I’m all about digital distribution. And, as much as I like having the physical goods in my hand for a few reasons:
- Actually having a tangible good that I can point to and say “Hey, I own that”
- If my computer crashes, I’ve got the disc right there to install from. No downloading or online check-in stuff to deal with
- I can sell my copy if I decide I no longer want it or if I need money
- Unlike digital versions: hard copies go on sale in stores
And the final two points are most important to me. I love Steam and what it stands for, and hell even the Xbox Live Marketplace is a great idea, but they are far from perfect. Though, they’ve gotten somewhat better (Steam anyway), they still aren’t offering enough incentive to buy digital-only copies of games. When it comes down to it, if I’m spending $50 for the game, I want a hard copy that I can resell later WHEN I get tired of it. With Steam…games still cost full retail price but there’s never a way to resell them later unless you sell your ENTIRE account.
Same thing for the XBLM. But Microsoft is a far, FAR worse offender. With Steam they offer preorder bonuses that usually end up being 5-10% off the price of the game. That’s definitely a start. And Steam routinely has sales on certain games for a few days at time, but then they go back up to full retail price after that time period. However, with the XBLM, the pricing is downright insulting. $30 for Call of Duty 3? I don’t know if Microsoft has checked recently, but you can walk into Gamestop and pick up a used copy of the game for $14.99 ($13.49 with your EDGE card). And then you can resell it after you’re done with it.
I get that the whole Games on Demand thing is convenient for us the end users, but it’s not 2x-(or more)-the-going-retail-price convenient. For the most part, there no price reductions for any of the items on the XBLM. Not even after they’ve been on the service for 2-3 years. They still cost the full 400 or 800 Microsoft Points ($5 or $10 in real money) today. Sure there’s the (Gold Members only) “Deal of the Week” which is usually 30% some already-overpriced DLC that is at least 2 years old. It’s pathetic really.
You’re paying the same for less is what it comes down to. Less in terms of what you’re actually getting and less and in terms of what you can do with it when you’re done.
But I’ve found at least one company that’s doing it right. The folks at Pragmatic Programmer. They offer print, PDF and eBook reader version of all their books. And you know what? THE ELECTRONIC VERSIONS COST SUBSTANTIALLY LESS THAN THE PHYSICAL VERSION. They know you aren’t getting as much for your digital copy and while the convenience level is higher, convenience isn’t a quantifiable good and therefore we, the customers, are not bent over for it.
What a mind-bending concept! Because of their very reasonable pricing, I’m actually going to purchase a number of books I may not have otherwise bought, even though I have a few of their books already and know how awesome they are. My bookshelf has limited space as it is and I’ve got more programming books than I’ll probably ever read, but having a digital version helps a lot. And it helps even more having it at an awesome price.
Tags: digital distribution, ebook, pragmatic programmer, programming, steam, xbox, xbox live marketplace
