Thinking about fully converting to digital

[ChiefMichigan]

The line between physical and digital is blurring more than ever, especially with the CMOS issue on PS4.

 

That being said, I don't think you should go completely digital. It's nice to have a physical copy that you can resell, loan, or save some hard drive space during the installation. 

I do agree that digital sales are getting better and better. People so often say that physical is cheaper and has better deals, but that's not always the case. Sometimes you have to dig through tons of listings from many different sites to get a physical copy that comparable to a digital download that's on sale.

[Guest]

Stay hybrid, enjoy the best of both worlds. There is no reason to be extremist in this case, even though Sony has polarized this scenario with the digital-only ps5 announcement. Currently, physical media have a lower quality compared to a decade, such as special editions and the overall quality of the product. But my advice is that you do not give yourself completely to this market that imposes its face at all costs.

[Dreakon13]

42 minutes ago, ChiefMichigan said:

People so often say that physical is cheaper and has better deals, but that's not always the case. Sometimes you have to dig through tons of listings from many different sites to get a physical copy that comparable to a digital download that's on sale.

 

To be honest, I made a point about physical prices earlier in the thread and was shocked to notice Ghost of Tsushima can't be had for less than $40 on eBay as of last night.  Probably more like $45 or 50 for a copy with a case and everything in good shape.  Almost a year later, I would've thought $30 to be the magic number.  You can't always trust physical prices to lower consistently, and in some cases the damn things somehow get rare and valuable and expensive before it ever even had a chance to lower in price.

 

The thing that bugs me about digital though is that I can't just go and buy a game for a decent price whenever I feel like it.  Kinda like my Steam friends, you just keep holding out and holding out for holiday sales and cheaper prices, buying hundreds of games in a week long sale because it's the only time you can, and in some cases before you know it you waited 3 years to save an extra $5.  If I went to buy TLOU2 on PSN right now I'd pay $60, and if I went on eBay for a physical copy I'd pay $30.

 

It's kind of a crapshoot either way... but digital will typically end up cheaper than physical in the end, and you never end up having to deal with scalpers or weird fluctuations in value.

Edited May 18, 2021 by Dreakon13

[GoonerLukeThe]

physical games just look much cooler, seeing the box art and being able to hold them, I have a mixture of both though

[Baranov_925]

It's very possible that gaming in years will become digital only. If the prices of games will be reduced in direct proportion to the interest in a direct game, then I can say YES for this idea. When we're talking about physical games, quick decresing of price is their advantage. Stacked shelfs full of games are looking better than 5 NBA Championships, but most of the time, only person that can be impressed by this collection is you.

I hope that in next 10 years, my opinion will become senseless.

[jamirxp]

I have lots of digitals but i do love collecting steelbooks and physical. So staying Hybrid is the way to go. ?

[Zenpai]

8 hours ago, AvariceInc said:

 

Excuse me what? I just had to wait a week to get physical copy of Returnal for PS5 because Sony would ask 80 euros for a digital version and I refused to pay such a high price for a game and the stores in my area had trouble getting physical copies for sale at launch. The physical version cost me over 15 euros less (64€). I guess that is one advantage of digital games though, you always get to play at release date if you really must.

 

7 hours ago, djb5f said:

It depends how long after release you are buying the games.  I end up buying a lot on digital sales because the prices become so stupid low, like $5.  Or $10 including season pass.  Physical typically cannot match that even if you buy used - and don’t have the DLC included.  Mind you, these are games that are not at the top of the my must-haves but the prices digitally are too good to pass up.

 

If you are buying within the first year of release, you will probably be better off buying physical with sales there.  

 

@djb5f is right. As I said in the OP, I already have so many games in my backlog that I can comfortably afford to wait for the prices of the games I want to buy to go down to ridiculous levels (i.e. the 10 - 5€ range).

 

That said, There are still a few questions I have left to figure out:

 

1. As far as I know, save data is shared between physical and digital versions of games. That said... save data is also tied to your account (i.e. you cannot share them with anyone else, unlike what happened with the PS3, PSP and every console before them). If the console gets locked out of PSN, are you locked out of your save data as well?
2. I still have to figure out what to do with games I want to play right away. This is generally something I don't do, as I usually only play games years after I buy them (due to having such a huge backlog and to the fact that I go for 100% on every game that I like), hence why I'm considering just waiting for digital sales, since it usually doesn't impact when I would play the game anyway. That said, every now and then, there are some games that I am so hyped for that I just have to play them right away. In that case, physical and digital are the same price, so which should I go for?... ?

 

 

[dieselmanchild]

I’ve nearly gone all digital on the PS4 and I love it. It’s very convenient and the games are much cheaper. I still buy some physical games, but usually only when I find them heavily discounted or second hand on Craigslist or some shit.

 

The only downside is that you don’t really actually own the game. So if your account got nuked, or Sony imploded, or you wanted to trade/lend/re-sell or something you’re hooped.

 

In a perfect scenario, I would love to have a 100% physical collection of PS4 games, but it’s just not practical or convenient these days sadly.

Edited May 18, 2021 by dieselmanchild

[Dreakon13]

23 minutes ago, Zenpai said:

 

That said, There are still a few questions I have left to figure out:

 

1. As far as I know, save data is shared between physical and digital versions of games. That said... save data is also tied to your account (i.e. you cannot share them with anyone else, unlike what happened with the PS3, PSP and every console before them). If the console gets locked out of PSN, are you locked out of your save data as well?
2. I still have to figure out what to do with games I want to play right away. This is generally something I don't do, as I usually only play games years after I buy them (due to having such a huge backlog and to the fact that I go for 100% on every game that I like), hence why I'm considering just waiting for digital sales, since it usually doesn't impact when I would play the game anyway. That said, every now and then, there are some games that I am so hyped for that I just have to play them right away. In that case, physical and digital are the same price, so which should I go for?... 

 

 

1. I guess it kinda depends what you mean by "locked out of PSN"... but if you can access your games, you can access your save files.  If you can't access your games, then the save files probably don't matter much.

 

2. If there's something specifically with a physical copy that you want, like a map, a steelbook, a keychain or some sort of bonus goodie, or if you just like how the case/artwork look... then go for physical.  Otherwise, there probably isn't much reason to have 2-3 physical copies hanging around with everything else digital.  Go digital and enjoy pre-loading and the convenience of no disc.

Edited May 18, 2021 by Dreakon13

[StewartBros]

4 hours ago, Baranov_925 said:

It's very possible that gaming in years will become digital only.

 

Honestly, if/when this happens, I'll have no part of it.  I have no interest in going all-digital with games, movies, music or books.

 

With regards to gaming, I do admittedly split my time between digital and physical, but will always try to pick up a game on disc where possible, unless said game is so cheap in a PSN sale that I could never hope to find it on disc for a similar price.  I've played a number of PS+ titles that I later bought on disc because I enjoyed them and wanted to actually own a copy for myself, rather than 'renting' it during my PS+ subscription.  Plus, as others have mentioned, there are too many risks associated with an all-digital account - if you get hacked, you lock yourself out of your account, you accidentally delete it, or you unwittingly violate some Sony ToS, then you could lose your account along with everything you ever bought on it.  At least with a physical collection, you can retain a portion of your games if the worst case scenario happens.

 

Same goes for movies.  Sure, I'll fire up Netflix some nights to see what's available there, but if I can buy a film on Blu-ray, then I will.  My Blu-ray collection currently numbers 305 films (I've literally just counted them! ?), and owning them physically means I can watch them anytime without needing to rely on Netflix, Amazon Prime or whoever else deciding what I can watch.

 

Music?  I don't use Spotify - if I want an album, I'll buy the CD. 

 

Books?  I don't have and don't want a Kindle.  I much prefer reading an actual book, as it gets me away from looking at screens all day.

 

 

In a nutshell - I would certainly never go all digital.  I can see the advantages of doing so - saving shelf space, etc - and I understand why some people do it, but it's not, and never will be, for me.

[Savage_Sarabi]

I do both - mostly digital but now I collect steelbooks. Steelbooks are the only physical games I collect (for PlayStation anyway). This way I can have a beautiful shelf to look at with the convenience of *most* of my games being digital. 

 

As far as games becoming unavailable, honestly, I'm not super concerned about that. It's not common, and won't happen to most of them for a long time. I would just buy them physically if I wanted them that badly. 

Edited May 18, 2021 by Savage_Sarabi

[patrickogorman19]

20 hours ago, BrandedBerserk said:

I'd say go for it. Far too many making all digital sound like a doomsday scenario when in reality the chances of shit going wrong is very low or essentially the same as physical. To me personally it's way more convenient having all your games a few clicks away, being able to pre download and buying from sales on psn store. 

 

Don't want to get hacked? Activate two step verification and put a strong password. 

 

Don't want to lock yourself out of your account? Get a password manager or write it down somewhere. 

 

Don't want to violate terms of service? Keep interactions with randoms to a minimal and refrain from going back and forth with idiots you encounter in online games or even better yet just use discord to chat. 

Your wrong, some countries have internet caps meaning it would be very expensive to download 100GB for game. Also it would take to two days to download where as it will also take an hour of ilstalling if you bought the game physical.

[AJ_Radio]

7 hours ago, kevao97 said:

Stay hybrid, enjoy the best of both worlds. There is no reason to be extremist in this case, even though Sony has polarized this scenario with the digital-only ps5 announcement. Currently, physical media have a lower quality compared to a decade, such as special editions and the overall quality of the product. But my advice is that you do not give yourself completely to this market that imposes its face at all costs.

Best observation in this entire thread. 
 

Try to get the most of both. Don’t put all your eggs in either one or the other. 
 

I just bought two sports games at dirt cheap, physical. I bought Angry Video Game Nerd I + II Deluxe, which is digital only. 
 

I dabble in both. But if I were to offer a little advice, hold on to your physical games @Zenpai. I’d advise against selling everything in your physical library.

[Zenpai]

1 hour ago, AJ_Radio said:

But if I were to offer a little advice, hold on to your physical games @Zenpai. I’d advise against selling everything in your physical library.

 

I have absolutely no intention of getting rid of any of my physical games. My decision concerns only future purchases.

[Gixen99]

Pro phys: You have the option (in most cases) to play the game unpatched.

[Conor]

Physical til I die

[AJ_Radio]

On 5/18/2021 at 6:22 PM, Zenpai said:

 

I have absolutely no intention of getting rid of any of my physical games. My decision concerns only future purchases.

 

Just be aware there is a little risk. I balance my games from both physical and digital. I think digital only purchases should be liable for a refund, but unfortunately I haven't really found anybody that has done this reliably.

 

Most of the stuff on my profile leans more towards digital only, because that's the only platform I can get said stuff on. But I still rely on physical.