Is the Disc-in-a-Case a Sign of the Past?

A round table of industry veterans, like Peter Molyneux, Phil Harrison, Chris Taylor, Raph Koster and Neil Young, recently sat down to offer answers relating to the above question. While there is no agreement on the subject, it's becoming clearer and clearer that change is needed so that the PC game market can start growing again.

NPD numbers, charting sales of games by taking into account all the major game outlets, have again reported a downturn in the numbers of games sold. Even with a 2007 filled with solid titles, like The Orange Box, Halo 3, BioShock, Call of Duty 4, Command & Conquer 3 and more, it seems that the PC is no longer competitive when it comes to selling games. And so, the old chants of "The PC is dead!" are resurfacing. One of the most intriguing developments has been the creation of the PC Gaming Alliance, made up of top software and hardware companies, that aims to promote the PC as the gaming medium of choice.

But Chris Taylor of Gas Powered Games, developers of Supreme Commander, thinks that salvation lies not in new promotional efforts but rather in creating new ways to deliver games to the public. For him, digital distribution is the answer to the downfall of the PC game. To him "PC gaming as we know it is dead... secure gaming is the future". Phil Harrison, ex-Sony, concurred: "There is a generation of kids who are already on the planet who will never ever buy physical media". Services like Valve's Steam or like Gamersgate will continue to attract more and more developers with the ease and speed with which they can deliver games to players. And the case is likely to become more and more a collectors item and nothing more than that.

What digital distribution can achieve must be coupled with more companies listening to feedback from the users. Games tend to have long development cycles and player input is relevant and available only towards the end of the cycle. Taylor mentioned that game developers must find a way to attract normal gamers into the development phase and quickly adapt to their needs.

So, bottom line, go out and buy that boxed Halo 3 and that nice Orange Box. Because if this guys are right, in a few years you'll digitally download most of - if not all - your games.

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