Found Myself Purchasing digital more than physical, for convenience. Should I be cautious?

[Deleted member 46958]

Era, I'm a physical media man for my things. Lately I have been choosing to go digital (on ps4)

Is this a bad idea? Should I be wary? What are your personal pros and cons?

Pros No need to deal with Gamestop or Amazon, no disc, preservation of the disc drive (in theory).

for clarity, this is about digital making up more of the library than physical, and if it's something I shouldn't get comfortable with.

Discuss.

 

[I Wanna Be The Guy]

Digital is the future I have been digital only for many years and I do not miss physical at all.

 

[Azurik]

Never bought digital since 2013 and never looked back. Over the next coming pages you will get many pros and cons as already discussed in numerous previous threads about this matter.

 

[Alucardx23]

Era, I'm a physical media man for my things. Lately I have been choosing to go digital (on ps4)

Is this a bad idea? Should I be wary? What are your personal pros and cons?

Pros No need to deal with Gamestop or Amazon, no disc, preservation of the disc drive (in theory).

for clarity, this is about digital making up more of the library than physical, and if it's something I shouldn't get comfortable with.

Discuss.

Click to shrink...

Welcome to 10 years ago in my life. 100% digital now and no regrets.

 

[Kurdel]

I have 100% digital collection and I love it, but I do regret a few purchases and am wiser about it now.

If it's a game I have no intention in wanting to ever replay, i still go physical so I can trade it in, and get a trade in chain going, only keeping one physical game at a time.

And if I really want to replay or add it to my collection? But it digital in like 6 months when it's on sale for like 66% off.

 

[Smurf]

this reads like a thread from 2013

 

[ShinUltramanJ]

I'm now fully accustomed and accepting of digital since I mainly play on PC.

But this Black Friday was the first time where I chose to simply buy a digital copy of a game (Days Gone) versus getting a physical copy. The prices were the same, but the convenience of digital is so great.
The way I see it even if Sony goes full BC with future hardware, you're not guaranteed that it's going to still read those discs or even have an optical drive at some point. But digital copies should be perfectly fine.

At least that's how I see it. I don't even have an optical drive in my PC. Consoles may some day reach that point as well.

 

[Traxus]

I went digital after my launch PS4 started literally spitting my discs out onto the ground in the middle of the night. It's the best. No more clutter. Play any game, any time.

The downside is the Sony corporation now owns my soul.

 

[ghostcrew]

Been all digital for essentially 10 years at this point and never had one bad experience with it. I don't know what a bad experience would be outside of getting your account banned and losing your games.

The waters fine, join the rest of us. Its not weird, it's completely normal.

 

[Arulan]

You should be cautious of digital on closed-platforms where you're ultimately at the mercy of whatever the platform-holder decides to let you do with your library. That said, physical on closed-platforms isn't much better in the present day.

 

[DC5remy]

I mean, at any moment this could happen.

 

[GemmolSwitchPS4]

Era, I'm a physical media man for my things. Lately I have been choosing to go digital (on ps4)

Is this a bad idea? Should I be wary? What are your personal pros and cons?

Pros No need to deal with Gamestop or Amazon, no disc, preservation of the disc drive (in theory).

for clarity, this is about digital making up more of the library than physical, and if it's something I shouldn't get comfortable with.

Discuss.

Click to shrink...

I see nothing wrong

i am 100 percent all digital on my switch and I love the convenience

my ps4 I only have 2 physical and everything else digital

 

[NoblesseOblige]

not worried. I'll obtain a game I've paid for by some other means if for some reason it disappeared. Even a console exclusive will be available again once emulation catches up

 

[Juan]

Been like you for the last 8 or 9 years now, only buying digital since it made it easier to switch between game on Xbox 360, then Xbox One.

Now that I'm playing 99% on the Switch Lite, it makes even more sense.

If somehow, game was deleted for any reason, I'm sure I would find a way to play it again on PC or else. And mostly, it's rare I go back on a game I'm done several years after (unless it's timeless like Halo CE ofc).

 

[Deleted member 45614]

Storage is really the only major concern, but as someone that pretty much exclusively has played Switch for the last 18 months or so I'd say having digital handheld is very very handy. Another smaller concern is no trade ins or lending but that was never really a big thing as trades in would get you shit and lending more often then not led to me never seeing the game again.

For PS4 I'd get a SSD if you need more storage as should speed things up, also I'm hoping that backwards compatibility is a thing as if love for my digital PS4 games to travel over to PS5 when I do eventually end up buying it. So there is one possible pro, although I guess physical game would work as well. Also frees up some space in you entertainment room/lounge/wherever you store your games.

 

[shark97]

Era, I'm a physical media man for my things. Lately I have been choosing to go digital (on ps4)

Is this a bad idea? Should I be wary? What are your personal pros and cons?

Pros No need to deal with Gamestop or Amazon, no disc, preservation of the disc drive (in theory).

for clarity, this is about digital making up more of the library than physical, and if it's something I shouldn't get comfortable with.

Discuss.

Click to shrink...

It's called getting old. Who wants to go to the store? Or get up and change a disc?

That said I'm agnostic, I have nothing against buying a disc if it's a great sale or whatever. pro's and cons and all that, as another reply said all these have been beat to death.

 

[Stewarto]

Digital over here is £15 more expensive, can't justify the price hike. If they were the same price I'd never buy physical again.

 

[Niosai]

Pros:
Convenience
you can't damage a digital game
preloading


Cons:
better sales with physical most of the time
price drops are incredibly rare
no tangible product
everything can be taken away in an instant if you're banned, if servers shut down, if the company serving your game just decides not to anymore which they can do
you don't really own your games in a traditional sense, and never will
no way to sell/trade back/give away your games

I never plan on going fully digital. I enjoy having a tangible item for my hard-earned money. Even if it's just sitting on a shelf, it brings me a certain kind of joy to see it, sort it, maintain it, etc. Changing discs takes about 3 seconds total, so the whole "it's super inconvenient to swap discs" thing doesn't really apply to me.

 

[Deleted member 45614]

Digital over here is £15 more expensive, can't justify the price hike. If they were the same price I'd never buy physical again.

Click to shrink...

For Nintendo was already $10 cheaper on the Eshop than in store but with the vouchers no way I'm going physical but that sucks for your situation my dude.

 

[LiK]

Depends on the game for me. I also usually only buy digital when it's on sale.

 

[ghostcrew]

Storage is really the only major concern, but as someone that pretty much exclusively has played Switch for the last 18 months or so I'd say having digital handheld is very very handy. Another smaller concern is no trade ins or lending but that was never really a big thing as trades in would get you shit and lending more often then not led to me never seeing the game again.

For PS4 I'd get a SSD if you need more storage as should speed things up, also I'm hoping that backwards compatibility is a thing as if love for my digital PS4 games to travel over to PS5 when I do eventually end up buying it. So there is one possible pro, although I guess physical game would work as well. Also frees up some space in you entertainment room/lounge/wherever you store your games.

Click to shrink...

All games on PS4 and Xbox full install to the console whether you're playing digitally or from a disk. So there's no issue with needing more storage if you go digital. It uses no more space.

 

[Linde]

i only get larger games physically
on my switch my physical games are only first party, non-ports that are 10GB+

 

[shark97]

Storage is really the only major concern, but as someone that pretty much exclusively has played Switch for the last 18 months or so I'd say having digital handheld is very very handy. Another smaller concern is no trade ins or lending but that was never really a big thing as trades in would get you shit and lending more often then not led to me never seeing the game again.

For PS4 I'd get a SSD if you need more storage as should speed things up, also I'm hoping that backwards compatibility is a thing as if love for my digital PS4 games to travel over to PS5 when I do eventually end up buying it. So there is one possible pro, although I guess physical game would work as well. Also frees up some space in you entertainment room/lounge/wherever you store your games.

Click to shrink...

Storage is annoying for me. My setup is my X1X with 1TF internal. I originally had a vanilla One with probably a 500GB internal. So needing extra storage, I eventually picked up a 1TB seagate hybrid for external use. The hybrid part is it has some cache or whatever while being mechanical. So it's supposed to give some advantages of a SSD for cheaper.

Later since the last few years I mostly only play Destiny, I decided I needed a true SSD to get better loading on that. So I picked up a 512GB Adata SSD also for external on the cheap last year.

Now, not wanting to give up any storage, I currently have both external's dangling off the console as well of course as the internal. Which is unsightly and annoying if I ever move the console. With no good solution in sight to remove the clutter. Annoying.

 

[Deleted member 45614]

All games on PS4 and Xbox full install to the console whether you're playing digitally or from a disk. So there's no issue with needing more storage if you go digital. It uses no more space.

Click to shrink...

Well shit didn't know that, so can you play a physical game without disc? Either way thanks for the info.

 

[4 Get!]

I mean, at any moment this could happen.

Click to shrink...

For which service? I don't see this happening to Steam and GoG. I would include MS store but they technically revamped the storefront twice between consoles 1, 2, and 3, and we lost a small pile of games and features each time.

 

[TooBusyLookinGud]

I mean, at any moment this could happen.

Click to shrink...

This can happen with physical easier. Someone could break into your home and steal your games. You can leave your games on a bus while commuting. You can step on a disk and crack it...the list goes on.

I am have been all digital for 8 years and nothing has happened to make me want to go back to physical. You do what makes the most sense to you. A bunch of forum posters don't know the intricacies of your daily activities so make the decision based on how you view your life in the next 2 - 5 years.

 

[Deleted member 45614]

Storage is annoying for me. My setup is my X1X with 1TF internal. I originally had a vanilla One with probably a 500GB internal. So needing extra storage, I eventually picked up a 1TB seagate hybrid for external use. The hybrid part is it has some cache or whatever while being mechanical. So it's supposed to give some advantages of a SSD for cheaper.

Later since the last few years I mostly only play Destiny, I decided I needed a true SSD to get better loading on that. So I picked up a 512GB Adata SSD also for external on the cheap last year.

Now, not wanting to give up any storage, I currently have both external's dangling off the console as well of course as the internal. Which is unsightly and annoying if I ever move the console. With no good solution in sight to remove the clutter. Annoying.

Click to shrink...

That does sound annoying. It sounds like the new consoles are going to come packed with built in SSDs but doesn't do much to solve your situation right now and there is a very good chance they give us too small an amount of storage to last out the gen.

 

[Mullet2000]

If any software was ever literally taken from legit purchasers, there would be other means on the internet to get that software back. It's really not much to worry about.

 

[ghostcrew]

Well shit didn't know that, so can you play a physical game without disc? Either way thanks for the info.

Click to shrink...

No, you need the disc in as proof that you own the game. It's one of the reasons why I just went all digital on consoles... you're literally inserting a piece of plastic, installing the entire game (and often downloading most of it again because of massive updates) and then still having to put the disc in every time despite it running 100% from your HDD and not running from the disk at all. It's just a key at that point. Pointless.

 

[JuicyPlayer]

I would be terrified at the thought of losing my PSN account if my data was somehow compromised and then have to go through Sony customer service where they will deny me access because I dont remember the last credit card account that expired 6 years ago.

 

[DriftingSpirit]

With stuff like GCU and Amazon Prime gone, I've slipped into 100% digital. I don't really feel bad about it. It is what it is.

Also, nice Vagabond avatar.

 

[5taquitos]

Data storage issues pale in comparison to physical clutter.

Time to move? Easy peasy.

 

[Mórríoghain]

The last physical game I've bought was BioShock 2 on its release date.

Digital all the way baby.

 

[Lobster Roll]

Physical advantages are being able to resell the products down the road or to potentially own something that is discontinued / rare in the future. And I guess if you care about box art? Physical games just take up space, add to plastic waste, and have the possibility above 0% of being damaged or lost.

Aside from that, there's nothing wrong with joining the present / future of digital.

 

[karmitt]

My main concern with digital is that consoles haven't had a history of your digital library moving to the next gen, and I don't want to keep every device as we move through gens. With physical at least I have the option of resale.

as soon as I get confidence that the platforms will give digital backwards compatibility I'll probably go 99% digital.

 

[xxracerxx]

I, for one, look forward to the next Nintendo console not carrying over my Switch's digital games. The other two I am less worried about.

 

[Deleted member 45614]

No, you need the disc in as proof that you own the game. It's one of the reasons why I just went all digital on consoles... you're literally inserting a piece of plastic, installing the entire game (and often downloading most of it again because of massive updates) and then still having to put the disc in every time despite it running 100% from your HDD and not running from the disk at all. It's just a key at that point. Pointless.

Click to shrink...

Yeah that's some straight up bullshit.

 

[Manmademan]

Been all digital for essentially 10 years at this point and never had one bad experience with it. I don't know what a bad experience would be outside of getting your account banned and losing your games.

Click to shrink...

which is of course not exactly an unheard of scenario. At the very least enable that 2 factor sign in if you're going to insist on digital content.

Yeah that's some straight up bullshit.

Click to shrink...

not really, since the "key" functions as proof of ownership of the game. You want to give that disc to someone else to install that game? go ahead. You want to rent that game out to a dozen different people at 10 bucks each? knock yourself out. They can all do it, only once at a time.

Good luck loaning any digital content out. it's stuck to your account.

 

[elenarie]

this reads like a thread from 2013

Click to shrink...

This reads like a thread from 2005-ish, if you're a PC person. :D

 

[Deleted member 49482]

I have a blend of digital and physical purchases that I've made deliberately. My physical purchases are mainly due to some combination of:
1. Some of my favorite games that I know I'll want to replay over and over into the future.
2. Have all DLC on-disc. (Additional protection against licensing issues/inaccessibility).
3. Take up a large amount of data to download/install. (I pay for slower internet.)

 

[Phendrana]

I sometimes think about going all digital, but then I remember that games can be found physically for $30-$50 cheaper on release here in Australia.

 

[eraFROMAN]

You're good, modern physical is just as temporal as digital. In fact, digital has had the benefit of a floating account, so you can just install your old games on a replacement, new, or friend's machine without carrying anything.

 

[Jamesac68]

So long as you don't mind that digital is more temporary than physical it's fine. Despite being told of the fragility of bit-rot and such you can still play Atari 2600 cartridges today. Of course, in 40 years the PS4 games of today will be a 30-second download that nobody cares about because it's just too old to even bother calling piracy, so maybe the waiting game works out?

 

[Shoeless]

I've been easing into digital over the last few years for many things. Now my comics, music, and novels are digital, and I went about 90% digital for the PS4 this generation, barring the occasional sale I would see on a physical copy in a store. It's definitely meant far less shelf-space for stuff, though for some reason I haven't yet taken this plunge with movies. I'll still buy the occasional Blu-Ray.

 

[Lyrick]

On Xbox and Steam I've had absolutely no issues.

On both PlayStation and Nintendo download ecosystems both companies have decided that my licenses should be forever stuck on unsupported devices where the only option to play the current supported console versions of extremely similar software releases is to repurchase them with absolutely no discounts or entitlements.

 

[ConfusedOwl]

I would be terrified at the thought of losing my PSN account if my data was somehow compromised and then have to go through Sony customer service where they will deny me access because I dont remember the last credit card account that expired 6 years ago.

Click to shrink...

This makes me nervous too when I think about it but ultimately I've still mostly gone digital for the sake of convenience. Sony also doesn't charge tax in Canada yet so full price releases are $10 cheaper than at retail.

 

[Jotakori]

I don't have an opinion on whether you should go more digital or physical, but man I feel your pain with this struggle, OP. I 10000% prefer owning games physically just cuz I like steelbooks and seeing them on my shelf, but god damn if digital isn't so convenient if I get a random hair up my ass to play a game I don't own yet. And I keep catching myself nearly getting tempted into digital sales, too, lol.

 

[BasilZero]

Technically nothing lasts forever and you dont own an entire game, its just a license on a CD/DVD/Bluray - you arent entitled to get a new one if it gets damaged/lost/etc and plus its almost always never the entire game (data wise) on the disc.


So technically buying physical and digital is pretty much the same especially since even physical games are dictated by software updates that make changes (i.e. GTA series with its music license issues).


I'd rather buy digital because it tends to be cheaper more often and I can save a ton of physical space.


I got no data caps, have fiber internet and dont care about collecting stuff so going digital was pretty easy.

 

[SapientWolf]

Large physical libraries aren't viable if you want easy, instant access to all of your games. They also come with a hidden cost (storage space).

In addition, you're still better off with a digital version if you want to preserve the games, since you can keep copying them to new hard drives rather than rely on a single point of failure. You would also need to perform that step to run them on an emulator in the future.

 

[Manmademan]

[/QUOTE]

Large physical libraries aren't viable if you want easy, instant access to all of your games. They also come with a hidden cost (storage space).

Click to shrink...

This is an oddball criticism, since having to constantly buy larger hard drives to store access to your digital games is a cost that isn't really there for physical, and isn't hidden at all. I'm still rocking the 500GB drive my PS4 came with, with room to spare- if it fills up, I delete whatever games I haven't touched in a while. I change my mind? Reinstalling from disc takes a couple of minutes- a FAR faster install than trying to redownload a full game from PSN. There's really no practical need for a larger than launch drive with a physical collection.

In addition, you're still better off with a digital version if you want to preserve the games, since you can keep copying them to new hard drives rather than rely on a single point of failure. You would also need to perform that step to run them on an emulator in the future.

Click to shrink...

This isn't really true, since mechanically pressed discs have a lifetime that will likely outlast you, and Blu Rays are nigh-impossible to scratch. Digital on the other hand is reliant on Sony/MS/Nintendo's servers staying up and operational. Given the two scenarios, I'd be willing to bet that the lifetime of a mechanical disc will be the longer lasting of the two scenarios. Yes, disc rot was at one point a thing, but is limited to errors in the manufacturing process by specific plants. Normally pressed commercial discs don't have disc rot issues, and I have CDs from 1994 that still play perfectly, along with several PS1 games.

It is also perfectly possible to digitally copy CD and DVD based games to digital drives as a backup, though Blu-Ray I'm not as sure about as I don't own a blu-ray drive to my PC yet and haven't looked into it.