I don't have an Xbox, so I can't speak for the instances on XBL, but when do you think the PSN or Sony platforms in general will offer more digital retail games? the PSN is great for the smaller experience, and maybe that's a reason they haven't allowed many titles to be available. It would be great if more retail games were available for a small price break, or included extra DLC when downloading them off of the PSN store.  
 
Personally I used to be really against this before we began this generation. I didn't perceive any value in having a digital copy over a tangible boxed copy of a game. In fact, I gave far more weight to the retail copy than the digital versions. You can't resell the digital copy, you can't share it with a friend (well there are ways) and you don't get the materials or artwork that come with the game. Lately I've had a huge change in heart, I LOVE digital distribution. Perhaps it was Steam with all it's modestly priced games and great sales, not to mention the interface. It's awesome to have some games on your HDD and never have to go looking for a disc, or even just change the disc out. You can swap entertainment on the fly. Plus if all goes according to plan, you don't have to worry about the game getting lost, broken or stolen. I take excellent care of my media and electronics, but it's nice to have assurance you can download the game again, even if you switch out the system you downloaded it on originally.  
 
Take my fave download to date, Mass Effect 2. I've played this game more frequently than any game all year, just because it's smacked to the hardware. We have a PS3 in the bedroom for Netflix, and I have another copy of it on there, I don't have to bring anything with me and the game is in there.  
 
 
You'd think this would take off in a huge way on the PSN, but right now there's only a handful of full fledged retail games on the service. Mostly it's the indie games, or the smaller experiences from the bigger developers and DLC. When do you think this will become more common place, are we close? Maybe by the end of the year? By the next gen?   
 
Is XBL any different in the way it treats retail games?