Thanks. This is basically my list, in the exact order too. I'll also add to point #1 - I typically don't buy AAA titles on launch, get them on discount/deep discount. So digital stores are cheaper by far.
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Apart from media taking up no space, why are you going digital?
- Thread starter nogoodnamesleft
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Thanks. This is basically my list, in the exact order too. I'll also add to point #1 - I typically don't buy AAA titles on launch, get them on discount/deep discount. So digital stores are cheaper by far.
i have to install all these massive patches anyway....
but really its the space. both physical and actual digital. letting the games sit on someone elses servers (microsoft, sony, steam) and then just grabbing them as I want to play them is more convenient for my specific lifestyle.
but really its the space. both physical and actual digital. letting the games sit on someone elses servers (microsoft, sony, steam) and then just grabbing them as I want to play them is more convenient for my specific lifestyle.
I haven't resold a game since middle school
I've exchanged games once since high school
This hasn't happened to me yet after 200+ purchases
This seems like a European problem as games are the same price physical and digital here.
I just prefer having my games on my console at all times without needing hundreds of discs in my house.
Maybe different in other countries but a day one purchase on PSN will usually cost £59.99 where as I can always pre order a physical version for £39.99/£44.99.
That means I'm saving at least £15 to £20 per game I purchase day 1 which is how I get most of my games.
Digital for my has replaced used game sales, in the sense that its a game I'm not getting until later or only just decided to and its on sale on the psn store.
Depends on countries I guess.
In France, you can very often find day one retail games around 45-50€ (even though the recommended price is 69.99€), and there's no additional tax from the sticker price, it's all included.
Here (at least, for me and many people I know, from different circles) it's clearly, financially advantageous to go physical rather than digital.
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I lost a sizeable collection of games when my flat collapsed a decade ago so I've stuck to mostly digital now so I'll still have access to the games next time my flat collapses.
Can preload and play on day one;
Game sharing;
Just so much easier to boot, no need to find the disk;
Game pass.
Game sharing;
Just so much easier to boot, no need to find the disk;
Game pass.
It's convenient. I don't want to resell or borrow out any of my games so there really is no point to go physical. Buying games and having them preloaded early without the hassle of leaving your home. Being able to play them at midnight. Not having to worry about your son destroying your disc, lol.
It sucks that you don't really own digital games and your access to them could get revoked at any time, but I feel like this is not as scary on PC, or Android for that matter. If Steam disappears tomorrow and renders your account inaccessible, it'd probably get cracked within days. So that's how I got over the fact that I play mostly on PC these days.
All my Switch games are physical when possible, though :P
All my Switch games are physical when possible, though :P
Accessibility. Same with literally every other type of digital media - easier, increased access means I consume a bigger volume & variety than I did previously.
Cheaper. If you can wait for sales for most things outside of Day 1 must haves, you will absolutely spend less.
Convenience. Not just swapping disc, but the entire process of organizing, moving, and maintaining a collection is non-existent
Security. Doomsayers pretend like these evil corporations will rob us of our digital libraries any day now, but I've lost way more physical games over the years to damage, wear & tear, theft, lending, or misplacing something, than I have digital games from licensing fuckery. Also you can backup digital games via extended storage.
Cheaper. If you can wait for sales for most things outside of Day 1 must haves, you will absolutely spend less.
Convenience. Not just swapping disc, but the entire process of organizing, moving, and maintaining a collection is non-existent
Security. Doomsayers pretend like these evil corporations will rob us of our digital libraries any day now, but I've lost way more physical games over the years to damage, wear & tear, theft, lending, or misplacing something, than I have digital games from licensing fuckery. Also you can backup digital games via extended storage.
Not taking up space means a bunch of other things too. Less shit to collect dust and set off my allergies. Less stuff to pack when moving or traveling. No need to swap discs. Your games can't be stolen, lost or destroyed. Organizing a digital library is quick and effortless.
The price difference seriously isn't that large if you have price trackers and set up alerts. As for not being able to resell, I only buy games I'm pretty sure I'm going to want to keep. Deep discounts or Game Pass for the rest.
The price difference seriously isn't that large if you have price trackers and set up alerts. As for not being able to resell, I only buy games I'm pretty sure I'm going to want to keep. Deep discounts or Game Pass for the rest.
Reselling is a huge bother (either you get a fraction of the price at a place like GameStop or you have to ship it out yourself & use a site like eBay). Just be more careful with your purchases.
Who does this who isn't a broke kid in school?
I've had way more instances of a physical copy failing on me than of a digital storefront shutting down.
Most non-AAA games have a launch sale on digital, you generally don't have to pay sales tax, and you sometimes get a rebate back (like with Nintendo). The post-launch discounts tend to be more frequent and deeper on digital as well.
Other reasons for me:
You can buy digitally anywhere in the world (I'm a digital nomad). Before that, I lived in a place in the US where it was about 30 minutes to the nearest game store so it wasn't that convenient to buy physically either.
Digital games come out when they say they're coming out. I've had more than one instance where I tried to buy a game physically at launch date & the local store hadn't gotten it in yet or my shipment hadn't arrived yet.
Physical copies are the worst on portable systems. It's great being able to have dozens of games available to play on a portable system at any time.
No worries about misplacing a game or having it die on you.
In some instances, you can buy a game digitally once and have it on multiple systems. So like I can buy a Switch game and have it on the family Switch but also have a copy on my Switch Lite. Or like with Sony, you could attach your account to 2 Vitas so I could buy a game and stick it on both my Vita & my oldest daughter's Vita.
No regret from selling a game and then wanting to play it later (but now it's hard to find or the price has gone way up).
I have too many experiences of regretting reselling a game to want to do it again. It's also very inconvenient and usually not worth it. I only sell stuff now because I want to transition more to digital.
Lending stuff is also not appealing. I don't think I've ever borrowed a game since becoming an adult and I have no desire to do it again. The stress of holding onto somebody elses property is not something I really want to deal with.
Ever since the Wii shopping channel shut down I've just come to accept this downside to digital. It's also why I've taken to buying on PC so much too because PC guarantees preservation. You can backup your stuff too. Homebrew helps as well.
The only thing that results in me still buying physical is pricing. Digital games are always the RRP but retailers often are willing to let physical copies go for a few quid less day one.
Lending stuff is also not appealing. I don't think I've ever borrowed a game since becoming an adult and I have no desire to do it again. The stress of holding onto somebody elses property is not something I really want to deal with.
Ever since the Wii shopping channel shut down I've just come to accept this downside to digital. It's also why I've taken to buying on PC so much too because PC guarantees preservation. You can backup your stuff too. Homebrew helps as well.
The only thing that results in me still buying physical is pricing. Digital games are always the RRP but retailers often are willing to let physical copies go for a few quid less day one.
- Don't have to swap discs
- Can share a co-op game without having to own two copies.
- That's the way that gamepass delivers games
- That's the only way PC operates.
- More environmentally sound.
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I'm very much an adult, but still like to lend games out to colleagues, family and friends.
And then never get them back..
In the uk switch games are around £15-20 cheaper buying physical than digital. I also sell them and get back 50-75% of what I paid that can be used to buy another game. PlayStation games you don't get as much when you sell them but still cheaper to buy physical.
When I was in elementary school, I lended a school-only friend a copy of Final Fantasy Adventure. Despite hounding him for a long time, he only finally brought it back to me on the last day of school. I was sure I was never getting that game back again.
I'm not. I value the ownership that comes with buying physical, along with all the other benefits, and not having a platform holder or publisher make the decision about the games I have access to.
Few benefits from being digital all this gen:
- Quicker and easier access: even if i got in my car and drove straight to the store, picked up the game and drove straight back, by the time the disc is installed and then the patches downloaded. I would have already started playing if I bought digitally.
- Preload: similar to above, really useful when there is a big game coming out and want access straight away.
- Space: can bring entire library with me easily, useful for when I travel for the holidays. Also no extra self space required
- Sellers remorse: I encountered too many times in the PS3/360 gen, where i sold a game only to want to play it again a year or two down the line. Ending up having to rebuy games
- Disc versions aren't complete anymore: previous gens discs were more viable. This gen with day one patches and how games evolve over time. Base version on the disc is probably a game I actually don't want to play. There are exceptions but it's getting more common.
- Deals: with the exception of launch day purchases, there are amazing deals on PSN weekly. Waiting a month you can see game get slashed in prices.
- Physical games are fragile: I've scratched/lost more discs in my lifetime than I've ever had digital games "taken away" from me.
I will continue to do a 80/20 split between Digital and Physical.
20% goes to physical because sometime i just want the LE version of the game badly, and for some games it can be resold down the line at a good price. Take for example Persona 5 royal. I can sell the steelbook version for a good price. But if i buy a sports games, it'll sell for next to nothing, so might as well go digital.
20% goes to physical because sometime i just want the LE version of the game badly, and for some games it can be resold down the line at a good price. Take for example Persona 5 royal. I can sell the steelbook version for a good price. But if i buy a sports games, it'll sell for next to nothing, so might as well go digital.
My 2 main concerns:
- The noise from the bluray drive spinning. i HATE to hear the drive spin up when a disc is inside the console. I like it to be completely silent
- I dont want to swap discs. It would be a big turn-off when my kid is finally sleeping, and I cant decide what to play. Then I dont want to spend 10 minutes shifting dics. Espeically when I want a quick online fix in battlefront 2, GT sport or want to play 20 minutes minecraft. Hell no I want to swap discs for that
However, I still think I will go for a disc based PS5 because of:
- Buying SP oriented games at a lower cost than the launch price in the online store (for example TLOU Part 2, I will get physical and play it until completed, then sell it again). But on PS5, if loading times are going to be as fast as promished, I dont want to spend time finding my GT7 disc if I just have 10 minutes and I want to race now.
- The noise from the bluray drive spinning. i HATE to hear the drive spin up when a disc is inside the console. I like it to be completely silent
- I dont want to swap discs. It would be a big turn-off when my kid is finally sleeping, and I cant decide what to play. Then I dont want to spend 10 minutes shifting dics. Espeically when I want a quick online fix in battlefront 2, GT sport or want to play 20 minutes minecraft. Hell no I want to swap discs for that
However, I still think I will go for a disc based PS5 because of:
- Buying SP oriented games at a lower cost than the launch price in the online store (for example TLOU Part 2, I will get physical and play it until completed, then sell it again). But on PS5, if loading times are going to be as fast as promished, I dont want to spend time finding my GT7 disc if I just have 10 minutes and I want to race now.
I still prefer physical over digital, but with the Switch I started utilizing more digital games over physical. If a game is MSRP I'll go with digital since I can resell and make some of my money back when I'm done, but if it's a game I know I enjoy I've double dipped for the digital version when it is on sale.
It mostly comes down to convenience. A game like Animal Crossing, which I play in short bursts, is a lot easier to dip into and out of when it's on my Switch. I usually have one "meaty" game in physical at a time (previously Luigi's Mansion 3, currently XC:DE) and I'll dabble in other games like Rocket League, Splatoon, etc digitally when I need abreather.
It mostly comes down to convenience. A game like Animal Crossing, which I play in short bursts, is a lot easier to dip into and out of when it's on my Switch. I usually have one "meaty" game in physical at a time (previously Luigi's Mansion 3, currently XC:DE) and I'll dabble in other games like Rocket League, Splatoon, etc digitally when I need abreather.
Convenience. I don't like swapping discs or having to deal with game cases. I also want less plastic.
And I like preloading.
I never resell by the way. And my disposable income is high enough to not having to worry about pricing anyway. Yes, I'm blessed. But even if I would, there are often very good digital sales.
And I like preloading.
I never resell by the way. And my disposable income is high enough to not having to worry about pricing anyway. Yes, I'm blessed. But even if I would, there are often very good digital sales.
Oh. And as long as we're in a global pandemic, going Digital is orders of magnitude safer.
Also the time factor is huge. Pre-loading/auto updates. No waiting at the mercy of delivery drivers or store hours. No traffic, lines, stocks issues, or being pitched & up-sold on shit you don't need.
Also the time factor is huge. Pre-loading/auto updates. No waiting at the mercy of delivery drivers or store hours. No traffic, lines, stocks issues, or being pitched & up-sold on shit you don't need.
Lots of offers-sales, it's surprisingly more comfy not having to go get the disc everytime I swap games (and disctray on my ps4 sounds like it's about to vomit its innards), I share account with my sister so we get both the game, more cash goes to the devs, and does, indeed, save a lot of valuable space my figures could take up.
Indeed. Why are so many physical buyers so concerned with how people buy their games? Do they feel threatened that physical media may go away?
I have multiple systems in multiple locations.
I don't want a bunch of clutter.
Changing discs is a pain
I think buying games at launch is a bad idea for multiple reasons so I wait for a game to be on sale.
With Game Pass I am only buying maybe 3-5 games a year.
Is that good enough for this week's "people who buy digital games are dumb/lazy" thread?
I don't want a bunch of clutter.
Changing discs is a pain
I think buying games at launch is a bad idea for multiple reasons so I wait for a game to be on sale.
With Game Pass I am only buying maybe 3-5 games a year.
Is that good enough for this week's "people who buy digital games are dumb/lazy" thread?
Should save a few points for next week, helps keeps things fresh.
The best thing about it for me, obviously, is how convenient it is to just pick among the games I have and boot without having to change disc. However, space is actually not a reason for me as "digital space" is actually most stressful in my case, although I don't buy too many games.
Shelf or drawer space isn't something in the back of my mind contrary to HDD space which I always think about whenever I get a new digital game.
Shelf or drawer space isn't something in the back of my mind contrary to HDD space which I always think about whenever I get a new digital game.
One simple reason... convenience. I do not care about collecting disks and cartridges. I have so many games in my backlo... uhm, collection that I rarely go back and revisit old titles. The "online store is going to close and you loose your games" argument hasn't happened to me in the past 15+ years so I do not worry.
i'm personally making the switch to digital for convenience reasons. I don't care to venture out @ midnight for games anymore but I do want to play them @ midnight. I live in an apartment and all physical games do is take up space I can use for other things. The idea of reselling and lending games is still great and valid reasons to keep being physical, I personally don't actually find myself reselling and lending my physical games.
With that said, I'm still buying physical versions of games that I absolutely love and want to have for sentimental value.
With that said, I'm still buying physical versions of games that I absolutely love and want to have for sentimental value.
Convenience, price, sharing, not having to worry about caring for discs and carts. In that order.
Though I still buy single player games physical I think, that gets lesser and lesser as time goes on. I got Xenoblade digitally recently.
Though I still buy single player games physical I think, that gets lesser and lesser as time goes on. I got Xenoblade digitally recently.
- It's what I'm already accustomed to on PC. Using physical media just feels archaic now
- Swapping discs/carts is annoying, especially with multiple people in the house using the system
- No worrying about misplacing or losing anything
- No interest in reselling things