Christmas.

That's pretty much it.

What about... a print-yourself PDF with a "paper model" box.  Like this.

You print it on carboard and glue it together. Instand downloadable game box for the game shelf. =P

Personally I find it amusing when a lot of retail store express surprise at how fast digital distribution grew, and hilarious back when people thought it would never take off at all.

That remind me Microsoft - When Valve asked them in 2003 for something like what is currently Steam, they were told by MS that such thing wont be possible for 10 years...... oooooooops

Well, the wiki says Steam started in 2002, so I think your dates are a bit off.

Yeah, I messed up date. It was some time before Steam was created, but point stands that MS in past 15 years was too risk averse and only created new things when it was too late.

Look am all for lower cost games, but why should he pass the savings down. He is entitled to his profits!

As for downloads, retail as really dropped the ball on this one.  A fine example of greedy business people designing a model to sell games, without any idea of what suits gamers.

For  example, in the UK Games has just shut most of its stores, one of the ways it missed out was to charge gamers to download the games!!! So most gamers turned to sites like Steam. Game was well suited to make an impact on the internet sales but missed out due to not understanding gamers.

Anth

Ironically, it was the retail chains themselves, especially the carnivorous GameStop, that helped make online stores such a success.  I'll never forget a decade ago when their management decided that PC sales simply weren't worth it, moved the PC titles to the back of their stores, and instructed clerks to tell people they could only order PC games for them if they'd first stocked them.  It didn't help that at least some clerks (if the experiences of my wife and myself were at all typical) thought it their sworn duty to belittle PCs and PC games in general even as people sought to buy them.

Which of course meant that all those PC users, who also accessed the Web, were available as a new market.  And from there, it was pretty much a small step to harnessing the same techniques chosen to make site PC sales more attractive--gameplay and trailer videos, special deals, beta programs, etc--for the consoles.

The economic model for game sales on the Web clearly works.  I only wish I could ask the GameStop people who decided PC users should abandon games if they'd thought about converting their stores into arcades, or possibly ice sculptures.

Why should I get in my car and drive 20 to 30 minutes to the store for a PC game when all that is needed is click, click, click, order placed, downloading. **** retail. BTW Gamestop I believe has seen the light since they now own Impulse. They got some good sales going on now.

I think the new twist to gaming and making money is what Blizzard is doing with Diablo 3. They are supporting a real world currency auction house for in-game items. I think it will be interesting to see were this method of making money for games goes. Could it be possible for games of the future to be free, but companies would make money from the sale of in-game items on auctions. From what I understand Blizzard will take a percentage from the auction sale.

I don't see the point of retail when you have ideas like Blizzards real currency auction house for making cash using games. Though I am curious how they will handle taxes.

Exciting times people.

Necrobumpage!

I was shopping in my local supermarket and I actually decided for the hell of it to pick up a PC game and buy it.

Bear in mind everyone, these guys make their living by cramming as many things onto the shelf as possible to tempt a wandering shopper.  They buy lots of units in the anticipation of shifting them at a cut-throat price.

I take it up to the counter and the assistant vanishes off into the back to look for the actual physical game.  They came back empty-handed. Whether they couldn't find it or it wasn't there, either way it was a bit of a disappointment and a sure way to get people to buy digital instead.

More to the point, the only reason I was buying it at all was the price point.  I was going to kindly use the product code to download and install it.  Put some DVD in my drive and spin it up?  You're having a laugh.  I haven't used that thing for ages, probably.