[Saxon]

Scott,

You seemed to be asking if anyone had not bought the game because it was not digital download. I may be the closest you will get.

Living in Kenya, our mail service can be unreliable. As such, I had the game shipped to my parents in Canada and then picked it up when I visited on vacation. If I was not sure about the game, I would not have bothered. However, I had played the first two, checked out the demo and figured it was worth the money.

Obviously, I am a weird and tiny bit of the market, but some folks really don’t like, or can’t use, the mail. Tim’s points look pretty good and address the rest of the market.

Another point you asked about, is $55 impulse buy money for anyone? Well, yes, it is. Look at the credit card problems lots of folks have, people do some odd things with their cash. Many people see that amount in the impulse range. The other group to look at is the professionals. Without trying to sound like a rich prat, I can say that $55 is not a big deal for me anymore. If I want to take my wife to dinner, I will drop at least that much and not blink. A trip out for the weekend will burn at least that much gas, but I don’t factor it in my decision making. A night at a bar, I shudder to think how much that would cost these days if I got drunk. $55 used to be a lot for me, but all those years in university paid off.

In other words, you might want to stretch your ideas on the impulse buy idea. Computer games are entertainment, which is pretty much about satisfying impulses and emotions.