Editorial | August 17, 2009 11:17 pm

By Minioger

I have to admit, when I first heard the news that we would be able to download digital copies of some of the Xbox 360 games with the new update I was excited. I had visions of purchasing games that I wanted without the hassle of finding them at the store and getting them for reasonable prices. Either my standards were set too high or this gamer thinks that the main focus on the digital distribution is to keep people from buying/selling these games used and keep a few extra bucks in the pocket of Microsoft <insert dramatic music here>.

All right, so I know this is a business about making money and I know everything isn't a conspiracy to try to get every penny out of my pocket, but with the lineup of games at launch, I got a little nervous. I found myself only looking at about 30 games to download, some of the gems being Call of Duty 2. I thought, oh that's nice, that was a good game....GREAT GOOGLY MOOGLY 30 bucks? Who in the world would buy a digital copy for 30 bucks? I was a bit shocked until I found Meet the Robinsons (A Disney Movie video game) for the same price.....blech! Now of course not all of them were so shocking. Mass Effect & Burnout Paradise were both in the $19.99 category and that is what you would pay for them if you got a new copy out in the real world, so not everything was bad.

So I took some time and interviewed the little MS rep in my xbox 360 who was trying to sell me the games:

Me: What do you get with this wonderful digital copy of the game?
MS:Well you get the ability to play it from your hard drive after the download, you don't need the disc.

Me: Where's the instruction manual?
MS: Oh people don't use those, but if you do you can get it online.

Me: All right, I can deal with that, I really didn't want any more memory on my hard drive being taken up. Can I take this over to my buddy's house and play it?
MS: Sure! If you cart over your hard drive and your gamertag, no problem!!

Me: Ummm.....ok, well I didn't really want to screw with that but I guess I can deal with it. What if I don't like the game?
MS: No returns idiot! I guess you should have played the demo!

Me: Oh well can I take it somewhere and trade it in?
MS: Hell no! What are you stupid? It was a digital download, it's yours forever!

Me: Oh so I can download it again if I need to clear my hard drive because I'm lame and only have a 20GB hard drive (of which I can only use like 14GB)?
MS: Sure! I mean, as long as the developer doesn't take a nosedive and not allow you to do that anymore....have you ever considered upgrading to the 120GB hard drive?

Me: Uhh, well I actually already have two Xbox 360s in my house since you can't freaking make a system that doesn't crap out. So basically I'm screwed if for whatever reason the game isn't available anymore?
MS: Well I wouldn't say that, you got to enjoy the game didn't you?

Me: Well I suppose, but I thought the whole idea of digital distribution was to make it better for me: no disc, I don't have to worry about it being lost or destroyed. So if I download all these games this way instead of purchasing them at a store and I have to delete a few, there is a chance that it could be gone forever, just like a certain Double Dragon on XBLA?
MS: I am going to have to plead the fifth amendment on that one. I'm sure that won't happen though, although I'm not saying anything did happen.

Me: So basically instead of going and purchasing a game used from say Gamestop for like 10-15 bucks and being able to return it in 7 days if I don't like it, I can pay 30 dollars from you to get a copy that fills up my hard drive, I can't return and I can't trade in?
MS: This interview is over.


Okay, so that was a little bit dramatic, but you get the point. I have never been against the whole concept of the Live Arcade, in fact some of my favorite games are the arcade games. However, lets compare the two just for a minute. On XBLA you can purchase a game for somewhere between 400 to 1600 MS Points (5 to 20 dollars respectively). I am expected to pay 30 dollars for Call of Duty 2 which was a launch title and also released on the PS2 and Gamecube instead of purchasing it used from a store for 12.99? (Note: 12.99 was the cost on gamestop.com - and no I'm not getting anything from gamestop, they just happen to be a well known used game store) Why would I do that? The XBLA allows smaller developers to produce a game and release it to a mass audience where they might not be able to do so otherwise. Digital distribution allows MS and the developers to essentially have no new cost (e.g. no packaging, no cost for disk) and sell it for sheer profit because you can't return it for any reason. Hmm....

Obviously I'm not trying to be on anyone for making money, but there has to be a line drawn eventually. I personally don't think the digital distribution of these games will be embraced by the masses. Most of the people I know are perfectly happy purchasing a used copy of a game. I also know others who generally purchase new but want to have a disc on their shelf even for a DLC (which is technically an oxymoron).

However, what do I know really? Most people tend to gravitate towards others that are like them and hell, I have only purchased one retail game, out of say 200 that I have owned, brand spanking new for $60.00. I have purchased plenty of them new, but only when they drop in price. I mean I purchased the gem of a game Jumper for a whole 5 bucks used. I felt I got my money's worth and no more. How much did that game go for new when it came out at the beginning of last year? How horrible would you then feel if you were stuck with that game forever and you couldn't ever return it?

Obviously though most of the games released were some sort of Platinum Hit game so obviously they weren't all bad games. My fear is that eventually if enough profit is seen doing it this way some developer who is pinched for cash will get the bright idea to distribute them that way. Though there would be plenty of checks and balances in the system: If a game was found to be sub-par hopefully the rating system would give someone the idea that it is not a good purchase and would deter other gamers from buying the game.

There is obviously the hole in my logic that I don't know in whose pocket all the money for the digital distribution is going. Does it go all to Microsoft? What percentage goes to the developer? Who sets the prices for the download, the developer or MS? I also will point out that I am not 100% aware of how the money makes its way to the developers and to MS when a game is purchased at a retail store. I do know this: Target and Wal-Mart do not pay $60 to get the game in their store. To the best of my knowledge, the games are purchased en masse by the retailer - the money is distributed to MS and the developers at that point and then the store is stuck trying to sell them. That is why when a game won't sell you see them pawning them off for 10 or 15 bucks just to recoup some of their costs. MS and the developer don't lose any money at that point, the store does. Obviously they can't make more money because no more copies of the game will be purchased by the retailer. It should also be noted that there were no games that would be considered new releases available to be purchased at this time.

I personally will never embrace complete digital distribution of retail games. It works for arcade games which don't take up nearly as much space on your hard drive and it allows for smaller developers to get their games out - to me that is awesome! I just don't feel "allowing" us to purchase retail games via a digital copy is anything more than a ploy to try to get a few extra bucks out of the non-average gamer and I'm sure there is some hope at MS that this will take off so they can try to take some of the cash from the used gaming industry.

How do you feel about the new digital distribution of retail games? Do you plan to purchase any games this way?

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