Digital gaming gaining ground

The day when gamers purchase their next video game title from their TV screens or computer monitors rather than driving to their local game store may not be so far off. The Entertainment Merchants Association's annual report showed that in 2010, while U.S. consumers purchased 71% of their video games in disc format, 44% bought them digitally.

This steady climb of digital distribution is expected to reach 58% by 2013. There's no doubt that both formats have their pros and cons, but despite those who believe that disc-based video games will eventually become overrun, some believe that it won't necessarily come to that.

"The home entertainment industry should be encouraged by the strong consumer support for packaged media demonstrating that discs and digital content will coexist in the foreseeable future," said EMA president and CEO Bo Andersen.

The EMA's report also showed that home game consoles like Sony's Playstation 3 are fast becoming entertainment centerpieces. U.S. households owning a PS3 used it for playing DVDs and Blu-rays 27% of the time, and downloading or streaming movies, like Netflix, 13% of the time. Forty percent of Microsoft's Xbox 360's time was also used for non-gaming.

Whether gamers choose to stick with shiny disc and plastic case or download them directly to their console or PCs...sometimes, a game is still just a game.