Materialism and how it will effect the game and film industries

I personally know people who buy many video games and movies for materialistic reasons only. They enjoy opening the packaging and adding another game or movie on their media rack. They have there collection on display in their house as if it proves their self worth. This immature behavior helps fuel the video game and DVD/BD industries but as digital distribution becomes the most accepted way of acquiring media I would not be surprised to see the amount of sold copies of movies and video games go down. Many people would rather just rent the films instead of buying them if their not going to get a case and disc out of it.
Also I have friends who have boughten video games while we were in the mall just to get something thinking eventually they would play them and never opened them. People will only download media when their in the mood to experience it. Digital downloading will hurt these industries in the long run. Materialism helps fuel our economy.

I personally know people who buy many video games and movies for materialistic reasons only. They enjoy opening the packaging and adding another game or movie on their media rack. They have there collection on display in their house as if it proves their self worth. This immature behavior helps fuel the video game and DVD/BD industries but as digital distribution becomes the most accepted way of acquiring media I would not be surprised to see the amount of sold copies of movies and video games go down. Many people would rather just rent the films instead of buying them if their not going to get a case and disc out of it.
Also I have friends who have boughten video games while we were in the mall just to get something thinking eventually they would play them and never opened them. People will only download media when their in the mood to experience it. Digital downloading will hurt these industries in the long run. Materialism helps fuel our economy.

Er, yeah.

"Er, yeah."

I'm not spamming, i'm basically summing up that there's nothing more to say on the matter: You're completely correct. It's like saying you need water to live or something. Digital downloads will probably hurt the video game economy because not only would it put people out of jobs who work in DVD factories and produce box art and things but also, it can lead to companies doing whatever they please with your downloads. DVDs and Blu-Rays are tangiable products and that is basically the last line of defence before complete exploitation.

What you're describing is not a manifestation of materialist philosophy on home shelves, but conspicuous consumption.

You might argue that people conspicuously consume for materialistic purposes, but what are they actually after? Social status, that is not manifest materially, but psychologically.

And who's to say impulse purchases will not increase once all a person needs to do to buy something is type in a few numbers and click a few buttons? I bought Civ4 waiting for Empire Total War on Steam a few months ago. Did I ever play it? Not really.

I think once the unemployment rate goes down and productivity increases, people will have more capacity to spend on entertainment, and these markets will recover over time.

Materialism usually references objects vs. love, etc.


But anyway, I'll say this:  I like having a disk.  I like having game collections.  I like game manuals and cases. I like going to the store and buying that game. 
I'd much prefer disk format than digital

I guess so...

I'd much rather have a hard copy of whatever form of media I have. There's just something reassuring knowing you've got what you bought. That it's not just floating around in the internet or whatever.

I would never pay full retail price for a game if there was no resale value. (Some PC games are exceptions).

"They have there collection on display in their house as if it proves their self worth."

I don't quite understand how you can condemn materialism as immature in one sentence and then justify it by saying it fuels our economy.  Either way, materialism is a form of self expression.  No one needs designer jeans or a tee-shirt with a particular band on the front, however when people wear such items, it says "this is me" or at least "the me I'd like to present myself as." Whether you drive a specific brand of car or buy a certain type of video game, everyone is trying to present a certain social impression to others.  Humanity is a social species and language has more forms of communicating a persons thoughts than verbal or gestural. 

I'm not sure if adding games to your digital rack really differs from adding games to a physical rack. On the contrary, ever since I discovered Steam and its amazing deals my games collection has tripled.

I can see myself buying more games if a digital distribution method was in place. Buying on impulse is so much easier. I think people are aware that consumers like a tangible product hence why there are such things as limited edition boxes etc. That kind of thing won't leave in a hurry.

But wise modernism hurts more.

"I don't quite understand how you can condemn materialism as immature in one sentence and then justify it by saying it fuels our economy.  Either way, materialism is a form of self expression.  No one needs designer jeans or a tee-shirt with a particular band on the front, however when people wear such items, it says "this is me" or at least "the me I'd like to present myself as." Whether you drive a specific brand of car or buy a certain type of video game, everyone is trying to present a certain social impression to others.  Humanity is a social species and language has more forms of communicating a persons thoughts than verbal or gestural.  "

"boughten"

i think its straight bullshit when people say, "i like having a disc and a game collection i can hold in my hands etc.". 

"i think its straight bullshit when people say, "i like having a disc and a game collection i can hold in my hands etc.". 

Lots of people have been saying, and most of you are a bunch of followers. It doesn't make you special or more of a true gamer. Its bullshit. I have a bunch of games I've downloaded on my consoles, and I like them on there like that very much and it hasn't affected me at all and so it is really hard for me to imagine how important a physical medium is for you people. 

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