Distribution Question

Some day I'd like to see someone list one logical reason for buying retail over digital distribution.  Accept change, move out of the stone age, blah blah.  Stardock is one of the reasons I got into buying every game via digital distribution if possible due to having little choice for GalCiv1.  Once I tried it, I was like, wow, this is so much better overall...

Digital distribution:

1.  No media in the drive - which is convenient.  DVD in the drive makes me want to club baby seals.

2.  Eternally available.  Your DVD could get scratched/destroyed/lost.  Your entire house could burn down.  Your wife might decide you play too much and lose your DVD for you.  You might mistake your DVD for a frisbee or coaster.  Digital is like having an eternal off-site back up.  All you need to do is remember where you bought your freaking games.  (BTW, most digital distributors let you DL the installer and put it on a DVD if you're some kind of paranoid delusional that absolutely must put a physical copy in a fireproof safe somewhere, you know, just in case...of...something...who knows what).

3.  No clutter.  No piles of manual you read once, if that, then stick on a shelf somewhere.  I like a good game manual - but maybe 10% of devs make them (manuals that are more than a pamphlet) anymore so why bother?  May as well be a PDF.  No DVD clutter.  I have 3 full soft cover DVD cases on my shelf full of installers for games and other software I've bought.  For almost every one of those games, if I want to play them, I have to dig out the appropriate CD/DVD, put it in the drive, THEN I can play the game I paid for.  DVD based DRM makes me very, very unhappy.  If I had the money I'd rebuy my favorites out of those digitally so that I never have to use the damn DVDs again.  Blessed be Firaxis for removing DRM in the final patches of C4BTS and C4C.

4.  Ease of shopping.  You're obvously online if you're reading this.  Want game, find site with best price or that you like, purchase, download.  Any game you want is a few clicks away.  Dedicated digital distributors have very fast download speeds such that even the beefiest games get to you in a reasonable amount of time.  The extra hour or two you spend DLing (if that's even necessary) is a small "price" to pay for never, ever, EVER having to put a DVD in a drive (did I mention that DVD in the drive makes kittens go play in traffic?)

5.  You say you love Stardock.  Well, you're gonna pay a full retail price no matter where you buy their games.  But if you buy it from their digital store, THEY get all your money, not somebody else.  What better way to show your love than with money?  It's what your relatives do at xmas time...

6.  Safer.  It's pretty safe to shop from your comfy chair in your mancave.  Far safer than risking going to walmart and being run down by some  fatty on a scooter who is so fat they need motorized support to shop and get fatter.  All kinds of terrible things can happen to you if you leave your house - it's much safer to shop online.  You might get sunburned from seeing the sun for the first time in weeks.  Or you might choke on all that oxygen.

Wow, not sure if you meant to but your post  comes off condescending..(and if you meant to shame on you).

Some of us like the "clutter" as you call it..  Not to mention  that while I have some good ideas about why there are issues shipping internationally even if its just to Canada. The OP seemed to me to be looking for some basic answers... Surely not a debate on why to buy digital vs Retail.. finally just because it does not make sense to you, does not make the choice for retail illogical..

You won't have piles of manuals if you simply put it back in the box after reading, for eay reference. Plus, me being a paranoid person, I prefer to have physical copies of my games readily available in case of anything. Online security only goes so far. Physical media is eternal (I take ridiculously good care of everything I own, my game consoles and computers last for at least 5 years longer than many averages say they should), however, and I have no copyright hassles for playing LAN on my computers. Twohawks is right, though, I'm only looking for answers to my questions.

Yes, but buying online requires I hand over my credit card details to shifty foreign types who could be doing anything with it, possibly involving diabolical plans to ravish our women.

Plus, no matter how many times I email sales to inform them I have a gun, they still refuse to hand over the money and instead send me notices about an injunction. You just don't get that at retail.

My mother in law feels the same way about digital photographs.  She considers them, somehow, less permanent than physical photographs.  /boggle

I'll bite:

Physical Distribution:

1. Portable Media.  If I want to install a game on my laptop, my PC, at the cabin, on my new PC, I don't have to wait for the download.  I pop the DVD in my drive and install.  Staring at a download progress bar makes me want to club baby seals.

2. Eternally available.  I'm careful with my stuff.  I know where it is.  10 years from now, I have no idea whether distribution company XYZ will be in business, or whether their games will still be downloadable.   So if I buy digitally, I have to go to the extra time/expense to backup the files I download.

3. Resale value.   I can resell copies of physical games that I purchase.  I can't sell digitally distributed games.

4. Manual Convenience.  I can read the manual on the bus, in bed, wherever.  And (although this is less of a problem with modern games), some games just give you a crappy pdf for a manual, which is difficult to refer to while playing the game.

5. Shopping.  There are some games that just aren't available digitally.  Where do I buy a copy of Ultima IV?  Age of Mythology?  Heretic?

6. Safer.  Sure there are some sites I trust (Steam, Impulse, GoG), but am I supposed to believe that every professional looking digital distribution site is actually a real storefront?  How do I know they are keeping my CC information secure?  Are they going to sell my info to the first spam list that offers enough cash?

7. Faster.  I have a Best Buy and an EBGames within 10 minutes of where I live.  I typically can't download a 4GB game in 20 minutes. 

Newer ain't always better.  Now get off of my lawn!

I'd like to know about the OP question too. Been in two provinces now and I can't find a retail copy in either of them. If Stardock was supposed to have retail distribution in Canada they need to talk to their partners about it because it doesn't seem to have actually made it here.

I too would be interested in hearing the OP's question addressed.  (Already had my grumble.)

Today's the day!  It would cost me $170 to download 1.7 Gb.

Lets not forget there's still a huge number of people on Dialup. Do not respond with well they should shell out and upgrade to broadband. I'm sure they would if they could but their regions just don't have the infrastructure to support broadband, it just isn't available to them... Satellite maybe... But that's crazy more expensive and not as good as broadband either.

Once Stardock starts sending out those archival DVDs it should help those with slower, less reliable connections.

Best regards,
Steven.

Yes, well until then, I'd rather have my original question answered.