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

So what's the digital/physical split on GAF?

Console games mostly physical since the digital download would just eat a huge chunk off my bandwidth. My handhelds are 50/50. Sometimes, if Amazon is offering day-of delivery, I'll order it physically, if not, I'll do digital.
 
I'm all over the place. I prefer physical (resale and best buy gamer's club) but I'll get digital for fighting games, good sale deals, or if I wind up with store credits to amazon or gamestop I'll spend it on psn codes and use them.
 
I buy more physical. I only go digital for MMO's and games I intend to play long term. I just don't feel like expanding my HDD. I gues I could delete and redownload digitally when I wanted, but honestly, having the disc on hand is more convenient for me. Plus I have a bandwidth cap and my GF downloads tons of shit every day for her job (she develops on-line backup solutions and does a lot of testing).
 
Burning Justice said:
On PC, I always go digital. No point in going physical on PC.
Click to expand...

But but but, those extra things that come with physical editions like game maps, compendiums, etc? But yeah, if you're not getting anything with the physical release, might as well go for the much cheaper digital versions on PC.
 
Physical on almost everything except for some PC games, or when it's only available on digital stores (e.g. Gunvolt, Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies).
 
On PS4, physical for all (console and PS4) exclusives that I buy, digital for sales and PS+ stuff.

On PC, all digital (steam/origin).

On Vita, physical for Vita games I buy, digital for PS+ and PSP/PS1 Classics.

Wii U and 3DS is all physical. Hate the Nintendo digital system.
 
Physical whenever possible. I only buy pc games these days when there's a DRM-free digital option avaliable. I avoid steamworks/origin games completely even if there's a retail version.
 
100% digital on PC and PS4/XBO.

I've only bought maybe 3 or 4 physical PC games in the past 8 or so years and I haven't bought a single physical game for my PS4 or Xbox One, and I have had them since release. 100% digital.

Vast majority of my Vita games are digital. Only bought about 3 physical Vita games.

All but one of my 3DS games are physical.
All but one of my WiiU games are physical.

Both of the digital games on the Nintendo systems were promotional codes (e.g. free game when you buy x (Fire Emblem), or bundled game (Windwaker HD)).
 
DarkOneX said:
I'm pretty sure that doesn't matter, the physical games install all the data off the disks anyway. I'm with you though for the most part I'm physical only. Only digitals I have are the free games, BF4 as it was really cheap, and Zombie Army Trilogy.
Click to expand...

Admiral Woofington said:
You do realize you still own the game whether you have it downloaded in your console or not right? you need to keep every game installed or what lol
Click to expand...

Come on guys the harddrive size is a joke. Actual reason is Australian downloading speed and limit cap are terrible so I can't download a single game that I have to remove every time to make space for others. Disk based is easier, takes about a min or two to install.
 
i'm usually all digital with an exception of games that come with physical goods, which is usually just Atlus games. I haven't bought a limited edition in a while also.
 
I'm not opposed to purchasing digital games, and I would prefer if they were digital, but I purchase physical if it's cheaper or there is a CE.

Vita: Most, with the exception of imports and CE's, are digital.
PS4: Equal distribution
PS3: Equal distribution
3DS: All physical
PC: Need you even ask
 
PirateKing said:
Come on guys the harddrive size is a joke. Actual reason is Australian downloading speed and limit cap are terrible so I can't download a single game that I have to remove every time to make space for others. Disk based is easier, takes about a min or two to install.
Click to expand...

I bought my own 1 TB HDD, it wans't even that expensive. But yeah the real issue there is your download cap and usage. I get about 250 per month or something like that, live alone, and only download like 1 game per month at most. And usually not a massive game like a modern AAA one. So yeah I don't even have to worry about that I guess.
 
I go physical only.

I'll take digital games if they're free though. My 3DS is loaded up with a good few, even though I've never spent any money in the eShop.

I did buy a bunch of VC and XBLA games when those storefronts were new. I was digging the idea at first, but then as digital became moreso the norm, it started to lose the appeal. I realized that, since I was as interested in collecting as playing, I'd rather put any money spent into hard copies instead of downloads. Especially for things like VC games, ie digital re-releases, where it would be more gratifying for me to track down the original, even if more expensive.

I did pick up Earthbound and extra Super Metroid (What was it, 30 cent? 80 cent?) on Wii U though. In both cases, it seemed worth it for temporary convenience.
 
Consoles = physical because PSN is fucking shit 99% of the time. Also limited hard drive space. Also digital is more expensive most of the time unless it's from a sale.
PC = Digital with the rare physical games that are cheaper ( who mostly just have a code in the box anyway ).
 
Physical on Nintendo about 75%-25% (only buying digital where I have to, like VC or eshop exclusives)

Digital everywhere else about 75%-25% (only buying physical where I think I'll want to resell the game)

Working very well for me so far.
 
Physical most of the time, except for the occasional digital game I get on sale.

Oh, and there's some games I want instantly available, like Smash and Splatoon.
 
I'm buying most of my games digitally now. The convenience factor is just so huge, and the advent of preloading and app-based purchases that can remote download have sped up my digital adoption.

The only exceptions are games that I know I'll beat quickly and have little replay value that I will want to return.
 
Physical if possible. Particularly on Vita though only because space is so precious. I've refrained from buying games on sale that are 3GB plus on the platform if they have physical counterparts on those grounds, even with 32GB. On PC all digital for what little I play (but not what I freaking own... sorry Steam library)

Xbox 360 I go either way. Now that storage space isn't an issue I prefer digital there too. I guess it's half and half.
 
Mostly physical due to storage limitations, the option of selling and the allure of having a physical item. Physical games are also cheaper now due to GCU.
 
Usually buy physical for older games, though sometimes if I see an old game on a newer console/steam I get the urge and by digital. PC games are pretty much 100% digital.
 
I am almost exclusively a console gamer. The only digital games I get are the ones from PS+. I am like 99.99% physical at this point.
 
Depends on deals and if I want to play the game at that time. Between PC/PS3/PS4/Vita I'm sitting at over 600 games (some multiple, just quick glances at lists) with only two physical for PS4 and 1 physical for PC.
 
lifeexpectancy said:
I only buy digital when physical isn't an option, at least 99% of the time.
Click to expand...

Ditto.

I'm a retro gamer so physical is usually my preferred or only option.

Sometimes I'll buy digital on a modern or retro game if it's a crazy good deal too good to pass up. But typically I will buy the physical copy or none at all.
 
Digital, its great to have all games without changing the disk and have the option to share account a paid half with a friend, and also the fact that I have to import the physical games from the US because they are god damn expensive where I live and have to wait from 2 to 3 weeks for them to arrive.
 
I buy physical when there's an options. Only exception was Bloodborne because I thought i might break the disk.
 
More and more digital, especially with GoG and Sony's digital ecosystems, which are relatively future proof.

I still go physical where either the game content (ie. to me) or the physical object (ie. to others) is "desirable" enough to give it a bit of resale or collector value.

I'm getting to a point where I could nuke my physical collection (nice PS1 and PS2 collection built over the last decade and a half) entirely, invest the money and play my remaining digital backlog plus future digital flash sale games into the sunset with a smile on my face and not lose money.

Do I really need discs of Tactics Ogre, Tomba 2 and Legend of Mana and an unopened copy of Hogs of War at this point? Not really other than the fact that I like looking at them and spent time collecting them.

(To be clear, that would mostly mean cashing out my collection for roughly what I paid for it, $35 a month, over 15 years...games aren't an investment...physical just has some resale value, versus ZERO for digital.)
 
PC digital
PS4 will be as much physical as possible
Xbox one is mostly digital, I will buy physical for some exclusives games, and some that have great box art, like Sunset Overdrive
 
All digital currently for my long term games and a couple I regret. Physical for Gamefly of course. I didn't want to get hung up with a lot of high priced games that trade for shit so you either have to buy em and beat em fast for a good trade or just wait. I prefer the fast swap that digital allows but at the same time I want cheap. So buying the long term and renting the rest makes sense. Then again, I've also been parking on games a lot longer than I used to so its been a successful mix so far.
 
Physical at any opportunity. I only go digital when physical isn't available or I'm getting something for PC, which I tend to avoid if a game is on consoles.
 
I'd say about 90% digital, if we exclude the massive physical ps3 collection I've built up. . Prior to this gen, I couldn't imagine ever going digital, but psplus opened my eyes to the benefits of digital. My ps4's disc drive crapping out on me pretty much sealed the deal.

I have a few physical ps4 games that I can no longer play. I'll eventually play them again after the ps4 has a significant price drop to remove the sting of buying another.I have a ton of digital games and a 2tb hdd, so I'm good for the time being.

I have a vita, but still don't have a physical cart for the system. Psplus games and a few digital purchases are good enough for the time being.

I also have a wii u, but aside from a bunch of VC games and the mario kart 8 download that came with the system, all my games are physical.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Boxroom, a virtual physical collection of your digital games.
Social News 
0
166
Holammer replied
  • Poll
Do you think Nintendo is reducing the price of digital games or increasing the price of physical ones?
2
56
784
VGA-Games replied
Physical Game Fans, Beware: Digital Downloads Hit an Astonishing 85% on PS5, PS4 Last Quarter
Business Analysis Platform  2 3 4
153
666
Zacfoldor replied
CD Projekt shares The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077 sales data (digital/physical split, platform split, regional split)
2 3 4
170
17K
YeulEmeralda replied
Weekend GAF: What's On Your Wish List for 2026?
28
737
bender replied
Top Bottom