Board 8 > Physical/Digital Games

(+) Yeah! (+)

Consoles -> Physical
PC -> Digital

Pre-Skyrim: All physical
Post-Skyrim: All digital

The point where my Skyrim pre-order that I got at midnight was a watershed moment when the box had literally nothing in it besides a Steam code. Also the last game I have ever pre-ordered and never will again.

Physical Unless I can only buy Digital

Add to this if there is some insane sale on the digital version (like 90+% off) I'll buy the digital version. Also, I lean digital on dedicated handhelds (ie 3DS) but will buy physical sometimes because it's cool to have such a large library right in your pocket. But the dedicated handheld is dead and the relevant digital storefronts are all closed so that's basically irrelevant.

Physical Unless I can only buy Digital

Physical Unless I can only buy Digital

and even then for some japanese releases if there's an asian langauge version with english in it I'll import them like I did recently for Baten Kaitos 1+2 and Like a Dragon Gaiden

I can't think of anything worse for gaming than digital only. Hey you want that new game day 1? Well you better be prepared to pay the RRP for it and there's nothing you can do about it.

if a game is only physical i'm not gonna be playing it

I prefer physical so I can sell it when I'm done if I don't plan to replay it or for collection purposes, but I'll buy digital if the price is right

Physical unless only digital

with an exception for popular local multiplayer games or games I can see coming back to on a whim - Smash & Mario Kart for the former, Animal Crossing & Pokemon for the latter

Almost exclusively physical, but Ive bought some digital stuff when it was on insane sales that beat the physical prices. I definitely prefer physically owning games.

I'm fundamentally lazy, so digital, but I like the feel of physical. Feels more special. I'll probably get ff7r physically if I can because of the novelty of two discs.

Digital only. I swap between games constantly, no way on earth am I ever buying a physical copy again unless a digital does bit exist.

Hell, I've purchased digital versions of games I already owned physically on the same platform just so I could get rid of my physical copy.

New games? Almost always physical unless I have no other option.

For older games, I'll go digital a lot more often because I tend to be able to find better prices.

XIII_Rocks posted...

I'm fundamentally lazy, so digital, but I like the feel of physical. Feels more special. I'll probably get ff7r physically if I can because of the novelty of two discs.

You know this is probably going to be you putting both discs up front to install and not changing discs at some point in the middle of the game, right? There's probably not going to be a message on the screen after some pivotal moment telling you to switch.

Only digital

The idea of games being lost to time is ridiculous considering you can find a perfectly good pirated copy within about 24 hours of release >_>

I don't think I've bought a physical release in... eight years?

You can get physical games from the library, but not digital. Game publishers not allowing digital loans is terrible.

I prefer physical, but if there's a good deal on PSN or the eShop, I'll go digital.

UshiromiyaEva posted...

You know this is probably going to be you putting both discs up front to install and not changing discs at some point in the middle of the game, right? There's probably not going to be a message on the screen after some pivotal moment telling you to switch.

Yeah that was Ragnarok's deal. If it is that I'll probably just go digital. We'll see.

Im pretty sure Remake had a install and play disc

I go physical for every major release I'm interested in, but the indie/AA market has pushed me more towards digital for smaller games. There's a lot of stuff I'd buy physically if it were ~$5 more than the digital copy, but paying two or three times the digital price is nuts.

The convenience of digital has certainly been pushing me in that direction more and more over the years.

Oh yeah, I guess with indie titles I'll generally get the digital release even if a physical one is available unless it's a series I'm really into and want the physical for my collection, like Shantae.

Physical unless there's no other choice or there is a very substantial price difference.

Digital charging the same price as physical has and will always be ridiculous. Even if the cost to create and distribute the physical version is pittance, you're giving up the ability to resell the product down the line. I personally never sell any of my games but that reason alone should be enough to cause a large price difference between the two products

I like physical but it doesn't really matter.

Shattered posted...

Physical unless there's no other choice or there is a very substantial price difference.

Digital charging the same price as physical has and will always be ridiculous. Even if the cost to create and distribute the physical version is pittance, you're giving up the ability to resell the product down the line. I personally never sell any of my games but that reason alone should be enough to cause a large price difference between the two products

i would pay more for digital so i don't have to have a bunch of physical stuff in my house and change discs etc. it's so superior to me that i find topics like this a bit of a mindfuck, lol

Imagine if I had bought an awful game like Xenosaga Episode III digitally. I'd be stuck with something I can't even play anymore instead of something I was able to turn around and sell for 250 bucks.

i've regretted every game i've ever sold!

I voted 50/50. I lean physical on purchases still, but I play way more games digitally in reality because of services like Game Pass.

I prefer physical where possible, which seems basically impossible for PC in particular these days

I wind up almost exclusively digital unless it's a console game that I'm pre-ordering.

Steiner posted...

i've regretted every game i've ever sold!

No regrets getting rid of that one at the very least! I can almost forgive it now!

Long ago in ancient times when I was a child, I had a lot of PC CDs for games (mostly pirated) and demo collections
I don't know if it was my fault or not but back then those CDs used to die so damn fast, getting scratches all over, and in general I always felt that reading from CDs was too slow
So ever since then I joined the "physical=bad" club
But like...20+ years passed since then, technology advanced so much, but I still have the same "physical=bad" mindset so I don't even bother

Overwhelmingly digital. I probably buy single digit physical games a year and at least 10 times more digital over that span.

I'm concerned about what happens in the future when Steam shuts down or whatever but for now all digital.

Physical. All about that resale market.

NeatoAnAccount posted...

I'm concerned about what happens in the future when Steam shuts down or whatever but for now all digital.

steam turns off any drm and/or you just pirate the games

Whatever is cheaper tbh, probably close to a 50/50 split

Depends on the system. Switch, mostly physical. PS5, mostly digital. PC, only digital.

Once physical games starting having constant patches and lengthy installs that was the turning point for me. I want to put in a game cart/disc and start playing immediately. If I have to do an install then your physical game is effectively just a code in a box.

At roughly a 50/50 split right now, which is never something I thought I'd say but don't have the space for physical media right now so digital makes more sense for the moment.

Leonhart4 posted...

No regrets getting rid of that one at the very least! I can almost forgive it now!

See I hated Xenoblade 2 a lot and I even regret selling that because, idk maybe I could have come around on it by now

If I hate a game, I will not feel the need to "give it another shot." I've got plenty of other stuff to play rather than seeing if I'll change my mind the second time around.

Really depends on what kind of game it is.

If it's a party game that I plan on playing every once in a while for months or years, then I'll get it digitally. The laziness when it comes to having to get up and switch out the disc or cartridge is real.

If it's some story-driven game that I'm likely to play once over a period of time and then never touch it again, I'll definitely go physical. I can just set it in my case, look over at it once in a while, and think about all the good moments it had.

Leonhart4 posted...

If I hate a game, I will not feel the need to "give it another shot." I've got plenty of other stuff to play rather than seeing if I'll change my mind the second time around.

good job i gave ffviii another shot!

I'm glad you did but it'd have been okay if you hadn't!

I've stopped prioritizing physical at all. I'll have to install fully and then put in the disc as a key every time. And I have no desire to resell my physical games.

xenosaga posted...

Consoles -> Physical
PC -> Digital

This

Games I own physically:

Copy of Kingdom Come Deliverance a friend accidentally left with me before moving and didn't want back.

Limited Run Games release of House in Fata Morgana.

Ring Fit Adventure.

I might have one of those old CD binders from the 90s that has some PS1 and PS2 discs in it packed away in a moving box somewhere.

I'm mostly split these days. I'm predominately physical for Switch games, and while I have a lot of physical PS4 games I've been going more digital these days unless there's an Collector's Edition I want or I simply find it on sale for much cheaper physically.

For PS5 games, I only own FFXVI physically. The rest are digital.

All digital, haven't bought anything physical for something like 10 years.

Definitely recognize that it's not as appealing on console since you're just playing by a single storefronts rules and you're not likely to see sales on new games but on PC it's all positives unless you sell your games when you're done, which I never do.

Physical discs are just DRM for fully HDD/SSD installed games at this point so it all feels really silly to me now.