EA Expects Exodus To Online

EA are looking towards the future, and they see a world where media is completely digitally distributed. They see a world where every man, woman, and child is online. The see a world moving a way from traditional packaged goods that can be bought in brick-and-mortar stores. This future, like EA, will be "totally digitally-focused".

Peter Moore spoke to GamesIndustry.biz about EA's online plans. "You're talking to a company here that truly believes that every consumer will ultimately go online, whether it's five years from now," he said. "You're talking to a company that ultimately believes that physical media goes away, that how we get our media - whether it's games, we're already doing it through music, or if it's TV shows - it's going to go through Internet Protocols more than it is through cable or satellite."

But is Moore a visionary or a nutter? Back in 1999 he said "a game will be primitive in five years' time if it's still offline." Now, consumers and critics alike will tear a game to pieces if it doesn't offer some sort of online experience.

But how does this affect us. Moore states: "My belief is that the progressive retailers around the world right now are all figuring out how to make a business model out of it." And New Zealand is certainly a progressive country. However, our telecommunications infrastructure is rather, ahem, crap.

With slow download speeds, small data caps, and extreme costs, digital distribution just isn't feasible in New Zealand for most people. Indeed, I know all too often I've held off downloading a 500MB demo because I wanted to save my data cap for more important things. While it would be nice to believe we could have our content delivered to us by FTTH, the reality is that ISPs are still trying to convince the population to upgrade from dial-up Internet.

Still, although EA is a global corporation, there is no doubting that it has an American focus. And in America, the infrastructure is totally appropriate for a digitally distributed model. The only thing they have to fear is horrendous digital rights management. Let's just hope that EA will still offer physical media for those of us that still live in a technological Stone Age.

So, what do you think about digital distribution? Would you purchase full games this way? Do you even download XBLA/PSN/VC games? Or do you prefer your media to be nice and physical, and if so, why? Let us know below, and keep it locked to NZGamer for the latest news and rumours.

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