Saturday, February 21, 2009

The Masses Have Spoken: Consumers Prefer Retail Games

For those who've always felt iffy about Rockman 9 being a digital title instead of a disc based game; you're not alone. According to a recent NPD Group poll, a vast amount of gamers still prefer boxed games over digitally distributed titles:

- 75% of gamers surveyed prefer boxed retail games
- 58% of gamers surveyed have never downloaded a games
- 77% of those that downloaded games said it was just as good as boxed retail
- 65% of gamers surveyed said they would be more likely to purchase a digital version of a game if it cost 10% less than a boxed retail copy.

Where do you fit in?

News Credit: GoNintendo

5 comments:

  1. No broadband here, so of course I prefer boxed retail. (No Xbox Live or anything.... ._.) If I would see a game in a store knowing that it was 10% less for download, though, I'd actually say that I'd go on and buy it off the shelf, 'cause even if the game is 40 dollars, cutting it down to 36 dollars isn't gonna quell my impatience, so I prefer hard copies.

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  2. I prefer download, as it's a LOT cheaper and much more convenient.

    But, only if it's on my Wii. I can't figure out the XBox download system. If it's not on the Wii, I have to go retail.

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  3. prefer boxed retail games

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  4. I much prefer retail. because everybody says "oh download download, why are you paying more for a hard copy when you can just download it" they their Xbox 360 gets a red ring of death and they lose all of their precious downloaded games while I still have my hard copies to play on a new 360.

    a hard copy is more reliable, because you can HOLD it in your hands. its "real" plus it comes with an instruction booklet that you can read at your own leisure, unlike a digital one that could come with a DL game, which forces you to read it while youve got the system on, wherever it is. plus theres a box. you put the disc away, and you can put it on a shelf an admire your collection.

    you cant do that with a DL game.

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  5. I prefer having boxed, retail games. For one thing, having hard copies of my games is a lot safer than having them stored as downloaded data in the case that my 360 red rings or something happens to one of my consoles.

    But it's more than that... there's something intangibly wonderful about actually going out, buying a new game, and being able to tangibly feel and see it. You get to admire the box art, the disc, the manual, etc. It probably sounds a little ridiculous when I put it like that, but as a hardcore gamer I take pride in my ever-expanding game library and like to display it like some people do their collections of movies, etc.

    I have no doubt most others who post here will understand what I'm talking... but yeah, that's my two cents. For Capcom's part, though, I do understand why they went the relatively cheaper downloadable title route with such an iffy gaming experiment (in terms of profitability) as Mega Man 9.

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