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Console Gaming - Digital or Physical
- Thread starter Ameer_1
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I have gone all digital for the convenience. I don't buy new releases on day 1, and they go on sale soon enough.
maflynn
macrumors Broadwell
I prefer physical, but realistically digital is the only viable option. I buy discs now for my movies, after Sony deleted some movies from people's playstation and Disney has edited star wars in their streaming service.
The only downside of digital, is that you could lose your game. I believe sony has done that, not sure if you had the physical disc what would have happened.
It is tricky, trouble these days is you buy a disk and all it has on it is a key to download the game anyway. Granted not all games are like that. I use both but digital more these days. However if I can wait and it is a cheaper price then disk, but if you game on Xbox or PC you can usually hunt for keys and buy the games cheaper then disk anyway.
Yes there is that, absolutely. Second hand market, bar Switch 2, cannot be underestimated and it is how MANY play games, I have bought loads of second hand games from the store over the years across all platforms.
BlankStar
macrumors 6502a
What I don't understand is that physical copies are often cheaper, at least here in Belgium. A recent example: I pre-ordered Ghost of Yotei digitally and it was €79.99. Couple of days later I saw a pre-order on a local webshop for the physical version at €64.99 so I cancelled at the PS Store and ordered a physical copy. How TF can the physical version be so much cheaper? And it's not only on release. I've bought physical copies of games for €20 that were discounted on the PS+ Store for €35 for example on many occasions.
Digital are more expensive because humans are willing to pay a premium for convenience.
Picture this, it’s pay day friday, you have had a
two beers and feel good. You fancy a new game, order online and it might not arrive until Sunday or money. Buy and play it now at a premium and enjoy the weekend or miss out.
If you have a physical disc then you can play it forever as long as you still have the console. You can play the games offline with no internet connection so they can't change that.
I prefer physical for that reason, also a little old school but being able to trade or lend games is a plus. I purposely bought a PS5 with disc because of all the older PS4 games I have. It is nice that I can still play those as well.
This isn't totally true anymore. Lots of newer games don't have the entire game on the disc(s) anymore, even the pre-patched day one version. For Xbox it's pretty bad as usually the disc contains the Xbox One version and trying to use it on a XSX requires downloading the Series version if it's a Xbox One/XSX title.
https://www.doesitplay.org/ can potentially give more info.
T'hain Esh Kelch
macrumors 604
As much digitally as possible. For the Switch, the kids can't throw the cartridges away, it is easier since you don't have to move cartridges around, and I often like to play games multiple times over the years, so won't be selling anyway, and the resale prices aren't really worth it for most titles anyway.
For Mac, I think my last physical title was Warcraft 3.
For Mac, I think my last physical title was Warcraft 3.
Some games though (yes, I'm looking at you, Hitman) require an internet connection for all of the game's features and options to be available.
The Cockney Rebel
macrumors 601
Used to only buy physical.
Now, digital.
I like being able to just switch between games etc without the hassle of discs.
Now, digital.
I like being able to just switch between games etc without the hassle of discs.
ScanTheNavian
macrumors 6502
I don't really have the energy or habit of selling my games so I picked 'digital'. But my library has free physical games you can borrow so I've saved plenty borrowing PS5 and Switch 1 games. So I hope that disc consoles will keep being an option for PS and Nintendo consoles.
I'm pretty much all digital nowadays but if it's something I really anticipate/like, I'll get the collector's/limited physical edition.
slitherjef
macrumors 65816
Kind of at this crossroads myself. Really looking like the push is towards digital and not only that, gaas. Games that can be edited and patched on the fly or just removed and bricked.
Kind of glad I still have a decent physical library of games now that I'm trying to get back into things... Right? Well turns out my collection of say PS 1 games and Dreamcast are pretty much unplayable. Missing some pieces of the puzzle for the Dreamcast (don't have the vmu for it so going to need to get lucky to find one) and got a couple disc that have rotted.
PS1 games? Well my two OG consoles are dead. The PS2 slim I think has the backwards compatibility ripped out of it. One of the pair of PS3 slims *might* work with the PS1 disc and that's if everything aligns right and disc are not coasters.
So yeah I'm a little torn now. Just submit to this digital service always on stuff where I go get a new generation console, box with a digital code and spend who knows how long setting up accounts to play said game or for the hardware or whatever and then waiting for things to download... Or update patch later when I just want to sit and play. Or need to run out for another gift card or enter details for monthly subscription for access.
Then again *looks at the stacks of polycarbonate laying around that can't be used either right now without a lot of hoop jumping*
I have been leaning a bit on steam but the EULA some of the stuff has and the launchers and additional stuff some games require. The digital service seems decent. Some early access stuff is kinda fun watching it evolve. Having games download and patch is okay I guess and it's usually pretty quick.
So pretty torn on the digital vs physical. Used to be big into kindle but dropped it because reasons, book edits Amazon etc.. at least the hardcover will still work in a lot of situations.
Kind of glad I still have a decent physical library of games now that I'm trying to get back into things... Right? Well turns out my collection of say PS 1 games and Dreamcast are pretty much unplayable. Missing some pieces of the puzzle for the Dreamcast (don't have the vmu for it so going to need to get lucky to find one) and got a couple disc that have rotted.
PS1 games? Well my two OG consoles are dead. The PS2 slim I think has the backwards compatibility ripped out of it. One of the pair of PS3 slims *might* work with the PS1 disc and that's if everything aligns right and disc are not coasters.
So yeah I'm a little torn now. Just submit to this digital service always on stuff where I go get a new generation console, box with a digital code and spend who knows how long setting up accounts to play said game or for the hardware or whatever and then waiting for things to download... Or update patch later when I just want to sit and play. Or need to run out for another gift card or enter details for monthly subscription for access.
Then again *looks at the stacks of polycarbonate laying around that can't be used either right now without a lot of hoop jumping*
I have been leaning a bit on steam but the EULA some of the stuff has and the launchers and additional stuff some games require. The digital service seems decent. Some early access stuff is kinda fun watching it evolve. Having games download and patch is okay I guess and it's usually pretty quick.
So pretty torn on the digital vs physical. Used to be big into kindle but dropped it because reasons, book edits Amazon etc.. at least the hardcover will still work in a lot of situations.
All PS3s play all PS1 discs so long as the drive/CD works. PS1 discs are not hard to rip with a PC CD drive either unlike other consoles. I used to buy 'em and convert them to play on my PSP. Dreamcast is more difficult because the games are on GD-ROMs and only a handful of PC drives are known to be able to rip them.
BlankStar
macrumors 6502a
I've been going back and forth. Had a couple of years where I only bought physical, then went all-in on digital and currently I'm back to physical. Main reason being, and I'm clueless why this is: physical games are cheaper here in Belgium. Not talking about promotions or things like that. For example: I pre-ordered Ghost of Yotei digitally for €70 on the PlayStation Store and a couple of weeks later I see that the physical pre-order at a big online shop is €60 so I cancelled and order a copy. I rarely sell my games, but in theory I could sell it afterwards for €30 in a jiffy. I'm too stupid to understand this pricing.
Only reason to go digital: don't need to stand up to swap the disc when wanting to play another game, but since I'm into single player story driven games I only change games when I finish a game and start a new one, so not much swapping here.
Only reason to go digital: don't need to stand up to swap the disc when wanting to play another game, but since I'm into single player story driven games I only change games when I finish a game and start a new one, so not much swapping here.