Could Digital Downloads Threaten Blockbuster Games?

Dec. 3, 2010— -- The holidays are always cause for celebration, but especially so for video game fans, as software manufacturers wrestle to cram shelves full of increasingly huge and jaw-dropping titles.

But even as game sizes and budgets continue to balloon, for many shoppers, spare time and disposable income continue to plummet.

Worse, as smaller, more affordable online or downloadable games gain traction, the eternal arms race may be a road to oblivion for all but a few blockbuster franchises.

You can be sure that genre-defining juggernauts, such as the online fantasy series "World of Warcraft" and the chart-topping musical act "Rock Band 3," will never cease to captivate legions of hardcore fans.

But epic games that sell for $50-$60 a pop require players to remain tethered to a PC or gaming console, and take dozens of hours to complete, are at a distinct disadvantage in our economically-depressed world.

Parents, working professionals and even your average teenager all have greater mobility, less leisure time and fewer dollars to spend.

You tell me which seems more viable lately: Spending weeks immersed in "Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood's" endless Renaissance-era realms, or firing up the iPad or Facebook for 15 minutes of fun during a brief, much-needed coffee break?

Larger-than-life, traditional games aren't just competing for a limited share of shoppers' pocketbooks anymore. They're also fighting with other off-hours activities for a share of players' diminishing spare time.

At the same time, competition within the gaming field has increased by an order of several thousand.

Once, software makers struggled to outdo a handful of rivals. Now, they have to contend with dozens of relatively inexpensive downloadable titles, 500-plus new iPhone games a week and thousands of free-to-play online amusements.