Support NeoGAF

[StreetsofBeige]

Digital games.

But I buy a disc system as I have BR and 4k movies. I dont want to buy a 4k movie player for $300 CDN. They are a lot more expensive than I thought (some are $400), since DVD and BR players would be dumped to $99.

Aside from being a collector or trading in games fast to get good money back, digital is easier, more convenient to play, and assuming you got one trustworthy friend or fam member to do home sharing, your digital games costs are immediately slashed 50% assuming you both agree to share the costs of that game.

The second last gen games required installing 50 gbs of data, I bailed from physical maybe a year after. That was a key benefit of console gaming. You could play probably 95% of 360 games off the disc right away. Now every game has to be installed, so that key benefit is gone.

 

[TransTrender]

I buy physical
It's more 'mine' than a digital copy
Don't have to worry about account shenanigans
Always cheaper
Can always resell to cover costs
Can use across multiple consoles

I only go for digital when there isn't a physical option or it's out of print and crazy expensive

 

[NightmareFarm]

Digital apart from special occasions. It's much easier to just switch between games on the fly without having to change discs. Especially since my PS5 is facing the wall.

 

[skyfall]

ill die before i buy a game digitally

 

[Dr.Morris79]

Digital, except on the Switch. Or cheap PS4 discs if I find em.

 

[Deerock71]

I like the addition of the word 'try' in front there. I try to buy physical as much as possible, but I've got an ASSLOAD of cheap digital games.

 

[zcaa0g]

We get this thread every month.

What are your thoughts on DriveClub needing to be brought back as well as From Software games needing difficulty levels? *duck*

 

[Superkewl]

Last physical game I bought was Fallout: New Vegas. Never had any issues.

 

[TonyK]

I don't "try", I buy only digital. I can't imagine buying physical again.

 

[Moses85]

Have a huge PS4 Game Library (Discs) an revisit these games from time to time.

Digital Games

I am a collector

 

[Drizzlehell]

Digital because physical media is just a worthless piece of plastic that serves no purpose other than to clutter your shelves and be a pain in the ass when you're moving.

It's not like it's even aesthetically pleasing anymore. At least back in the day, when I still collected physical games for PC, most games came in this beautiful packaging and had a bunch of goodies such as great instructions manual that was fun to read on its own, an art book, or a bonus CD. And you didn't even need to buy a special collector's edition for that because that kind of stuff came with every other regular-ass release.

Now what do we have? A shitty blu-ray box with nothing but a disposable disc inside, and sometimes not even a disc but a download code. It's a disgrace to physical media.

 

[Topher]

I play physical because I can get some of my money back by reselling. For most new AAA $70 games on console I end up paying $25 to $30. On PC, I can buy it cheaper day one if the game seems to be worth it. The bottom line is getting the most bang for the buck.

 

[Rhazer Fusion]

Physical whenever I can, but I’ll buy digital if the prices are good. Physical at least in my experience generally has MUCH better pricing and even though I rarely, if ever get rid of games you have more options like trading it in, borrowing or selling it.

I really don’t trust an all digital future where greedy corporations control all the pricing and dictate when things go on sale with no true competition. Some games that are years old are still full retail price which is ridiculous while those same old games in physical form usually cost a fraction of what they used to sell for.

Digital is undoubtedly more convenient and takes up less space, but imo those are really the only advantages. The way many gamers complain about the state of modern games being broken, expensive, disappointing, incomplete or just plain terrible you would think more people would embrace physical gaming so they would at least have some options. Don’t you lose access to all your purchases if you account gets banned as well?

 

[ThaMonkeyClaw]

I am digital only since PS4, the disc at this point is mainly just a license check at this point (which is annoying for me), as soon as you put the disc in you have to do updates to pretty much any game so physical at this point to me is just pointless. Just look at Modern Warfare 2, the disc size is only 72MB, so there is literally nothing on the disc, so you have to download the whole game anyway regardless.

 

[dem]

Physical on Switch. Switch games hold their value incredibly well.

Digital everywhere else. Who the fuck wants to get up and change games? That's like tv before remote controls. I can't even imagine buying physical on Xbox. What's the point?

 

[recursive]

I am trying to get 100% games physical on ps4/5 and as I did no 360.
But recently I have a lot of doubts around this topic. Let me explain my view.

My physical positives:
-Always cheaper at launch. 70$ games are 55-60$ usually at local retailers and chains
-Physical box to display on your shelf
-Rare nowadays but you get goodies like maps, postcards and so on. With Elden Ring I got plenty of stuff including a woven patch. Nothing beats saints row. They added a map, postcards, cloth bandana lol and even a keychain. They thought the game will sell lol. But anyway - way more bang for the buck.
-Fully playable off-line even if it's only 1.0
-Don't care if I get banned or hacked, don't care about PSN speeds.

Physical negatives:
-Can be damaged or stolen.
-Discs are loud
-Require shelf space
-only v1.0 which is a fun curiosity but also a drawback
-Does not get as much discounted as digital games on sales
-Clearly is a dying format. I doubt ps6 will support discs, so the whole collection might be for nothing
-Can be hard to find here. nothing locally, I need to order on-line. Big problem sometimes

Digital positives:
-Easy access
-Fast downloads (in theory since psn sucks ass)
-Good low discounts
-No room required
-2tb nvme is super cheap nowadays. You can store your games ready to play.

Digital negatives:
-More expensive at launch
-Discunted only when store owner says so. With physical, people control the market
-games can be modified, have content removed, music removed etc
-you own nothing
-servers can die, you can get banned or hacked. ps3 servers were supposed to be disabled. What happens to people wanting to play their libraries on their ps3s ?

So clearly I have some doubts.
When buying physical I am happy that I get to own something to display and paly no matter what happens in the future.
But I am also aware that it's a dying format that will go away.
edit: of course hundreds of games on steam but there are no options

Say what you think and what will be your next purchase!

I have typically done this as well however now that some games are releasing the disc with nothing more than the license or needing multiple patches the allure is not as great. IMO the reason to get physical is preservation and if I am reliant upon a server that may be turned off someday I just go with whatever gets me the best deal now since my disc version will likely not work or play like dogshit.

 

[rofif]

I have typically done this as well however now that some games are releasing the disc with nothing more than the license or needing multiple patches the allure is not as great. IMO the reason to get physical is preservation and if I am reliant upon a server that may be turned off someday I just go with whatever gets me the best deal now since my disc version will likely not work or play like dogshit.

You are not wrong.
There is a website to help collect information if a disc version is fully playable off-line and what are the problems

DoesItPlay? - Home

Working to ensure games remain accessible now and always!

doesitplay.herokuapp.com

 

[SmokedMeat]

I can only speak for Switch as it’s my only current console.

Switching cartridges out on that is just a pain in the ass. Digital is far more convenient.

I know people like to show off their big collections of plastic boxes, but in my old age I find that they look like tacky dust collectors.

 

[Celcius]

when I die everything will be passed on.

When you die, grandpa's stuff will be firesold to clear space unfortunely.

 

[rofif]

When you die, grandpa's stuff will be firesold to clear space unfortunely.

My 8yo nephew was over and I was just trying out that new quake RT.
So I sat the little asshole down and made him play quake.
He was initially impressed because it looked like minecraft as he said.
Then he couldn't find out where to go on the first level and lost patience... I guided him a bit but it was pointless.
After which I let him play vampire survivors which he loves.

He came back home and told grandma that "this was the worst trip to uncle ever". damn.

 

[Topher]

I can only speak for Switch as it’s my only current console.

Switching cartridges out on that is just a pain in the ass. Digital is far more convenient.

I know people like to show off their big collections of plastic boxes, but in my old age I find that they look like tacky dust collectors.

I get that. Changing cartridges can be a pain especially since that little cover is hard to open sometimes. Discs are a lot easier. There is no question that all digital is the most convenient.

 

[FeldMonster]

Digital Only, Xbox. Screw Game Pass.

Once games became too big to read in real time and had to be installed, there were no advantages to keep physical games.

Music and movies though, I keep my collections physical because they are of higher quality.

 

[Nydius]

I need an voting option for "It depends on game."

For most games I buy physical because I can either get them cheaper, or I can resell them, or I can trade/loan them to others. I'm not a fan of how digital strips away what few consumer copyright protections we have. Even if a physical game is just an 'installer' disk, at least I can still resell it.

But 'live service' games that I know won't have much resell value because they depreciate quickly, or smaller indie games? I usually buy those digitally. A couple examples of this would be Destiny 2 and TMNT Shredder's Revenge. The resale value on the base game of Destiny 2 isn't worth bothering with a physical copy for, and I didn't see the point in paying a premium for a physical copy of Shredder's Revenge when the game is like 2GB.

there were no advantages to keep physical games

The right of first sale is the biggest advantage to keeping physical games. Whether or not it's just an installer disk is irrelevant, you can still resell it, trade it, give it away. The only thing you can do with a digital version is delete it.

 

[Drew1440]

I try to buy physical whenever I can, but if a game is on sale on a digital store i'll choose that over physical.

 

[xrnzaaas]

I try to buy physical unless the game's not available that way or if digital version appears in some big sale (which doesn't happen for first party PS5 games - they are always more expensive). I like actually owning the games, having them on my shelf and reselling them if the purchase turns out to be a bad decision.

 

[ShadyAcshuns]

I have a large physical collection and have mostly stayed physical with both Sony and Nintendo. With Microsoft I switched to digital last gen, just to test the waters of change. The way Nintendo and Sony handle things like digital refunds makes me think they're not ready for the conversion to all-digital just yet, so I'm going to stay physical with them for the time being.

I really like the convenience of digital gaming, but on the other hand I still love having a physical representation of a product.

 

[nial]

Do/did we have any Disc exclusive games since Xbox One / PS4?
Afaik PS3 and Xbox 360 were the last generations with exclusive Disc games.

Doing some research in the case of PS4, the following games never had a release on the store:
Guitar Hero Live
Lego Dimensions
Marvel Epic Pinball Collection
Skylanders: Swap Force
Skylanders: Trap Team
Skylanders: Imaginators

 

[Ghost of Caelid]

Digital…easier to organize, less clutter. I’m actually a fan of collectors edition with digital codes cause I get the parts I want but no disc to lose. Physical to order will soon be the standard similar to vinyl. I think that’s a fair route to go.

 

[ReBurn]

I'm nearly all digital. It's just a matter of convenience for me. At this point in my life I'm not concerned with collecting or ownership any more. I just want to play games and I can usually find something on PS Plus or Game Pass, or grab something on sale from one of the digital stores. Playing day 1 isn't something I care about any more.

That said I have purchased a handful of physical games that I truly enjoy because I want to make sure I'll be able to enjoy them for as long as possible. Maybe 5 across PlayStation and Xbox combined in the last 2 years and about 10 Switch games since 2017. Switch physical is mainly to isolate against Switch online validation jank.

 

[FeldMonster]

Digital games.

But I buy a disc system as I have BR and 4k movies. I dont want to buy a 4k movie player for $300 CDN. They are a lot more expensive than I thought (some are $400), since DVD and BR players would be dumped to $99.

Aside from being a collector or trading in games fast to get good money back, digital is easier, more convenient to play, and assuming you got one trustworthy friend or fam member to do home sharing, your digital games costs are immediately slashed 50% assuming you both agree to share the costs of that game.

The second last gen games required installing 50 gbs of data, I bailed from physical maybe a year after. That was a key benefit of console gaming. You could play probably 95% of 360 games off the disc right away. Now every game has to be installed, so that key benefit is gone.

If you are an avid collector of 4K movies, you might want to re-consider getting a high end 4K Player at some point. Ubfortunately, neither the SX nor the PS5 offer HDR10+ or Dolby Vision during disk playback. Panasonic has the best ones due to their processing and their HDR Optimizer. Sony's and LG's are prone to freezing/stuttering when switching layers mid-disk. The UB9000 was too much for me personally ($1000), but the UB820 ($400) is almost just as good minus fewer analog audio out options.

 

[DaGwaphics]

I generally buy digital (and at the moment that's the only option with the XSS), and then I utilize the sub services (wasn't an option for both).

I've never been a collector, so for me the value of the disks dropped considerably once you were required to install games to the HDD. Without that pop-in and play capability, the resale value doesn't mean enough to me to outweigh the benefits of not needing to toggle disks and all that.

Should a new and much faster physical media become available with similar or better storage capacities and at no additional cost (a tall order), I'd probably switch back.

 

[Hendrick's]

Team digital. I'm done with boxes.

 

[Alpha Male]

All digital Series X, PS5, and Switch.

I've been all digital since the launch of Xbox One and PS4 in 2013..made a clean break. I actually went all digital with the Vita in 2012 as well.

 

[The Stig]

physical when I can. but sometimes a game will be 9.99 on sale @ PS store so I have a couple of digital.

 

[Ozzie666]

Digital would be perfect if they got rid of the Birck and mortar tax. Digital should never be the same price as a physical edition.

 

[struggler_guts]

All digital, because my brother and I account share and take turns buying games. I save money AND get to play the hot new shit

 

[DryvBy]

Physical because I like having an option to make my money back if I hate a game or get bored midway. And physical is usually way cheaper. NFS Unbound was like $40 a week after it launched.

 

[mrabott]

Honestly, none of them.
I love physical media, having them on the shelf to enjoy the collection. Unfortunately, physical media are no longer useful.
The games are buggy in version 1.0 and many only serve as a drm, the data is all downloaded from the internet.
Digital I can change games whenever I want, but the day any of the digital stores close is goodbye to all my games.

 

[Gobjuduck]

Switch I’m 80% digital. I get some collectors editions, and play the cartridge. I’d prefer a digital code tho.

99% digital on Xbox and PC

 

[Iced Arcade]

I don't even know if the disk drives work in my Series X and PS5.

- never been a seller of games.
- ease of purchasing at home benefits my lazy ass.
- I hate the tacky look of game cases on display.
- physical shit isn't going to work years down the road anyway so might have a better chance of retaining games via accounts/gamertag for future backwards compatible options.

 

[Dr. Claus]

Physical. Every game I own, bar maybe 4-5 of them, are 100% playable without issue and with no patches required. I can play them any time, sell them, lend them, trade them - the only "downside" is that I have to get off my ass to spend 5 seconds changing a disc. At worst maybe wait 10 minutes for an install.

If I lose my account? Can still play the game.

If the servers go down? I can still play the game.

In 50 years when you can no longer redownload games you purchased? I can still play mine.

Physical will always be better than digital. The only thing it has over physical is the freeing of space, which is rarely an issue outside of very specific circumstances and saving 4 whole seconds (and let's be honest, if you are too lazy that you bitch about 4 seconds, you live a privileged life).

 

[Art The Clown]

i have a pretty hefty retro collection going on and was trying to keep that going, then it realized the inconvenience of physical this gen and last gen so I went digital for a while.

HOWEVER, I am back to buying physical. The reason for doing so is I flip the game on eBay after beating it and get a chunk of my money back. For example, I beat Callisto Protocol and then sold it on eBay for $55 plus shipping. Came out with around $48ish for it after fees.

I will probably keep buying digital for games that I know I am going to play awhile and I’ll keep buying physical for games/series that I collect or want to sell back on eBay to recoup some of that money.

 

[PendekarRajawali]

We get this thread every month.

Well, let's make it weekly.

 

[RayHell]

-2tb nvme is super cheap nowadays. You can store your games ready to play.

How's that a positive, even if cheaper having to spend 150$ more to store games isn't something casually positive.

 

[rofif]

How's that a positive, even if cheaper having to spend 150$ more to store games isn't something casually positive.

It's an option

 

[Superkewl]

I don't even know if the disk drives work in my Series X and PS5.

Same here. I have a day 1 Series X and for all I know, it may have shipped with a defective Blu-ray drive.

 

[SafeOrAlone]

I have two physical games: Metal Gear Solid HD Collection and Ninja Gaiden Sigma (Wish it was "Black"). I deemed everything else disposable and treat digital purchases as such.

I may own a few more games physically, if something blows me away. I'd like to have Super Mario Bros for sentimental reasons.

It's not that there aren't more games I love enough to own physically, but it's just not worth the clutter to me. There are lots of things I'd like to collect, but I don't want the actual hassle of storing it.

 

[UnNamed]

There is no physical since boxed games are just box with some part of the code and you have to download part of the game, dlc and patch anyway.

That's why I've sold all my 40 games on Switch.

 

[rofif]

There is no physical since boxed games are just box with some part of the code and you have to download part of the game, dlc and patch anyway.

That's why I've sold all my 40 games on Switch.

Not really. You can check which games work off-line and in what state

DoesItPlay? - Home

Working to ensure games remain accessible now and always!

doesitplay.herokuapp.com

 

[EverydayBeast]

Digital games doesn’t waste time, decided to go digital back in 2009 with the “psp go” remember that handheld? Digital gaming is great. Look at all the disk drive failures. I’m happy with the success of PSN.