New school gaming. Is Anyone going all digital or still buying physical games?

[RAZO]

I don't know about you guys but now in days I find it much more convenient to just start up my console and select a game without needing to insert a disc which pretty much does almost nothing now since the game is installed to the HD.

I actually just got rid of about 50 Ps3 and Xbox 360 games that I could either play through ps plus, xbox live gold or steam and it feels good not having all that extra clutter on the shelf. I think for now on with the PS4 and XB1 I'm going digital on whatever I could as long as the price is right. No way am I paying $60 for a digital game.

Has anyone else bought into New School Digital Only gaming yet or do you still like having those physical games sitting on the shelf just in case?

 

[Cousin_Itt]

The downturn to digital only is that once you buy the game, you're stuck with it. Unless there is an incentive to get the digital game, most people will buy the physical copy so they can lend or sell it once they're done with it if they so choose. Most of the games I buy digital are psn/steam/humble sales at steep discount.

 

[RAZO]

The downturn to digital only is that once you buy the game, you're stuck with it. Unless there is an incentive to get the digital game, most people will buy the physical copy so they can lend or sell it once they're done with it if they so choose. Most of the games I buy digital are psn/steam/humble sales at steep discount.

Yea, I guess for those who are buying new released games and paying top dollar want to get something back in trade or sale when they are done with the game. I'm always late to the party so I don't waste much money on my digital games. If I own a physical copy of a game that I purchased on Steam or Psn Store for example for $3 or $5, the physical copy is being sold.

 

[NGCDFreak]

Physical copy for life.

 

[GregN]

I wouldn't say I've gone entirely digital; I've been DL much more often lately for games like DQVII and VIII. I still like a physical copy because if you don't like the game or finish it and won't play it again, you can always sell the physical.

 

[Tron]

I'm old fashion i prefer a physical copy of the game.Unless it's digital only i'll play it that way,good thing there's limitedrungames as of late for giving digital only release a physical one.

 

[theMot]

I don't play new games but if I did it would all be digital. Nice to not have so much clutter around. Let me pay a cheaper price, have the same experience then move on and I'm happy.

 

[oliverclaude]

...I find it much more convenient to just start up my console and select a game without needing to insert a disc which pretty much does almost nothing now since the game is installed to the HD.

Interesting question. For me, the lack of the insert ritual is damaging the whole act of playing, because playing for me is not about convenience or functional rationality, it's not about fulfilling a certain need in the most practical way -- it's quite the opposite.

The more useless & senseless it gets, the more homely I feel about it. Ideally, gaming should be putting up a fight against rationality in all of its forms and I'm very romantic about it. In short: Fuck convenience.

 

[cdamm]

i genuinely was a physical copy of the game guy until this generation.

For me its the lack of major releases that i even want to play this time around. I find myself being more drawn to the indie titles this generation. Most of those are DL only and thats where i'm finding myself. I'll tell y'all this- turning on the playstation and not getting up to change games has done wonders for my lounging ability.

 

[MattBlah]

I don't play new games but if I did it would all be digital. Nice to not have so much clutter around. Let me pay a cheaper price, have the same experience then move on and I'm happy.

See, this is my issue. If digital games were £20, rather than the £40 for physical, then I'd convert. Most of the time though, they're more expensive! New PS4 releases are £40 on Amazon, yet the PS store asks £50. I can play that physical copy until I am bored and then sell or trade it for at least half what I paid.

 

[Viewpoint]

Physical media for Life unless digital-only

 

[K_K]

See, this is my issue. If digital games were £20, rather than the £40 for physical, then I'd convert. Most of the time though, they're more expensive! New PS4 releases are £40 on Amazon, yet the PS store asks £50. I can play that physical copy until I am bored and then sell or trade it for at least half what I paid.

This. Now the problem is I don't buy many new games these days anyway. I've got the ps4. But it's used more for Netflix than anything else. I find the real problem isn't physical copies slowly evaporating. But rather a genuine lack of interest in that which is new and fresh. There's a handful of games I'm interested in/want. And the list isn't long.

 

[Heinz]

I buy few games nowadays but I did buy BF1 and the new Hitman game and both digitally. The last physical game I bought was a couple years ago, GTAV for PC and only because my internet was rubbish and it's huge. Took me 4 hours to install the 7 x DVD's ....

 

[xsq]

A lot of the time used copies are way cheaper than the digital version... especially if you're like me and are late to the system and any game you pick up has already run it's course - I bought all my 360 stuff used and saved a ton compared to digital.

 

[FilthyRear]

I went digital-only on the Vita.

My only gripe about it is that the much-older games are still expensive. They have years-old PSP games on there that are still $14.99/$19.99 to download.

 

[Ip Man]

i'm going digital this gen, purely for the reason that you still have to install the game on to the hard drive even if it's a physical copy.

 

[norton9478]

If it isn't on disc (or other physical format), I don't buy it.

 

[RBjakeSpecial]

i'm going digital this gen, purely for the reason that you still have to install the game on to the hard drive even if it's a physical copy.

Feel the same way. If I were to buy a big budget AAA game that I could trade in (which probably won't happen this gen), then I would buy a physical copy.

I just bought my PS4 Pro and figured I'd get a game with it. Bought the Drive Club physical copy, went home and saw that I could have bought the game+season pass for the same price. I immediately went back to Game Stop and returned it for a digital $20 PSN card.

For some reason when I turn on the console and the disc spins up it feels kinda annoying.

 

[RAZO]

I went digital-only on the Vita.

My only gripe about it is that the much-older games are still expensive. They have years-old PSP games on there that are still $14.99/$19.99 to download.

Yea, it's a hit or miss with buying digital. It makes no sense to pay $20 for a digital game when you could buy a physical copy of that same game for $10.

I'm just curious. Say you buy some digital games on sale via steam or psn for example, but you already own the physical copies, do people keep both?

To me, If I purchased all 3 Bioshock's on Steam for $10, I'm selling off the physical copies. Makes no sense in having games take up space on your shelf. Plus, some of these newer 360-PS3 games end up getting re-mastered and sold in sets like Uncharted, Gears, Resident Evil's.

 

[ballzdeepx]

My concern is how much longer the physical copies will even contain actual game code. Look at the size of these patches for some recent games like doom and it's insane to me.
I'm hoping the switch will still have the entire game on the card without the need for these patches.

Nevertheless, I trust myself to hold on to my own games more than some corporation who will decide when it's time to sunset services or platforms in order to herd the masses to the next console/service.
Fuck giving up that choice to them, and don't come bitching once it's fully realized.

 

[BlackaneseNiNjA]

Physical media for Life unless digital-only

+1 Managing shelf space can be a little troublesome, but it's nice to have the option to lend, trade, move (between hardware changes), etc. Hardware eventually dies and dlc downloads stop and become outright unavailable. I have lost a lot of digital only content this way (i.e. xbox exclusive content such as the Ninja Gaiden Hurricane packs 1 & 2 which is not the same as the rebalanced "Black" disc release).

I agree with FilthyRear regarding the portable systems though. Not having to carry around a pocket full of umds or game cards is nice. I used to hate the concept of the pspgo (still no FFVII Crisis Core for digital), but over time it became my portable system of choice. The fact that it can also dock to a tv with controller support makes it a better nintendo-switch-like device imho (plays tons of emulators, ps1, psp games and actually fits in your pocket).

 

[GohanX]

I'm all for going digital, but I still end up buying mostly physical games due to price. I'm not paying a full $60 for a digital game, and since I'm a bargain hunter I often pick up physical copies much cheaper than digital. I only care about getting physical copies of the games I really love and want to keep forever, but most current games I'll likely play once and never again so I don't really care.

 

[FilthyRear]

I'm just curious. Say you buy some digital games on sale via steam or psn for example, but you already own the physical copies, do people keep both?

A large portion of my PS1 collection is available on PSN. I've been considering dl'ing the ones that I own (or some) and dumping all but a select few.

 

[RAZO]

A large portion of my PS1 collection is available on PSN. I've been considering dl'ing the ones that I own (or some) and dumping all but a select few.

I haven't started doing this with the retro stuff yet but I'm strongly considering it as well. Especially the Multi Disc PS1 Rpg's.

 

[norton9478]

If I played games regularly, I wouldn't mind a digital subscription service. Like Playstation+ or the Sega Channel.