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[Madserb2023]

I prefer physical games but it is getting to the point that owning a physical game today is becoming increasingly pointless in the long term. If servers go down you will either be left with a game that completely can't be played especially if most of the game's content is not on the disc and if you can it will be without patches. Which means most games today will be borderline unplayable in the future. Even Tears of the Kingdom has a day one patch that massively improves performance. That won't be accessible in the future.

 

[DonJimbo]

Both for me, specially when there are sales and game that are very expensive and rare but are dirt cheap digital

 

[Con-Z-epT]

All digital with very few exceptions starting this generation. Not really going to be any “rare” physical games moving forward and the physical products themselves are more bare bones than ever with zero manuals and flimsier cases than ever.

Hell now that we’re firmly in the territory where you can’t even count on the entire game being on the disc, I don’t see the point.

I did bought many releases physically for last gen and even some for the current. At least in the beginning. It's still exciting to some extend.

But many indie and niche games don't even have physical releases anymore.

To a high degree I'm forced into buying digital releases.

 

[Flutta]

 

[Elder Legend]

The copium for wanting physical media to die is real. Keep supporting anti-consumer practices and I hope you have some cream for the butt-hurt.

Anti-consumer? Lol. No one is forcing you to buy or participate in this hobby if you don't want too. And the industry is changing whether you like it or not.

And I never said I want physical media to die. I am simply stating facts that it's going to be dead in a matter of time. If you don't see the writing on the wall and you are not able to read the market that's not anyone else's fault but yours.

The fact that you think that I am upset is kind of flattering. I'll take it as a compliment my friend.

 

[Onironauta]

Physical for full priced games (Nintendo), digital for cheap (max 15-20 bucks) games on sale

 

[delirium trigger]

We've already heard this song before this gen arrived. Sony and MS would have to make an unofficial deal to phase off the drives, because otherwise the hardware without one will get all the hate during launch... and we all know how controversial decisions have affected launches for consoles like the Xbox One.

Assuming the next gen launch is roughly 8-10 years away, discs are toast by then. They're going the way of the cd and vhs.

 

[thefool]

Not your disc, not your game.

 

[zcaa0g]

Not this shit again.

 

[angrod14]

Sony and MS will not cut out the possibility of a drive. The customers themselves will. Both companies will release all digital consoles that support an external disc-drive that no one will end up purchasing. The same way Apple stopped shipping a disc drive inside macbooks while offering an external drive no one ever bought.

 

[Deerock71]

Physical really feels pointless these days.

Digital literally is pointless.

 

[angrod14]

Once we start getting physical games with 3 UHD Blu rays to contain the whole game people will just stop bothering. Same thing that happened to PC.

 

[struggler_guts]

Digital all the way, gimme dat early access

 

[Dr. Claus]

I prefer physical games but it is getting to the point that owning a physical game today is becoming increasingly pointless in the long term. If servers go down you will either be left with a game that completely can't be played especially if most of the game's content is not on the disc and if you can it will be without patches. Which means most games today will be borderline unplayable in the future. Even Tears of the Kingdom has a day one patch that massively improves performance. That won't be accessible in the future.

Again, most games on disk are playable offline with no patches and no issues aside the 0.1% chance of a bug or glitch for most games.

Anti-consumer? Lol. No one is forcing you to buy or participate in this hobby if you don't want too. And the industry is changing whether you like it or not.

And I never said I want physical media to die. I am simply stating facts that it's going to be dead in a matter of time. If you don't see the writing on the wall and you are not able to read the market that's not anyone else's fault but yours.

The fact that you think that I am upset is kind of flattering. I'll take it as a compliment my friend.

Then you know nothing of the industry. Unlike PCs, which are almost always connected to the internet as they are internet based devices by and large and primarily used for work, consoles are not. Hundreds of GB to download a game, tens of millions of consumers are stuck under data caps, have weak and unstable internet, and are largely unable to maintain long internet connections even with the "best" internet available in their region. This isn't limited to 2nd or 3rd world countries, but US, England, Japan, Germany, Australia, and many other places.

No publisher worth their salt is going to actively push out such a large portion of their paying customer base. Companies want money and they aren't going to purposefully throw it away. Your claims that it is "the future" is wholly ignorant of the industry and the consumer base.

 

[The Shepard]

Who pays RRP for digital? You can get cheap store credit from loads of shops online, especially for Playstation. I buy a mixture of digital and physical, if I'm keeping it tends to be digital minus Nintendo games as they tend to hold value and don't trust switch games will be backwards compatible with the next console.

 

[badblue]

Don't a lot of physical copy's still require you to download stuff regardless?

Seems moot if your SOL without a internet connection in either case.

 

[TLZ]

I don't even think the next gen consoles will have disc drives. You're gonna want to have a digital license over a disc going forward.

We've heard/read this for 2 generations now.

 

[Elder Legend]

We've heard/read this for 2 generations now.

And every generation has been getting closer and closer to a less physical future and more digital based. I don't understand how hard it is for people to grasp that eventually physical will be completely cut off. The digital sales of games have also been over taking.

Sony is even offering a console without a disk drive. Xbox Series S also has no disk drive and the machine is solely made for cloud gaming and Game Pass subscriptions.

People who build PCs don't even put in disc drives anymore in their machine for years. They are pointless. All of their library of games is on Steam which is a massive digital platform or Origin and Epic Games.

 

[TLZ]

And every generation has been getting closer and closer to a less physical future and more digital based. I don't understand how hard it is for people to grasp that eventually physical will be completely cut off. The digital sales of games have also been over taking.

Sony is even offering a console without a disk drive. Xbox Series S also has no disk drive and the machine is solely made for cloud gaming and Game Pass subscriptions.

People who build PCs don't even put in disc drives anymore in their machine for years. They are pointless. All of their library of games is on Steam which is a massive digital platform or Origin and Epic Games.

Convenience matters more to people, but physical is still doing great despite all the doom. It still has a place for a lot of us. It might completely take over when us older gens all go extinct.

 

[Bonfires Down]

I’m on PC so not much choice.

But I am surprised about how popular digital has gotten on console. It is both more expensive and you can’t resell. The sub services are great value though and there are some good digital sales for older games.

 

[Bojanglez]

Imagine having to get out of your seat to change games and not being able to simultaneously play a single purchase on two consoles at the same time with your family

 

[rofif]

HELL yes op! Physical is great.

You can sell it, which I don't practice too much but I did sold Detroit and Calisto Protocol for like 30-40$ after finishing because I didn't like them.
It's cheaper new and outside of digital sales.. Digital is cheaper down the line on sales.
You kinda almost own it. At least in the sense that it works offline and nobody is taking the game away
You can play 1.0 unpatched which is a nice curiosity.
Install from disc is around 35MB/s ~300mbit. PSN speeds are crap. I have 600mbit internet and I rarely get those speeds from psn.
Obviously hack proof and ban proof. Not attached to your account.
You get plenty of stuff with some editions. Elden Ring was cheaper on disc and got plenty of stuff in the box. Some games do that
As for the cons - the main one is that there is no ability to store patches or dlc like there was on 360. I would love that.
Important website: https://www.doesitplay.org/?welcome
You get to see if the game works offline, if it requires a download and so on. Mandatory

And of course. You get to display it! I modified my shelves and finally have plenty of space to display all my games. bins on the bottom for controller and cables.
I don't have THAT many games sadly but keep in mind that consoles were always supplementary exclusive boxes for me as I have 600 steam games on pc.
This is changing recently as I sometimes prefer to buy game on ps5 since pc is crap recently, or epic exclusive and so on.
If I ever get enough ps4/5 games, I can start retiring 360 games to the bin

 

[MasterCornholio]

I still go with Physical. Usually because I get better deals with physical copies.

 

[Trumpets]

All digital with very few exceptions starting this generation. Not really going to be any “rare” physical games moving forward and the physical products themselves are more bare bones than ever with zero manuals and flimsier cases than ever.

Hell now that we’re firmly in the territory where you can’t even count on the entire game being on the disc, I don’t see the point.

The Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster Collection says 'hello'.

 

[Captain Toad]

Again, most games on disk are playable offline with no patches and no issues aside the 0.1% chance of a bug or glitch for most games.

Lol.

Oh, wait, you're serious?

 

[Gambit2483]

Physical really feels pointless these days.

Not if you have a huge game collection. Digital only eats up hard drive space...real quick.

 

[Luigi Mario]

Lol.

Oh, wait, you're serious?

While his percentages might be too optimistic, he is absolutely correct about most physical releases on Switch, PS4 and PS5 being playable without a day 1 patch.

 

[BennyBlanco]

I like physical copies of games that I really enjoy. Only physical copies I’ve bought in the past few years are Bayo 3 and Metroid Prime Remaster. I don’t need or want a bunch of physical media taking up space in my house. If you’re buying games then reselling them, you might as well use a rental service like gamefly.

 

[Rocco Schiavone]

I'm not stupid.

Always physical. I still buy new CDs.

 

[ReBurn]

I'm too lazy for physical. GameFly is as close as I get these days. I don't have the patience for the clutter of a physical collection. I'm not going to the store to trade and I'm not going through the hassle of selling my old games on eBay or whatever. I'm perfectly happy owning nothing and I love it.

 

[El Muerto]

Always physical, except for steam but they're so cheap i dont mind. I can always sell the games if needed. You also never know which games will explode in value. Some games i held onto like Lollipop Chainsaw, Transformers Devastation, TMNT Mutants in Manhattan, all went up in price, bought them literally for $5ea years ago and sell for $50 easy today. My video game collection is performing better than my Schwab account.

 

[Werewolf Jones]

Depends if you can get the physical.

 

[pauljeremiah]

I'm all digital for games. I haven't bought a physical game since the end of the PS3 generation.

Though I am still mostly phycial when it comes to movies.

 

[DenchDeckard]

Always buy physical for ps5 and 90 percent of switch.

Bought jedi survivor on disk too as I'll want to trade it in once I'm done.

I basically trade in all story games then if its really special I buy it on sale digitally later.

 

[Rockondevil]

Physical as long as I can.
The prices are generally better and I can trade them in when I'm done with them effectively reducing the cost further.

 

[ShadyAcshuns]

Physical first, digital in an emergency, and for small indies.

 

[Captain Toad]

Not if you have a huge game collection. Digital only eats up hard drive space...real quick.

You have to install the games and patches anyway.

 

[lachesis]

I like collecting physical games, so physical is good... except these days the disc/cartridge themselves don't mean anything w/o day1 patch to begin with.

I miss the days when you bake the gold, it is what it is - than trying to mend it afterwards.

 

[Gambit2483]

You have to install the games and patches anyway.

I was thinking mostly about Switch. I have over 200 games (don't judge ) and that's only because I have most of it (about 70%) physical. There's no way I could do that digital only.

 

[T4keD0wN]

I havent bought a physical game in 11 years, but even i know team physical is better, i hope you guys win, not just in this thread, but even in the real world .

 

[Skifi28]

Digital literally is pointless.

If the point of gaming is to play games, I'd say they both serve the same purpose.

 

[ShadyAcshuns]

The copium for wanting physical media to stay is real. Digital is the future whether you like it or not. Honestly, I used To be a collector and a fan of having stacks of boxes but as I got older I really don't have time anymore to stand there and go through the boxes to find the right game and then get up and put it on a console. Digital is just way to convenient and I cannot go back.

The only physical stuff I care for are like limited edition. Particularly Blizzard titles, their collector editions are very good. I also never open them and keep them sealed as a show piece.

And guess what? If "we don't like it", then we don't have to buy it. Don't cry game sales plummet and then cost a small fortune on a digital story front that becomes a monopoly.

 

[Puscifer]

Hmmm it's as if digital stores never have sales!!! Nice try op

It took hitman 3 over a year to hit 30 bucks, a price that was common for used copies on eBay a month after it came out.

My thing is that it's fine if you want to go digital, I'm not stopping you, but the people attacking folks for how they choose to purchase something is what's bizarre to me and how publishers are allowing developers to basically force their users into digital with having the disc be a download key is bothersome.

 

[delirium trigger]

We've heard/read this for 2 generations now.

Because it's happening. Both sony and microsoft released versions of their consoles without disc drives. Discs are going the way of the dodo bird.

 

[Mr Reasonable]

Physical is just landfill.

 

[rofif]

Physical is just landfill.

Have you ever thrown a game in garbage?
I certainly have never seen a game in the dump or seen anyone throw away games ever.
It's the kind of item that will always find some owner.

Besides. Running servers is not free either. Disc you produce once. Servers you have to continue hosting.... but yeah. in general if games were scrapped more, I could see a problem

 

[nemiroff]

I do not understand why some people want to deal with physical format, it doesn't make much sense from my perspective - Especially in 2023. But if that's what some people want then good for them I say. I see not wrong with, people are different, and it doesn't affect me.

 

[MikeM]

I have been making my way back to physical on console simply because I have to fo digital with PC.

Plus, I have something of value I can resell with physical. Or I can lend it out without limits.

 

[Darchaos]

Even though i dont buy physical games anymore, i know that buying physical game is the better choice. Maybe not an investment, but sit on them for as long that you want to and them sell them, if you want to. If only i had all the physical games i bought during my life still in my hands.

 

[Barakov]

HELL yes op! Physical is great.

You can sell it, which I don't practice too much but I did sold Detroit and Calisto Protocol for like 30-40$ after finishing because I didn't like them.
It's cheaper new and outside of digital sales.. Digital is cheaper down the line on sales.
You kinda almost own it. At least in the sense that it works offline and nobody is taking the game away
You can play 1.0 unpatched which is a nice curiosity.
Install from disc is around 35MB/s ~300mbit. PSN speeds are crap. I have 600mbit internet and I rarely get those speeds from psn.
Obviously hack proof and ban proof. Not attached to your account.
You get plenty of stuff with some editions. Elden Ring was cheaper on disc and got plenty of stuff in the box. Some games do that
As for the cons - the main one is that there is no ability to store patches or dlc like there was on 360. I would love that.
Important website: https://www.doesitplay.org/?welcome
You get to see if the game works offline, if it requires a download and so on. Mandatory

And of course. You get to display it! I modified my shelves and finally have plenty of space to display all my games. bins on the bottom for controller and cables.
I don't have THAT many games sadly but keep in mind that consoles were always supplementary exclusive boxes for me as I have 600 steam games on pc.
This is changing recently as I sometimes prefer to buy game on ps5 since pc is crap recently, or epic exclusive and so on.
If I ever get enough ps4/5 games, I can start retiring 360 games to the bin

Why do have two copies of Prey on 360? Not complaining just seems weird.