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Console Owners, will you go all Digital or all Physical next gen (XboxNext/PS5)

Console buyers, will you go all Digital or all Physical next gen?


  • Total voters
    183
You are doing god's work, Afro Republican Afro Republican . Don't let the haters stop you, ever.

As for me, physical all the way! I'll leave the PS Plus portion of my backlog be strictly digital unless the game is extraordinary in which case, I will purchase it physically for the purpose of having it as part of my collection.
 
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Kagero

Member
Until they lower the cost of digital, I'm sticking with physical out of principal. They are saving money on manufacturing and distributing and those saving should be considered and taken in to account for the consumer.
 

Pimpbaa

Member
All digital just like this gen. My local walmart is the only place to buy games and their selection is limited (rarely have niche titles) and waiting a week after a game is released to get a game delivered from amazon sucks. Plus my internet is great and can download even the biggest games within a few hours.
 

Iced Arcade

Member
All digital for the most part now.

Ironically i was pro physical BUT guess what games i still own from last gen... the digital copies due to being tied to my ms acct.
 

BlackTron

Member
Until they lower the cost of digital, I'm sticking with physical out of principal. They are saving money on manufacturing and distributing and those saving should be considered and taken in to account for the consumer.

I feel the same way, but understand their position. The issue is, gaming companies need to care about their relationship with retailers, who not only sell the same games, but are also necessary to distribute hardware. And retailers don't make much selling consoles -they do it as a door towards selling the games.

If you make those games available cheaper, without even going to the store, you piss those retailers off and you have a huge problem.
 

Codes 208

Member
Mixed. Digital if there’s a good sale or if I want to play launch night without having to go to the store.

Physical if I want to buy a cheaper pre-owned copy or use my Best Buy 20% discount.
 

RiccochetJ

Gold Member
I was all digital this gen with the exception of getting COD WWII bundled in when I bought my XB1X. I will be all digital next gen as well. Steam trained me during the 360 and PS3 era.

Actually, I'm wondering: Who here only buys physical copies of PC games? If it's an option of course.
 

GreatnessRD

Member
I'm more of a physical person who has a sprinkle of digital. I can't ever see a time with me going all digital. When that time comes for gaming, I'm retired with the hobby. The game industry is too shaky in today's climate. I'm all the way good on that.
 

ReBurn

Gold Member
It'll be digital. I'm over shuffling discs and I don't collect any more. I'll just buy during sales and play till I'm done.
 

Linkdevivo

Neo Member
I fail to understand why people choose digital over physical other than it's a bit more quality of life not having to get up and insert a disc (maybe playing it at midnight for an hour before going to sleep).

1. Digital games should cost less as they have no manufacturing costs from the disc, the case, the cover and the shipping costs to get the product to a middle man (which also takes a cut from the game). They cost exactly the same at launch either physical or digital, though. So with physical you're paying for a product that technically has more market value.

2. If you don't like it or already beat it you can sell it and recuperate some of your costs. This is impossible with digital games. It's always great to have a choice for gamers on a budget.

3. If you get banned or something happens to the server, say goodbye to your library of games. Honestly this seems very likely now-a-days where you get banned on platforms for disagreeing with what the left deems politically correct. (Sorry didn't mean to get political)

Guys (and gals), I highly advise you to keep buying physical, they'll always be yours no matter what, they can't be taken away from you.
 

Dr. Claus

Vincit qui se vincit
You missed the fact that you don't have to buy at higher-prices, wait for excruciatingly long downloads, then wait for install, then disinstall to make room for new games. I went almost all digital for last-gen but I see now the incentive in having a physical collection AND of actual ergonomics and usage: you just push the CD in and the game launches, minus occasional install.

Long downloads? None of mine have been more than a 20-30 minutes at *most*. On average it is like 4-5 minutes for waiting on games to install and download whatever day one update there is. As for disinstalling to make room - I don't have that issue. I have a two TB external for my PS4 and Xbox One and a large card for my Switch/3DS.

I can still sell, trade, or lend my game if I wanted to and play it 10-15 years in the future with little issues. Short term convenience means nothing to me when it provides long-term problems.
 

Rayderism

Member
Well, I'm all digital this gen (PS4 and Vita). I plan to go all digital again next-gen too. I know I'll eventually get burned by it, but oh well. I'm 51 years old, so I've gotten kind of used to disappointment. I'm just waiting to find out when and how it will happen. I think of it as an experiment. All I can say is, so far, so good, so let the experiment continue. I'm a glutton for punishment.
 

Virex

Banned
Physical all the way. Unless there is only a digital copy available. I see no worth in digital games as a whole. I like a physical collection and I will never buy a console that does not support physical media. I do have a feeling that this coming console gen will also be my last. I have all my old consoles as well with tons of games. So I can always go back to those in the future
 

Ridaxan

Member
I'm already all digital. I won't change that even when digital is more expensive than physical. I don't need the clutter in my life.
 

Kagey K

Banned
If Xcloud is going to work the way I think it does, and the fact I know I don’t do anything banworthy on Live I’m going to keep going digital.

The fact that my library keeps moving with me regardless of if I change consoles or move. I don’t have to worry about did I put the disc in the wrong case or is it one of those stacked in the pile of discs.

I just click it and it works. I can’t ask for more.
 

Kagey K

Banned
All physical or become a sole retro gamer 😂
I used to be that way. I remember during the 360 days I wouldn’t claim a game that was a Game with Gold if I owned the disc.

I was like, I own the disc, why do I want it digitally? That’s garbage.

Now I’m kicking my own ass for not redeeming some of them. It was short sighted of me.
 
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I always try and buy all physical anyways, just a personal preference for me, I like to have something in my hands for my money. Sometimes its unavoidable, there have been a handful of games like that for PSVR but I'll still keep trying.
 
Long downloads? None of mine have been more than a 20-30 minutes at *most*. On average it is like 4-5 minutes for waiting on games to install and download whatever day one update there is. As for disinstalling to make room - I don't have that issue. I have a two TB external for my PS4 and Xbox One and a large card for my Switch/3DS.

I can still sell, trade, or lend my game if I wanted to and play it 10-15 years in the future with little issues. Short term convenience means nothing to me when it provides long-term problems.

How can you sell, trade or lend digital and use it on current device 10-15 years in the future? You can't unfortunately.
 

Dr. Claus

Vincit qui se vincit
How can you sell, trade or lend digital and use it on current device 10-15 years in the future? You can't unfortunately.

...I don't. I use physical. I had misunderstood and thought you were talking about Physical having long downloads. That was my bad.
 
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kyubajin

Member
There won't be more consoles, Stadia all the way... Said no-one ever :D Jokes aside, all physical, I love having physical mementos of my games.
 

Leonidas

Member
I'd prefer to go all digital but I'll probably do what I did this gen.
Physical for Sony and Nintendo.
Digital for PC and Xbox.

Doesn't make sense for me to go all digital on platforms where I only plan on buying a handful of exclusives and I still don't know about future compatibility.
 
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Aurelian

my friends call me "Cunty"
All digital if I can. I don't like the thought of owning discs that take up space, require swapping, eventually decay into nothing, impose arbitrary limits on game sizes...

I respect people who prefer discs, especially if their internet connection doesn't make downloads realistic, but the future is digital.
 

Psykodad

Banned
All-digital.

As a father, buying digital is a no-brainer since I only need to buy a game once and still be able to install and use it on both my own system and my son's.
 
Digital future is now baby! I've been mostly digital for this gen anyways, the optic drive on my og ps4 shit the bed and I've gone entirely digital ever since.
 

Rest

All these years later I still chuckle at what a fucking moron that guy is.
I do not and will not pay to download games. If I buy something I want to own it, not be at the whim of whoever stores the game on their server if I ever need to install it again.
 
All-digital.

As a father, buying digital is a no-brainer since I only need to buy a game once and still be able to install and use it on both my own system and my son's.
Does your son moan about his HDD filling up with games he doesn't want, like mine does?
 

Mattyp

Gold Member
I fail to understand why people choose digital over physical other than it's a bit more quality of life not having to get up and insert a disc (maybe playing it at midnight for an hour before going to sleep).

1. Digital games should cost less as they have no manufacturing costs from the disc, the case, the cover and the shipping costs to get the product to a middle man (which also takes a cut from the game). They cost exactly the same at launch either physical or digital, though. So with physical you're paying for a product that technically has more market value.

2. If you don't like it or already beat it you can sell it and recuperate some of your costs. This is impossible with digital games. It's always great to have a choice for gamers on a budget.

3. If you get banned or something happens to the server, say goodbye to your library of games. Honestly this seems very likely now-a-days where you get banned on platforms for disagreeing with what the left deems politically correct. (Sorry didn't mean to get political)

Guys (and gals), I highly advise you to keep buying physical, they'll always be yours no matter what, they can't be taken away from you.

This, this so much. I would love to see a poll of the age of users going digital. I feel it has to be 21 and under age bracket and not seeing value of money spent yet.
 
home console is all physical
handheld is all digital (except for 1 physical game that stays in the slot.)

also, how is that OPs tag and not related to his polls?
 
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Mostly digital with the exception for exclusives or games I really love. A part of me still loves having a physical object to hold onto for experiences that I found special.
 

Shifty

Member
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Ozrimandias

Member
I fail to understand why people choose digital over physical other than it's a bit more quality of life not having to get up and insert a disc (maybe playing it at midnight for an hour before going to sleep).

1. Digital games should cost less as they have no manufacturing costs from the disc, the case, the cover and the shipping costs to get the product to a middle man (which also takes a cut from the game). They cost exactly the same at launch either physical or digital, though. So with physical you're paying for a product that technically has more market value.

2. If you don't like it or already beat it you can sell it and recuperate some of your costs. This is impossible with digital games. It's always great to have a choice for gamers on a budget.

3. If you get banned or something happens to the server, say goodbye to your library of games. Honestly this seems very likely now-a-days where you get banned on platforms for disagreeing with what the left deems politically correct. (Sorry didn't mean to get political)

Guys (and gals), I highly advise you to keep buying physical, they'll always be yours no matter what, they can't be taken away from you.


Personally i went almost all digital since the PS3. Why? Here are my reasons


- I tend to think that the life of your console increases because you are not forcing some mechanicals parts like the reading sensor of the CD Bluray or DVD. But thats me, i have no evidence to support this.

- I have a little room, as a father i have too much stuff in my house, so in "my" room, dedicate only to play games, i want to priorize space, i dont want to fill furniture and decks of boxes (i only maintain some boxes, like my chrono trigger from snes)

- Consolidate all my gaming expirience in one device, i want to play a game as faster i can. some times when its too late i dont want to engage in a long term session, i just play some Match from DBFZ, then i switch to Gran Turismo, only one or two races, then some Rainbow Six Siege Matches, a little bit of youtube, then i go to bed.


- Yes, I dont want to get up from the couch every time i just want to change a disc.
 

TeamGhobad

Banned
i have a tradition of buying a game at Gamestop. playing it, finishing it and trading it in and putting the money towards the next game i want to buy. only losing 10-15 dollars in the exchanges.
 

kittoo

Cretinously credulous
I will be mostly physical, as far as possible. I like to have a tangible collection and also to be able to sell them afterwards.
But in rare cases where the game isnt being physically released in my region or when i am absolutely dying to play it the minute it gets unlocked, i might go digital.
I see a 90/10 split in favour of physical for me.
 
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