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[Allnamestakenlol]

Probably. But, I can count the number of times I've bought a physical release in the last five years on one hand, and at least one of those times was because it came bundled with the statue and other neat stuff that I really wanted.

 

[pixelation]

Can't remember the last game I bought in its physical version.

 

[Zambatoh]

Yes.
1. Discs are usually cheaper.
2. Saves bandwidth except for DLC/Patches.
3. Faster installs then downloading. Especially if you live outside of major cities.
4. Can more easily save on storage space. Especially on PS5. Fuck those SSD prices!

Full Disclosure: I've been mostly digital on PS4, because I have a large enough ExHDD to store most of my games. And it was cheap to do so.
For these new SSD consoles however, they can go right to hell with that.

 

[SteelCurtain 59]

Personally I don't think so, but there are plenty of people who prefer physical games for reasons they feel are entirely valid

For me, other than games I've gotten as a gift for like Christmas or Birthdays, I haven't had a physical copy of a game since some time in the late 360/PS3 gen, I just don't see any benefits to physical as far as I'm concerned.

I had tons of physical games in the 360/PS3 era and before, and I've never really wanted to sell any of them, as I could want to play one of them at random somewhere down the road, and the ones I did sell I made so little money it probably wasn't worth it. And my friends that play video games aren't local so lending/borrowing games is rather impractical and never really worth the hassle. Also, at least for me personally I feel like there's a better chance of me losing a physical copy of a game or having it scratched/damaged than there is of me getting banned or the digital copy becoming unplayable. And the whole "how hard is it to switch discs" argument, it's not, but having to keep a collection of hundreds of game copies close enough to your console to actually be able to switch them with any form of speed is impractical for some people, especially having to keep a giant game shelf and make sure it's organized can be annoying. Also time adds up, sure maybe the time to switch games isn't some substantial amount of time, but over the course of an entire generation (or multiple) that time adds up. Plus, the one major benefit physical had prior to last gen is gone, as not only do the games take up the same amount of harddrive space, but you also have substantial patches you still have to download anyways for most physical games. Once enough people go digital only then we can also potentially get cool features like digital trade-in, more enhanced sharing options, as well as bigger digital sales and lower digital prices in general (once they no longer have to worry about not pissing off physical retailers)

It's definitely a divisive issue and neither side is wrong, but I personally think digital is about to completely take over by next gen (or the gen after at this latest)

 

[Salmonboy]

Yes if you wanna own your games instead of "renting" them for a couple of years. Also you can sell them.

 

[digital_ghost]

They are often cheaper physically than digitally. Stores discount them more often than PSN or eshop.

Also there is a thriving used game sales online.

 

[T8SC]

Yes.

Now GTFO thinking all digital is a good idea in 2021.

 

[sublimit]

1)Physical games usually take much less space in the hard drive than the digital ones.

2)You own the game and you can lend it to a friend as many times as you want (and to as many friends as you want). And of course you can sell it.

3)A lot of PS4 games (at least in my collection) had reversable covers that featured very beautiful art. Some (although very few) even had manuals.

 

[Haggard]

You don't really own what you buy digitally. Just try to resell or lend it....
If you buy digitally you trade actual ownership for comfort.

 

[EDMIX]

As someone that owns a shit load of physical games from this gen, like 90% are perfectly fine offline with no patches. This argument is so exaggerated its insane. Sure there are some games that the patches make a huge difference like FFXV, but its a small percentage of the total physical releases. Do people actually read the patch notes for their games? Like what are all these patches that people are seeing that makes them think, well without this patch I wouldn't even want to play this game anymore.

This.

The issue with this argument is its not as if the fucking patch is saying "theses fixes be only fo da physical version" or something. Patches are going to be for the game IN GENERAL. So if we never had digital, does this person think zero patches or fixes would ever exist or something?

We have several threads of people bitching and crying over BC and game "preservation" but hey, lets limit options and only have the market controlled thru digital as that MUST be a good idea to have LESS FUCKING OPTIONS?

So I'd say a point to still having physical is theses conversations about stores closing or games being removed or um "censored" when re-released are still happening.

Imaging fucking asking this question and this is what a Call Of Duty that came out in 2012 cost on steam right now

I do not see the benefit to the consumer to fucking ask for less options, in a situation where MOST don't even trust publishers, this very thread is talking about games half done, but shit you are now suddenly going to trust that same industry with a market they control fully 100% with less options? So if they have no issue keeping a high price on COD for generations on end with many options, they will keep it a high price for good when you don't have the option for another version.

- Mosty cheaper than digital games
- Can be sold
- Can be traded
- Can be boworred

1000000% this.

Its why this BS of digital being a "convenience" is BS.

Doesn't factor in download times.
Doesn't factor ISP caps.
Doesn't factor in stores closing.
Doesn't factor in a HDD failing and having to literally re-download all your games.
Doesn't factor you MUST wait for a sale as the store is controlled.

As someone that owns many games, on many platforms PC included, this whole "convenience" argument is complete BS as getting up to change a disk isn't some hours long event, it isn't worth all the shit that goes on with digital to really say you want to loose rights, pay a higher price, wait months for sales vs just buying the shit used on console at ANY TIME.

So I'm re-playing Uncharted 4 and Nier, both games are on disk. Both will take hours to complete as in a session of me playing 1 might be 5 to 6 hours, I don't see any reason for me to pay more money, lock my fucking games to 1 account and have to always re-download them simply to save a few seconds...


thats not a fucking "convenience" folks.

A few seconds to lose all that isn't a win in my book. Too much is given up simply to shave off a few seconds. (while ignoring the hours WASTED waiting for a download)

 

[Unknown Soldier]

At least on consoles, something like 60% of sales is still physical. Discs aren't going anywhere and thank God for that.

 

[Algan]

Things have changed a lot in the last few years. Internet connection has improved considerably in most countries, leading to huge growth in digital content distribution platforms such as Steam, Origin, Battle.net and Netflix.

It is impossible to ignore that the distribution of digital games offers numerous benefits, but we must also agree that we have lost all the charm and incredible details we found when buying physical media, with manuals, maps, flyers, artistic content and more.

Aside from the fact that no online digital purchase outweighs the experience of moving to a store to buy physical media, especially during midnight releases. Be able to find other players in the community personally, return home, unpack the physical media, enjoy the details of the disc, cover, poster, put the DVD on the console and then store the case on the shelf with the rest of the collection.

Anyway, I don't think the physical media industry is sustainable nowadays, especially after the pandemic, that the logistics of any product has become too complicated and susceptible not to get to stores in due time around the world. Price is also another factor that contributes to the dissemination of digital content, it is much easier to find promotions in digital stores than in physical stores.

What we have left is to preserve the feeling of nostalgia.

 

[Allforce]

Just always have followed a 20/40 rule. 20 max for a digital game, 40 max for a physical game.

For 40 bucks I don't mind the 30 seconds it takes to pop a game in the machine and for 20 bucks I don't care if I lose access to it ssomeday

The simple fact is physical games hit that 40 dollar mark WAY faster than digital games hit that 20 dollar mark so I end up with more physical games in the long run. Upside is they're not a sunk cost since I can offload them if needed.

 

[Hypereides]

If the recent PS3 store/PS4 debacle holds any water, then we're about to enter a future where publishers, and platform holders alike, may hold a significant say over your digital content and library. Buy into them at your own discretion.

People are going to bring up PS3/Vita closing down as a counter-argument but I agree with you. Most games today are printed on a disc half-done or requiring a patch. The only versions of today's disc games that are actually worth the physical purchase are goty editions.

Even the complete editions don't seem to be exactly "complete" anymore these days. E.g. the recent Mortal kombat 11 PS5 "ultimate" edition comes with a seperate DLC voucher instead having the additional content added onto the disc.

 

[meech]

People who have moved to digital have also decided that their time is more valuably spent on activities other than peddling used games.

Seriously? When taking a walk anyway, just trade in your games at your local gamestop or whatever method someone uses.

 

[II_JumPeR_I]

If you like dust? Maybe

 

[cireza]

Of course there is. Simply choose wisely what you buy physically. No point in buying AAA games that require day-one 50 GB patches.

However, buying a pretty collector edition for a game that is perfectly good day-one and what be patched, or only minor things, is perfectly fine and how I buy my physical games nowadays.

 

[mxbison]

No there is not.

/thread

I don't borrow games to/from friends so nobody else should either.

 

[midasmulligan]

Resell value recoups 80 to 90% of the cost of my switch games and 50% of other console games. So yes, yes there is

 

[Bo_Hazem]

I'm all digital, but it makes sense to rent from friends and vice versa, sell the game when finished.

 

[Woo-Fu]

Seriously? When taking a walk anyway, just trade in your games at your local gamestop or whatever method someone uses.

You think the entire earth's surface is a city with a gamestop every few blocks? The closest gamestop to me is a 45 minute drive each way. Not worth my time to begin with, definitely not worth the gas or mileage on a vehicle.

If I were going to resell my games on a regular basis I wouldn't go the bend-over for pennies gamestop route anyhow.

 

[Lupin3]

Seriously? When taking a walk anyway, just trade in your games at your local gamestop or whatever method someone uses.

Fucking GameStops around every corner, man...

 

[WoodyStare]

I’m all digital myself for games, but both physical and digital each have their own benefits, and it really depends on the person as to which one is more preferable. Many examples have already been explained thoroughly enough in this thread so I won’t repeat them, but both are absolutely essential and should coexist for as long as they can.

I used to purchase all of my games physically and sell/trade them in, but slowly started transitioning to digital around the end of the PS360 era. I think the thing for me at the time was the 360 being too loud when reading discs, and after buying a few digital games I realized how much of an audible difference it made. The PS3 was whisper quiet most of the time, but also had the drawback of needing disc installations which took a while with some games. The 360 of course had its own version of “install to hard drive” towards the end of its lifecycle which helped with noise, but it felt somewhat half-assed. At this point I’d already accumulated a decent mix of physical/digital games for both systems.

Once we got into the Xbox One/PS4 generation and I realized how big the files sizes would get/both systems requiring mandatory installs for every game, I was a bit thrown off. Game installations felt like forever even on brand new systems. I’m thankfully in a position of having Fios internet, so downloading a game/installing is a much faster process in general for me than buying a disc (sometimes it’s all done in minutes), but not everyone has access to fast internet/uncapped data, so physical is essential in that case.

Having said that, I would never buy an all digital console as I like having the option of borrowing a game should the opportunity present itself (rarely in my case), or if I find a game for dirt cheap. Most of the time I just wait for the crazy digital sales around the holidays/summer, and can even apply Microsoft rewards credit to get them even cheaper. I don’t have any gaming friends, so being able to lend them to someone else is of little concern to me (also some people just don’t take care of discs, even when they’re borrowed).

I’m not worried in the slightest about my digital collection suddenly disappearing for the variety of reasons listed here (at least with Microsoft, Sony/Nintendo are too questionable). MS have at least shown a commitment to backwards compatibility and being able to easily access games from anywhere, and it’s only going to get better as the years pass. I only need them to keep doing this until the day I croak or get hit by a Septa bus.

 

[Zog]

Having to store your games is a massive negative in my book. Not arguing the other points though.

Yeah, I'm just like 'why do I have to store these plates and cups and silverware'? Why can't I just rent them so I can save shelf space. /s

 

[DESTROYA]

Fuck a all digital world .
Its not like the games are cheaper digitally ( which they should be )
Only buy digital if there is only no physical copy sold .

 

[Lupin3]

As someone that owns many games, on many platforms PC included, this whole "convenience" argument is complete BS as getting up to change a disk isn't some hours long event

You know, to some it actually is worth it to go all digital. To some it actually is more convenient. I'm not interested in reselling my games, nor do I have the time to. I usually only buy them cheap on sale anyway. And I can buy them whenever I want to. I don't need to order and wait days for them to arrive, or take the car to find a place that actually sells whatever I'm looking for. I don't have to search my house for a disc or cartridge of a game I want to play, it's already on the memory card. Always ready, whenever and wherever. A press of a button and 2 seconds later I'm in another game I felt like switching to. Not to mention that many of the games I play do only exists as digital.

I don't need to bark about the downsides of physical, just focus on the positives with digital games. To you that may be bullshit, but to me that's a superior way of enjoying whatever games I have and/or wanna play.

 

[SkylineRKR]

You think the entire earth's surface is a city with a gamestop every few blocks? The closest gamestop to me is a 45 minute drive each way. Not worth my time to begin with, definitely not worth the gas or mileage on a vehicle.

If I were going to resell my games on a regular basis I wouldn't go the bend-over for pennies gamestop route anyhow.

We don't even have a Gamestop or anything, but there are 2 stores that take in used games. They rip you off though. For a day old release you don't get more than 20 bucks. No one with half a brain should do that. They sell them for like 5 bucks below the RRP so if a game still costs 69 bucks, they offer it for about 64. They also have this great deals, 3 used games for one new big game like CoD or whatever is just out. But the used games have to be, ofcourse, fairly new games that aren't discounted yet as well. So great deal, 180 bucks for CoD.

Nah, the best way is selling your game online. But only if a game isn't old yet. I had a hard time selling some older shit, no one seems to want it or they only offer a few dimes. Which means I would end up trading in a lot of say, 5 games just to get rid of it. Got like 35-40 bucks for TLOU2 about 6 weeks after launch though.

 

[zcaa0g]

Buy digital first then buy a cheap physical copy later. The best of both worlds. Assuming the game is worth a damn that is.

 

[stitch1]

The only time I buy physical anymore is when there's a super good sale.

 

[JLB]

Resale value, deeper discounts, and more options to purchase games. Not to mention the ability to display your games and not having to worry about online stores closing.

Most gamers dont worry about the latter.

 

[xellos2099alpha]

I bought my persona 5 striker at bb for 66, got a free steelbook with it, Beat the game and sell the game for 40 ish, i wouldf say not bad.

 

[Athreous]

It would be great if we could deactivate the game from our library and resell it... But as long as we can't do that, Physical> digital anytime.

 

[MicrosoftMediaPro]

Yes.

 

[Alan Wake]

Resale value, deeper discounts, and more options to purchase games. Not to mention the ability to display your games and not having to worry about online stores closing.

All of the above.

 

[NullZ3r0]

Starting last gen, physical games discs were nothing but a delivery medium for people with slow connections. However, with the onset of 100 GB updates, discs are pretty much useless for big game titles.

 

[Syphon Filter]

Physical isn't good due to it wasting space in your house/apartment. You can only have so much before you don't got physical space to fit it and it also becomes hard to manage once you get to a certain amount of games collected.

 

[bender]

Yeah, I'm just like 'why do I have to store these plates and cups and silverware'? Why can't I just rent them so I can save shelf space. /s

What a remarkably stupid comparison. Bravo.

 

[justiceiro]

If you intend to sell eventually, definitely.

 

[Zug]

Outside of the convenience of not having to put a disc (acting only as a DRM these days), digital games on consoles provide no advantage : they are more expansive, and are pure liabilities, while some physical games are actual assets.
No wonder why console industrials push digital so much, it's such easy $$$ for them.

 

[Lunarorbit]

I like physical cause my library has a giant selection of games available. It's really cut down on my purchases

 

[dcx4610]

I'm on the fence. I think the 360 is the last console you can really make a case for it. The reason being, you can install the game from disc OR play it directly from the disc. If servers go down and you have the physical disc, you are still good to go. With the PS4, PS5, Xbox One and XSX they are essentially online-only consoles. The disc is only there to give you a way to install part of the game instead of downloading it. It then locks that game to your online account and you are just playing a digital copy anyway. You can't even use the Xbox One without first connecting it to the internet. What happens when that service goes down?

I love physical media but I'm also a realistic. The only reasons to go physical in the modern era is if you want something on a shelf, you have poor internet, you like to sell/trade games or for deals. A local shop had Gears 4 for $3. Xbox games rarely seem to go on sale so if I see a really good deal on a physical title, I'll grab that version.

It's sad but these consoles are beholden to an internet connection. A disc is just a physical download nowadays. Movies, I'm still firmly physical since there's a difference in quality and features, plus I can own it forever and play it any player. Sadly, gaming on discs seems to be obsolete.

 

[Heylon]

Physical copies of games are more relevant than ever! Just look at how many digital games will be lost to history on PS3, PSP and Vita when Sony shuts the PS stores in a few months.

 

[Quezacolt]

I'm on the fence. I think the 360 is the last console you can really make a case for it. The reason being, you can install the game from disc OR play it directly from the disc. If servers go down and you have the physical disc, you are still good to go. With the PS4, PS5, Xbox One and XSX they are essentially online-only consoles. The disc is only there to give you a way to install part of the game instead of downloading it. It then locks that game to your online account and you are just playing a digital copy anyway. You can't even use the Xbox One without first connecting it to the internet. What happens when that service goes down?

Funny how im able to play my ps4 games offline or without installing any patches and have no issue at all. You speak like you cant play a game without downloading part of it, wich isnt true at all. sure, if you want some bug fixes and dlc, you need to download those, but that applied to the ps3 generation too. The only difference between the ps4 and the ps3 is that with the ps4 all games need to be installed. Xbox is a different beat tho, and with that one i know there's cases when the games come imcomplte on the disk (Control ultimate edition has that issue on xbox, while the ps4 has everything on the disk).
And whats this about locking the game on your online account? That doesnt happen at all. How do i know? A friend gave me one of his games and i laos bought used games for my ps4.

I have no idea what people gain in making up these stories about how you can't do anything with physical games unless you are connected to the net.

 

[Reality Czar]

It would be great if we could deactivate the game from our library and resell it... But as long as we can't do that, Physical> digital anytime.

This is really the big one for me. When you buy digitally, you can't resell it. Your money is gone. It is like going to a movie instead of buying a Blu Ray. If you go to a movie, you are paying to experience the movie, but not own it.

Buying a physical release, you now posses a tangible object that has lasting real world value. In fact the object has value even if you don't even experience it. You can sell it later and potentially not just make your money back but profit from it. If you look at physical game releases from the past, almost all of them have maintained their value or increased, some to incredible amounts.

So buying physical can be a form of investment. If you look at the value of past physical game releases, they have mostly only increased in value. Pop culture in general is disposable, meaning that objects get more rare with time. So for collectors physical media is a way to profit from their hobbies.

 

[ResilientBanana]

I’m all digital except for my switch. I find great deals on switch games on Facebook marketplace.

 

[The Gorby Congressmanz]

This reminds me of all those Retro only gamers that post COD 4/WAW/MW2 only saw then modern games as AC, Gears, or COD clones, whie ignoring all those other hundreds of games on store shelves pretending that there was nothing else and that was all that was being sold.

That was ridiculous then as your post is ridiculous now.

I will say the ratio is getting higher and that can be an issue in a few years but since the average consumer is dumber than ever, good luck getting the trend reversed.

 

[Athreous]

This is really the big one for me. When you buy digitally, you can't resell it. Your money is gone. It is like going to a movie instead of buying a Blu Ray. If you go to a movie, you are paying to experience the movie, but not own it.

Buying a physical release, you now posses a tangible object that has lasting real world value. In fact the object has value even if you don't even experience it. You can sell it later and potentially not just make your money back but profit from it. If you look at physical game releases from the past, almost all of them have maintained their value or increased, some to incredible amounts.

So buying physical can be a form of investment. If you look at the value of past physical game releases, they have mostly only increased in value. Pop culture in general is disposable, meaning that objects get more rare with time. So for collectors physical media is a way to profit from their hobbies.

Exactly, the value with physical copies stay there, even if it gets cheaper, there's still some value, but in digital, unless you sell your whole account (which isn't really recommended) then you get stuck with games that you might never touch anymore =(

 

[tassletine]

Yes. Far more time has been wasted waiting for things to download than swapping carts. Games like Hitman 3 where you can't save your score properly are a waste of time.

It's not digital downloads that are the main problem (although in some parts of the world this is so) It's the practices it engenders.
I don't like how software manafacturers can get away with releasing unfinished products whereas other industries can't. The law needs to catch up.
There are some companies that still pride themselves on making polished games but those are getting rarer. Physical releases at the very least encourages companies to attempt to finish their products.

 

[michaelius]

If after yesterday Sony mail people still don't understand why we need discs then all hope is lost for humanity

 

[EDMIX]

to some it actually is worth it to go all digital. To some it actually is more convenient

I doubt it, you have to ignore so much shit its not even funny, basically ignorance is the only argument that can be made regarding this.

I'm not interested in reselling my games, nor do I have

Like I said, its ignorance. Its an argument to say it muuuussssst be worth all those features being lost cause "i'm not interested in xyz"

That sounds like a lot of excuses to shave off a few seconds of putting a disk in a tray (ignores all the fucking time thats actually lost in the process of downloading that even fucking nullifies that argument)


So I'd say, its best to just say you want digital, but you have no argument for real convenience

or take the car to find a place that actually sells whatever I'm looking for. I

yea but you have hours to wait for that download so.....yea. .

it's already on the memory card.

yea and when that dies you can re-download all those games, think of all the time you'd be saving doing that /s

A press of a button and 2 seconds later I'm in another game I felt like switching to.

And? The time its taking me to put a disk in a system isn't some hours long event compared to actually DOWNLOADING THE GAME, I'm not playing a game for 5 seconds and then another game in 5 seconds. So the the idea of "switching" from game to game is just irrelevant as clearly gamers are still going to be putting in sessions in games that could be hours.

If you gave so much fucks about those "seconds" you clearly wouldn't be then downloading them, it nuliffies the entire point when you'd be spending more time waiting for something then I would with the disk.


Either way, you wait longer to play a new game then I do, I just put in the disk. We are still downloading updates clearly, but you are downloading the entire game bud, you are not saving shit in regards to time. I've seen literally no evidence of this as you need to literally ignore a shit ton of things.

In terms of time, we are literally talking about something that can be measured and I don't see anyone saving anytime with this method. The fact that one needs to ignore a series of features and benefits JUST to talk about digital speaks volumes. You literally need to um "not care "about many things to claim its really doing anything "superior".

Far more time has been wasted waiting for things to download than swapping carts.

These are facts many don't want to hear. They only want to talk about what they like, they literally fucking hate hearing that fact and try to ignore it. They literally spend more time downloading 1 fucking game, then it takes for me to switch disks for the entire fucking generation..... I'm literally playing Persona 5 right now, in the next 100 hours, how many games do they think I'm going to be randomly fucking switching to exactly? lol