Developers/publishers are moving towards offering games as downloads. They often come with code protection but do, I know give them greater remuneration for their work & also reduces the opportunity for piracy early on. Also I think it's great if you can get a game to play in a matter of minutes!

I like to hang on to my games so personally can accept this if later either a boxed version or a 'no strings' downloadable version becomes available - i.e. I can copy it to disc to play in the future without the need for 'activation' from the source.

I know I may go on to occasionally buy the download version & then go on to buy the boxed version but for the most part I'd wait or not buy the game at all.

I'm interested to know how many of you feel the same way?

Also how many of you here are not so interested in keeping games & are quite happy to download, play & that's it?

Pleeeeease! - I don't want this to be a thread about all the objections to downloads - we've been there before! Just are you a gamer that likes to keep your games to play again in the future & would like some way of hanging on to them or do you like the idea of downloading a game, playing, uninstalling & going onto the next?

Chrissie,
I really can not add anything to what you have stated as I feel the same way. I do see the furture of AG going by way of download and if I want to continue to play them I guess I have no choice but to get on board.

I'm liking more and more the idea of downloading games, now that I am better at it. Or maybe downloads are getting easier to do without too much fuss, like zip files which I just don't understand. I don't save games or play them over so I don't need the boxed ones and downloading is *green* so it is easier on the environment, I think.

My opinion is:

If they will be doing away with boxed games..So be it..

"Hello" to downloads is better then no games at all

Thanks sierramindy, so downloads are good for you! Thanks also lexxy & Darleen - I think to keep our games coming downloads first is the way to go - but do you want boxed versions to follow? & would you buy them if you've already bought the download? - hey! if we want boxed versions we've got to express our interst in having them!

I like downloads to but the trouble I have with them is when I get done playing them I deleted the game and I can't remember where I bought the game if I want to replay it again.
Richard

Hi, chrissie..

I love your avatar..is that a Sphinx?

Well...Yes I do want box games...I will miss them..If it ever comes to be where we have no boxed games...

I also will miss the fact ,that I won't be able to trade anymore ...I am sure many will miss the selling aspect of it also..

But...Like I said before...I rather have something ,Then nothing at all...

Also I might add...If it ever comes to it where there is no more box games....Just think what a gamer who has a box game would ask for in price on a sale...

Hi Darleen, thank you! my avatar is the egyptian sun goddess Bastet depicted as a cat - designed & offered to me by a very talented fellow Gameboomer - I think it's lovely too!

If gamers can't trade/sell games anymore will that mean that they can't buy/play as many? Sadly, I think this might be the case for some players with limited funds but I'm hopeful that downloaded games will be followed later by boxed versions.

As you don't want this thread to deal with the drawbacks of downloading I won't go there, but I'm not downloading a game unless it's freeware.
I don't care for the boxes so much, especially not the big ones, but I do want to be able to replay the game at any time without having to ask permission to anyone.
And I do want to keep on borrowing games from the library or buy used games, things that are impossible with download only games (ai, I promised not to do this).

So if they find a way to offer an immediate (not later) 'no strings' download, I'll still prefer the DVD-case but I probably buy it if it's the only way.
Unfortunately, if the choice would be to pay for a download game with activation or have no game, I'll choose the last (I have other hobbies as well ).

Hm, I don't mind downloading games - I've downloaded a few - but there is that concern that they'll eventually be unplayable. I still have games I played in the eighties, and they still work. I would feel much better knowing that I could play my downloaded games in twenty years as well if I wanted to.

If there is absolutely no other option available, and I really want the game, I will download it. Otherwise, I will most likely wait for the boxed version.

I'd like a DRM-free, boxed or DVD-cased version of any game I think I might want to play again in the future (as in 5 years from now or more). If a game has restrictions on it, like how many times you can install it or if it only works on certain versions of Windows because of the DRM, then I assume it is a "play once and throw away" game at the time I'm buying -- and I expect it to be priced accordingly: $10 or less (maybe I'd pay more if it were a really really really exceptionally good game). But it had better not install any spyware or behavior trackers on my computer or it isn't worth playing at all.

If I knew a DRM-free version would eventually be released, and would be available for those who'd bought the game and wanted the update, then I'd be willing to pay more than $10.

I do not like download-only game offerings for all the reasons everyone who agrees with me has already stated so will not repeat here. I like the 'hardcopy' version on CD/DVD. It is my personal choice. I do not trust downloads only because something can go wrong with my computer and then I would be 'out of luck' - with a CD/DVD in my stash I can reinstall any time I need to. (You asked, I reply).
Love, Betty Lou

I agree absolutely with HandsFree and Betty Lou.
I dont care how attractive the game is, if it has any strings attached to it such as any sort of DRM impediments I wont buy it however cheap it is.
If it has no conditions so that I can pay, play, copy the game to disks and play it whenever I like and wherever I like just like an ordinary game, of course I will buy it.
I have nothing whatsoever against downloading a game. On the contrary I can get it immediately and probably cheaper especially if its not sold in stores. Its the very bad conditions of DRM which I wont accept.

I do not download games. I have said this many times on different threads. I have very slow dial up Internet. So it takes very long time to download even a demo . I also love having the box or case version . Having them is a good memory of the game I played, the adventure it took me on. It is like saving a old book you treasured, I treasure my games I played. Once in a while you reread a old book, I replay a old game. You cannot treasure a download like that. I hope they don't ever stop makeing the box version, it will be a sad day for me if they do .

I'm spoiled by having dozens of games in my yet-to-be-played pile. I do occasionally replay, but only rarely. I will never have time to replay most of the games I own, and I usually prefer going on to new games. There are so many appealing new games (plus the oldies-but-goodies that I'll probably never have time to get to).

Downloads are fine with me.

Downloads are fine with me also, so long as there are no restrictions on where when and how I play them.
If there are, theyre not ok with me as I said already.
I also have more games to play than I have time and new box games coming out all the time TG. So if I cant play a particular download DRM game its no loss at all for me since I cannot play them all anyhow and I'd rather play those that come on disks with all ther advantages and not hassles.

My feeling on this matter is a bit strange. When it comes to adventure games, I have a soft spot for hard copies and boxes. Perhaps it has something to do with how I discovered this genre when I was a kid; Sierra and LucasArts made gorgeous packaging for their games. So I usually order boxed versions from TAC's online store or InteractCD, which are both awesome to me. However, I keep meaning to play Echo and The Secrets of Da Vinci (two Kheops titles I still haven't played) and I can't find retail versions of these anymore. Seeing how The Adventure Shop's product selection is getting better and better, I might end up downloading those two games from them.

On the other hand, when it comes to action-oriented titles (I do enjoy games like Tomb Raider and Mirror's Edge), I find Steam to be insanely convenient. On Steam, you are not required to download the game files, then install the game per se, and hunt for patches. Instead, you push an 'Install game' button and it does everything for you. It proceeds to download the content, install it and update it, all automatically. Once done, you push the 'Play game' button and that's it. Furthermore, when you buy a game on Steam, all it does is add this game to the 'My games' list of your account. You can play your games from ANY computer and download them a million times if you want to. No download limit, automatic installing and updating, no nonsense. Add to that the community features which enable you to chat with friends and browse the web even when you're in-game, and you've got the pure definition of convenience here. Well, at least to me.

But again, I love my adventure game boxes. They're so pretty!!

I definitely like to keep games in case I want to play them again - because I do play them again !!

If it's "download or nothing" and I really want the game, then I will download it - with a lot of under breath cursing

If it's download for now but a hard copy will be released later, then I'll wait till later.

And it would have to be a very, very good game for me to pay for it twice - as a download AND a later hard copy

As so many here, I prefer the Boxed edition. If a game is released as download first then a boxed version becomes available I will wait for the box.

If a game is only available to download, so be it. But I look for those that can be copied and replayed later.

I love to have my games for years and later replay them. I also enjoy reselling those that I did not really care for the first time around. That has often made it possible to purchase new games.

What if it's download now and maybe a hard copy later if sales are good enough?

Are you suggesting we should buy the same game twice?

No one here would dream of such a thing.

I'll wait and see if the sales are good enough

Of course if there is a danger that the game might disappear for some reason, it would have to be the under breath cursing and a download

Judging by the posts on this thread & those on other site forums, if they are representational of the AG community as a whole?, it does seem that the idea of downloading games will be tolerated rather than welcome by the majority of players.



I also have more games than time to play but keep up with newer boxed releases which I often buy in bulk to play in the future. If downloads were the only option I would only buy them, unless the game was especially appealing, if I had nothing else to play & then only one at a time so I would end up buying far less. (I would save myself a fortune! )

I wonder how many less games are/will be sold for similar reasons & also because of download diffiulties such as having dial-up or slow connection speeds. Or whether this is compensated for by chance downloads from players who wouldn't otherwise seek out a boxed version, the bigger remuneration a download brings to the developers and/or publishers & the elimination of pirated disc versions.

It does seem to make sense though to produce a boxed version of a game later on to 'snare' gamers who won't/can't download a game & I'm sure there are many gamers who would go onto buy a boxed version after buying a download! Even if download sales are poor it still seems worth producing a boxed version as another avenue of revenue for a game albeit less.

I greatly value your input Chissie since you are a veteran whereas I lurk a lot but am a newbie on this forum. I have had a lot of long experience. So with great respect I think just the above is not correct.
I cant prove it since there are no stats to back me up but Im almost certain that the following is true.
Within days of any adventure appearing and sometimes less the game will be cracked and will appear on the file sharing sites or whatever and it makes no difference at all whether the game is download or cd. Im sure that if you ask any developer youll get that fact confirmed.
In my opinion the pirates are even more likely to crack the game if its a download in order to save all the additional annoying and offputting restrictions. Hence downloads with DRM do not eliminate piracy but in my opinion increase it.
Of course download games without any special DRM restricions are fine and no different than ordinary retail boxed cd games from the piracy and other aspects of playing since the buyer can make a cd or dvd and use it exactly the same without any extra troubles.



your wrong about the above