Limbo developer says retail model is 'broken'

[Necuno]

I tend to agree with this to a point, for me only worthwhile physical copies to have these days are collectors editions. For everything else digital distro is they way to go however you look at it putting aside some of those who need to stroke their paid for goods or else they loose a sense of ownership. This is especially true for up and coming developers now not having to worry about media printing, shipping etc etc costs.


Limbo developer says retail model is 'broken'

Dino Patti, boss of Limbo studio PlayDead, has criticized the videogames retail business. Calling it broken, Patti has questioned the need for physical products that require installing, and believes the entire system has been inefficient since day one.

"The retail model has always been and still is broken, from a developer's point of view," he said. "Driving discs in a big van all over the world is really inefficient. I don't understand how anyone can make money out of this. Driving a truck to Japan just to get it delivered to people when they can get it from the net? Hopefully the new consoles will embrace the download space even more.

"I hate to have the disc myself. I only buy the disc if I want a console game, but everything else I download from Steam. And all the new games today also need to be installed. Why did I get a console if the games need to be installed? That really sucks. That's a PC."

I've said for a while that consoles have just started to resemble crap PCs, so I definitely agree with Patti on this. Unfortunately, it's probably not going to change anytime soon, especially in a world where Sony still thinks selling memory cards is a cool idea.

Limbo dev: the retail model is "broken" [Eurogamer]

 

[kaytel]

Unless I can lend to whomever I want whenever I want and resell digital copies I have no interest in them. I'll simply stop buying games altogether if it's the only option and does not give me the same benefits as the real thing. That applies equally to movies, books and music. The alternative is you make it so cheap that I can buy ten digital copies for the price of one physical copy. But if we look at music we got exactly the opposite - it's expensive and was typically lower quality.

Installing on a console does not take long and is something you can start and walk away in my experience. The same can hardly be said for a PC game. Plus in many places around the world it still takes a long time to download a complete game (that includes places like the UK).

What is broken about the physical distribution model, and this applies particularly to music, is that it locks you into dealing with organisations that can charitably be called criminal. Most people refer to them as music labels.

 

[Dentar]

I quite like my boxes, love the smell of new game
And I love reading the manuals in bed before going to sleep

Digital distribution is considerably more convenient though and it's no doubt easier to sell a product online through Steam or whatever.

 

[Necuno]

Unless I can lend to whomever I want whenever I want and resell digital copies I have no interest in them

You'd rather just steal than contribute, don't expect your artists to continue with AAA or any up and coming ones. Ow yes we are all just entitled to nirvana...

I quite like my boxes, love the smell of new game
And I love reading the manuals in bed before going to sleep

Digital distribution is considerably more convenient though and it's no doubt easier to sell a product online through Steam or whatever.

Sure be short reading as most is 10 pages on mini installation and boxes barely just fit that with dvds. Manuals has been for a long time worthless imho and they can rather go for pdf the damned things. Last decent manual I had was with neverwinter nights.

 

[Dentar]

Sure be short reading as most is 10 pages on mini installation and boxes barely just fit that with dvds. Manuals has been for a long time worthless imho and they can rather go for pdf the damned things. Last decent manual I had was with neverwinter nights.

Yeah, I meant the proper manuals, of course I do miss them..