Console Digital Only Sales increased 70% year over year. How do you feel about that?

I'm 95% PHYSICAL DISCS on console. I won't even purchase many digital console games, on principle, unless a physical release is also available. Examples are the Telltale game (TWD, Wolf Among Us, Game of Thrones, etc), The Talos Principle, and Life is Strange. I refused to buy any of these games until there was a physical release. I just ordered a physical copy of LiS from Amazon last night. I don't care about being first to play a game.

I won't buy The Witness unless it gets a physical release or is 75-80% discounted digitally. I bought Vanishing of Ethan Carter recently digital because it was $8.00. That's the right price for digital. I will never pay 100% full-price for something that I don't physically "own" in the video game space.

Ofcourse I guess I'm a dinosaur in many ways. I still buy DVDs and Blu-Ray discs. I still record programs off of television onto DVD-R discs. I still collect books, and many forms of physical media.

So the all digital future can come for video games. I'll find another hobby and a different way to spend my disposable income. /end rant
 
I'm not happy about it.

- I like physical media. Like to have it up on a shelf.
- I often sell off games.
- More digital sales means less used retail games. I save a lot of money buying stuff 2nd hand.
- Digital games don't get discounts as consistently as retail ones do. Pretty much every retail game loses value from the day it is released. Most staff is down to half price within a couple of months.
- Getting funds has a built in extra cost for me as a person using a U.S. account in Japan. Exchange rate, import costs, etc.
- The above is exacerbated by not wanting to store CC info in my account.
 
Xenoflare said:
Did the fact that both PS4 and XB1 require full installations of physical games made people buy digital more often?
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Personally, no.

Installing a game from the disc I find is far more faster than downloading it.

The reason for me is that ease of having my entire library accessible and managed in the ps4's game library. Not having to store, manage and swap out physical discs is a plus, and not having to worry about the life of the blue ray drive. Not to mention getting games a day earlier, not having to drive all the way to a retailer to purchase a physical game.

Mind you upgrading my drive to 1 TB makes this all easier. And I used my old PS4 drive as an external which has all my video shared content.

Also, again - while this trend is going in a direction, the skew between physical to digital on console is highly favored physical. It's going to be a long time if physical is truly ever phased out. If ever. For instance, you can still buy CD albums for music today, despite being a heavily digital driven marketplace.
 
I said something the other day I never thought I'd say due to the fact that until about the end of 2015 I had always been a lover of physical only: "Man I really wanna play Driveclub but I don't feel like getting up to put the disc in." I couldn't believe I was saying the most laziest ass shit I've ever said aloud to myself. Being able to just jump between my games is great. Unless it's a game I am super excited for, a collector's edition or a franchise that's beloved to me I am going digital.

It used to be discs saved you space but that isn't even the case anymore so F it.

I do like amassing games on my shelf however, and of course being able to sell or trade in a shitty game. Quite a few digital games I own on PS4 that I wish I could get rid of even for a few pennies (Evolve).
 
100% digital over here.
It's just so much more convenient. No disc swaps. Midnight games releases already ready at midnight in your console. No space required to hold your collection. Faster loads. Less noise. Multiple games during Remote Play. many more.
 
mujun said:
I'm not happy about it.

- I like physical media. Like to have it up on a shelf.
- I often sell off games.
- More digital sales means less used retail games. I save a lot of money buying stuff 2nd hand.
- Digital games don't get discounts as consistently as retail ones do. Pretty much every retail game loses value from the day it is released. Most staff is down to half price within a couple of months.
- Getting funds has a built in extra cost for me as a person using a U.S. account in Japan. Exchange rate, import costs, etc.
- The above is exacerbated by not wanting to store CC info in my account.
Click to expand...

Same here. Digital only is so expensive!
 
I'm OK with it. I'm used to buying my games on PC digitally. Of course it helps you can get a consistent 20 to 25% off a game before launch. If I could use my gamers club card on digital items from best buy I would stop buying physical gsmes.
 
JohnDoe8865 said:
I'm 95% PHYSICAL DISCS on console. I won't even purchase many digital console games, on principle, unless a physical release is also available. Examples are the Telltale game (TWD, Wolf Among Us, Game of Thrones, etc), The Talos Principle, and Life is Strange. I refused to buy any of these games until there was a physical release. I just ordered a physical copy of LiS from Amazon last night. I don't care about being first to play a game.

I won't buy The Witness unless it gets a physical release or is 75-80% discounted digitally. I bought Vanishing of Ethan Carter recently digital because it was $8.00. That's the right price for digital. I will never pay 100% full-price for something that I don't physically "own" in the video game space.

Ofcourse I guess I'm a dinosaur in many ways. I still buy DVDs and Blu-Ray discs. I still record programs off of television onto DVD-R discs. I still collect books, and many forms of physical media.

So the all digital future can come for video games. I'll find another hobby and a different way to spend my disposable income. /end rant
Click to expand...

I'm the same way. I never purchase anything digital unless there's no other choice.

I also want to guarantee to play games years down the line for nostalgia.
 
Fine with me. I get it, it's hard to sell your console/games again, but the convenience of starting any game I wish without getting up is worth it.

I own two physical games and about 20 digital, give or take. The two physical games are a signed edition of FIFA 16 and Guitar Hero Live. And I get really annoyed when I need to switch between the two.
 
I am almost 100% digital on my Wii U, my 3DS, and Steam. Actually one of my concerns with upgrading my PS3 to PS4, other than lack of BC including PSN titles, is lack of space to go 100% digital on PS4 also...
 
I prefer physical because I cant lose it when my mag storage fails and the man cant disable, discontinue or otherwise switch it off
 
Since I'm primarily a pc gamer, I don't mind buying digital at all. The only things are that the hard drives are pitifully small and the xbl/psn networks are slow as shit. I also tend to ditch my consoles as soon as the next iteration comes out and trading in/selling my physical discs is a plus. But either way, I'll buy whatever version is cheapest at the time.
 
I don't like it. I vastly prefer physical and physical is cheaper the majority of the time. If digital only becomes the norm I wouldn't be able to play the same amount of games that I currently do.


Digital prices are a scam where I live.

I also still buy physical PC games. Steam isn't that cheap either.
 
I was pretty angry over first reveal if Xbone, the always online and fact that you couldn't sell used games. But they did change it and I bought Xbone before PS4. But now after years I noticed that all physical games I have bought have been new, most games I have are digital and I'm always online. Funny how things change.
 
tattooed_dwarf said:
I was pretty angry over first reveal if Xbone, the always online and fact that you couldn't sell used games. But they did change it and I bought Xbone before PS4. But now after years I noticed that all physical games I have bought have been new, most games I have are digital and I'm always online. Funny how things change.
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This has been my view all along, pretty much. I wish they'd ended up implementing that game-sharing concept :(

Oh well.
 
I only buy digital when there is absolutely no option for a physical release, so typically XBLA-type games. I don't trade or sell games, I have decent internet when I am in the states (but might as well have no internet in the country I work in, it's so shitty), and think that having all the games located in one space in a HDD would be pretty convenient. But I like collecting/hoarding. And no matter how well-off I am, I am not going to pay more or even the same amount for the "less" that comes with digital purchases, not for something that can be taken away or lost in an instant.
 
I guess it seems about right to me. It might have happened a little faster than I was expecting.

With the popularity of Steam it was only a matter of time before the floodgate opened for consoles. I wouldn't think that broadband penetration was great enough to see a 70% year over year increase this soon, but hey, that's why I'm just some asshole talking about games on the Internet and not working in the business of selling them.
 
100% Digital here. I am from Mexico but made all my gaming accounts(NNID,PSN,Xblive) while I was living abroad in Canada. I want companies to realize that people actually move to other countries because of many different reasons. MS so far is the only one that lets you change your account region hope PSN and the new Nintendo thing lets you change it as well.

Digital is more cheaper for me since I save up around 10-15 dollars per game. I just hate having to go through pcgamesupply to get my psn/xbox credit lol.
 
I just can't get around to going full digital. I prefer actually having a physical disc that I own.

Either way, the fact that internet still isn't widely available in America is gonna hold back any progression towards a digital-only console or handheld. This is why I doubt that we'll see anyone make the jump to digital-only as the only option for a new console or handheld of the Big Three anytime soon (& anyone who tries will likely be crucified for it, much like what happened with Microsoft).
 
Console Digital still has a ways to go if it wants to catch up to the ease of PC. On one hand, there have been some really great sales. On the other hand, those sales aren't that frequent. My biggest issue is that installing a disc is way faster than downloading a game and with a measly 500gb of space and memory bugs on ps4 to boot.... it's a huge obstacle. And then there are no refunds too even if there are technical issues with the game iirc
 
All good here, i prefer digital but buy where its cheapest. If a game i own on disc goes on sale and i can sell my disc for that price i will replace them.
 
Digital only for me, being able to share (well sort of sharing) one game license over two consoles (mine and my sons) saves us a heap, can't do that with physical.

In saying that if there is a game whichI don't want at all or I would play and my son never would which we can pick up the physical copy on the cheap then it would win out. That hasn't happened yet mind as we have similar gaming tastes.

Last gen I was all about the collectors editions, this gen I released how I don't actually need more shit plastic models and crappy in game reskins.
 
I've really embraced going digital this gen. Almost all my games are digital on my PS4 and I just love how I can save time switching games without having to load different disc in.
 
I don't buy digital games on consoles unless they're exclusively digital due to the giant question mark surrounding backwards compatibility, plus it's nice to be able to sell the lot (console + games) when the next thing comes along.
 
I prefer to actually own my game and look at it in the shelf but its really damn convenient to just download it instead of going to the store. Especially now with how much I've been using steam lately.
 
Didn't want digital at the start of this gen even though my whole PC collection is digital.
That has changed and both consoles are now fully digital even with the high games prices.
 
JustSomeone said:
Digital games is the future. I basically only go physical when there is a limited edition I want.
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I think this is the future. You stream. download or in some shape or form interact with entertainment in an online capacity unless you want to keep it as art in your household. This isn't as much consumer rights as it is about convenience for the consumer. Hopefully it'll lead to better quality in physical editions.
 
Perfectly fine with it. It's the superior delivery system for me, but at the end of the day it's the game that matters and not the format that it comes in. If having something on a disc or digital matters more to you than actually playing the game itself, I feel bad for you.

iBlue said:
Digital is more cheaper for me since I save up around 10-15 dollars per game. I just hate having to go through pcgamesupply to get my psn/xbox credit lol.
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Amazon.
 
The moment I dont have to pay almost 20€ more for a new release on digital I will do the switch.

Meanwhile I still buy almost everything on physical. Digital prices are ridiculous over here.
 
Perfectly happy with digital for small PSN titles, prefer physical for big releases though. Not because of wanting a physical copy but just because of large file sizes.
 
Shenmue said:
That's fine, but just don't get rid of physical or I'm out.
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Same here. I do own some digital games and like digital, but I will always prefer physical. I think both can coexist like it does now. Also, most digital games prices are still a joke excluding Steam sales and a few PSN/XBoxLive sales.
 
All digital is great by me.

However, Microsoft, Sony, Valve etc. need to start offering all games on their platforms as codes purchasable by retailers. Whether that's printed on a card or on an email. Introduce a bit of price competition in the market.
 
My Xbox One is 95% digital, thanks to external hard drives and I love the ease it is to change games.

My PlayStation 4 apart from Digital only titles all my games will be physical because I don't think u can get all my games on to a 2tb drive by the time the gen is out. If they added external HDD compatibility it would be different.

Sony sort your shit out!
 
Initially I was resistant to the whole thing but once I bought a digital copy and realized I don't even have to put on pants or leave the house I never looked back. I don't buy as many games as I used to and only get titles I know I'm going to want to play and keep for a long time so the resale aspect of it isn't really a factor.
 
Fully digital, I started and now I don't want any cases lying around. I'm either 100% physical or 100% digital.

Not surprised it's rising YoY. Everyone whom I speak to about games buy digital simply because they can't be arsed to visit a store after work or they don't want to wait for delivery.

The margins are a lot higher on digital, as we've been told. They really should lower the prices on the store.
 
I'm 75% digital but that's only because I live in a country where new games are never available and eventually show up at exorbitant price tags.

Mostly prefer physical but I like digital stuff when there's a good sale on PSN.

leeh said:
Fully digital, I started and now I don't want any cases lying around. I'm either 100% physical or 100% digital.

Not surprised it's rising YoY. Everyone whom I speak to about games buy digital simply because they can't be arsed to visit a store after work or they don't want to wait for delivery.

The margins are a lot higher on digital, as we've been told. They really should lower the prices on the store.
Click to expand...

Console manufacturers opting to make less money?lol
 
Only way id go back to dics is if you could chuck disc in install game & not use disc again unless to reinstall it
 
I buy digital when i need to, when the game is not available in physical form. When it is, it's 100 % physical for me unless the price difference is too big. Most of the time the big releases are way cheaper over here physical when compared to digital (i'm looking at you, €69,99 releases).

Also, aren't the numbers a bit skewed? More smaller digital games means you sell more in digital when there's no alternative to it. That doesn't mean people PREFER to have digital games, it's simply because there's no other option. If all games released would be available on day 1 physical as well, would the digital number be as high? I very much doubt it.
 
OleGunner said:
Console manufacturers opting to make less money?lol
Click to expand...
The publishers set the prices, they shouldn't be greedy and lower the prices to give them slightly higher margins than physical. That should opt more people into moving digital which can allow the publisher to save money in other areas, like distribution.

But yeah, like you said, we're not going to see that happen ha.
 
I go where the sale is. If the game is cheapest in the digital platform then I'll get it on there. I got Dead or Alive 5 Last Round for $10 used while I got Wolfenstein: The New Order + The Old Blood for $16. I'm starting to get more Digital stuff since the price is usually better.
 
Digital is fine when I'm buying a game on PSN sale or something where it's cheap anyways.

For most games, I greatly prefer and will generally choose physical.

It looks like physical isn't going anywhere anyways, not when most people don't have the kind of Internet connection where downloading 50 GB games becomes fast and routine and their data is uncapped.

"Why would I want to live there" and "Sometimes the electricity goes out" applies to this.
 
Phoenix944 said:
Exactly. Why would I full price for a digital media when a physical copy is like €10-€15 cheaper on Amazon...
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I was referring to Amazon for buying PSN and XBL credits.

Also digital games are cheaper for me, so why would I buy physical games from Amazon?
 
I've been a digital gamer for a while now on PC and PS. Still don't buy much for Nintendo platforms digitally, but we'll see how their new account system works out. Nintendo also needs to let 3rd parties decide their own pricing and stop trying to control sales, publishers should be able to price these games as they please.
 
I'm going digital with games that are cheap in the store or I plan to play regularly, like MP games. Something I didn't even consider last gen, but now my MP crew actually shifted from PC to PS4. So it's more like we went from Steam to the PS Store.
 
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