If you’ve been to a GameStop recently—or called one, for that matter—you may have noticed their ever-expanding inventory. You can buy iPhones and iPods at GameStop. Farmville points. A freakin’ Google Nexus. These things are all game-related, certainly, but they’re not games per se. While it may seem odd, there’s a reason for this gradual change in the products good ol’ GameStop deals in.
See, hardcopy games are quickly becoming a thing of the past. Sure, some hipsters and nostalgic nerds like me will still keep them around, but it will soon become a waste of money for publishers to print games in bulk. A decade from now, the majority of games—even huge, AAA-titles like Madden and Call of Duty—will only be available for download, unless you want to cough up $150 or so for a collector’s edition. If one exists at all.
In light of our changing world, GameStop may soon start carrying the Ouya, Android’s wacky little open-source box, which will retail for a whopping $99. If the giant retailer picks up the tiny console, it could easily spell success for the ambitious Kickstarter project.
I have strange, confused feelings about the Ouya, to be quite honest. I’m a huge sucker for open-source anything, and the cheap price tag is pretty enticing for struggling writers gamers everywhere. I’m always wary of the free-to-play model, though. However, I hope the Ouya does well, as we really need some change in the market.
Star Citizen is an upcoming space trading and combat simulator video game for Microsoft Windows. Star Citizen will consist of two main components: first person space combat and trading in a massively multiplayer persistent universe and customizable private servers (known as Star Citizen), and a branching single-player game (known as Squadron 42). The game will also feature VR support.
