Nintendo Prez: Digital Distro Not Replacing Retail
Echoing the sentiment of many in the industry, Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime has said that while the market for digital distribution is increasing (and will keep on increasing), there will always be a need for the extra memory storage that retail games offer.
"[Digital distribution is] a nice added business model, but it’s not something that’s going to take over retail game sales," he said.
"We’ll be able to see the sales growth and plan for [digital download]," added Fils-Aime. "But I guess similar to home consoles, the consumer will want an experience that’s best delivered through physical goods, simply because of the memory size required. There will always be those opportunities for big, in-depth games on retail products."
Digital distribution platforms and websites such as Steam and Direc2Drive have made inroads into gamers’ computers in the recent years. However, retail still forms a major part of the publisher’s sales. What do you think?