Is console going digital?

[Ackmed]

You can tell if the game is bad in the first couple hours. Especially if you are smart enough to know the refund policy exists and can do your own research before the purchase.

The severe lack of demos hurts though. Demos used to be out months before, now they hardly are even out. Or out well after the game. I want a Madden 16 demo, is it out? Nope! Fucking sucks. The return policy on games is not good enough for me.

I still prefer hard disks, but not that much anymore. On PC's I buy almost everything with Steam or when I absolutely have to, Origin. Haven't bought a hard disk for PC in years.

 

[Scarpozzi]

I know I'm in the minority because I no longer carry broadband at home, but for those without cable/DSL internet, it would be really bad. This was actually a dealbreaker for XBOX ONE's original plan. Remember they were going to force people to carry XBOX Live and changed their mind about it because of the backlash. Gaming is a form of entertainment and there is a cost associated with it.... When/if it goes to a subscription format, there will be a lot of people jumping ship, but there may also be more impulse buys.

 

[sweenish]

You weren't forced to have a Gold subscription under the initial announce.

 

[sweenish]

You literally proved my argument, without knowing it. The highest tiers of internet available in the US are prohibitively expensive. This isn't the case in South Korea. The average, mid tier internet speed is about half the cost as the average LOWEST tier in the US. That is why the average speed of what consumers have IS a terrible argument. How many people can or are willing to pay $100+ for the higher speeds in the US? Not many.

And Korea's aren't? You're still pretending the exact same rules apply in the US, but not in Korea.

Their highest tiers are also super expensive. Not everyone there is buying the fastest available. That's the law of averages you keep harping on.

You can't win this argument by saying we have speeds faster than the average. By definition of average, that's obvious. Turns out, other countries are not immune to those laws like you keep pretending.

EDIT: To clarify, your argument is garbage because you're essentially saying the average is an average.

 

[TeknoBug]

You weren't forced to have a Gold subscription under the initial announce.

Initial announcement said you were required to be connected every 24 hours or the account gets flagged inactive, not really sure what the intenion was- perhaps to fend off pirates.

 

[smackababy]

And Korea's aren't? You're still pretending the exact same rules apply in the US, but not in Korea.

Their highest tiers are also super expensive. Not everyone there is buying the fastest available. That's the law of averages you keep harping on.

You can't win this argument by saying we have speeds faster than the average. By definition of average, that's obvious. Turns out, other countries are not immune to those laws like you keep pretending.

EDIT: To clarify, your argument is garbage because you're essentially saying the average is an average.

I am saying the average is LOWER in America than it COULD be, due to the cost of internet being vastly more expensive than in these "faster countries". As pointed out, the average cost of AVERAGE Korean internet is about half of what the average cost of the SLOWEST internet in the US.

Initial announcement said you were required to be connected every 24 hours or the account gets flagged inactive, not really sure what the intenion was- perhaps to fend off pirates.

It wasn't so much to fend of pirates, but to facilitate the game "sharing" features they were trying to do, and if you never had to check in, an offline Xbox One could potentially have every game for free.

 

[Lil Frier]

I want a Madden 16 demo, is it out? Nope! Fucking sucks.

I mean, there are demos, but they're hidden in EA Access on the Xbox One. $30/year gets you access to a dozen or more games (usually added 6-9 months after launch), and every game has a 10-hour demo that launches a week or two before the game. Shoot, in the case of Rory McIlroy, it's got a 10-hour trial for EVERYONE on the One right now.

 

[Ackmed]

I have a PS4, and am a Plus member. I couldn't find a demo anywhere. I just don't like this trend of no demos, it can't be that hard. They used to have CD's full of them inside magazines. Just wary of some games and would like a demo, I don't think thats too much to ask.

 

[cmdrdredd]

I have a PS4, and am a Plus member. I couldn't find a demo anywhere. I just don't like this trend of no demos, it can't be that hard. They used to have CD's full of them inside magazines. Just wary of some games and would like a demo, I don't think thats too much to ask.

Not every game has a demo. There is a listing in the PSN store for demos.

 

[Ackmed]

Not every game has a demo. There is a listing in the PSN store for demos.

I know that, I was more or less bitching because a high profile game like Madden doesn't have one. That commercial (which is hilarious) must have costed a fortune. Could have put it into a damn demo.

 

[purbeast0]

madden doesn't need a demo to sell.

but then again, neither does forza 6 and they have one for that.

 

[Lil Frier]

madden doesn't need a demo to sell.

but then again, neither does forza 6 and they have one for that.

Microsoft's definitely in a more-friendly position on that stuff. Between Forza 6 and Horizon 2 demos, EA Access trials, and their general willingness to bend over backwards to stem the tide of a sales deficit, they're doing much more to get games into folks' hands, IMO. See releases like Fable: Legends, Neverwinter, World of Tanks, and other free-to-play stuff on the console.

 

[Ackmed]

madden doesn't need a demo to sell.

but then again, neither does forza 6 and they have one for that.

No, probably not. They used to always have one though. Several other games don't have demos either. It would help create hype. Demo comes out, people play it and are all excited, buy game on day one. Since they can be put out digitally I can't imagine it would be so hard. Oh well, no sense bitching about it. The companies obviously made a calculated business move and are going away from demos.

 

[Lil Frier]

No, probably not. They used to always have one though. Several other games don't have demos either. It would help create hype. Demo comes out, people play it and are all excited, buy game on day one. Since they can be put out digitally I can't imagine it would be so hard. Oh well, no sense bitching about it. The companies obviously made a calculated business move and are going away from demos.

It's probably because of decreases in quality of late. I mean, how many times is the Madden response, "it's the same game as always!"? Imagine if people had a demo for Halo: TMCC or Battlefield 4, allowing them to see how horrendous the connection quality was. Imagine if people got to see how broken Unity was, or how bland The Order: 1886 was. It's better for the companies to let the media hype train chug along, without revealing grand disappointments to the customers. Let them figure it out AFTER the money's secured.

 

[purbeast0]

the order is one of the best games of the current gen. it's definitely the best single player experience i've had this gen.

 

[smackababy]

No, probably not. They used to always have one though. Several other games don't have demos either. It would help create hype. Demo comes out, people play it and are all excited, buy game on day one. Since they can be put out digitally I can't imagine it would be so hard. Oh well, no sense bitching about it. The companies obviously made a calculated business move and are going away from demos.

I think people are really using rose tinted glasses when it comes to exactly how many demos were available. Sure, we had demo discs for the PS back in the day, AND, there were 20 games on there, 3 of which were playable that came out in magazines every 3 or 4 months. The rest were just videos, which we don't need anymore.

The idea that "every game had a demo!" is such BS.

 

[cmdrdredd]

Shareware disks were the best demos back in the day for sure. That never applied to consoles though.

Also before the Playstation and CD based media there were no demos for consoles, you got videos and maybe the first level on the interactives for select titles at Toys R US or wherever but you could not acquire them for yourself.

 

[smackababy]

Shareware disks were the best demos back in the day for sure. That never applied to consoles though.

Also before the Playstation and CD based media there were no demos for consoles, you got videos and maybe the first level on the interactives for select titles at Toys R US or wherever but you could not acquire them for yourself.

And, B&M stores still have those kiosks / set ups.

The Playstation was the only console that had any "substantial" demos on the console side, and even then, it wasn't for a lot of games. If you were lucky, you could trade demo discs among friends to try out a number of games. Otherwise, too bad.

 

[purbeast0]

playstation underground was amazing back in the day.

 

[cmdrdredd]

playstation underground was amazing back in the day.

I remember that, but never subscribed. I just bought them in the store when there was a good disk that had a new game I wanted to see.

 

[Ackmed]

Yes Playstation Underground was amazing. I "worked" at EB long ago for a friend, 4 hours a month. The minimum to be an employee, just to get free magazines. Which was a lot back then because I got about 8 per month. Most were more than $5 due to having a CD of some sort.

I think people are really using rose tinted glasses when it comes to exactly how many demos were available. Sure, we had demo discs for the PS back in the day, AND, there were 20 games on there, 3 of which were playable that came out in magazines every 3 or 4 months. The rest were just videos, which we don't need anymore.

The idea that "every game had a demo!" is such BS.

I don't recall saying every game had a demo?

Fact is, there were more demos available pre launch then. Same with PC. They are going away for whatever reason, and I don't like it. Especially with the more restrictive return policies we have now.

 

[TeknoBug]

Playstation Underground was good and I loved the Nintendo Power magazines. lol

 

[Ackmed]

Yep, before consoles had internet connections, discs were so great. Now PC Accelerator was great, too bad it went under. Twice.

 

[Dave3000]

I know I'm in the minority because I no longer carry broadband at home, but for those without cable/DSL internet, it would be really bad. This was actually a dealbreaker for XBOX ONE's original plan. Remember they were going to force people to carry XBOX Live and changed their mind about it because of the backlash. Gaming is a form of entertainment and there is a cost associated with it.... When/if it goes to a subscription format, there will be a lot of people jumping ship, but there may also be more impulse buys.

I can't see a subscription to video games succeeding. Most people prefer to own their games over renting them.

 

[smackababy]

I can't see a subscription to video games succeeding. Most people prefer to own their games over renting them.

I don't think so. The only reason services like OnLive didn't work was because of their terrible implementation and performance. If someone could pay $25-$30 a month to play unlimited games, they would much prefer that.