Physical vs. Digital

[Cowabungaa]

Big-ass con for digital games:

Bandwidth limitations. Those, sadly, are still around.

I got a datacap of 50GB a month, that's peanuts. I mean hell, look at the recent news about COD: Ghost. If I were to buy that I'd spend my entire month's worth of data on one game. That won't do. People with relatively slow internet connections will have a problem as well. Downloading 30GB of data with a 500KB/s download speed is going to take a while. Shit's going a lot faster with physical copies.

Cons:
>takes up space

I sense a disturbance in the force.

Srsly, having a large collection is the best thing, ever.

I do like looking at my shelves and seeing all those purty boxes lined up next to my novels and comics. Hmmm yes.

 

[Doom972]

[
>the consumer has complete control over access to the product

On the PC, that just isn't true in most cases today. One of the reasons why I only buy on Steam for the last few years.

Online activations, having to register an account with the CD-key, and the horrible always-online DRM.

 

[Bat Vader]

While I do like both physical and digital copies of games I like physical copies a bit more. Mainly because I like having a nice CD case that I can put on a shelf and I also like being able to buy Collector's Editions.

 

[Elberik]

[
>the consumer has complete control over access to the product

On the PC, that just isn't true in most cases today. One of the reasons why I only buy on Steam for the last few years.

Online activations, having to register an account with the CD-key, and the horrible always-online DRM.

2 games (Diablo III & Simcity) require a constant online connection. TWO games when 15-30 are released per month. Yes, always-online DRM is a bad idea but you cannot use two games to represent all of PC gaming. Plus DRM is a problem with digital as well.

 

[TomWiley]

Not really sure I'd say that physical disc gives you any guarantee of control or ownership whatsoever.

 

[Doom972]

[
>the consumer has complete control over access to the product

On the PC, that just isn't true in most cases today. One of the reasons why I only buy on Steam for the last few years.

Online activations, having to register an account with the CD-key, and the horrible always-online DRM.

2 games (Diablo III & Simcity) require a constant online connection. TWO games when 15-30 are released per month. Yes, always-online DRM is a bad idea but you cannot use two games to represent all of PC gaming. Plus DRM is a problem with digital as well.

I didn't use it to represent PC gaming. I also mentioned activations and having to register an account with a CD-key. Also, it's more than two games (like several games from Ubisoft). But I do agree that most games don't use always online.

 

[Sarah Kerrigan]

Personally I like Physical. I collect alot of old games, and if they were digital, I wouldn't have the satisfaction of having them there for me to see and hold. (that didn't sound creepy)

 

[Rebel_Raven]

It took me going nearly all digital on my ps3 to find out the biggest con.
Limited disc space. Coupled with having to redownload what ever I delete if I want to play it again.

I thought I was untouchable with my 500 gig hard drive, but recently I got to the point where I just didn't have any more space. ;-;

Man, I remember another flaw. I bought Magical Drop F on PSN, and can't download it anymore.
Sure I can, have, and will eventually lose disc based games, but it feels different in a way I can't quite put my finger on. Just feels safer.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

just too many good deals i get for digital copies of games to justify buying physical anymore, plus it keeps them all neat and tidy in my libraries without having to worry about the disc getting scratched and such. (i have a physical game library on the shelf, but most of the games on there are pretty old)

i can't tell you the last time i spent above 20 bucks (and even then, 20 has been a fucking whileeeee) on a game, all because of sales on gog/greenmangaming/steam/humble bundle, pushing 260 games digitally now and i've spent maybe 1300 dollars total for all that.

 

[Bellvedere]

Well I'd add:

Physical:
Con:
> Must either
- go to a store which must be open, must have game in stock (can be harder to find older and/or less popular games locally), may be a fair distance out of your way or inaccessible due to daily commitments (like being at work no where near a game store from 9-5)
- purchase online which will take at least a day to be delivered.

Digital:
Con:
> Game takes time to download (results may vary depending on quality of internet connection)
> Can be more difficult to return in the event of a problem

Pro:
> Can't misplace or damage the game since it's tied to an account and can be retried

I'm a fan of digital mainly for the convenience aspect of not having to go to the store. I can keep going about my daily routine taking my dog for a walk, browsing the internet, playing games which is way more fun than driving out to the shops. I can also purchase the game at times that I couldn't from the store, like late at night so it will be ready first thing in the morning, or by remoting into my PC from uni so I can play when I get home. I actually kinda hate it when physical store offer a significantly cheaper price than online, since I'm a bit tight on cash justifying the extra amount is pretty hard.

Also, for me personally at least, I feel it's far more likely that I'll lose a disc than one of the digital distribution platforms shutting down (my last holiday I managed to leave my entire travel itinerary, passport, credit cards and carry money at the customs check, followed five minutes later by leaving my sunglasses on a bench, then I lost my passport again which was luckily in my bag - though the one that was already checked in on the plane). I'm not particularly a fan of the idea that it's a service rather than a product that I own, but it does seem more reliable than me...

 

[not_you]

That's the thing though... In this day-and-age, if you purchase a physical copy, you get all the Pros of the digital column with accounts and key registration and such... (On the PC platform anyway)

Say I bought AC4 I would have to register the product key on UPlay and link it to my account...

Which means that as long as I can access that account, I own that game in a digital sense...


Sure, the collectors edition will look amazing with its figurine and such, but the point is still there...

If it was just a regular version of the game, then I could throw the disc away after (x) years of it broke...
But I would always own the digital version...

Which is why I prefer digital now-a-days...

EXCEPT for epic collectors editions, which now-a-days is the ONLY reason I purchase hard copies... (unless digital download doesn't exist for that game... (this is mainly handhelds anyway))

 

[Olas]

Digital: because I hate going into retail stores.

Also, while I like the idea of fully owning my game and not being tethered to a service like Steam, I can't shake the feeling of vulnerability that comes with a physical object. If it gets scratched or damaged in any way my game is gone, whereas with digital even if my files get corrupted I can always delete and redownload them as many times as I want.

 

[Old Father Eternity]

Personally, I prefer physical. One of the reasons, as others have mentioned, if I want, I can just reach for the case and install, which for most games does not take more than 10-15min as opposed to upward of an hour of download and then install. Another is that I really can't be arsed to do all the things needed to make an online purchase where as if I am already in town, I can simply take a half a hour or so detour to the store.

As for the vulnerability of physical copies, in that regard Blizzard has done rather nicely, you register the game you bought and then, should anything happen to your physical copy, you can download it.

If there is one real gripe I have with physical retail stores, then it is that the PC shelves are getting sparser, losing ground to consoles, also more and more games are in most part on digital distribution nowadays, even the physical copies sometimes actually only contain some 10mb or less data, that is then used to download the actual game, utter waste of space.

 

[Soxafloppin]

If you play on Console I'd say Physical is better 95% of the time. I remember last year I bought Infamous 2 for £20 brand new, and on the PS store it was £50, in fact I think the first Infamous was more expensive than I got 2 for. If your buying older games some times digital would be better though, due to the ease of getting them and disks can be scratched.

PC I'd say Digital is better, though there will always be exceptions.

 

[FireAza]

For me, it depends on how the system runs the game. For most console games, the disk is a requirement of running the game since, well, the game's data is on the disk. In this case, I don't mind so much that I have to put a physical thing in the drive and I also get something cool to put on my shelves and look at.

PCs on the other hand, will normally install all the data to the hard drive, only requiring the disk for piracy protection. This makes the physical disk completely worthless after it's been installed and only becomes a pain in the ass, since I'm having to do something that's not required to run the game and exists only to satisfy the publisher. In this case, I'm much more open to digital copies of games, since it's basically the same thing minus the hassle.

 

[SecondPrize]

I like physical copies for books, because you can actually make use of them. For music, movies and games, I go with digital because it's just easier. If I need a machine to play/watch/listen anyways, why not just ditch the physical media and just have the machine?

 

[Ranorak]

If given the choice "Here is a game, do you want a digital or a physical copy?" I'd say physical.
BUT!

To me there are some other advantages to digital purchases.
I can instantly buy them, on the spot.

I don't have a game story in my town. So if I want to buy a game, I have to travel to the nearby city.
I can't get there in time due to work hours.

So I either have to order it by delivery, or buy a digital version.
Delivery still takes delivery time. At best the next day, at worse 2-3 days. (considering it's in supply at all)

A digital version can be bought at any time, and after the 2-3 hours of download can be instantly played.

Though, it should be noted that I am lazy and thus this works.

 

[MrBenSampson]

My internet has a monthly bandwidth cap, which is the primary reason that I'm not a fan of digital distribution. I'm also a console gamer, so I don't like the idea of losing access to digital purchases when Xbox Live is inevitably shut down.

I get most of my games from eBay, so I'm saving a lot more money than I would be had I downloaded them. I also enjoy being able to show off my collection of games, and sharing them with my friends.

 

[Juste Goose]

physical copies 5evur.

I don't see how taking up space is a con. I love having all my games lined up and alphabetized on my big shelf and little cabinet. I don't even use emulators for the most part, except for stuff like Earthbound, Conker, or Mega Man 7.

I've been in a lot of situations where I'm browsing a friend's shelf or a friend is browsing mine, only to hear "Aww, dude! You have ______? We should totally play this!" And then we do. And good times are had by all.

That doesn't really happen with Steam. Maybe because looking on someone else's computer is more of an invasion of privacy, or because if you see a game you like, you'll have to wait an hour for it to install. I wouldn't know, it doesn't happen.

 

[Creator002]

With PC, I prefer digital downloads. I do a majority of my gaming on PC and I don't have much physical storage space. I can remove and add games at will and, when the next generation comes out, I don't lose access to those downloaded games.
With consoles, I prefer physical copies. I can return them if I'm not enjoying the game or finish it within a week. I can trade it in if I'm bored with it and usually they have collector's or special editions.
Also, if I want a game on PC that's multi platform, I might buy it to try it on console and then sell it before committing to the PC version.