McGruber21
Member
All true. Nobody is saying digital shouldn't exist or doesn't have its benefits.
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As a physical disc collector, digital convenience is hurting me.
- Thread starter FarFromAnyGame
- Start date
All true. Nobody is saying digital shouldn't exist or doesn't have its benefits.
D
Deleted member 752119
Unconfirmed Member
I think it comes down to play style. If you're playing one or two games at a time it's not a big deal. If you're juggling a bunch of games, especially online games and popping around when a friend sends you an invite the convenience is much more noticeable.
I buy digital for:
-MP games and pick up and play games that I'll be playing off and on for a long time for the convenience.
-Long single player games worn long DLC schedules as resell value will tank when it's all out and I'm done with all the DLC.
-Single player multiplats with strong graphics that I want the PC version.
-Games I don't get around to for a while and the digital version is cheap enough in a sale that I don't care about losing resell value.
-Games I always want with me in a portable
Anything else, especially 40 hour or less single player games I want to play near launch, I'll buy physical with Prime or GCU 20% discount and sell after beating.
MetalliCabombination
Member
been full digital for the last 8 or so months.
a few regrets sure but ill stay with it for the time being.
a few regrets sure but ill stay with it for the time being.
why the hell did i buy fate extella day 1 at full price ffs? i dont even care for that series in general
I have over 200 digital games on my Xbox One and over 400 digital games on my PC. I'll take instantly switching between them any day over having to go through physical copies. The only system I change discs on sometimes is my PS4, and that's due to buying cheap exclusives. I still own more digital PS4 games than physical though.
It's not laziness it's convenience. I can switch between three games instantly with just my voice with Xbox One.
I actually like physical when it comes to Collector's Editions, so I buy those often too. However, if a cheap digital sell goes up I buy the same game and no longer use the physical copy.
Undead Fantasy
Member
Sure sounds lazy to me.
Digital is at least 10~15% cheaper than physical for me in where i live, that's why I'm almost buying games exclusively digital this gen.
Maintenance
Member
Same to me as the second poster I quoted, digital is much cheaper here. Only physical games that are cheaper are major AAA, they get huge discounts because the stores buy huge bulks and no one ends up buying them for the original price.
entremet
Member
This already happens basically.
The disc is just the authorization check.
Are you talking about alpha numeric keys like old school PC games?
FarFromAnyGame
Banned
The disc is already just a key but you can't play without the key inserted.
TwiztidElf
Member
I prefer physical, and purchase most stuff physical. The only exception I'll make is for things like Overwatch that I know I'll be playing on and off through the whole gen. These type of games it makes more sense to be digital.
I definitely learned that lesson last gen with Street Fighter 4. Just switching it in and out all the time. Just made sense to just get the digital version.
I definitely learned that lesson last gen with Street Fighter 4. Just switching it in and out all the time. Just made sense to just get the digital version.
But it also works the other way OP.
For me physical is way more expensive. Day 1 games are always close to full price. For PC games, I suppose some aren't full price if I buy them off CDKeys. But for console games they are close to full price. I'm overseas and don't have BB or Prime.
Secondly physical copy discounts largely depends on whether the game has been successful or not. If a retailer orders accurately the number of games and sells them all out, then there isn't much of a discount. If he doesn't sell enough then you do get a significant discount, however that probably shows that the game wasn't great or wasn't very popular. The discount also doesn't last long if its a significant one so timing is key and it can be annoying to continually watch prices.
Thirdly digital sales can be really cheap and physical can't approach the discount. I can buy a copy of Touch My Katamari for US$3.74 on the US PSN right now, but there's no way I'll find that at any online retail store. When there's a PSN flash sale on there are many games going for dirt cheap.
Now obviously all of those factors should mean I should just switch to digital, but I just can't. Physical even now that its completely gimped without color manuals and other fancy stuff, I love having a collection of games in the event they ever switch off PSN, I'll still have my physical copies to play.
For some reason I'm totally ok with PC being digital though.
For me physical is way more expensive. Day 1 games are always close to full price. For PC games, I suppose some aren't full price if I buy them off CDKeys. But for console games they are close to full price. I'm overseas and don't have BB or Prime.
Secondly physical copy discounts largely depends on whether the game has been successful or not. If a retailer orders accurately the number of games and sells them all out, then there isn't much of a discount. If he doesn't sell enough then you do get a significant discount, however that probably shows that the game wasn't great or wasn't very popular. The discount also doesn't last long if its a significant one so timing is key and it can be annoying to continually watch prices.
Thirdly digital sales can be really cheap and physical can't approach the discount. I can buy a copy of Touch My Katamari for US$3.74 on the US PSN right now, but there's no way I'll find that at any online retail store. When there's a PSN flash sale on there are many games going for dirt cheap.
Now obviously all of those factors should mean I should just switch to digital, but I just can't. Physical even now that its completely gimped without color manuals and other fancy stuff, I love having a collection of games in the event they ever switch off PSN, I'll still have my physical copies to play.
For some reason I'm totally ok with PC being digital though.
Jasper Avenue
Member
I personally think a bunch of games on a shelf looks kind of tacky. Digital is just so much more convenient.
Sephiroth_VII
Member
The difference is that console manufacturers have less and less incentive to include an optical drive and, unlike your stereo setup, you probably won't a
be able to just add a disc player to your console.
Vinyl is only 5% of album sales. People like you just aren't a big enough market to include a built-in drive once the US catches up to the rest of the world in terms of Internet speed.
I thought that I've gone full digital but then the Switch was revealed to have only 32 gigs of space. Large enough SD cards are still insanely expensive, so I'm probably just going back to physical until they get cheaper.
If the Switch was going to have USB disc support from the start, I'd probably try something like having all games there and the currently played ones in the console. But it doesn't, so... physical it is. At least cartridges are slightly less inconvenient compared to discs.
If the Switch was going to have USB disc support from the start, I'd probably try something like having all games there and the currently played ones in the console. But it doesn't, so... physical it is. At least cartridges are slightly less inconvenient compared to discs.
farmerboy
Member
Yeah but if they wanted, surely they can authorize online just like a digital game does. You can buy movies that are both copies, why not games?
Disclaimer: I am basically technically illiterate.
Really? You don't consider it a shame, or unfortunate, or impersonal? Digital goods are straight up DISGUSTING?
I love physical copies, but damn. It's not that bad. I'd probably buy all digital if it wasn't always 20-30% cheaper to buy physical.
The only downside for me is if the servers go down and my HDD fails in my console then all my games are gone forever.
Transistor
Banned
Shpeshal Nick
aka Collingwood
Just stop day oneing games.
Buy digitally on sale and if you HAVE to have a disc, wait even longer and pick up the disc for next to nothing.
Uncharted 4 was my last day one (outside the copy of Gears 4 I got with my Gears S console) digital or physical. Never again.
Buy digitally on sale and if you HAVE to have a disc, wait even longer and pick up the disc for next to nothing.
Uncharted 4 was my last day one (outside the copy of Gears 4 I got with my Gears S console) digital or physical. Never again.
brickarts295
Member
Man if PS+ offered discount for digital games day 1 like Amazon and Best Buy I would jump in the Digital bandwagon in an instant. But Prime and GCU are too good.
Do you have Netflix or Spotify? So lazy, you should be buying DVDs and CDs.
FarFromAnyGame
Banned
Maybe because they didn't read my post. That's what I'm already doing:
As a collector I'm a physical guy.
Another one of my gripes is the fear of losing the digital content. Whether it be something like the Wii's horrible non account system or it just getting pulled entirely like PT.
There's been cases of things being removed from peoples accounts and you can't get it back because it's delisted. I don't trust that future at all.
For as much as I hear " you don't own that game", I physically have possession of that game that I paid money for. I can lend it to a friend and If, God forbid I ever have to, I can sell all of it if I need the money. You can't do that with digital.
I see the convenience of being able to swap when you want, but I'm not too lazy to get up and change my game every other day or so. Heck, I removed Onechambara and installed Bloodborne this morning while I was brushing my teeth. It's not that big of a task that it should be a selling point.
Another one of my gripes is the fear of losing the digital content. Whether it be something like the Wii's horrible non account system or it just getting pulled entirely like PT.
There's been cases of things being removed from peoples accounts and you can't get it back because it's delisted. I don't trust that future at all.
For as much as I hear " you don't own that game", I physically have possession of that game that I paid money for. I can lend it to a friend and If, God forbid I ever have to, I can sell all of it if I need the money. You can't do that with digital.
I see the convenience of being able to swap when you want, but I'm not too lazy to get up and change my game every other day or so. Heck, I removed Onechambara and installed Bloodborne this morning while I was brushing my teeth. It's not that big of a task that it should be a selling point.
Muscle Wizard
Banned
I used to like discs until I realized how much clutter they make. Most of the games I have are games I got really into for the first few months I got them and never felt the need to replay them ever again, but the resale value is so low I'll never sell them.
Going digital has cut back on clutter and waste and the only argument against it was that non-PC games never really go on sale, but then I realized I buy almost every game I want new and never purchase used games anyways, so I bit the bullet and haven't regretted it since.
I'll still buys discs if it's a game I want to share with others, but most games I either buy for myself or everyone already has it anyways.
My two biggest digital games right now are Battlefield 1 and Nioh, which are perfect games to hop back and froth on whenever you feel like.
Going digital has cut back on clutter and waste and the only argument against it was that non-PC games never really go on sale, but then I realized I buy almost every game I want new and never purchase used games anyways, so I bit the bullet and haven't regretted it since.
I'll still buys discs if it's a game I want to share with others, but most games I either buy for myself or everyone already has it anyways.
My two biggest digital games right now are Battlefield 1 and Nioh, which are perfect games to hop back and froth on whenever you feel like.
Muscle Wizard
Banned
I don't think it was. Their plan still wasn't sound with how they treated discs, giving no one the option. Even as anecdotal evidence, this thread shows that there are people who still prefer discs over digital for the different uses they give.
My flatmate was laughing at his own stupidity when he bought a physical copy (as he likes to do) of Doom and tried to install it - he hadn't taken into account that it's a 60GB+ game and he was expecting to be able to install from a 4.75GB DVD disc.
TheHolyTurnip
Member
We've yet to see what happens when a large digital distributer goes out of business. Apple, Sony, Nintendo, MS, what happens when one goes under or switches from their current business model and goes in a different direction for the company that doesn't involve all those digital goods?
Everything you've ever bought digitally that's connected to or relies on a service to function is worthless. For emphasis, WORTHLESS. You can't recoup any of the cost spent on it, you can't give it away, hell you usually can't even permenantly delete it. It's just an ever growing pile of digital feces piling up in your account until that service/business is shut down for whatever reason. All digital has accomplished is "covenience" in exchange for the companies that put out this content having more and more control over how and when you can use their product and you're rights for using that product.
I think disgusting is a pretty good word for quite a bit of it.
entremet
Member
You mean like the original XB1 concept lol?
People online threw a tantrum at that and here we are.
CouchMaster
Member
If you're switching between multiple games every 10 minutes like its a mobile phone, then maybe digital is a best solution for you.
farmerboy
Member
Their policy was too restrictive. Think my movie example. Could they do that if they really wanted to?
Undead Fantasy
Member
I don't understand this clutter nonsense.
I have all my games nicely put in a drawer. It's never an issue.
outunderthestars
Banned
This is my view as well. I like to keep my life free from as much clutter as possible. I have next to no physical media of any kind anymore.
statham
Member
I bought several of the Xbox BC titles that are only available on Disc. and its bugs me every time I see those green packages. Like I rather almost not play or own them then to see them. The games I do buy on retail, I know I will sell them right after beating them(COD)
That was literally Microsofts original vision and pitch for the Xbox One at its unveil. Yet the internet absolutely freaked, I still fully expect this to happen, people just weren't ready yet.
TLZ
Banned
Here's what I suggest; buy day 1 games digitally that you really will play day 1, then buy them physically later when they're very cheap along with the other games you don't really care about playing day 1.
Basically, if I want to play a game couch co-op style, that only has online co-op, I need to buy it digitally so that I can play it on both of my PS4 consoles. Unfortunately for the developers, I view digital games as being less valuable, and will wait for a sale before I buy them. So, I won't buy For Honor until it is on sale on PSN.
So, from my perspective, "digital convenience" (or I would argue, physical's lack of convenience), is hurting developers.
So, from my perspective, "digital convenience" (or I would argue, physical's lack of convenience), is hurting developers.
Digital-only future is happening. Even if you accept the vinyl comparison, the precedent there is "all music consumption is going digital, and there's a separate niche/retro market for collectors". But I actually think the comparison is imperfect - playing music requires simpler hardware than running games, and there are fewer formats. It's possible to have a niche vinyl market because there's a single device that can be manufactured by multiple companies for collectors. The market for physical game collectors will be too fragmented to sustain the same business model. After new consoles go digital-only, the closest thing you'll see to vinyl is one-off retro game players like the NES Classic.
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