profitability and business model relies on used game sales. Controversy has always stemmed from the pay out of a used game that will eventually be resold to another consumer for a $50 price tag, but in the end it is what drives Gamestop's overall cash flow.

It is rather interesting to see the trend of Digital games continue to rise against the physical copies of games. Early NX rumors have begun circulating that the new Nintendo console may be intending to go full digital for the future, and i'm sure most 1st and 3rd parties would love to cash in on the market of digital sales.

As a purveyor of digital games, I find the stance understandable but a little silly. How do you feel about this move? And what is your stance on the timeless Physical vs Digital argument?

 

[Taleweaver]

I...can't understand what the situation is really like.

The way I see it, physical and online games each have their strengths and weaknesses
Physical can be resold, will continue to work as long as the medium isn't broken, but it's somewhat more expensive. Oh, and it has the possibility to own and collect.
Online is more convenient to get and drops price faster after release, but the trade-off is that you can't trade it in. With services like steam, there's also the chance your content may no longer work if your account is blocked (or if valve theoretically goes bankrupt).

Obviously, stores that thrive on second hand don't like the digital platform. They're the proverbial middle man that drives up prices (online services are more like a marketplace where the developer sells directly to the consumer). So gamestop's decision isn't so much logical as unavoidable.
What I don't understand, though, is whom they are trying to impress. Sony has a pretty popular thing going with their PS+-thing, and I don't think anyone's forgotten how MS's announcement of the xbone went (they had to 180 because nobody was going to buy their console if you couldn't resell your games). I don't see why major publishers EA and ubisoft would give in to them either. Each physical disk they deliver is one less sell on origin/uplay.

I'm inclined to label this move as a desperate gambit, but I'm not sure. There is certainly a market for physical games. I'm just not convinced that it's still large enough to just forego all "that online stuff". They could be digging their own grave with this (not that I think anyone minds THAT ).

 

[Zeriel]

Ok I'm normally not on Game Stop's side but I'm going to completely agree with them. I hate buying a console with a bundled
game only to receive a godamn code. I lost my copy of Link Between worlds because I couldn't do a system transfer (stupid Nintendo feature) and also since the digital cost the same as Physical then there is NO benefit for me whatsoever! I can't trade it in, I can't sell it,
I can't collect it, I can't lend it to my friends, so what the fuck?

I hate digital unless there is a benefit that out weights the downsides, like a discount for example, but as it stands digital has no benefit to consumers, only to the developers. I'm praying Nintendo doesn't go full retard/digital because the Wii U will be my last console from them and I'm not alone. A lot of people realize Digital only is almost never consumer friendly.

 

[Tom Bombadildo]

Meh, not like you can't get these bundles elsewhere, only thing that will happen is Gamestop might see a few less sales. Boohoo.

 

[Zeriel]

Meh, not like you can't get these bundles elsewhere, only thing that will happen is Gamestop might see a few less sales. Boohoo.

They will see increased sales, who would buy a digital bundle when you can get a physical copy instead? It's pretty genius actually because everyone who's smart will go for the physical copy that they can sell or trade in later.


We need to support Physical games

The industry wants digital to be the norm, they give less to the consumers and a lot more power to them, they eliminate trading, borrowing and selling, they kill the used market, they save millions in shipping and packaging, they don't even have to sell you finished games because they can patch them later and best of all, they can still charge you full price for something you don't even own! You only got the rights to use it temporarily! It's a win win win for big companies and a big fuck you for consumers.

 

[Tom Bombadildo]

They will see increased sales, who would buy a digital bundle when you can get a physical copy instead? It's pretty genius actually because everyone who's smart will go for the physical copy that they can sell or trade in later.

Because not everybody gives a shit about physical copies? If you honestly think someone is going to abandon buying a bundle they want purely because it only has a digital code you're fucking delusional A majority of gamers don't care, most gamers don't wank over collections and boxarts.

 

[chavosaur]

Agree with Tom on this one. I'm not going to support physical copies when digital distribution makes things incredibly simple.

My library of games on consoles is almost entirely digital and I am perfectly fine with it that way. I don't have to worry about a scratched or broken disc or cartridge, I don't have to deal with the clutter of stuff all over the place or deal with the space the cases take up, and it's all easily accessible.

There's a generational difference in thinking at play here. My brothers have grown up in the age of 360 and Xbox One era, and simply don't give two shits about discs anymore. They just download the game and play it. They just care about the game, not some dumb piece of cover art in a box that might have a piece of paper in it.

 

[GameSystem]

I bet if America didn't have such a garbage internet infrastructure, a lot less people would mind. What are we, like ranked 18th in the world? Once we get gigabit connections across the nation and your digital games download in a few seconds, there will be less complaining.

 

[Smuff]

I'm old. I grew up with vinyl and VHS. I like to see and feel something physical when I drop £50+ on something.
I've managed to embrace *buying* (cough) music, books and films in digital format but for some reason I look forward to getting an actual package delivered into my hand when I buy a new game.
Perhaps I seem a little confused, but like I said I'm old

 

[calagan]

It just reminds me how EVERYONE got mad (not just GameStop) when Sony released what is IMHO their coolest-looking console, the PSP Go, getting rid of the dreaded UMD physical media.

It looks like most people are getting along with the program and that neither physical media, nor GameStop will be around much longer.

 

[FusionGamer]

What? That's pretty much all of the Wii U bundles right there. No wonder the Mario Maker bundle is WalMart exclusive.

 

[Tom Bombadildo]

I bet if America didn't have such a garbage internet infrastructure, a lot less people would mind. What are we, like ranked 18th in the world? Once we get gigabit connections across the nation and your digital games download in a few seconds, there will be less complaining.

This is also a thing, for the most part, though for different reasons. The problem with the average internet speed in the US isn't because of slow speeds in general, it's because the US is stupid big and the average speed tests don't really end up as being all too accurate when compared to tiny (in comparison) countries like South Korea or Japan. We have a national average of like 12mbps, despite the fact that most states have average speeds of like 25mbps+ nowadays (which is comparable with the averages of Japan and South Korea which are at the top of the list).

20mbps+ is still slow though, especially when you're talking about downloading the 50gb games that are released today

 

[Zeriel]

This is why PC will always be above consoles, the only benefit to consoles was having the physical copy. So now you don't own the game, cant trade it or sell it, have long install times and long ass patches. The console is basically a DRM machine and if physical copies go away consoles will follow them. Why pay 500$ to play a game on lower specs? what are the benefits exactly? and when the console breaks or the servers are taken down then you don't own any of your games!

I haven't heard a single argument here that makes me think Digital is better than Physical, Honestly I'm surprised so many people support digital, you're trading a lot of your liberties for a false sense of convenience because it won't be easier downloading a 50GB game on the crappy USA internet.

 

[Qtis]

As a consumer I enjoy being able to buy used games.

Nothing is stopping companies making digital goods compatible with used games. This will probably require some kind of licence selling system, but it's far from being an unreasonable future.. Hopefully at least the EU will step up here. Steam probably has the infrastructure ready even now, since I highly doubt valve would not prepare for this kind of change

 

[Zeriel]

Nothing is stopping companies making digital goods compatible with used games. This will probably require some kind of licence selling system, but it's far from being an unreasonable future.. Hopefully at least the EU will step up here. Steam probably has the infrastructure ready even now, since I highly doubt valve would not prepare for this kind of change

Money is stopping them, it's a lot cheaper to just drop physical once Digital catches on. Publishers also are praying for the day they can get rid of Gamestop for good. I'm not a huge fan of Gamestop but you got to admit they brought us a ton of cheap PS3 and 360 games! but people seem to forget this. Once the companies have a digital monopoly they can control the prices however they want, and they're not competitive or consumer friendly like Steam.

 

[TecXero]

I wouldn't mind a digital only console, but only if there were a few requirements met:

1: Their store isn't the only source for games or they have a lot of discounts. I don't like the idea of them not having any competition (used games) and no reason to keep from just blowing up the prices.

2: No DRM, or at least a patch to remove the DRM towards the end of the console's commercial lifespan. I like to backup my own games. I can also take any physical game I have and put it in another system, it's not tied to just the one system it was first played on. Like my SNES, if something happened to it, I could just get another SNES and shove the cartridges in it and it should work.

That won't happen in the foreseeable future, so I'll be sticking to physical games on consoles and handhelds.

 

[IpsoFact0]

Physical always & Forever.

 

[Foxchild]

While I'm old school and prefer physical copies of pretty much everything, let's face it, Gamestop is fighting the future here. Whether it happens in 10 years or 50, all media will eventually be digital, minus the oddball special edition of something. While I appreciate their efforts to slow things down, as they're buying time for those of us who like the physical, the reality is, if they are truly that dependent on used game sales, they need to come up with a new revenue source. Adapt or die, Gamestop, adapt or die.

 

[Taleweaver]

The industry wants digital to be the norm, they give less to the consumers and a lot more power to them, they eliminate trading, borrowing and selling, they kill the used market, they save millions in shipping and packaging, they don't even have to sell you finished games because they can patch them later and best of all, they can still charge you full price for something you don't even own! You only got the rights to use it temporarily! It's a win win win for big companies and a big fuck you for consumers.

If course they'll need to restrict things. Otherwise everyone would just copy-paste games around. Yes, it's a drawback of digital games that you can't resell 'em, but don't you think it's a bit ironic that you claim to be supporting supporting games by reselling them? Either you love games and you collect them (in which case it really doesn't matter that much if they're physical or digital...the latter just takes up less shelve space), or you don't care about games enough to keep them. You can't have the argument both ways.

they save millions in shipping and packaging
Yeah...no. "Perhaps" it's a bit less...not every game directly sells in the millions. I already made the argument that the difference in price somewhat comes your way in the end (digital bundles drop in prices much faster).

they don't even have to sell you finished games because they can patch them later
The "they don't even have to sell you finished games" part is bullshit. It happens with physical media just as much. It's just that you haven't had a traumatic experience with it that makes you project it onto ALL the games out there.


for something you don't even own! You only got the rights to use it temporarily!
Check out the console section sometimes. Going by some people, physical disks break faster than...than...than a buggy windows release*. It might be temporarily, but thus far all my digital games work fine. Which is far more than I can say about the physical games I've bought over the years (and yes, I treat those well). Also: GoG.

It's a win win win for big companies and a big fuck you for consumers.
You do know that the digital distribution network has lowered the bar a lot for indie studio's, right? A lot of gems would never have seen the light of day if those small studios had to cough up the huge costs of creating and distributing physical media.
But even if, for sake of the argument, we leave all the small studios out of the equation: who are you to decide the consumers (hey! that's us!) are getting fucked? I can buy, download and install games on launch day without even leaving my couch. I don't have to rely on the mailman or have to go camping in front of a game store, let alone drive around a lot if I'm in a rural area (I'm not).
If the download breaks...meh. I'll just start a new one (assuming I can't resume from that point). Compare that to what would happen if you notice a broken disk. It's back to the store and complaining and dealing with shopkeepers who treat me like the dirty pirate I often am**.


*it's too late at night for a snappy response here
**the irony here is that I can find digital games so cheap I just buy it and don't even bother to visit shady sites with half-assed cracks and require you to jump through hoops to play an outdated version of a game.

 

[tbb043]

Good on you, Gamestop. This has increased the likelihood that I'll by my next console from them from zero to very high. Wish other retailers would take a similar stance, tho.

 

[FAST6191]

If course they'll need to restrict things. Otherwise everyone would just copy-paste games around. Yes, it's a drawback of digital games that you can't resell 'em, but don't you think it's a bit ironic that you claim to be supporting supporting games by reselling them? Either you love games and you collect them (in which case it really doesn't matter that much if they're physical or digital...the latter just takes up less shelve space), or you don't care about games enough to keep them. You can't have the argument both ways.

Everybody can copy and paste music around and it still manages to get sold, hell my 3 meg MP3/AAC audio track quite nicely fits on an email where my 4 gig game (possibly even 50 megs) is a pain in the arse for many to send over standard internet connection ( https://xkcd.com/949/ ).
Likewise reselling a game, or buying someone else's resold game, is different to not supporting the game industry -- it is an accepted part of life that if you have something you can sell it on, there may be contracts in the way and there may be lease/rental/licensing agreements that alter that in some manner (and if game devs want to try for that then by all means explore alternative models). However it seems many downloadable options want to price their offerings at around the same price and lack that feature, it rather rankles when there is a price disparity* for apparently similar items.

*go back through my post history and you can probably find me supporting the option to sell things at different prices to different people whenever that comes up, I certainly price whatever I see rather differently between people/entities. I reckon I can hold both points of view at the same time though.