The world of gaming and games consoles took another step closer to becoming entirely digital yesterday when it was announced that regular download charts are being planned for the UK’s PlayStation Network and Xbox LIVE Arcade. The news comes after UKIE said its PC download data is to be made public in a matter of weeks and once it does, they are prepared to provide a ranking system for the UK’s downloadable games on the PS3 and Xbox 360.
In an interview with MCV, UKIE Chairman Andy Payne explained that the PC chart is more complicated than an XBLA or PSN one. He went on to say that they were now in talks with both online services and talked about why they hadn’t begun with them first before the PC. He said ‘At the time, people were touchy about data. But attitudes have changed amongst content owners and platform holders.”
This news will be no doubt welcomed by most people, but there are some who feel this transitional stage of all games becoming digital could have a negative impact on the market. The folk over at VideoGamer are pleased to see this kind of action being taken meanwhile, saying ‘it is an important step to get digital charts up and running now,’ so as to avoid what happened when Steam and other similar services launched and as a result the PC games market lost out on sales.
This threat is imminent for consoles as future consoles are likely to embrace digital distribution, for example the OnLive console has already begun enjoying some success as there is a gap in the market for consoles such as these. What do you think of the introduction of console download charts? Will it benefit console gaming?
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