Yes, I was very pro-physical before but now I basically wouldn’t buy a boxed game unless it was super cheap and I just wanted to play through it the one time. I don’t want game boxes lying around my house.
And yeah, I totally get the issue with “never owning your collection” but:
- I don’t want a “collection”, I want a box under my tv and a controller I can stick in a drawer
- The convenience of having everything right there in a menu just works for me
- I’m not all that into replaying games these days, my backlog is huge as it is
- If I haven’t played a particular game by the time it is erased from digital history then I was probably never going to play it
Yup.
The disc is just a means of delivery, not any real proof of ownership anymore.
And the carbon footprint of that delivery method is insane compared to sending some 1’s and 0’s down a cable.
"I’m not all that into replaying games these days, my backlog is huge as it is "
But doesnt this point actually go against digital games?
I mean, you can sell physical games if you dont replay them, but when you buy digital games -> 100% of your money is gone, when you dont replay them.
As an example buying games new on launch.
New digital games = usually 69,90€
New physical games = usually 49,90-59,90€ (at launch week, then it goes up 10-20€ in my country at least)
sell physical game within 2 weeks = I get usually 40-50€
sell phyiscal game within 2-3 months = i get usually 25-45€
So in the worst case digital game costs 20€ more at launch while physical game can be sold with 5-10€ loss in the best case.
Even if using 69,90€ for both versions, physical games basically cost 10-30€ to play & resell
From financial standpoint digital games just dont make sense, until they are discounted to 5-20€ range, when they cost about the same as what you lose at buying & selling physical games.
Then there is the possibility to buy games used within 1-2 weeks from launch for 35-45€, play it, sell it for what you paid or even few euros more than that.
I have done this for years or even few decades till now, and it is almost always easy to find used like new copy for 35-45€ soon after the launch + it is really easy to re-sell them. Take 1 pic, add it to online fleemarket/auction, someone buys it, insert it to prepaid letter and send it next time going out. So it does take only few minutes of active time. (no pickups, just ship by postal service and buyer pays the fees)
financially physical games are superior, because artificial limitations (cant sell or give away digital games)
as user experience digital games are nicer, no need to switch discs etc.
I personally use both, I get digital if it costs what is it worth aka 5-15€, otherwise I get physical version from launch week sale or used copy and sell or keep it.
with buying & selling at least some of the games, gamer can easily play like 6 times as many games / year than someone whom buys them full price digitally.
