2 in 3 Gamers Prefer Discs to Downloads, Says Survey

[Adzma]

Discs for consoles, download for PC. The main advantage of digitial distribution though is that it's quite a bit cheaper than buying in a store, and when you live in a country that charges $100 for new games, you want to save every cent possible.

 

[Booze Zombie]

You have some form of precognitive abilities then?

I've bought discs brand new and they've not worked the first time I've used them. There's no physical issue to inhibit you from playing when you download.

Nope, I know that my internet being down won't effect the games I love, nor will any account I own effect them, nor will the company owning any games on a disk I have effect them either.

 

[lacktheknack]

I don't like the idea of having to re-purchase every game I download if my hard drive dies, and I don't trust the manufacturers to keep supporting the game indefinately.

Steam looks pretty damn indefinite, and it keeps your account records so that you don't "repurchase" every game. In fact, you can install copies on unlimited amounts of computers (although you can only play one at a time).

It's impossible to lose them.

 

[Woodsey]

You have some form of precognitive abilities then?

I've bought discs brand new and they've not worked the first time I've used them. There's no physical issue to inhibit you from playing when you download.

Nope, I know that my internet being down won't effect the games I love, nor will any account I own effect them, nor will the company owning any games on a disk I have effect them either.

Right, but that's not what you said.

 

[Lexodus]

I hate downloads. Physical copies help me keep track of what I have, and I like the feeling of owning a solid copy. It's like that with music too.

 

[Brad Shepard]

If theres no other way, ill go for digital download, but i like having a disk overall.

 

[mr_pants66]

i like having a disk .... it is like 3 times better than having a line of code that is a game

 

[Mcface]

I think most people put up with digital downloads.
I know I do because I would never be able to find these games at my gamestop, and I would have to travel 30 minutes to best buy just to get the good PC games, so I just get the digital version.

But I rarely will ever pay full price for a game on steam or D2D, unless I HAVE to have it. I use steam for the crazy cheap deals, Steam is just a glorified torrent site, downloads take a while, sometimes they dont work, have problems, etc.

 

[Booze Zombie]

Right, but that's not what you said.

Perhaps, but it is what I meant.
I suppose I shouldn't half pay attention when I type, damn "being tired".

 

[Major_Tom]

Ha! Those 64% of gamers don't live in Croatia where games cost more than in developed countries (while our salaries are 3 times less), so fuck stores.

 

[Weaver]

I prefer physical copies, but when a game is $4 on steam OR I could go to the store and buy it for $30 just take a guess where I'm going to be purchasing it.

For new games I almost always get boxed copies.

 

[insectoid]

I like physical copies, it feels safe. I have bought a grand total of one game on Steam.

 

[SenseOfTumour]

Maybe Steam should supply a box cover PDF so you can print them out and slip them into a DVD case so people can fill their bookcases with their collections.

I just hit my 99th title on Steam, so, you can probably guess how I feel, tho I still buy boxed games if they're cheaper than the Steam version, but I only buy from Steam during sales.

Oh and I went to my local Game last week, and they've dropped PC as a format entirely, and the Gamestation just around the corner from them has like 2 feet of PC games of which 1 foot is just WOW, expansions and time cards, and the rest is preowned it seems.

To put it in perspective, they had more playstation ONE games than PC games.

 

[SL33TBL1ND]

Funny, I've never re-sold a game. I still have every game I've ever bought, I guess that's why I'm more of a Steam guy.

 

[antipunt]

The thing about downloads is that it doesn't feel as 'gratifying' as an actual purchase. Much of the fun comes from actually entering the store, peeling off the wrapping, looking through the manual, etc.

 

[MazzaTheFirst]

Digital all the way (except console games). If it is a Steam game I click download, play some other game I have installed for a few hours and when my download is finished I just click play. No messing with incompatibilities, no hunting for patches and no loud whirring sound of the disc in the tray. (Also means no hassle of finding a no-cd crack so I don't have to listen to it)

I do have a bandwidth cap but then I make choices on what I want to download and when. If I buy three really huge games then I can decide, "Well, I want to play this one first, so I'll download it first then download half of the second one and wait until next month." But I never buy three games all at the exact time and demand to play them instantly.

 

[Burck]

Kinda wished there was a poll here, seeing how I prefer downloads. No misplacing CDs, CD keys, or any of that lot.

IMO

Downloads are better for keeping for a long time since you can't lose them quite so easily (in my experience, at least.)

Disks are good for rentals, lending, etc.

 

[brunothepig]

I prefer digital distribution, for the PC. I think consoles will always have hard copies. But Steam is even cheaper than buying second hand, and it's so convenient.