We had more people rage why the internet didn't work (yes i worked for them back in the day).

Witcher 3 required a relatively small patch/unlocker for the retail version. In this case it sounds more like most of the game data will have to be downloaded. ( And yes, that does make a difference, at least for people with slow or limited internet connections. As it happens, those are generally the people who buy physical copies of games. )
My own guess is, we'll either see it here much sooner than that, or not at all. Mostly depending on how things go for GOG, Bethesda, and that whole DRM thing.
How much internets does each disc contain? I still have about 50 of them... you think that's about all the internets?

The main point is if you want to own a game that is a few GB's in size (ha! What isn't these days?) if you could theoretically buy the disk with all the encrypted files on the disk, and you have a $9.95 per/month 3Mbps download speed--you can install the multi-gigabyte game in an hour or so versa the *several days* it might take to successfully download it all from Steam. All you'd need the Internet for would be to verify the purchase with Steam and receive the unlock for the file encryption--and updates. But of course *cough* Steam updates often being the size of the original game--not even sure that would work out very well.

Better off buying the game from Gog because the patches are often much smaller--but wait--GOG doesn't sell physical game disks at all (unlike Steam) do they?

Basically, you are screwed without a decently fast Internet connection these days, more or less.

128 Kbps? How long did it take you to finish your witcher 3 download?

Some gamers don't have an internet connection or have a really shitty internet connection due to their location or lack of money. There are also people who hate using Steam with a passion. And the existence of physical copies allows businesses to exist that make money from selling physical copies. This is good for the economy and provides more jobs for people who are unable to obtain better jobs. This also creates more money making opportunities for some people. So the shift to digital only when it comes to PC games, really fucked everyone over and offers gamers few benefits. And when the shift to digital only console games happens, everyone will be fucked over some more. And no, I'm not putting down digital digital game distribution services and digital games entirely. And I'm not putting down people who prefer digital games. People who prefer digital games weren't responsible for this bullshit.

PS
Not being able to buy used video games sucks hairy kangaroo balls for poor gamers and gamers who want to save money. Physical copies = a used video games market and that would be nice.

That's the comparison I was looking for. ;)

Even then, digital distribution will never be the same as owning a physical product. When all you're selling is "data" which has a near-zero cost to create, you're selling something that has very little value from a monetary perspective.

I misunderstood this post of yours and wrote a pointless reply(deleted). Now I get what you are saying. What an epic fail from me. :(

I think that was the point they were trying to make, actually. That it's a limitation until we're actually to that point, which we aren't.

I wouldn't say it has little value because it is still a work of art from people who put time and effort into it. But a downloaded video game definitely has less value than a video game that is on a disc, a box and a manual. But did prices go down since the shift from physical to digital. No. They went up! I miss the days of walking into a store, buying a video game and then seeing something like this sitting on one of your shelves. For many of us human beings, having something to touch is very enjoyable. And so is having the extra eye candy from nice looking boxes and manuals.

Yeah, that was a huge FAIL on my part. I misunderstood his or her post.

amok
digital warrior brownie points - 10000000000000000
all other points - 0

Anything infected with steam is worthless without internet connection.
Whats the point to have all data on disk anyway? its not drm-free. it doesnt have some old-school on-disc drm so its worthless without internet. - basically its just a way to save a little(or not, depends on your isp/country) bandwidth. the real "disks" of steam games are called torrents nowadays, but I prefer ignoring drm'ed products...

A difference... but they still did it.
How is it worthless when there is a fair amount of games dont even need the client to play? Of course we'll just ignore that just because...

Yeah I forgot about some few games that do-not require steam client to run . well - I'm not sure if any of them was on discs..
anyway they are not "true" drm free in my opinion