Coffee Talk #235: Downloadable Games Should Be Like E-Books

One nifty feature about e-books is the ability to borrow and lend them. This adds a social element to e-readers and takes advantage of the digital nature of e-books. Digitally downloaded games should be handled the same way.

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, your World Series prediction, the Celtics thrashing Miami Thrice, or Bryan Danielson acing two WWE shows in a row, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

One nifty feature about e-books is the ability to borrow and lend them. This adds a social element to e-readers and takes advantage of the digital nature of e-books. Digitally downloaded games should be handled the same way. The social impact would be awesome and the borrowing/lending could be a more effective marketing tool than demos.

Let’s say RPadholic thundercracker buys a strategy RPG called Christina Aguilera’s Quest for RPad. He knows that Final Fantasy Tactics is my all-time favorite game and thinks that I’ll love Christina Aguilera’s Quest for RPad. He clicks a button on the menu screen and pushes the game to me. The next time I turn on the console, I see a notification that says I have a game available from thundercracker. I would be able to play the borrowed game for a limited time and have the option to buy it.

I’d love to see a feature like this implemented into PlayStation Network or Xbox Live. A friend’s opinion is worth more than any reviewer’s. Plus pushing games to friends would be fun. I hate to use modern buzzwords, but it would add a “social discovery” element to gaming. What do you think? Would you use something like the borrowing/lending scheme I mentioned? Would you want something different? Do you think publishers would go for borrowing and lending?

Author: RPadTV

https://rpad.tv

78 thoughts on “Coffee Talk #235: Downloadable Games Should Be Like E-Books”

  1. Ray that is brilliant! Your about the only reviewer I don't doubt but hearing something from a friend with similar tastes and interests would be great.

    1. Yes, I believe you are correct. It was a happy birthday picture for you and a happy unbirthday picture for the rest of us. My birthday wish for you is for the Giants to play the Dolphins and knock Chad Henne out of the game for a year or two.

      Happy Birthday, man.

      -M

    1. JT is an idiot. There are more hotter girls in Hollywood than her. i think we should have a poll. if we were JT who would we cheat on Jessica Biel with?

      1. Yeah there are much better girls in Hollywood.

        Jessica Alba (pre-Jeter days only though), Sanaa Lathan, Kate Hudson, Sanaa Lathan……

      4. Kate Hudson may be hot, but she’s been with just about every athlete on the planet. I’d stay clear of that one.

      8. Ah, what the hell; as long as you guys are at it, I would like to add:

        Anne Hathaway (for her classy, sophisticated look) and

        Vida Guerra (for … uh… everything else.)

        -M

      12. haha. good one. you could probably call her that because she's Al bundy's wife in that ABC show. a Modern family, i think it's what it's called. it's on today at 8p CT on ch 7.

      15. Betty White.

        She's at least more experienced than OMunn.

        But seriously,

        I agree with Kate Beckinsale, Anne Hathaway, and Scarlett Johansson, and I'd like to add Emma Watson and Shannon Sossamon (sp) to the list.

      16. that Shannon S, chick was a hottie for me in the early 2000s but then she kind of disappeared with this new group of hotties.

      18. oh i agree, that's why i'm saying if i would even consider cheating on her OMunn would not be the one to do it. i't d be someone way hotter than her and possibly Jessica. oh and it would be real down low like my idol latin lothario extraordinaire Luis Miguel. dude is a P I M P.

    2. Oh wow…I saw her on the Daily Show the other night and wanted to yell at Jon Stewart for hiring her for anything.

      1. Eh, she’s ok on the Daily Show. They use her sparingly. The bit the other night where she was outside Rick Sanchez’s house was actually pretty funny.

  4. I don’t see publishers going for this type of idea, but I would definitely use this method. You are right, friends carry more sway than a review (as good as they can be sometimes). I do love to read a good review of a game- but if someone from here tells me to try a game out I probably will, as opposed to how I don’t try out a game just because of a score it got in a review or something.

    I would also try out Christina Aguilera’s Quest for RPad.

      1. Really?? I've heard about that game before, but I think I will have to find a copy and try it out now on one of my old N64's!!

  5. hmmm, i would be interested in this. i know for the wii you can give games. i tend to give some to my gf for the wii but i’ve never tried on the ps3 or 360, is this not available for these consoles? oh i know there’s a difference because it’s a limited trial but if someone gifted me a game i wouldn’t complain.

    i would be interested in Xtina’s next book .
    Christina: Baking everyday w/tokz.

  7. Still torn about the World Series. On paper I should support the Rangers for beating my team. However, I feel like rooting for the Giants since I lived in San Francisco for several years and Tim Lincecum is a Filipino-American.

    1. Lincecum is Filipino? Oh snap had no idea. I always root for the AL team but I do like the Giants.

    2. i am cheering for the Giants because of Lincecum and one of the players has the same last name as mine. so i'm going to pretend we're related somehow and feel like my family is in the world series.

    3. I can't root for a team whose manager got caught using coke. And rooting for the Giants after all these years of hating them because of Bonds actually feels kinda like supporting an old friend who finally ditched their abusive ex and is moving on with their lives.

      1. You can't root for them because he got CAUGHT using coke or because he was using coke? It is way more prevalent than I ever had thought it was around here until I fell into a sucky time and started using it. Then I found out that there are more people using it or have used it than there are people who haven't. It took me a while after my brother died to get clean, but it has been nearly 3 years now and I would hope that people didn't judge me based on things I had done at one point in my life but would never do again. It is an easy drug to start and a hard one to quit.

      2. I don't think you will get any judgement here. Only support. Congratulations on 3 years and more to come.

      5. No judgment is passed here bro. We only judge products and electronics here. Keep up the good work :)

        I still smoke bud and I dabbled in cocaine a few years back but I was addicted to ecstasy for a year. I was taking about 10 a week and the same amount from Friday-Sunday. I was literally spending all my money on it. I kicked the habit but the temptation is always there.

      6. I understand the temptation aspect all too well. I quit because one day I woke up (metaphorically since I didn't sleep anymore) and realized I had just used 7 grams in 1 day to keep going and to stay where I wanted to be. I quit cold turkey. I literally slept for 3 days following that. I then had to distance myself from it and those people entirely to prevent a relapse. Come to find out those people weren't really my friends so much as they were just fiends. My friends and I joke about doing some sometimes, but never have followed through. I get a kick out of cocaine based joke like on Family Guy or American Dad, but only because I know how real they are depicting it.

      7. I feel you man, I was also an alcoholic from age16-22 (Bacardi 151 was the drink of choice) and I too woke up one day and was like wtf am i doing. Those people I left behind are still doing the same shit and I'm surprised that some of them are still alive.

        We are a few of the lucky ones that got out.

        On a lighter note (insert your though here lol).

    4. Although I don't typically watch sports, it has becoming increasingly more difficult to avoid watching baseball around here. Rangers stuff everywhere. Most of my FB friends have changed their profile pics to something Rangers. There are some free drinks, half priced drinks and food, on every channel, in all the newspapers, and everyone is talking about it.

      So in the spirit of things and being a life long Texan GO RANGERS!!!

      2. i thought we were supposed to call you crazy, if we agreed with your statement on Denise Richards. she's hot for a girl pushing 40 but idk if i'd rather have her then Bolivia. i'd say it's a push.

      5. i like how you use the word mis-remembered. it's common with people who are in court a lot and people who are given lots of lie detector test. oh and by people who are CRAZY!!!!!

  10. you’d just abuse christina ray…i know how you get when you get angry

    thx for feeding my ego btw :)

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