14 DAY TRIAL // The game creators at Blitz Games Studio, who have recently announced a Fantastic Pets game collaboration with publisher THQ, have said that the next consoles from hardware companies like Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft will probably ditch the physical media drives altogether in favor of download only game distribution services.
Talking to Eurogamer Philip Oliver, who is the Chief Executive Officer working at Blitz Games, has said “When they produce their next console - let's call it Sony Next, it could be any platform holder Next – if they make it only a digital store, they absolutely control everything. Pricing, their margins, you can't trade it second hand.”
He added, “Their logistics and overheads come down considerably. The cost of manufacture of the original console comes down considerably. The reliability goes through the roof because there are no moving parts. Why would they not?”
The game designer pointed to the success of the App model for the iPhone, saying that it allows gamers to pick up titles quickly and allows developers to get their content to the market easier, even if it involves a layer of approval from Apple itself.
Of course, hardware makers might not agree, with all of them saying that a download only future exists but that it's quite a while away.
Recently Sony placed the marker for the digital distribution revolution at ten years.
If the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 really do have a ten year life cycle then there's enough time for Internet connections to become more widespread and more capable of carrying the big amounts of data that need to be moved from digital distribution sites to customers.
A more interesting move would be to see Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft deliver video games, especially those that they self publish, on the same day both on disks, for those gamers who like them, and in download form, using services like Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network.