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Originally Posted by Csimbi
2. I just participated a course (no title necessary). It has been emphasized that stuffing you personal space with items that represent your hobbies is important. Why? These items define who you are. You can find friends a lot more easier. How? When someone visits your cubicle, it leaves an imprint in them - without saying a word -, and creates room for discussion. They are more likely to engage in conversation with "the guy who likes King's Bounty" than with "the guy from the empty cubicle". Some of you will laugh, but then I would encourage you to read up on workplace psychology...
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I suppose it depends on what you do for a living, but I'm not sure how thrilled my boss would be if I had video game boxes lying around my office. Kind of suggests you're spending your time playing games rather than working.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Csimbi
3. I want to have the game with me, because I travel. For each trip I get a loaner laptop. How many activation would I need to purchase in a year - and how would I activate on an airplane between say, Toronto and Hong Kong (which is about 16 hours flight time)?
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Why would you need to activate the game during a flight? Normally, you only activate a game once after you've installed it, which you would have done beforehand. If the game requires an Internet connection even for single player, you won't be able to play it on an airplane anyway, whether you bought it digitally or on a disc.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Csimbi
Since the trend is the see less and less games on disk, I am guessing that the production cost of the internet-based game sales is so small, that it yields a lot of profit per units sold - including gamers who play their friend's games, pirates with all their sales - more profits than the disk-based products.
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I think that's more or less a given: Digital distribution eliminates the costs of duplicating discs, printing manuals, packaging and shipping, and in some cases allows the publisher to sell the game to customers directly without middlemen (i.e. retailers) who take their share of the profits and raise the price. I would also argue that for the customer, it facilitates the purchase when you see a potentially interesting game on a website that you can order with a few clicks and start playing as soon as the download finishes, as opposed to having to leave your house and physically travel to a store to get a physical copy, or ordering online and having to wait for days or weeks for a delivery by mail.
Another thing is that since digital downloads don't take up physical space, online stores can keep them available much longer. Except for the biggest hit games, retail stores only keep boxed copies on the shelf for a few months at most. If you don't get a boxed copy when the game is new, ordering one online from Amazon or somesuch is pretty much your only hope, and even then, you might have to settle for a second-hand copy.
I can understand why some people still prefer physical copies of games, but the general trend is definitely towards digital distribution, especially with niche games that aren't going to sell millions anyway.