News
Less Effort in Download Only Games
Cordova, TN; August 22, in the year of our Lord 2014--Family
Friendly Gaming, the industry leader in covering the family
friendly video games is recognizing the diminishing effort in
download only video games. The sad reality in this day and age
is too many video games are not being given the opportunity to
be sold on physical media. These are what we call download only
video games. The only way to purchase and play them is to have
an Internet account, account with the company, and a device to
download the game to. These games are getting smaller and
shorter. They are becoming less and less cost efficient for
families, gamers, and anyone interested in making a purchase.
Take a physical disc copy role playing game like Lightning
Returns Final Fantasy XIII. Gamers can spend sixty hours or more
playing this physical copy video game. Compare that to the
download only role playing game Child of Light. Gamers might be
able to get twelve hours out of Child of Light. That is a huge
swing in game play time. Why is there such a diminished effort
in games? One of those games makes it onto a physical copy, and
the other is download only. Download only video games are
smaller, shorter, and not worth as much. At the time of writing
this Lightning Returns Final Fantasy XIII costs twice as much as
Child of Light. And it gives five times as much gameplay. Video
game developers are putting forth less effort. There are plenty
of comparisons that can be made. Like the physical copy of the
Journey collection gives families more games for a better price
than downloading them directly to each video game system.
Look at the overwhelming majority of apps on the iOS and Android
platforms. They are short, meaningless game play experiences. As
Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony allow these games on their systems
they lower the value of the entire video game industry. The
market is flooded with download only video games. Which lowers
expectations. More gamers need to stand up and state: “we expect
more out of these games.” We all need to play physical copies of
games. Spend our gaming time with games that give us a good bang
for our buck. When download only video game sales tank,
companies will rethink their strategy. You have the power to
make change in the industry. You can move these companies back
to physical copies of video games. Or you can accept that they
are selling you shorter and smaller games for comparable prices.
Sometimes the download only games wind up costing more money
when compared to compilation packages of physical copies.
Please note there are always exceptions to the rule. Sandbox
games can provide a reasonable value for the price. Minecraft
started download only, and then published a physical copy. So
download only games can enter the physical market.
God bless,
Paul Bury
Family Friendly Gaming