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Anyone else buying more digitally as of late?

TheMissingLink

TheMissingLink

Member
I've always been a physical console game buyer...the ability to re-sell it or proudly to display it have been the major drivers.

This last weekend, though, five of my six purchases were digital (and the physical was on a whim out amongst the crowds).

Then I look back at the last year and I have barely any new games on my shelf, and more than I can count to play digitally.

Anyone else see a shift happen this past year or lately?

The reasons why I've finally made that jump:

  • I'm a newish parent and a full-time grad student, so game time is limited. Switching discs, while not a BIG deal, is pretty nice to not think about.
  • Related to the above: I've gravitated towards shorter game experiences which leans a bit more indie.
  • I absolutely hate going to GameStop to trade in games, and hate to be bothered to mail something in to Amazon trade in.
  • It's easier to see something on sale or pop onto the PlayStation Store or Xbox Marketplace and just buy it, isn't it?

Who else!?
 
I bought a lot of digital on the Wii U and even added an external hard drive. In the end, I regret doing it and would prefer physical copies. I would rather collect cartridges vs disk going forward if possible.
 
Well, I made PC my primary platform a few months ago.

So, yeah.

I do sort of wish I had a few of them physically, but digital is just so much bloody easier so it's not a huge deal.

I do wish more physical games came with Steam codes.
 
I was buying a lot more digitally until recently when the combination of my GCU expiring and the $25 off Visa checkout at Best Buy I preordered a boatload of games physically from BB
 
I'm digital on every platform I have. PC of course but on Xbox one my friend and I share games. 3DS and Wii U as well.
 
Does it count that I buy more digitally since there's no physical media for PS2 classics being released on PS4?
 
I buy cheapest and for new games that's rarely digitally. So about as much physical as I always have, which is most. I understand the appeal of digital though.
 
I buy all my games digital now since it's cheaper and better to share games with my older brother who lives 1600KM away the only physical games i have are the imported ones.
 
I only buy digital. Wouldn't spin a physical disc if it was free.
 
Not really for me. I buy digitally every now and then due to location and sales but I still purchase mostly physical when i can. I usually don't go back to replay games but i like to know i can and i don't believe I'll never get hacked and that Sony will never ban me, preventing me from redownloading. I don't believe classics and vc will carry forward the way they ought to under Sony or Nintendo. In the future, as games I've bought digitally become games added to classics and vc, i don't think having a license under either account will give me any kind of access or benefit. So outside of not having to switch discs or cartridges, owning digital has basically no benefit to me ever. I'd prefer being able to sell the game on ebay
 
Still buying mainly Physical, but instead of ignoring most digital deals these days ill buy them if its good enough...

Only difference is I buy fighting games 100% of the time, just because of the fact that mainly I play these with my friends most of the time, so its pretty nice to play 20-40 rounds of something then someone says "lets all play SF5/MKX" or what ever and I just open it with a button click or two.
 
Of the 4 current gen platforms I own (PS4, PSV, 3DS, WIU), I buy digital exclusively on 3 of those platforms. PS4 is the only system in which I buy physical discs, and I've considered making the switch to all digital on that too.

I'm all aboard the train for a digital future.
 
Ever since I bought the Xbox One on launch day, I have purchased 100% of my games digitally.

I do however own 2 disc games :( Dying Light (bought for my birthday) and Halo 5 (when I upgraded to an XB1-S).

The convenience of swapping games instantly is too great, and I have never been one to trade in my old games.
 
No, I only buy digital on sale or if it's cheap enough initially like some smaller scale games. Full priced games, lol, no chance until it's a good sale price. Retail is cheaper for me early on.
 
I live in the Philippines and all games here are full priced (about $50 for new release, $40 for old games), so most of the time I buy games on black friday digital sale. It doesn't hurt that I have 50mbps connection
 
i was orginially physical but i dun resell my games , as i might wanna play again after sometime

Digitally recently cos of

1 ) huge discount on some games that you will not get on day1

2 ) you have 2days to preload in advance on psn and sometimes immediately on xboxone, 2 to 3 weeks on wiiu and 3ds

3) heard errors of flying discs from some consoles

4 ) games are still there digitally in my account , just in case house got fire

5 ) most importantly , the gameshop that i have liked has closed down and i may not trust others

6 ) at midnight for some games , i can play asap
 
PS4 is my first console to be all digital. I dont miss discs, since I am kind of a clutter-phobe. I'm quite happy. Only have like 9 games on PS4 anyway and feels like I purchase fewer and fewer titles each year..
 
Yep. Especially on Xbox One. With Microsoft effectively promising permanent backwards compatibility, makes it easy.

Still hesitant on PS4. I buy a couple of digital retail titles here and there. Not sure I trust Sony to make PS4 games play on PS5.
 
The number of digital purchases I make has definitely increased, but that's because of VR.

Regular games, still physical over digital. Really rare I get a digital version of a game that's available in a physical format.
 
I started my digital-only foray with Bloodborne and never looked back. I've always been a "physical-only" guy but the benefits (even though the prices are out of whack) with more than one console are too much to ignore.
 
If the game has both Physical/Digital version I will always buy Physical.

If it's only available Digitally I will buy Digital.

If the game is very good that I would always play it then I prefer digital which I will be doing for Nioh Digital Deluxe edition I will play that game non stop. Done the same for Rocker League and SFV too.
 
It took me 2 days to download The Last Of Us Remastered. The PSN download speeds are extremely slow for me. I have to constantly pause/resume downloads in order for it to pick up speed for 10 min then drop to snail speed again. This means I'm going physical for most my games on PS4 after that.
 
99% digital. 100% on PSVR. Can't imagine having to take that thing off every time I wanted to play a different game.
I have a gaming budget but it's enough right now where I don't need to trade in games.
 
I really want to but I don't trust Sony so I only buy my key multiplayer games, some indies and PS+ offerings and call it a day.

But the temptation is so high 😞 Physical disks still cost a lot less and GCU helps so it sucks.
 
Until consumer right catches up with the digital market and the prices become competitive with retail price then no I will just continue sticking with physical copies and never spend more than £12 on a digital title.
 
Spinky said:
I do wish more physical games came with Steam codes.
Click to expand...

What recent PC game hasn't had a download key in the package? 99% of games come out with codes these days, you don't need discs at all. It's really nice in Europe where digital prices are nuts.

On consoles I've definitely been buying more digital. The EU PSN prices are really bad, but I will wait for a sale to come up. Sale prices tend to be very good, almost always below physical.
 
I used to get games a day before release from shopto. That stopped happening, so digital midnight releases for me right now!

Frees up shelf space too.
 
PC - Digital only of course.

Consoles - Whatever is cheapest. If it's cheap digital, I'll buy it digital. Cheaper physical, I'll buy it physical.

I keep it kind of simple.
 
I don't collect games seriously and I am older and lucky to have a good job, so I have more disposable income. I have pretty much stopped the buy-sell-buy cycle I have been in forever and just started downloading my console games.

I rarely buy them at full price download unless I really want it. I spent full price on BF1 and FH3, for example. But over Black Friday I picked up Skyrim, Overwatch and Titanfall all for like $35 each.

However, sometimes I get screwed. I was for sure wanting Gears 4, bought it full price, and the game just didn't click for me at all. So I am sitting with it on my hard drive and I can't trade it. If I was back in college I would have been devastated wasting $60 like that.
 
Probably about 95% physical but I'd be ready to go 100% digital on something like the switch if Nintendo gets out of the stone age and creates proper account features.
 
I've been buying digital since the consoles launched in 2013. It's the ultimate convenience of not having to deal with disks or disk drives breaking and being able to download games on a high speed internet connection instead of waiting for disks to install.
 
Yes, but mainly because of recent sales and PSVR -- I still like discs for either keeping or trade in value. But, I won't pass up a good sale simply because it's digital.
 
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