When I purchase a game on Xbox Live, will I get a copy on DVD as well?

Question

Will I get the option to order a "hard copy" (DVD) while buying the game on Xbox Live?

I've only ever purchased live arcade game, not a game you usually buy in the store. You know, something over 1GB.

I want to buy a copy of Dance Central 2, since the family is coming over for new years. And I want to buy it on Xbox Live to save myself a trip to the store, but I want it on DVD for safe keeping. I don't want to have to re-download the game over the net if I reformat the xbox HDD later.

Plus I have fears that somehow I will not have access to it later if Microsoft decides to revamp the Xbox-Live system. They did this with the Windows Media player stores, and we're still trying to get back the music licenses for well over 100 songs that my friends Mom purchased.

Answer 1

No, if you purchase a game via the Xbox Live Marketplace, there is no option to get that game on DVD. It's a digital download only. The prices also frequently don't align - especially if you're used to buying used, the game prices are typically marked up significantly to make up for the "convenience factor" of the digital download.

Microsoft controls what content plays on the console, whether it is on optical storage or digital download. If you use/connect to Xbox Live while playing, Microsoft can force you to sign out if you refuse a console or title update. This may lock you out of certain features (especially online/internet enabled features) of the game. The licenses are certainly harder to revoke when you own the physical media, but more and more the direction is towards licensed content, and not ownership in the traditional sense.

Recently Microsoft added support for connecting external storage devices, and it is possible to copy your content to these external devices. However, I don't believe the intent is for backup. The Xbox 360 will use a max of 16 GB of storage space on an external device.