Why would people go digital only when it’s so financially bad compared to physical?
- Thread starter Dave
- Start date
Quick question to those who keep the hobby affordable by selling your games back 30 days later...wouldn't it be cheaper to rent?
It's crazy that your experience doesn't match everyone else's. I've never spent more on a digital switch game than a physical one and it takes less time to download than going to a shop.
There's no irony, just your bias.
lmao take your own advice, bud.
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I don't understand it either.
It's not even having to "go out to a store" (Which are usually more expensive actually). Just ordering physically online is mostly £10-15 cheaper.
The only times I get digital is when the price difference is about +/- £5 and more lately, I'm game sharing with my brother, so it makes sense to both pay less and share the game.
If those circumstances don't apply though, don't understand why you'd do digital more regularly, unless the act of changing discs is too much of a hastle.
It's not even having to "go out to a store" (Which are usually more expensive actually). Just ordering physically online is mostly £10-15 cheaper.
The only times I get digital is when the price difference is about +/- £5 and more lately, I'm game sharing with my brother, so it makes sense to both pay less and share the game.
If those circumstances don't apply though, don't understand why you'd do digital more regularly, unless the act of changing discs is too much of a hastle.
The way I see it, you're paying up to 100% extra digitally for the convenience of never losing the disk or damaging the disk or lending the disk to someone when you realise you want to play it or even just never having to get up and go find the disk if you rarely swap them.
It all seems like molehills, but over time, that convenience adds up IMO.
This is quite true of home consoles but super true of handhelds like the Switch etc. Not having to carry an extra case or more bulk with you when you're on the road - it's all just in the handheld and all playable immediately - is bloody amazing.
Of course it's very bad for digital conservation...
It all seems like molehills, but over time, that convenience adds up IMO.
This is quite true of home consoles but super true of handhelds like the Switch etc. Not having to carry an extra case or more bulk with you when you're on the road - it's all just in the handheld and all playable immediately - is bloody amazing.
Of course it's very bad for digital conservation...
I don't know. It's baffling.
Convenience is one thing but if you add up all the day one purchases made on over-priced digital markets I'm sure some people would have been able to afford much more expensive things in life.
Why would you ever buy games at launch, digital or physical, if you were looking to save money?
If you wait for sales, digital us better every single time.
I'm referring to the millions of other players that buy day one digital and have wasted so much money in doing so.
Yeah...sales on digital are great, if you don't want to be playing day one.
Also we could all save loads of money if we took our own food and drinks in to the cinema but a lot of people buy really expensive drinks and food there for convenience. I could also save loads on fuel if I drove across town to the cheaper supermarket petrol station but I don't, because convenience. I could save money if I started a new trial account on Netflix every month with a different email address but I don't because of the convenience.
This is a bad argument. People spend more on things every day because of convenience/a better experience. I'm not about to start buying discs (that I don't want) every time I want a game just because I can save £5-£10.
I don't pay taxes on games on PSN and I never returned games even when I did buy physical.
I saved so much money buy buying digital, even on day one purchases
Because the world is bigger than North America or 1st world Europe countries and not everyone has the same prices/availability of physical media.
Luckily Steam & Microsoft has localized prices in a lot of places but Sony is more expensive for some reason (and as far as I know, we don't have any local servers or anything)
In my case, I use an USA PSN account since the new games are 60 vs 72 in Argentinian store. I've also game shared before but not anymore. I'm turning to PC Gaming for the difference in prices and leaving the ps4 for the ocasional exclusive.
Luckily Steam & Microsoft has localized prices in a lot of places but Sony is more expensive for some reason (and as far as I know, we don't have any local servers or anything)
In my case, I use an USA PSN account since the new games are 60 vs 72 in Argentinian store. I've also game shared before but not anymore. I'm turning to PC Gaming for the difference in prices and leaving the ps4 for the ocasional exclusive.
Digital is easier in every way. Discs are a pain in the ass and honestly since Game Pass and EA I hardly ever buy 60 dollar game anymore.
1. Buy game physically at launch for $60 (or less if you still have GCU or some other discount)
2. Play game to completion or until you're personally "done" with it.
3. Trade game in for credit towards something else (if it's soon enough usually $30-35 or more credit)
4. If it's a game you think you'll play again sometime, keep it on a wish list.
5. Probably by the time you're hankering for it again, it'll have been on sale digitally for at least $20. Often more like $5-10.
Best of both worlds. You get to play at launch, get credit to put towards your next game, and then can re-buy it digitally later for much cheaper and own it for "forever" (servers-willing). Obviously works better for single-player games, but some multiplayer games I'll go hard for a month or so and then move on.
2. Play game to completion or until you're personally "done" with it.
3. Trade game in for credit towards something else (if it's soon enough usually $30-35 or more credit)
4. If it's a game you think you'll play again sometime, keep it on a wish list.
5. Probably by the time you're hankering for it again, it'll have been on sale digitally for at least $20. Often more like $5-10.
Best of both worlds. You get to play at launch, get credit to put towards your next game, and then can re-buy it digitally later for much cheaper and own it for "forever" (servers-willing). Obviously works better for single-player games, but some multiplayer games I'll go hard for a month or so and then move on.
I think overall, digital is the more ethical choice.
The developers get more money from the digital version. I would like to reward the devs instead of retailers,
Besides, digital versions are infinitely more environmental friendly than their physical counterparts. The less plastic, the better.
It's rare these days that you get more convenient for going the environmental friendly route. So I think the price is worth it.
And digital got good deals all the time.
The developers get more money from the digital version. I would like to reward the devs instead of retailers,
Besides, digital versions are infinitely more environmental friendly than their physical counterparts. The less plastic, the better.
It's rare these days that you get more convenient for going the environmental friendly route. So I think the price is worth it.
And digital got good deals all the time.
I'm digital only on Xbox. It saves me money vs physical. Now that GCU is no longer a thing, physical games cost $60 plus tax. Digital is a flat $60.
Plus, on Xbox we get tons of digital sales, far more than in store sales. Digital is literally cheaper unless you like to sell your games a lot.
Plus, on Xbox we get tons of digital sales, far more than in store sales. Digital is literally cheaper unless you like to sell your games a lot.
This and if you wait you can get deals on digital games so that isn't an issue
I have physical collections dating back to the Genesis (sold my NES, inexplicably when i was much younger) and at age 37 with a family, I just don't want physical collections in my house anymore. The downside to me is not financial - particularly given there is often pretty good digital sales - but more my concern about the longevity of their availability. I just recently downloaded all my WiiU games to an external drive because I don't trust Nintendo given the Wii store closure.
It's also better for the environment - no plastic game cases and no driving to the store (hopefully nobody quotes the bogus 2014ish study saying it's worse that (a) didn't factor in plastic and (b) assumed a PS3 running at max capacity for downloads), particularly if you use green energy for your home.
lol at the "because laziness" posts in this thread. Ironically, these are pretty lazy posts.
It's also better for the environment - no plastic game cases and no driving to the store (hopefully nobody quotes the bogus 2014ish study saying it's worse that (a) didn't factor in plastic and (b) assumed a PS3 running at max capacity for downloads), particularly if you use green energy for your home.
lol at the "because laziness" posts in this thread. Ironically, these are pretty lazy posts.
1. Because having more stuff isn't something I like. I don't want to have to store game cases and discs, and eventually move them when I move. Collecting more physical things that will just sit around and clutter up space is annoying to me.
2. Not having to worry about swapping discs is awesome. I want to play a game I haven't touched in a few years? I just go to my library and install it. I don't have to dig around for a disc.
2. Not having to worry about swapping discs is awesome. I want to play a game I haven't touched in a few years? I just go to my library and install it. I don't have to dig around for a disc.
I make the decisions only based on price, so no one should go completely digital or physical. Go where its the cheapest! Choice is whats key. Being locked down to just the playstation store or xbox store is basically signing up to have no choice and deal with a monopoly. It's not like you can buy digital games from anywhere you want on consoles.
Buying a single digital copy and sharing with my kids is much cheaper than buying multiple physical copies so we can play at the same time (doesn't apply to all games, but does apply to most).