The Integrated

And then point at Steam.

[Sterne Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia] noted that GameStop’s management “has been monitoring and studying the capabilities of digital downloading and its potential adoption over the last several years” and they’ve recently “conducted the most thorough study to-date on its capability.” The study provided the following key takeaways (as outlined by Bhatia):

• An addressable market (due to technology rollout) will not exist until 2014 – at that time approximately 25% of population will have access to the technology required to download full games.
• Users would still face issues of price (could cost ~$100/month) and storage capacity.
• Consumers are willing to pay ~$39 for downloadable game so publishers will be less incentivized than some in the industry think.

Source: “GameStop Says Addressable Market for Digital Distribution Won’t Exist Until 2014″, IndustryGamers, 6/19/2009

How could the “most thorough study to-date” on digital distribution of games conclude that there’s no market for it until 2014? There’s a market for it now. I don’t know a single PC gamer who hasn’t bought a game on Steam. Not a single one. Digital distribution is here already. Sure, the consoles are lagging behind as usual, with plenty of smaller, arcade-style titles available for download but very few AAA titles yet. To think that a majority of 360/PS3 games going digital distro is five years off, however, is just crazy. In five years, the market will cannibalize retail. If GameStop treats this change like they’re safe for the next five years, they’re toast. They’re probably toast anyway, but they’re hastening their own demise.

Only 25% of the population will have the tech required for digital distribution, in 2014, because it’s being rolled out? Broadband penetration in the U.S. is 60% today. Guess what? If you’ve got a broadband connection, you can download a full game. It’ll take a few hours, maybe, depending on the game, but you can do it, and many PC gamers do on a regular basis without finding it too much of an inconvenience. Faster connections will only make it easier and explode the market. Again, if you’re a brick-and-mortar outfit and you’re waiting for that point before you start changing your strategy, you’ve already lost.

Finally, storage capacity is definitely a concern with one console—the Xbox 360—but the PS3 is designed with a user-replaceable, standard laptop hard drive, and obviously a PC user can upgrade their hardware anytime they want. You can get a 500GB laptop hard drive for about $100, and a terabyte desktop hard drive for the same price. Storage capacity is hardly a significant roadblock.

Digital distribution is already making waves on the PC. The PSP is set to go all-download this fall. The PS3 will likely follow suit before 2014. And GameStop is going to be in serious trouble. Good riddance to them. Who ever liked going in there and getting hassled by the employees about reserving games or upselling crap like strategy guides and magazine subscriptons anyway?

Every gamer has a few games they grew up with, games that got them hooked. Many people would name titles like Super Mario Bros., Sonic, Asteroids, or any number of other early console games. I never got a new home console; I eventually got a used NES (after the SNES was already out), and I had a GameGear for road trips, but the locus of my gaming experience as a kid was the PC. I got my first computer at a young age—I can’t recall exactly—and aside from learning DOS commands, tweaking Windows 3.1, breaking the thing, and fixing it again through experience and trial & error, naturally I dove right into the world of DOS shareware games. I kept a modest library on floppy disks. Here’s the six games that, to this day, are the most memorable:

6. Indianapolis 500

Indianapolis 500

Those 3D graphics you’re looking at above? Mind-blowing. So mind-blowing, in fact, that I was willing to drive for hours in this game despite the plain gray oval of Indy being the only track. It had damage modeling (making it superior to the latest Gran Turismo on Playstation 3—natch), with crude polygonal bits flying everywhere. So of course, I logged more laps backwards on the track crashing head-on into other vehicles than actually racing.

5. Duke Nukem Trilogy

Duke Nukem

No, I am not talking about the crass, juvenile FPS that made Duke Nukem famous. Never played it. I mean the original trilogy of 2D platformers. These games followed much the same pattern as the first three Commander Keen games, where your goal in each level is to collect a series of items allowing you to access the exit and progress. However, it lacked an analogue for Keen’s innovative pogo-stick mechanic. Still, the graphics were impressive—better than Keen 1-3—and the gameplay tight and challenging.

4. 688 Attack Sub

688 Attack Sub

If you’ve ever played a simulation with a manual inches thick and enjoyed the hell out of it, you’re a PC gamer at heart. This one put you in charge of an American or Soviet submarine. You could control the engines, targeting, torpedoes, sonar, periscope, and so on. Keeping your noise level down to avoid being detected by enemy warships’ sonar was of utmost importance. 688 was the first game I owned that featured online play—via direct modem-to-modem call. Too bad I never knew anyone else with 688 and a modem.

3. The Secret Of Monkey Island

The Secret Of Monkey Island

The point-and-click progeny of text adventures, Monkey Island had some of the best-designed puzzles I’ve ever seen. Add in top-notch artwork, music, and rapier wit (literally, in one of the game’s most memorable sequences), and you’ve got a true classic on your hands. This is also the first game I ever played co-op, as my sister and I worked together to crack many of the hardest puzzles.

2. Commander Keen 1-4

Commander Keen 4: Goodbye, Galaxy!

Following the adventures of technological genius Billy Blaze, alter ego Commander Keen, these platformers were cutting-edge for their time with detailed graphics, great use of the PC speaker for memorable sound effects, and an actual story! Yes, that’s right, they actually came up with a character (as opposed to a simple avatar) and a storyline. They may not have been very deep or insightful, but there’s still more to be spoken for here than can be said for Super Mario Bros., in which the designers apparently drew all their inspiration from a crazy acid trip. To top it off, Keen carries a pogo stick with him that can be toggled at any time and used for super high jumps and other maneuvers.

1. Civilization

Civilization

Civilization requires no introduction. At a minimum, it’s the best strategy game of all time. It’s arguably the best game of all time. Between the original, Civilization III, and Civilization IV, I’ve sunk innumerable hours into this series. Whenever they come out with Civilization V, I’m there. Even if all they do is dress up the graphics.