How do you like to buy your games?

[Inglorious Man]

With the convenience of digital digital download and purchasing as well as many brick and mortar stores having a limited selection of physical games, I have been buying games a lot digitally recently. I am also noticing some titles not even having a physical release like Fuga: Melodies of Steel and the Klonoa remaster not getting a physical release in the U.S. Also I am noticing that the only way to buy physical copies of games is online. For example Digimon Survive just came out and no brick and mortar stores carry the game in my area. Target, Walmart, and Best Buy do not even sell the game in stores. You have to buy it from their website.

How do you prefer to buy games?

 

[Beelzebufo]

For new releases I buy day one, usually from the local EB Games (although they finally just changed their sign to be GameStop)

I don't have the paitence to wait around for my copy to be delivered a week after the release date.

 

[kai3345]

Mostly digital from Steam or a console storefront but will go physical for certain/special stuff. Just bought the Live A Live physical version because that original game meant a lot to me

 

[Chairman Yang]

Love the convenience of digital, but I now buy physical whenever possible given how horrible Nintendo and Sony are with preserving access to games. For physical, I prefer having it shipped, but I'll make exceptions for good deals that are only available in-store.

 

[sir_crocodile]

cheap

(physical, normally online due to poor selection in stores. though smyths is ok)

 

[Pankratous]

If I do actually choose to buy a game, it's absolutely physical. Sometimes if a game is VERY cheap on a digital sale I'll get it there.

But these days to be honest I'm living off PS+ Premium and GamePass.

 

[KamenSenshi]

Will always go physical in store if possible, next Amazon physical.

 

[shaneo632]

Physical shipped so I can resell it later

 

[Ryuelli]

Physical and shipped to me.

The only ecosystem I feel comfortable investing in digitally is Xbox's due to Nintendo and Sony seemingly being awful at game preservation and associated digital storefronts.

 

[mongpoochy]

I usually play lots of Nintendo games, and so its just very convenient to buy games through Nintendo eshop while I play.

 

[heartlessphil]

I'm starting to get into roms and piracy because we are getting robbed by publishers nowadays. I only pay for games made by people who respect the players. So very few of them. so if your game is full price and has : loot boxes, microtransactions, cut content put behind paywall, grinding or anything close to that, i'm not giving em a penny.

 

[Boclfon479]

I used to be all about physical games but, since covid, I started appreciating digital storefronts on consoles a lot more for the ease of use.

 

[Gyro Zeppeli]

Buying physical games from Amazon. For nostalgia, on occasion, I'll walk into a Walmart, Target or Best Buy and buy physical games I don't own. The only digital games I buy are on Steam.

 

[Lord Fanny]

I buy physical. I used to buy from my local gamestop but it closed down, so I mostly buy online now

 

[Efejota]

It's the first time I hear the term Brick and Mortar Store, but that. I only buy digital or from Amazon when it's much cheaper to do so, as I like biking my way to the supermarket or game store.

 

[Hokey]

For console I still buy physical and my office is next door to a huge mall, but I actually do 99% of my gaming on PC so for that it's just Steam.

 

[Mass Effect]

It depends on the platform:

PC is always digital obviously
PS is a mix; SP games are usually physical while MP games are digital
Nintendo is mostly physical because I don't trust Nintendo to keep their stores up. Plus Nintendo games go UP in value quite often.

 

[Ayirek]

I prefer brick and mortar but lately I've been relying on purchasing online and having them shipped to me. I love having a physical collection, but I am pretty sure I'll be mostly digital next generation.

 

[Chaosblade]

Presumably this is just for console games. I don't buy a lot of console games anymore, for a while I was buying at Walmart brick and mortar because they had them for $10 cheaper. Not sure they do that anymore so I just order online from whatever company hasn't pissed me off recently.

 

[Jasonofindy]

Depends on what device I'm buying for.

Nintendo- all physical- usually Amazon or Target if possible
Sony- mix of digital and physical depending on the game and price
Xbox and PC games- all digital

 

[Zombine]

Digital, mixed with Amazon and my local GameStop.

I would get some at Best Buy every now and then, but now they are more worried about selling blenders and washing machines.

 

[BrickArts295]

Digital but then I kinda want to sell them so I most of the time get them from GameStop because I abuse their trade in deals :P
Best Buy if its something a bit more rare like CEs.

 

[AlgusUnderdunk]

With a fistful of dollars and change at the local drugstore.

Honestly how I purchased Earthbound. The local drugstore had a 'shelf' of SNES games and when it came out it was just sitting there in a big box with its guide.

 

[Scarlett]

In store or digital.

 

[Nameless]

Digital from official stores or online keyshops - whichever is cheapest.

Doubt I'll ever buy a physical game again for myself.

 

[Birdito]

If it's Xbox/PS from 360/PS3 onward, digital if possible but physical if digital isn't available. Anything newer than that digital 100%. Anything Nintendo I opt for physical.

 

[vixolus]

I like to not buy my games and enjoy subscriptions, but when I do buy them I vastly prefer digital over physical.

 

[Hippopuncher12]

95% physical from Best Buy or Amazon. Sometimes GameStop. I usually only buy digital games when it's the only option.

97% of my purchases are for PS.
2% for Switch (Exclusives only)
1% on Series X (I only play 1st party stuff for the most part so Gamepass is sufficient for that however I do still buy some physical when they get mega cheap just to have them)

 

[PallasKitten]

I almost always buy physical whenever possible. Online, since buying in offline stores has often been overpriced for several years now. Buying physically is often actually cheaper than digital as well, and even when it isn't, I'm fine buying extra for physical.

I like being able to "own" my games in a tangible form, plus I can share them with my boyfriend. I still buy digital occasionally though, when it's the only option available. I may double dip on a game and a get a physical version if it gets one later, if I enjoyed it enough.

 

[Diogo Arez]

Physically at stores

 

[Kurekure Takora]

As a kid/teen, going to the store (especially the mall) and purchasing the game was an event and part of the magic. EB/Software Etc./Funcoland used to be really cool for the most part until they all merged into GameStop.

Now that I'm older and way more varied in my activities, I like to just download the digital version.

 

[Cruxist]

Physical when possible for console, otherwise on deep discount digitally. Or on Steam lol.

 

[Hyperfludd]

Depends.

If it's a game I want day one with zero extras or anything, I prefer buying digitally from brick and mortar stores so I can save additional money. (Bestbuy most of the time for 5%/reward points use)

Otherwise, whatever is cheapest grabs at me if I can wait, be it digitally or physical. I do tend to prefer digital though, because I don't have much space for cases at home anymore.

 

[Mathieran]

On sale

 

[Strike]

Physical, shipped and possibly on sale.

 

[CubeApple76]

Never buying a physical game for a modern console (or PC, but haven't bought a physical PC game in like 20 years) again. Too many benefits with digital for me to keep going with discs. Not to mention these days discs tend to be paperweights since you end up re-downloading most of the game in patches if you want the best experience anyway. Also in the inevitable digital only future when consoles don't have disc drives and we have a connected library across many devices I'd like to still have access to my collection everywhere.

Also, big fan of subscriptions, tons of variety and value, and I very rarely revisit games. Can always buy them if I really want to go back at some point.

 

[Kyrios]

It depends on the platform:

PC is always digital obviously
PS is a mix; SP games are usually physical while MP games are digital
Nintendo is mostly physical because I don't trust Nintendo to keep their stores up. Plus Nintendo games go UP in value quite often.

Click to shrink...

Pretty much the same for me, except I buy physical Switch games more because I don't feel like upgrading my SD card lol

 

[Dougieflesh]

100% digital. Takes me less time to download a game than it would be to get ready and get to my car to go purchase one from a store.

 

[J_ToSaveTheDay]

Digital direct from my console first and foremost, but occasionally physically at brick & mortar.

 

[SlickVic]

In terms of physical vs digital for Playstation and Xbox, whatever version I find a good deal on. Mostly buy online regardless (with the occasional in store pickup from Best Buy).

On Switch though, it's digital only for me these days.

 

[secretanchitman]

PC (Steam): Digital
PS5: Physical or digital depending on the game
Switch: Physical

Always will get games on sale though, no matter if it's 20% off or even a few bucks off.

 

[PAFenix]

Physical from Amazon. Usually arrives day & date on release.

Though I've downloaded quite a few things from Extra/Premium and I can see how it's addicting to have so much available at your fingertips.

 

[hydruxo]

Any of the first three choices depending on the game.

 

[BasilZero]

Purchase digitally

90% of my entire library/backlog is digital

I get my games instantly , don't have to wait for them to come in

I have fiber gigabit internet with no data cap

And I don't really download everything on the same drive - I install 1-3 games and play them - delete and install something else

 

[Deleted member 10001]

Online purchased physical titles for Switch.

Only buy physical games today as I got burned going all-digital on the platform. Never again.

 

[Easystride]

Physical copy, wherever it's the cheapest. I rarely buy games day one, maybe with the exception of Dragon Quest. Then resell upon completion.

 

[jmood88]

The games I know I want on day 1, I get physical copies. Anything else, I'll wait for a sale on the Xbox store, or get a code from Amazon.

 

[construct]

i don't understand the last two options

 

[bitcloudrzr]

i don't understand the last two options

Click to shrink...

Physically go into a store to buy a digital game code or do it online.

 

[Beelzebufo]

i don't understand the last two options

Click to shrink...

you purchase a redeemable code for a digital copy of the game from a store or jeff bezos. i guess some people do it?