Poll: Would you be ok with games going exclusively digital?

[ultrabiome]

for consoles: physical over digital, in almost every case
for PC: digital is ok, but it better be very cheap

consoles can die, and unless its a PSN/Wiiware only game, the disc won't die and is worth having the physical copy so that if my PS3 dies, i won't have to worry about that.

steam has been around for ~10 years already and i don't see any reason why they will go under anytime soon, so i don't mind buying games off of steam, especially with the sales they have... its a risk v. value type of thing. but if its full price on steam ($40+), i might as well get the physical copy. i bought hard copies of SC2:WoL & HotS and Diablo 3 because its the same cost either way, at least i get a physical product from the physical copy, even if all i need is the download code.

 

[Smeggs]

Not unless Hard Drives suddenly go through a huge price cut. Games are usually 6 or more GB to install on a hard drive, I barely have enough space on my regular 360 hard drive for normal saves and DLC, let alone full games.

Also, if something were to happen to the system, I'd like to still have the game in physical form, lest some bullshit happens.

 

[Iwata]

Considering that my horrid experience with Steam is what led to abandon the PC as a gaming platform after almost two decades, I say no, digital releases are all well and good, but I'll stick to my discs, thanks.

 

[VanTesla]

None of the above. As of now I would rather have physical copies and will only be fine with full on digital when they can figure laws/provisions for digital consumer rights like we have for physical copies. If they all allowed it like GOG.com mostly then I be perfectly fine for I can download it and upload it anywhere I please and it is mine where there is no drm/off switch that can take it away... I know it will likely never be completely like that, but if they get around to actually putting ground on digital consumer rights I will be all for all digital.

 

[VanTesla]

When digital rights actually give people rights, maybe. But even then, what about when you wanna sell it or trade it or borrow it or take it round a friends? And what about when your internet is down?

I agree if they figure a balanced aproach for digital consumer rights I be all for it. Oh and have the digitals be usable offline if they are on my hard drive be it pc, console, and handheld.

 

[VanTesla]

I have become a big fan of digital but I understand the caveat.. It means you're tied to a DRM platform like Steam or god forbid origin. . And even then you can have a case of the item being pulled from the provider's catalog which would mean it would likely disappear from your pc. On the flipside you can remove an drredownload as you need it so you don't have a ton of games cluttering your disk space.

On the other hand you have Gog which is sans DRM but not quite sure about the infinite downloads thing.

All in all I think Steam and GoG both have the best model for this . Especially for us international consumers . Be damned if any store in my country actually really stocks PC games ... and even when they do the mark up is ridiculous.

I think GOG does it better than Steam for the fact I can download the bought game say Witcher 2 download the whole thing to my usb go to my friends house or up north put it on the computer there and play it without needing a internet connection. Some things kinda get quirky mind you but I can say Steam does not allow that freedom at all (Steam requires online check before you can use offline game mode last I recall).

 

[Eliam_Dar]

though I would miss holding the game, it wouldnt be a great leap for me. I have been using these kind of services from some time now (Steam). If they work properly, and if their security is high, I dont have a problem in using them. Having said that, the service has to recognize my country, not like (for example) Origin, who charges me in Euros, when I am from the Americas.

 

[aba1]

I spent ~$120 on virtual console games over the years. One day, my wii died, and I lost all of them forever. Haven't bought a non-physical game since.

Physical games are usually cheaper too. There's sales, used copies, rentals... But with download only, there's usually a monopoly. PSN shop is still charging like $30 for Duke Nukem Forever...

not to mention you can no longer lend games out to friends to try and same backwards they can no longer lend games to you.

 

[-Torchedini-]

Lately I'm increasingly buying digital only.
Not having to go to a store physically helps a lot.(I live 30 mins from mayor cities and do not have a drivers license so biking is taking even longer)
Second good thing is that I do not have cases that make my room a big mess now.

Downsides so far is that I have about 4 digital services on my pc now with all different passwords.
And I have to wait a day after release to be able to play games because I am on a 4Mbit connection and games are often over 6GB. But I'm used to that.

(cutting down on spam with a captcha that says 'mexican wave' ?

 

[FFP2]

Hell no. I have like the shittiest internet speed in the entire world.

And I prefer having the physical item (I'm a pack rat).

 

[Azaraxzealot]

Why isn't there an option for "only when bandwith for people who can't afford 2.0 mbps internet" gets better?

 

[Something Amyss]

Most of my books are 2nd Edition. Which, you know, isn't super in-demand, and thus relatively unlikely to be released in digital.

Drive-Thru RPG has a ton of 2E books. I'm not sure it's comprehensive, but you might want to take a look.

 

[JEBWrench]

I would hate for games to go completely digital, only because that would stop me from buying/selling used games.

Have you checked out Green Man Gaming? They have a used and trade-in market (provided the games don't require, for example, a Steam Key to play).

 

[Mrkillhappy]

I love collecting physical copies of games it always impresses me to see my friends collections on shelves as well. Also this clears up memory for more games (Consoles only though). As for pc you could have a 2 terabyte hard drive so memory isn't an issues though I do carry the same fears as the OP about my games disappearing because of an error.

 

[Bat Vader]

No, I would not like games to be just digital. I like Steam and Good Old Games and I enjoy buying from them but only if I can't get a hard copy.

I like being able to display my game cases on the shelves that I have. Plus, I love buying Collector's Editions and getting physical stuff like a statue and other things.

 

[Caiphus]

Aside from the fact that many, many people would be understandably pissed off, and I'd probably feel bad for them - only a little though, you cretins - I would be totally fine with this.

The only physical game I've bought in years was Fire Emblem Awakening, because importing it from England saved me 30 bucks over the lolaustralia e-shop price.