Re:400 lb gorilla or 20 lb monkey? (Score 2, Interesting)

You make a lot of good points, its foolish to underestimate the customers that are accustomed to the brick and mortar method, but if the experience is seemless enough i don't think the transition would be all that hard to pull off. Especially if XBOX Arcade and Nintendo's online game distributions are a hit this coming generation. The next generation is what- 2009? 2010? Speeds will be faster, online penetration will be larger, and Microsoft will be (if all goes well for them) on their third generation of LIVE. A system like that creates a seamless transaction- order a game the way you order a movie on a cable box. No worries about giving away a CC number- they already have it. Granted there are issues from bandwith to piracy, but hell its 2010 anyway so we are all probably slaves to robot monkeys anyway. Who knows though- its all speculation anyway, i just believe for publishers and consumers there are just too many positives in the digital distribution collumn.