DarthKaal: That's why I still buy physical versions.
Not just because I have this "attachment" to the physical form, but also mainly because the prices we can see on digital distribution websites (except GOG of course) are just unfair.
If you take out those 50% of the price that's used for physical creation (and I really doubt that costs so much), and you also take out platform royalties, explain me why Steam sells new games like Bioshock 2 at 50 bucks?!?
That is actually the fault of retailers, believe it or not.
Places like Gamestop HATE digital distribution. Why? Because it is more convenient. As it stands, if people can wait for a game they just order it from Amazon (or whatever). Usually cheaper, and you don't need to drive anywhere. If people are in a hurry, they can either drive down to the store, or open Steam (or Impulse, or whatever).
Now, imagine that things were actually noticeably cheaper with digital distribution. Nobody would bother going to Gamestop and the like (excluding those who want the retail version).
Don't believe me? Look at all the hullabaloo about the PSP-Go. Many retailers refuse to stock that, because it functions purely on digital distribution.
Now, there ARE ways around this. Like limited editions and good manuals. But let's be honest here: Most users don't care about how nice the manual they will never read is. And for the games where the manual is vital, we'll be lucky to even see a retail release.
Now, all that being said, the cost of printing discs and putting the covers in the dvd-boxes is really negligible (for a publisher and a mainstream game). So we were never really paying for that. It has always been about giving the distributor their cut, and then making back losses on development/making profits.