Digital Distribution Is Killing It: What Does This Mean For Video Games Sellers?

There are 2 trends in the gaming media headlines at present, reports of the huge rises of sales in the digital gaming market (xbox live, steam, psn, facebook etc) and reports of the decline in high street “boxed games” market.

With publishers like EA making a push for sales in digital downloads and in-game content where does this leave the average independent games seller?

This issue has been on my mind for quite a while now as I've watched this area of the market continue to grow. The question is, if consumers stop buying boxed versions of games and opt instead for it's downloadable equivalent, how can us video games sellers get in on this?

Will we have no choice but to sell peripheral items such as headsets, chargers and cables or will there be a channel available for us to trade in the downloadable gaming market ourselves?
Game have struck a deal with sony to sell games from the playstation network but at the moment it is totally exclusive to them.

The only option that I can conceive at present is the trading of in-game content such as ultimate team players in fifa 12 or virtual money. We may turn into virtual gamesworkshop style stores selling weapons and other “cool” stuff which people can add to their characters in-game.

It's all up in the air at the moment and until Companies start releasing their actual digital sales figures, nobody knows just how big that side of things are compared to the physical media market.

What are your thoughts on what you think will happen in the near future for independent video games sellers?