I think the market determines what is necessary. If digital distribution was all that is really relevant why is Wal-Mart refusing to sell your game considered the kiss of death? Why do the biggest game makers bother, are they just not as smart?

No, I agree completely. Probably half the games I have purchased have been whims, seen while walking down the aisle in a store. You don't just happen to see digitally purchased games while you are buying a replacement phone cord at Wal Mart.

I don't have a problem with buying them, and they could well become the norm DEPENDING on where the PC itself is heading in terms of physical makeup, future recordable media, and DRM. If we are all headed toward having a scaled up XBox on our desks that we have to humbly as permission every time we install anything, it might well become to big of a pain to do anything BUT download from the developer.

I don't really think that the most successful businesses in the industry are behind the times or just to dumb to get it. I think retail is just a blind spot in the same way that slow connections or older machines are to people who forget not everyone does things the way they do.

Speaking of which, it looks like you guys will be distributing Sins of a Solar Empire (notice the Stardock symbol/link)...

WWW Link

Certainly looks like a nice game...

beat me to it cauldyth

Personally while I'm willing to use Digital Distribution for Dark Avatar its not something I would ever consider as a first choice. I love the culture of the video game store, I love going and talking to the same clerk year after year talking shop about video games. Digital distribution takes out that human quality, which is why i'll always look at it as a second rate distribution medium.

I love the culture of the video game store, I love going and talking to the same clerk year after year talking shop about video games.

Sadly, PC games are being relegated to a smaller and smaller section of game stores. In the 90s I used to love dropping by EB to browse the shelves of games. Now when I go, I usually have to search around until I find the corner where they keep their handful of PC games.

It seems Wal-Mart and Best Buy are the only places with decent selections now, and they're very impersonal.

One running theory is that the 360 and the PS3 will be the last consoles with "hard" media. I'm sure they would probably like that...much cheaper for them in terms of distribution, but I don't see it ever happening.

In the same way that you can get e-books now, but that hasn't made any real dent in book sales. People, for the most part, WANT the physicality of the book. I paid good money, I want to touch it, hold it, leaf through its pages.

By the same token, if I pay $60+ for a game I want to hold it, touch it....have a real, tangible thing for my money. Certainly like the idea of being able to re-download the game if I damage it, but I want an actual physical storage medium to take home.

I think most people do.

EB hates the PC. They want everyone to buy WOW and disappear into the void like the Mayan Empire.

The ability to independently develop anything will one day become like the gifts of the Earth--if you can grow your own stuff, it will be illegal.

While it's possible to develop for XBox and PS, try selling anything if they don't approve of your software.

Yeah I would have to echo the sentiments about going into a store and browsing, and having a physical box to look at. I love PC game boxes the bigger the better, it doesn't make much sense but I look at my old game boxes all the time.

BTW, (GalCiv2: Collectors Edition) has one of the best boxes around! Who ever designed it deserves a raise and some free donuts ; )
Edited for spelling.

I've wanted to buy Caesar IV since last week but it's been sold out at the nearby Best Buy's in my area (and I can't see driving all over to find one). I know that the local EB Games and Gamestop won't have it either (because I've been to them and they've all but eliminated their PC sections), but if I could buy it digitally without DRM I would. Right now it's just a lost sale for Sierra because I can't find the game at retail. Very annoying.

BTW, (GalCiv2: Collectors Edition) has one of the best boxes around! Who ever designed it deserves a raise and some free donuts ; )

Agreed. It just feels kinda... classy. And it's not a huge space-waster.

No, I agree completely. Probably half the games I have purchased have been whims, seen while walking down the aisle in a store. You don't just happen to see digitally purchased games while you are buying a replacement phone cord at Wal Mart.

I agree. I saw GalCiv2 when I went and bought Oblivion. That statement says it all.

I would have never heard of GalCiv2 or Stardock if I hadn't seen the box in Best Buy.

I agree that Retail outlets should be used as well as digital distribution,for the moment. In the end cost & margins dictate availability and distribution channels, and in the latter digital distribution wins hands down. At present the buyers culture is 'touchie feelie' - they want to have a physical media in hand on purchase. The latter is only historical 'its the way we do it'. Increasingly with the advent of widespread DSL/ADSL at home, more and more buying of Branded goods is being done on line - customers know what they are getting with a Branded item and the only issue is cost, speed of delivery and subsequent Customer Service (all cheaper than running from a physical store). Even the Bank Manager is now effectively a computer programme and a call centre.

On line shopping is getting a real hold now and changing the face of the traditional Town High Street. At the forefrontof that behaviour change will be gamers as they are used to on-line activity and have an inherent comfort factor buying on line. In the mid 1980's the internet was considered a Geek dead end - 20 years, 94million WebSites, and Hundreds of Billions of Dollars on line business annually later .....

We all like our comfort blanket and want our personal space surrounded by the things we know and are used to. Our thought processes tend to reinforce that. High Street shopping is now dead, given that some things will always need a physical store, but as a genre the future is now Internet on-line shopping. We will see games on the vertual shelves as we browse the on linestore. The fundamental reason is simple, why the hell spend 2 hours on a 50 mile round trip to the Area Hypermarket when you can get your branded goods on line delivered the next day.

Is all that on line Heaven here now, of course not, but its inevitable march forward is ignored only by those who have no ambition to grow business. The switch to online has begun, only a fool ignores it. For that reason the main long term planning focus should be on digital channels, speed of downloading and an easy to use Channel that perhaps carries links to other types of digital business that customers may want (rather like nipping in to the next door shop on the high street as you spotted something in the window when leaving your current shop).

So for now Retail outlets are needed, but they are secondary to the long term requirement for a slick digital online distribution facility. Online shopping used to be the 'useful add-on ' to Retail, no longer, a sensible business will now view on-line as the long term focus supported in the short term by physical Retail outlets. Its inevitable, and customers cannot stop it - its a simple equation, online shopping vastly increases margins and reduces cost - the latter always drives business in the long term (aka change in Banks happened like it or not).

Regards
Zy