EA Boss: Boxed games are dying.

Tuesday 23rd September 2008 - 17:00


Peter Moore predicts the end of buying games on the High Street, Force Unleashed takes the top spot and Mirror's Edge Xbox 360 screens



He was the man behind the demise of the Dreamcast, the head honcho during the launch of Xbox 360 and now the boss of EA Sports - Peter Moore certainly knows a lot about the games industry. So when in a recent interview with The Guardian he proclaimed that boxed copied games were a dying breed everyone sits up and listens.

Moore commented: "In the future hard drives are going to be bigger, broadband is going to be faster and we're going to look back and laugh at the fact that we used to drive to the store to buy a piece of plastic with data on it. That business model isn't going to exist - I don't know whether it's going to be five years from now or ten years, but it's not going to be around anymore."

He added: "We need to look three years into the future and say it's going to be a completely different business, because of broadband connections. I am not going to be at the helm of a company that ends up like the music business that refused to stop trying to sell you CDs for (GBP) 15 because it was a hugely profitable model. And the music consumer says, 'you know, I don't want to pay (GBP) 15 for 12 tracks of which I want two, I don't want shiny discs anymore'.

Although many see the ease and convenience of digital downloads, it still throws up the question of what to do with the instructions? Are we all supposed to print out reams of A4 paper just so we can play through a game?

Meanwhile, for those that still buy games the traditional way it's all change at the top of this week's all-format Top 40. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed swings straight into the number one spot - and not surprising considering how good it is. Wii Fit drops down into second place with Mario Kart Wii picking up the bronze medal.

Finally, take a look at the latest screen of forthcoming title - Mirror's Edge, a hotly anticipated action adventure game from EA. The title was recently awarded "Best Xbox 360 Game" at the GC Developers Conference in Leipzig, Germany. It also received the "Best Action Game" of Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) by IGN and the Game Critics Award for "Best Original Game" at E3 in July. It's due out in November for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.