I can say beyond a shadow of a doubt that gaming today wasn’t the same as it was growing up, with the rise of the internet the way we play and even purchase games is changing. Pc and consoles are beginning to embrace online store fronts and with it comes many ups and downs, and as an industry we must keep them in mind.
First the pros that a digital marketplace provides. It is very assessable to a wide group of customers meaning that a good majority of people can just hop online to find games. Couple that with the convenience of downloading right to your console and you can easily get all your favorite games right from your living room. Also with digital games you don’t have to worry about manufacturing physical copies so there is less cost, plus a game can be sold for virtually forever meaning that people don’t have to track down copies. One last pro, and this is a big one in my opinion, is that indie developers are able to distribute their games to more platforms for substantially less than having to manufacture disks, meaning more interesting and new games are coming out helping young game studios get off the ground. With all that said this sounds great, what could bring it down?
Well for every good thing it brings there are numerous consequences that come with it. For one while it is assessable to a lot of people, there is still the issue with people with unstable internet or no internet at all. It’s important to realize that not everyone can be a part of it, and leaving them out of the loop can cause some serious negative feedback. Another problem comes from it is the matter of ownership. With a disk or cartridge you can truly own a game, and do what you want with it. Digital games however is a different story as you more or less pay to have accesses to a game rather than truly own it. Also while the low barrier of entry is good for small studios, shovel ware is a big problem as it clutters the store which hurts indie and industry alike, and since there is little quality control for some stores, shovel ware can easily floods the market.
The digital marketplace over all is a good start into more convenient and assessable gaming for developer and consumer alike, but it still needs some adjustments in order to show its true potential. Feel free to state your opinions, I’m interested to see what others think of this.
