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[Walter Matthau]

Resale value is important to me.

The only time I buy games digitally these days is if the price is so absurdly low that I'm virtually guaranteed to get my money's worth.

 

[ShadyAcshuns]

Can't wait for those "adorable" digital prices that never go down once there's no other way to buy.

 

[EverydayBeast]

Ditching discs is serious business because streaming music (Spotify) became a threat to cds, mp3, streaming video (Netflix) became a threat and a concern to dvds. That’s the state of the world we live in.

 

[Rocco Schiavone]

Can't wait for those "adorable" digital prices that never go down once there's no other way to buy.

But but there's no packaging and no costs to produce discs. Of course games will be cheaper If we go digital only.

 

[Rudius]

I have accepted that despite liking consoles I probably will go PC only in the future, and not to mostly play new games, but emulators and older PC titles.

 

[Holammer]

Last physical game I bought was COD: Black op 2 (2012), but it was a mistake. I forgot to click the checkbox with "send code". Had to wait a few days for the game to arrive, very annoying.
So, I'm completely weaned off physical like a growing majority of console gamers.

For the First Time, Digital Game Sales Outnumber Physical Sales

Digital game sales are skyrocketing.

screenrant.com

 

[rofif]

Digital makes some sense on pc.
You can get steam keys from many many places. And you get access to your game files and even return the game. Steam is amazing but thanks to how open the pc and market is.

But psn and Xbox? They control their whole digital markets. No key resellers, no access to your files, nothing.

 

[ReBurn]

It requires pistons to get gamers to accept all digital

 

[Magic Carpet]

I've been adorable and all digital for decades.

 

[rofif]

The longer you resist the longer digital doesn’t get better and the longer physical gets worse.

Assimilate.. assimilate… assimilate!!

That’s idiotic.
Listen, don’t resist it. Resisting only makes your pain last longer. Let me cut of your soul now

 

[GymWolf]

I don't know about digital future but this is adorable

 

[rofif]

Also, you can buy digital keys everywhere online which encourages competition and lower prices, the PC digital market is not controlled by one entity. An all-digital closed ecosystem controlled by one company is just bad news.

That’s the problem with some other stores on pc. They monopolise their crap too

 

[Buggy Loop]

I guess... yes?

I'll probably remain PC exclusive from now on. So goodbye consoles, goodbye discs.

 

[Schmendrick]

I´ll stick to how I´ve handled this "all digital, you own nothing" bullshit since it began with steam.
Grey market or bargain bin. If I can`t buy to own I´m not paying anywhere near full retail price.

 

[PaNaMa]

I'm betting GameStop is not ready...

 

[Generic]

I hope the PS5 Pro isn't full digital.

 

[ShadyAcshuns]

I hope the PS5 Pro isn't full digital.

Get Ready!

 

[_Ex_]

The immediate gratification satisfaction of downloading a game, is offset by the loss of any real ownership of it. When gaming goes all digital, the power of supply, distribution, and pricing is 100% in the hands of the publishers. That is a woeful totalitarian future you digital lovers will rue.

 

[Mr Reasonable]

It seems a bit of a no-brainer for all the platform holders to go digital only, fewer overheads, better data and reporting, price control, etc. For those reasons, I don't see any reason to think that any system will have a disc drive once the next generation rolls around.
There's little to suggest that the audience isn't ready for it either, last year Sony reported that 80% of sales were digital across PS4&5.

I see a lot of people talking about not owning anything, despite the repeatedly spoken about "physical" releases that are either a code in a box or a link to the download store. For many games there's been nothing in the box that you can play without an internet connection and a bit of a wait. In that sense, I think non-digital ownership is over, even on the Switch where some games have shipped with an incomplete game on the cartridge.

Digital makes some sense on pc.
You can get steam keys from many many places. And you get access to your game files and even return the game. Steam is amazing but thanks to how open the pc and market is.

But psn and Xbox? They control their whole digital markets. No key resellers, no access to your files, nothing.

I think that's a misconception, I've bought maybe 5 physical Xbox games in the last ten years, the rest have all been digital and I've bought all of them from online sites like CDKeys, etc who sell at a discount versus the Xbox store. Obviously this is different to the PC market where a publisher can sell direct, but you can still buy discount keys for Xbox at least, not sure if that's the same deal as Playstation.

 

[Zathalus]

Its what both Sony and Microsoft want, and judging by the sales numbers the majority of console owners as well. So its basically inevitable at this point.

 

[Bumblebeetuna]

Can't wait for those "adorable" digital prices that never go down once there's no other way to buy.

Prices go down to spur sales in all industries and even in digital only PC markets and stores. No reason this wouldn’t happen on console.

 

[asdasdasdbb]

Yes, but on PC you can at least make your own backups (and the internet is basically one huge backup machine) if you wish to.

From a preservation standpoint, digital only consoles are bottom of the barrel.

This is why cloud needs to be rejected outright - it represents zero opportunity for preservation.

IOW piracy

 

[Fbh]

When you have less ownership over your games than ever before and buying games on consoles is linked to a single monopolistic store:

 

[JCK75]

I've been digital only for a long time so long as they keep up the backwards compatibility trend. I'm good with it.. let's face reality games are getting so big. Blu-ray discs are not going to continue to contain them

 

[MaKTaiL]

I've been all digital since the beginning of PS4 era so nothing will change for me.

 

[deriks]

 

[Bumblebeetuna]

It seems a bit of a no-brainer for all the platform holders to go digital only, fewer overheads, better data and reporting, price control, etc. For those reasons, I don't see any reason to think that any system will have a disc drive once the next generation rolls around.
There's little to suggest that the audience isn't ready for it either, last year Sony reported that 80% of sales were digital across PS4&5.

I see a lot of people talking about not owning anything, despite the repeatedly spoken about "physical" releases that are either a code in a box or a link to the download store. For many games there's been nothing in the box that you can play without an internet connection and a bit of a wait. In that sense, I think non-digital ownership is over, even on the Switch where some games have shipped with an incomplete game on the cartridge.



I think that's a misconception, I've bought maybe 5 physical Xbox games in the last ten years, the rest have all been digital and I've bought all of them from online sites like CDKeys, etc who sell at a discount versus the Xbox store. Obviously this is different to the PC market where a publisher can sell direct, but you can still buy discount keys for Xbox at least, not sure if that's the same deal as Playstation.

Sony stopped selling game codes for their store sometime last gen.

 

[Tal Shiar Agent]

Digital only means no buy from me.

I'll buy games digitally when and if I decide it's worth the loss in ownership. Otherwise it's disc or nothing.

 

[Kacho]

I’ve been all digital for nearly a decade but I’m in for the meltdowns

 

[rofif]

It seems a bit of a no-brainer for all the platform holders to go digital only, fewer overheads, better data and reporting, price control, etc. For those reasons, I don't see any reason to think that any system will have a disc drive once the next generation rolls around.
There's little to suggest that the audience isn't ready for it either, last year Sony reported that 80% of sales were digital across PS4&5.

I see a lot of people talking about not owning anything, despite the repeatedly spoken about "physical" releases that are either a code in a box or a link to the download store. For many games there's been nothing in the box that you can play without an internet connection and a bit of a wait. In that sense, I think non-digital ownership is over, even on the Switch where some games have shipped with an incomplete game on the cartridge.



I think that's a misconception, I've bought maybe 5 physical Xbox games in the last ten years, the rest have all been digital and I've bought all of them from online sites like CDKeys, etc who sell at a discount versus the Xbox store. Obviously this is different to the PC market where a publisher can sell direct, but you can still buy discount keys for Xbox at least, not sure if that's the same deal as Playstation.

It's not like that with psn. cdkeys is not selling psn games

 

[dorkimoe]

I think it would push me out of gaming. I want the OPTION of physical. I can resell games, get them used for 75% cheaper and dont have to worry about them getting removed

 

[Mr Reasonable]

Sony stopped selling game codes for their store sometime last gen.

It's not like that with psn. cdkeys is not selling psn games

Huh, interesting that Sony are reporting such a high proportion of digital sales. There are hardly any games I'll pay full price for, I'm surprised that so many people are prepared to do so. You'd think that would be some kind of enticement to buy physical - able to resell, discounts, etc. In that light, it would appear that people are choosing digital, rather than it being forced upon them, which is how a lot of people feel, I'm sure.

 

[DonkeyPunchJr]

I’m already all digital on Steam and PS5, mostly digital on Switch.

I see 0 benefit from physical personally. I’m not going to dig up a disc from a 15 year old game just so I can play an unpatched v1.0 version.

Only reason I have physical Switch games is because that makes it easier in a household with multiple Switches and multiple users.

 

[ShadyAcshuns]

Prices go down to spur sales in all industries and even in digital only PC markets and stores. No reason this wouldn’t happen on console.

I don't know about that... I've been looking at some digital PS4 titles that are always $60 and never have digital sales. Like the Nights of Azure games for instance. The physical games are out of print and expensive, but the digital versions never go on sale.

 

[Topher]

Xbox might as well be all-digital with Game Pass, but I hope PlayStation holds out another gen. Gaming is going to be a lot more expensive if I can't resell or rent games.

 

[Bumblebeetuna]

I don't know about that... I've been looking at some digital PS4 titles that are always $60 and never have digital sales. Like the Nights of Azure games for instance. The physical games are out of print and expensive, but the digital versions never go on sale.

There are exceptions to everything. I wouldn’t say physical games never go down in price just because Nintendo games don’t go down.

It’s a fact of life that there are less incentives for publishers to lower digital prices. But they do still have price drops and sales. And since it’s Xbox and not PlayStation, you do still have the option to shop around for digital keys for games.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

Guys, it’s fine, PC gaming is like that since years ago, you will survive.

 

[Rocco Schiavone]

Xbox might as well be all-digital with Game Pass, but I hope PlayStation holds out another gen. Gaming is going to be a lot more expensive if I can't resell or rent games.

Sony will have a huge advantage If they release the PS6 with a disc drive.
Cyberpunkd
Less choice is better?? This is your argument??

 

[Go_Ly_Dow]

The majority of GAF isn't.

 

[Portugeezer]

But but there's no packaging and no costs to produce discs. Of course games will be cheaper If we go digital only.

Also don't have to worry about used game scumbags.

Embrace the all digital savings, they will surely come!

 

[Paasei]

No matter how they market it the answer will be no. It's convenient now, but once there's no way back you're going to get fucked over.

 

[ShadyAcshuns]

There are exceptions to everything. I wouldn’t say physical games never go down in price just because Nintendo games don’t go down.

It’s a fact of life that there are less incentives for publishers to lower digital prices. But they do still have price drops and sales. And since it’s Xbox and not PlayStation, you do still have the option to shop around for digital keys for games.

Plenty of other examples, like the Famicon Detective games that are digital-only, never gone on sale. Sekiro has probably never gone below $30, Nintendo games etc.

Once the PSN store or eshop is the only place to buy these games, we'll likely never see sales, but if we do it will be like two or three years down the road. Feels like the industry is going to crash again with nothing but digital, cloud and subs in the future.

 

[Sintoid]

Maybe, but not on Microsoft Systems

 

[Happosai]

If the consoles go digital only I'm switching to PC.

Now, that's not being adorable. But to be honest, I have a big enough physical backlog to hold me off another decade and PCs been there years. Although I do have a few adorable downloads from Steam.

 

[Robb]

I’m ready Phil-Senpai!

 

[Topher]

If the consoles go digital only I'm switching to PC.

Really physical games is the last incentive I have for buying games on console outside of getting Sony exclusives day one. If I'm going all-digital then it will be on Steam.

 

[TGO]

With Xbox it kinda makes sense as they don't actually buy games anyway

 

[Kataploom]

I am since 2012.

Hard to find and buy physical games in my country + First PC build.

Digital has been a godsend to me.

 

[Bumblebeetuna]

Plenty of other examples, like the Famicon Detective games that are digital-only, never gone on sale. Sekiro has probably never gone below $30, Nintendo games etc.

Once the PSN store or eshop is the only place to buy these games, we'll likely never see sales, but if we do it will be like two or three years down the road. Feels like the industry is going to crash again with nothing but digital, cloud and subs in the future.

Idk what Famicon Detective is but the GOTY version of Sekiro is on sale digital on the Xbox store for 1 cent less than $30 right now and you can buy a $12 key off eBay.

But you’re right there will be exceptions just like there are right now for physical games.

 

[angrod14]

The things you own end up owning you.