Poll of the Day > I do wish buying console games digitally was cheaper

(+) Yeah! (+)

Ive always preferred physical media, mainly because I like the feeling of actually owning something.

But with the way gaming is these days (day-1 patches, constant updates, etc.), it almost feels like physical is kind of pointless.

I just wish it were cheaper to go digital on consoles. With the Best Buy Gamer Club, you get a 20% discount all the time, and Amazon Prime also gives you a discount on pre-orders for physical games.

I guess the biggest upside to physical is being able to sell off any old games you dont play anymore.
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Ive heard that the physical pressing and packaging is pretty inexpensive to manufacture, so the savings wouldnt be all that much.

Still, even if it was only a few dollars, Id be happy with that.
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"I want publishers families to starve"

That's why I buy on sale. Pretty much the only times I buy a digital game full price are when I really can't wait to play it, or I specifically want to support the developers.
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It's not the phyFar-Queue posted...

Ive heard that the physical pressing and packaging is pretty inexpensive to manufacture, so the savings wouldnt be all that much.

Still, even if it was only a few dollars, Id be happy with that.

The packaging shouldn't matter. You're eliminating the middle man. You're going direct to customer. If anything, digital should be wholesale cost. If Amazon/Best Buy can sell a PHYSICAL copy for $45 then a digital should, at the very LEAST, be that price. Personally, I never buy anything but physical. I even broke down and purchased the physical version of Secret of Mana from Gamestop. I HATE Gamestop. I will never set foot in Gamestop. But if I must, I will buy from them online to get an exclusive physical version.
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Markup is only like 5%, so it isnt that much you would save.
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reason posted...

If anything, digital should be wholesale cost. If Amazon/Best Buy can sell a PHYSICAL copy for $45 then a digital should, at the very LEAST, be that price.

It's a delicate balancing act of making money and not pissing off retailers. So right now new AAA titles will never go for less than full msrp on Sony or Microsofts online services.

Simply put, retailers have to charge more as they have more overhead. If Sony or Microsoft came along and said "All digital games are now half the cost of their physical counterparts", there would be a potentially catastrophic backlash from the retailers.

The biggest problem right now is that Sony and Microsoft need someone to sell their hardware. Stores don't make much off the sale of a PS4 or Xbone, but they expect to make more money off the sales of games. If that's taken away, they won't really care about making their $10 on the sale of a console when it won't turn into more sales later.

If they can find a better way to get consoles into the hands of consumers, you can pretty much guarantee you'll see digital games cheaper (as Sony and Microsoft would love to see more money going directly into their pockets)
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Why the same price? So one doesn't outsell the other or pressure consumers to buy one over another.

Part of the cost of the physical copy goes into the actual physical manufacturing.
-Pro: physical copies are portable and usually not tied to an account of any kind
-Pro: Usually few to no additional downloads required to install
-Con: Once the medium becomes obsolete (floppy disks or outdated OS) playability becomes difficult
-Con: shipping and physical storage are a hassle

Part of the cost of the digital copy goes into keeping the hosting servers online.
-Pro: Can play the game as soon as it downloads
-Pro: For the foreseeable future the Internet medium will never be obsolete
-Con: Usually requires a stable Internet connection for a long period of time to download.
-Con: No long available when servers go dark

The developing company usually gets more from digital downloads because there are way fewer middle-men and they'll host digital licenses on their own servers.
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Part of the MSRP thing on digital is to not piss off retailers. Not many people will pay double for physical, say, and for now companies need to play nice. Once GS is dead, we may see more diverse pricing.
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Uh, there is a middleman in digital as well. You think that Sony/MS/Nintendo are able to develop and host their online stores for free?

Rockies posted...

You think that Sony/MS/Nintendo are able to develop and host their online stores for free?

Actually, yes. They would need a website for advertising and customer service anyway. Digital sales is free money.

Re: prices. Wait for a sale. Anything over $10 for digital is exorbitant.
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