Physical or Digital?

[Bowsette Plus-Ultra]

While gaming began a medium largely dependent on the physical transfer of data, the modern gaming world has shifted to a much more digital landscape. Stroes like Gamestop that previously dominated the world of video games sales are now playing second fiddle to a gaming world that has shifted largely towards digital sales. Heck, if you're a PC gamer you've likely succumbed to this whether you like it or not.

Me? I hate it. My military deployment and the accompanying horrible internet kind of hammered in just why I dislike the idea of digital media becoming the dominant way to distribute games. I prefer hard copies of my games whenever I can manage it (with Metroid Dread being the newest edition).

What about you guys? Do you still go physical when it comes to your games or do you prefer the convenience of digital downloads?

 

[thePlinko]

Im a collector, so physical all the way. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve bought a game digitally because I was too lazy to go out to the store and get it, only to regret it later because of how much of a hassle it can be to return it, if they even give you the option. Usually the only reason I want to return it is because I want to own it physically instead anyway,

 

[twilitfalchion]

I will usually go physical unless a sale on a digital game is much better than the physical version. I just prefer having the cart/disc and case, even if the plastic case is literally all there is to the physical aspect of the game.

 

[mαrkαsscoρ]

I was just thinking about this the other day b/c of the whole GTA download thing and I wanted share something funny



physical is so shoddy nowadays b/c companies can't be bothered to put the whole game in there, there's even stupid stuff like overwatch on the switch where the retail version doesn't even include a game cart, its just a digital code

....WHAT'S THE POINT THEN? it's just waste of space and material

anyways to me, it comes down to which one is cheaper which more often than not its digital due to sales, or if it's a game I'm not too confident in, then I would like to go for physical just to have the option to resell it if I need to, being able to play the game is what matters to me more than the format

 

[Fraxinus]

I still prefer physical copies and probably always will. If a game has a physical copy available, I'll try to get that over its digital counterpart, but of course, sales and other circumstances can make me go digital instead. A lot of indies aren't available physically because it's expensive for the devs, and I'm totally okay getting their games digitally. But if I love their games enough and it later becomes available as a physical copy, I'll heavily consider buying the physical just so I can have it, and support the devs some more in the process.

I also just don't like buying large games digitally, both because of storage and the price (i never have that much funds on my game store accounts); it's easier for me to manage with picking up a physical copy in those cases.

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Also yeah there's some dumb thing about downloading software for physical Switch games, and from what I understand it's something about there being different sized Switch cartridges but they don't use the one that would fit the full game to save production cost. Iirc Switch cartridges are available at 32gb storage at most, but I'd have to look back into it. I remember hearing about this a lot when the Bioshock collection released.

 

[Woyogoyo]

I usually prefer digital 'cause I don't like leaving my house.

 

[Bowsette Plus-Ultra]

I was just thinking about this the other day b/c of the whole GTA download thing and I wanted share something funny



physical is so shoddy nowadays b/c companies can't be bothered to put the whole game in there, there's even stupid stuff like overwatch on the switch where the retail version doesn't even include a game cart, its just a digital code

....WHAT'S THE POINT THEN? it's just waste of space and material

anyways to me, it comes down to which one is cheaper which more often than not its digital due to sales, or if it's a game I'm not too confident in, then I would like to go for physical just to have the option to resell it if I need to, being able to play the game is what matters to me more than the format

I'd provide a loose (very loose) defense of the Switch versions:

Flash memory is not as cheap as discs. Releasing the physical version of a game on Switch means trying to cram it onto as small a cartridge as possible to reduce costs, and some companies have determined that it's better to just rely on the owner having an internet connection. Outside of a few extreme examples like Tony Hawk, it's a problem that's currently exclusive to the Switch.

 

[mαrkαsscoρ]

I'd provide a loose (very loose) defense of the Switch versions:

Flash memory is not as cheap as discs. Releasing the physical version of a game on Switch means trying to cram it onto as small a cartridge as possible to reduce costs, and some companies have determined that it's better to just rely on the owner having an internet connection. Outside of a few extreme examples like Tony Hawk, it's a problem that's currently exclusive to the Switch.

there's still plenty of games nowadays where the disc is just used as a key to play the full game on your harddrive, since it all isn't on the disc itself

physical games just aren't what they used to be, it just makes it easier for me to accept digital if all the physical game is these days is a plastic shell housing a fraction of the game, at least there's nice cover art to look at sometimes

 

[Bowsette Plus-Ultra]

there's still plenty of games nowadays where the disc is just used as a key to play the full game on your harddrive, since it all isn't on the disc itself

physical games just aren't what they used to be, it just makes it easier for me to accept digital if all the physical game is these days is a plastic shell housing a fraction of the game, at least there's nice cover art to look at sometimes

While they it's true that most big games don't play directly from the disc, they still install directly from the disc, no internet required. A lot of games are now just too large in terms of data size to be effectively read and displayed from the disc in real time without some form of installation.

 

[mαrkαsscoρ]

While they it's true that most big games don't play directly from the disc, they still install directly from the disc, no internet required. A lot of games are now just too large in terms of data size to be effectively read and displayed from the disc in real time without some form of installation.

yeah it's just how things are, makes me wonder when physical will get phased out entirely, could be sooner or later

 

[Bowsette Plus-Ultra]

yeah it's just how things are, makes me wonder when physical will get phased out entirely, could be sooner or later

Hopefully not. I'd always prefer a physical option, even if it means the game shipping on two (or three in the future) discs.