Xbox Live Digital Distribution
Xbox 360
Microsoft has been showing an increased interest in digital distribution via Xbox Live. This is a favored way of selling and distributing video games because it greatly prevents the games from being pirated. But how practical would this system be?
As of now, Xbox games are offered in the Xbox Live Marketplace through the video games on demand service. These are fairly new services, and the files being downloaded are quite extensive. These files can reach up to 11gb that you will need to download straight through, which can be quite a problem. Also, since not many people are taking advantage of the method to get free Xbox Live codes, Xbox Live players are complaining about the subscription fee that they pay monthly or yearly. Not only that, but many are not in support of this service due to problems that may occur during the transfer. So what are some issues that players have with this method and what are some of the common problems? What are its benefits?
The video game industry may actually profit if the major video game companies decide to switch into digital distribution. Since the games would now be bought through secure servers, pirating would literally become a thing of the past. It would no longer be possible, to be simply put, because hackers and exploiters would not be able to access the servers unless they literally hacked their way in there, after which they would be found, sued and jailed for some serious time. So the age of pirating video games is coming to a close, and you can be sure that the profitability of the video game industry will be increased exponentially.
One problem with switching to digital distribution over Xbox Live is the practicality. Not everyone has undeterred access to an internet connection. So forcing everyone to purchase their video games through an internet service would simply be an unwise decision. Since they would be alienating a large portion of their fan base that does not hone an internet connection. So they would in effect be sacrificing their fan base that does not hold an internet connection to possibly gain the pirating community. A pretty risky maneuver.
Microsoft has already been having issues at times in terms of people purchasing items over the Xbox Live market place. Some people have complained about losing what they purchased, or even losing their account completely. Or what if their hard drive becomes messed up, and they lose all their purchases and then they are pretty much screwed. They can not get what they purchased back, they cannot get their achievements nor gamerscore back, they even lose their Microsoft Points. So will gamers be willing to both pay for Xbox Live subscription and to purchase games off of their service as well? I doubt it, since Microsoft would no doubt charge extra to gain revenue from all the games that they sell, which would in effect take away the need for a subscription for gold membership.
So is Xbox Live going to be turning toward Digital Distribution? You can be sure that Microsoft will be, some time in the future. Most likely with the sequel to the Xbox 360 console, it will be completely digital distribution. But will the gaming community be in great support of it? I highly doubt it. We can only see what the future holds for the Xbox Live and new digital distribution ideal.
