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Physical or Digital for your games?
- Thread starter h0mebas3
- Start date
chromhound
Member
Always
Stuart360
Member
Well on PC i have little choice, but i would still buy digital anyway. Its so much easier, and with fibre internet it can be way quicker downloading a game than it would be for me to catch a bus into the city, buy the game, then get back home. Plus then you have to install the game anyway which happens as you download with digital.
Also if you know where to look, you can buy digital PC games so much cheaper tha physical.
Also if you know where to look, you can buy digital PC games so much cheaper tha physical.
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...Always
Miyazaki’s Slave
Gold Member
Both. I routinely buy digital copies for ease of console/system install and when the physical games go on sale (or same day if I am gooning over a particular release) I will buy the physical copy as well.
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BossLackey
Gold Member
Needs a third option. It really depends on the game.
Small indie or arcadey games I go digital. Bigger budget games I go physical.
Just feels right.
Small indie or arcadey games I go digital. Bigger budget games I go physical.
Just feels right.
delirium trigger
Member
Digital games are a game changer. I remember back in the day thinking one day we wouldn't have to drive to the store to play a game and it finally happened. And the biggest advantage is not having to put in a different disc to change games. You can easily just bounce from game to game. It's made gaming infinitely better.
chromhound
Member
Mostly physical for games like Call of Duty, Halo, Elden Ring, etc . Digital for indie games
Faust
Perpetually Tired
I will always choose Physical. Digital is a nice option, but it should only ever be an option. Not the sole means of which you buy a product. I prefer owning a game that I know I can play in 20 years. I have lost thousands of dollars of purchases in digital due to stores shutting down and services being closed.
Alter_Fridge
Member
Generally speaking
PC = Digital
Console = Physical
PC = Digital
Console = Physical
Stuart360
Member
Outside of maybe some special edition. or short run version, Xbox 5 and PS6 will almost certainly not have a drive, not in the main console anyway. By the time we reach the end of this gen, digital will probably be 95%+ on both, hell Xbox is nearly there already.
Faust
Perpetually Tired
And that will be the day I stop playing modern games. I refuse to support regressive, anti consumer practices such as that.
killatopak
Member
Physical. I like owning stuff. I like borrowing and getting borrowed from. I like sharing.
I enjoy pre-patched games with exploits and bugs and such.
I enjoy pre-patched games with exploits and bugs and such.
LordBlodgett
Member
Used to be all physical, but I've gradually been making the move to digital as sales have come up and I can replace games that way. My perspective on life has changed, and I no longer feel the need to collect physical things. I prefer less clutter in my life
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Ozzy Onya A2Z
Member
Digital unless I want a case or something to keep/show. The games I play are server based mostly and won't run on a local console in 10-20 years anyhow.
Makoto-Yuki
Banned
digital mostly.
i was all digital on playstation and xbox last gen. on PC i'm obviously all digital but on Switch I have physical. there's just something about cartridges i love and Nintendo games hold good value so it actually makes sense to buy physical. if you sell them you can get most of your money back. with playstation or xbox games you get next to fuck all back.
i was all digital on playstation and xbox last gen. on PC i'm obviously all digital but on Switch I have physical. there's just something about cartridges i love and Nintendo games hold good value so it actually makes sense to buy physical. if you sell them you can get most of your money back. with playstation or xbox games you get next to fuck all back.
Stuart360
Member
Problem is even if Xbox5/PS6 launched with a drive, it would probably be what happened with PC, its just a disk with a license on it and you still have to download the game anyway, or the bulk of the game.
I think thats best case scenario though, and i dont really see Microsft or Sony even doing that, not if we are at 95%+ digital sales by the end of this gen.
Darchaos
Gold Member
Like today i logged in on gamepass and saw a couple of games i wanted to try out and or have missed out on. So i played Warhammer III and Train sim 3 and the new Disney game. On my ps5 i have hardcopys of Returnal, Scarlet Nexus, Death Stranding, Spider man-Miles Morales etc etc still in a plastic, not opened at all. I dont really give a shit, i see it i buy it, or i wait and buy a physical copy, depends on my mind.
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Cornbread78
Member
Jrpgs, physical
Switch, physical
MP games always digital
Most everything else is digital now
Switch, physical
MP games always digital
Most everything else is digital now
Miyazaki’s Slave
Gold Member
Can you provide some background on the stores that shuttered and caused you to lose purchased goods?
Maybe I am sheltered here in the US, but based on the 20K+ digital purchases I have made over the years (well...a lot of those came as free digital movie version of physical copies I purchased) I have never lost access to content. My service may have been shuttered, but my content was moved to a new platform/offered for download.
I buy mostly digital because I don't resell and have multiple consoles so playing on any without figuring out which disc it's in is a plus. Also I play couch co-op on online only co-op games on multiple consoles using the home console trick. All my consoles and even my PC have a disc drive though and I will never understand those who want an all digital only future. Choice is good.
Faust
Perpetually Tired
Wii, PS3 (lost my account during the great hack and Sony did nothing to help get it back). While Steam is still around, I did lose my account there due to a payment issue (problems with my bank itself, not the funds in my account). I had a few other smaller platforms I lost games/accounts on as well, but overall I am just done with digital. Meanwhile my physical games from the 70s to modern day all still work flawlessly. Most modern games are still completely playable on disc at launch. No updates/downloads required to enjoy.
I know some enjoy the "minimalist" lifestyle that digital offers. I hope that continues to happen - but I will never understand folks that champion/promote the removal of choice.
Roger Rabbit
Member
Physical for me, for the following reasons:
Better consumer protection - if a disk doesn't work, I can just take it back to the shop. If Sony decide to ban my account, it's far less clear what I can do about it. I get that this is rare, but it seems to be an almighty headache when it happens, and sometimes not the fault of the player. You try to buy something with a credit card, your card company for some reason doesn't let the purchase go through / does a charge back, and Sony disable your account for breaking their terms and conditions.
Resale value - I buy every Formula 1 game a couple of years after it's release, and sell the old one. Recently I bought F1 2020, for not much, and made some back trading in F1 2019.
The fun of shopping around for a cheap old game.
Not having to worry about games being delisted. Digital only, there's no way to buy most of the Forza games now, for example. Whereas disk copies are easy to find.
When there's no physical version, I will reluctantly go digital for some games, and for older games which now command ridiculous prices, it makes sense. There was no way I was going to pay the $300 or so that Harmful Park costs on the original PlayStation when it is available for $5 on the PSN store.
Certainly there's no stopping the march to digital, but I do wonder why more people aren't bothered about how much power they are taking away from the customer and giving to the platform holder.
Edit: much of what
Faust
said
Better consumer protection - if a disk doesn't work, I can just take it back to the shop. If Sony decide to ban my account, it's far less clear what I can do about it. I get that this is rare, but it seems to be an almighty headache when it happens, and sometimes not the fault of the player. You try to buy something with a credit card, your card company for some reason doesn't let the purchase go through / does a charge back, and Sony disable your account for breaking their terms and conditions.
Resale value - I buy every Formula 1 game a couple of years after it's release, and sell the old one. Recently I bought F1 2020, for not much, and made some back trading in F1 2019.
The fun of shopping around for a cheap old game.
Not having to worry about games being delisted. Digital only, there's no way to buy most of the Forza games now, for example. Whereas disk copies are easy to find.
When there's no physical version, I will reluctantly go digital for some games, and for older games which now command ridiculous prices, it makes sense. There was no way I was going to pay the $300 or so that Harmful Park costs on the original PlayStation when it is available for $5 on the PSN store.
Certainly there's no stopping the march to digital, but I do wonder why more people aren't bothered about how much power they are taking away from the customer and giving to the platform holder.
Edit: much of what
Faust
said
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Stuart360
Member
I hope you dont think thats what i was doing because it wasnt, i was just being a realist. If i'm wrong then great for physical lovers, i dont think i will be though.
Faust
Perpetually Tired
No, I absolutely don't! I just know quite a few people in real life who do this. It confuses me deeply.
Miyazaki’s Slave
Gold Member
Ahhh ok. I thought you may have been referring to digital services like on-live, PSVue, or platforms like UltraViolet where the service actually shuttered (and the upcoming closing of the 3ds online shop). Thanks for the perspective.
0neAnd0nly
Member
Physical.
I own it (at least part of it), can sell it, can collect it. I get more for my $ (case w/ artwork), and better deals / sale (heck, Walmart in store always prices their games below the launch MSRP).
Worth the ejecting and inserting IMO. Plus my wall is nice and displaying my games adds to the rest of the cool stuff.
I own it (at least part of it), can sell it, can collect it. I get more for my $ (case w/ artwork), and better deals / sale (heck, Walmart in store always prices their games below the launch MSRP).
Worth the ejecting and inserting IMO. Plus my wall is nice and displaying my games adds to the rest of the cool stuff.
El Muerto
Member
Physical always. It's often cheaper too compared to digital. I also look at it as an investment. Some games will increase in value significantly. I have copies of Lollipop Chainsaw and Folklore for ps3 that i bought for $5 each when the PS3 was relevant, now they're valuable. Then you never know when the PS store or Eshop will stop being available on older hardware. Microsoft though is much better in supporting previous generations. However as a pc gamer i'm kinda forced to go digital but at least the games are cheap and steam link works great.
coffinbirth
Member
Not so long as a large portion of their customer base relies on big box retail and the like. And that's two-fold, as it's hard to convince retail to stock hardware that they make very little on without software to justify the shelf space. Last estimate I heard was typical retail profits off of a $60 game are about $17. Hardware is grim and slim profit margins for retail though, as in the $20-30 range. That was the beginning of last gen though, not sure what it is this time around. I assume it's similar.
You also have to remember that for this x86 backwards compatibility thing to continue on in this manner, you have to support those discs, otherwise face a pretty swift backlash. My guess is that eventually we will get consoles without disc drives but a USB disc drive will additionally be offered to appease people with physical collections and retail in one fell swoop. I don't think that will happen with Nextbox and PS6 though, but the generation after that I could definitely see it.
PendekarRajawali
Member
Physical.
But we're moving towards digital future, even when you have dics but you still have to download patch or updates and games tend to be bigger than disc sizes.
But we're moving towards digital future, even when you have dics but you still have to download patch or updates and games tend to be bigger than disc sizes.
LRKD
Member
Physical is my preference, but I mostly play on pc now so unfortunately, I end up with more digital games then I'd like. Still pretty much any 3rd party game that I don't plan on playing with friends on pc, I'll opt for a physical copy. Like I just got the TMNT collection physically on switch. Sometimes I'll even double dip though for a physical copy, just feels so much better.
StreetsofBeige
Gold Member
Digital.
Find a friend of fam member to do home sharing and all your digital game costs are cut in half for the games you agree to split. Even includes sub plans being sharable.
It was a different story at the tail end of the 360/PS3 era when full games were being offered online. Games didn't have many good online deals, no home sharing and games could be run off the disc (or had a small mandatory install). Now, costs are cut with home sharing and online deals and you got to install the disc copy anyway.
Find a friend of fam member to do home sharing and all your digital game costs are cut in half for the games you agree to split. Even includes sub plans being sharable.
It was a different story at the tail end of the 360/PS3 era when full games were being offered online. Games didn't have many good online deals, no home sharing and games could be run off the disc (or had a small mandatory install). Now, costs are cut with home sharing and online deals and you got to install the disc copy anyway.
ZoukGalaxy
Member
#Physical4Ever
Cheaper and owning your game.
The day they stop physical, I will stop gaming on consoles and go dark...
About PC, digital obviously, because you can backup every game and reinstall it as you will.
Ownership is the only thing that matters. Don't trust corporates until there is A LAW about this huge problem.
Cheaper and owning your game.
The day they stop physical, I will stop gaming on consoles and go dark...
About PC, digital obviously, because you can backup every game and reinstall it as you will.
Ownership is the only thing that matters. Don't trust corporates until there is A LAW about this huge problem.
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CherryFalls
Banned
Give me physical or give me death
TheDrunkenMerchant
Member
Both.
PlayStation: All Physical
Xbox: All Digital
Switch: Physical for bigger games, Digital for Indies
PlayStation: All Physical
Xbox: All Digital
Switch: Physical for bigger games, Digital for Indies
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