• Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!

Buying physical games in 2021

Physical media.

Happy Cracking Up GIF by Regal
 
DevilMayFlyForAWhiteGuy said:
I gotta say, popping the Metroid Dread cart into the Switch and having to only wait 1 minute for a small update was way better than popping the Alan Wake remastered disc into the Series X and waiting for a huge X/S update to download.

That's just the nature of it though. Next gen consoles need more space whether you have a disc or not, and a lot of that gets handled on the digital end. I still rather have the disc so I can lend it to people. Way less hassle than digital game sharing.

Probably gonna do some research and only buy Switch games that don't require separate downloads for the other half of the game too.
Click to expand...
Ps5 sizes are smaller than PS4.
also. Why is psn so damn slow
 
Last edited:
I get physical when the price is better or when it's something I know I'm going to enjoy enough to put it on my bookshelf. Buying digital doesn't feel like a big event and I find it's easier to forget about games when they're hidden away in your digital library alongside all the random trash you buy or download.
 
Last edited:
I get the "collection " angle but i usually just toss my old games in the trash when theyre old. They just kinda go into a cabinet then one day im like "i havent played these in forever" and just toss em. Can't really say im nostalgic for old games at all. And selling them isnt worth my time. 100% digital and happy with it.

Also no discs that get scratched or damaged. No clutter around the room. A console, a controller, a headset, done.
 
My friend just borrowed RE 1-8 from me and he let me borrow AC Valhalla in return. Not the greatest of exchanges, I know but that's the reason I buy physical.
 
Tried to play MK11 after installing it. Downloaded multiple updates. Put the disc in my series X and discovered I couldn't play the single player campaign. Had to do a Google search to find out why and look at multiple old forum threads and YouTube videos before finding out what I needed to do to install the single player campaign. Why do games have to be like this now? Cryptic, impenetrable, just fucking broken in general.
 
KingGhidorah said:
Physical games will always be more desirable than digital, people like to collect, like to display/show off/talk about their collection.....
Click to expand...
Narrator: people do not desire it.

Unless you are a collector, physical games is worthless to you.

You can make more money selling your account, than physical games.

As more people get in to digital world, more people will not buy physical games.
 
I buy physical for the Switch. Takes up hardly any storage space and you can resell the games for quite a bit.
So far I am going digital with the PS5. Everything will probably be backward compatible in the future at this rate so there's no hair loss worrying about playing something down the road. Also the games lose 75% of the value in a year, so it's not worth selling them unless you do it in the first month or so.
 
I've gotten 2 games on physical in years. Cyberpunk because it was a gift. And I just bought death stranding physical for mad cheap so I can get ps5 directors cut for like 20 bucks combines

I personally would prefer discs if I didn't switch games so much and wasn't a lazy fuck to change em out lol.
 
If I ever buy another console (be it XSX, PS5 or beyond), it'll always be physical disk. Especially this day in age with how they handle games.
 
Mimicking a lot of other comments, I do personally prefer physical but cannot deny that digital is the eventual end goal.

I won't make that switch though until we can get some parity between physical and digital costs.

I picked up FFVII: R Intergrade for PS5 for £25 physically when it is still £70 on the store.

I was always told that the cost of manuals, physical packaging and the disc ramped up the costs of physical releases and that digital would be much cheaper. I see that with PC but don't see that with consoles yet. It may not be greed, but it smacks of it, which is another reason I just cannot bring myself to go digital-only yet (Unless the game is superb - Disco Elysium for example is just worth every penny).
 
Generally I'm all digital but just couple of days ago I took my used games to a store and got 88 € for them - which I used to buy both GotG and Miles Moralea for only 20 €. So there's upside for physical too.
 
I used to be all physical for games. Then I saw the light and went to digital downloads.

No I've seen the new light with subscription models combined with cloud gaming. Two wonder benefits of these.

First, I don't need to install huge patches and wait hours the game to download.

Second, but this one is more for the future, no more spending money on a single game.

I did, however enjoy the collecting aspect of a physical game collection, but I don't see how they could implement this with a streaming and subscription service model?
 
Physical for me is always cheaper. Unless it's games that goes on sale for £5 digital or it's a multiplayer game I want to play and have always installed (not many of these as Im not into multiplayer games much).

The day PlayStation goes full digital and no physical option I will go to PC and never look back. Yes I understand PC is digital only but I'll end up probably pirating on PC or buying from other regions etc.

I personally feel like we will one day have digital only that's why I'm not going getting myself too much into any ecosystem. I don't have a big digital library, and I don't collect physical games I just sell after I'm done. So the day PlayStation goes digital only it will be way to change ecosystems.
 
I still lean towards physical but I'll buy a downloadable indie game from time to time in hopes of supporting it enough that one day it will get a physical release..(Stardew Valley, etc..). It's definitely rough for us old timers to pop in a disc or cartridge and have a massive patch to install. 😄
 
Yeah, the last physical game I bought was Demon Souls remake for ps5, and that was only cause I found it for 50 on Craigslist when it was still a new release. Before that I don't know how long it had been, probably before Covid restrictions. But I agree with the sentiment that buying physical mean very little in an age where so many discs are just cd Keys and many games require a hefty day one update anyway. Also storing and retrieving discs is a hassle I don't want anymore when downloading a file is so easy and fast.
 
I dont even know what the point of buying discs is anymore you still have to install more than half the game before you are allowed to play it. I dont get why ps5 games or xbox games cant run off the disc anymore
 
Umbasaborne said:
I dont even know what the point of buying discs is anymore you still have to install more than half the game before you are allowed to play it. I dont get why ps5 games or xbox games cant run off the disc anymore
Click to expand...
Rocco Schiavone Rocco Schiavone do you know why games cant just run off the disc right away anymore? Im asking completley honestly here. Im confused because i buy physical ps5 games but they still need to install and download so much data before i can play them.
 
Cattlyst said:
Today I got the physical versions of COD: Modern Warfare (2019) and Mortal Kombat 11. Its been about 4 hours since I got home with them, and I still can't play either in my Series X. Both need massive downloads, and even though COD is apparently 'ready to play,' it won't launch and keeps freezing my console. Imagine teling your 1990s self that this would be the future of console gaming. Smh.
Click to expand...
I think it wouldn't be an issue except for the XSX 'upgrade'. I bought GOTG the other day and it downloaded the game as an 'upgrade' I think it downloads the whole thing in order to do that. Yeah it sucks. I have to understand that when I get a physical game I won't be able to play it until maybe the next day (if I start around 5 or so).
 
Syphon Filter said:
People still buy disks?
Click to expand...
Nope, not really. The UK physical sales charts crew on gaf think that people still buy physical more than anything but the reality is they're all arguing over a few thousand copies a month.

By the end of next year it's almost guaranteed that digital game sales will make up over 90% of all game sales on consoles. By the end of this gen it will be over 95% pretty much guaranteed. Much like what happened with music and movies/tv shows, when people get a taste of the benefits of digital they don't go back.
 
Deerock71 said:
But it didn't kill physical formats. If fuggin' CDs are still kicking around, then physical video games will still be a thing.
Click to expand...
It's different. If Sony and Microsoft no longer put disc drives in their hardware, it's over.

Anyone can still make record players and so there will still be SOME putting out vinyls.

But, PlayStation and Xbox are closed systems. A third-party isn't going to make a PS6 or PS7 with a disc drive just so someone can make disc versions of PlayStation games that otherwise don't exist.
 
Captain Toad said:
It's different. If Sony and Microsoft no longer put disc drives in their hardware, it's over.

Anyone can still make record players and so there will still be SOME putting out vinyls.

But, PlayStation and Xbox are closed systems. A third-party isn't going to make a PS6 or PS7 with a disc drive just so someone can make disc versions of PlayStation games that otherwise don't exist.
Click to expand...
Well that's a valid point. If that happens...
Im Out Shark Tank GIF by ABC Network
 
Physical whenever possible. I understand the convenience of not having to swap discs or save for shelf space, but purchasing digital games is giving your ownership away. Your purchases no longer have any value whatsoever. Every digital game you purchase will eventually be taken away from when the servers go down.
 
Last edited:
At the least the first-party games on the Switch still have a pretty great track record here. I know because we have the main Switch in the living room, and another Switch Lite that is kept offline. I can't recall any game refusing to boot up immediately when we put it in the Lite.

Unfortunately, Nintendo is just about the only company who cares anymore about this, and it's mostly because they have to support families where the kid's Switch very often will just be for roadtrips and never connected.
 
Deerock71 said:
But it didn't kill physical formats. If fuggin' CDs are still kicking around, then physical video games will still be a thing.
Click to expand...
I collect classic games, also buy series x physical games, but PS5 I'm digital first of all, in this case they're trying to make it where you can get both my point was mp3, and streaming did more damage to cds than digital stores like psn has done to physical games.
 
MasterDerico said:
Imagine telling your 1990's self the most praised games in the future are interactive movies with zero challenge, microtransactions, and progressive agenda to turn teen into nocive minds...
Click to expand...
I feel like I'm missing something with this statement.

It seems like an indictment of video game media and reviewers, who are creating an atmosphere for these products you deem hazardous to prosper.

But... by acknowledging and referencing them, it almost sounds like you subscribe to their views, in a way? I'm under the impression there are a lot of games available that don't fall into any of those categories. If I'm not mistaken, then that would seem to indicate there is healthy demand for all kinds of titles. Why go out of your way to highlight the stuff you dislike instead of promoting the things you do?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Boxroom, a virtual physical collection of your digital games.
Social News 
0
115
Holammer replied
Disney ALLEGEDLY considering buying Epic Games & Fortnite.
News  2
71
544
AJUMP23 replied
  • Poll
Do you think Nintendo is reducing the price of digital games or increasing the price of physical ones?
2
56
354
VGA-Games replied
I made physical media for my PC Games
Cringe  2
50
841
MidGenRefresh replied
Physical Media Making A Return
2 3
104
1K
Lambogenie replied
Top Bottom