FFXI goes boxless
Square/Enix has taken another step towards the all-digital age, with their decision to go boxless with Final Fantasy XI sales. Downloads of the title and its expansions are now offered through Direct2Drive, already well-known for bringing a number of PC titles to gamers, eliminating trips to the store to pick up installation discs. Or dealing with rainchecks.
Whether the download is actually faster than driving to the local GameStop is debatable, but that's beside the point. Digital distribution of Final Fantasy XI puts the title in the club with EVE Online as well as the many Sony Online Entertainment titles which are distributed without boxes, and on demand. Direct2Drive is offering Final Fantasy XI and the expansions at $19.95 each; game manuals are available for download as well.