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Physical vs Digital (Full Retail)


Dreakon139

Physical vs Digital  

345 members have voted

  1. 1. When it comes to full retail games, which do you prefer?

    • Physical
      288
    • Digital
      57


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53 minutes ago, B1rvine said:

 

My point was though, the price for physical vs digital is the same.  BOTH the digital copy and the physical copy are $100 (AU dollars).  So you can't say the digital is more expensive.  Sure there may be some special deals like buy 2, Get 1 free from time to time at a specific retailer, but I'm comparing regular prices.  If you want to compare deals, the PSN sales > retailer sales IMO.  I just bought about 20 games for $100. And I get them twice for since I have two PS4s.

 

Are they Indi games or games that could only be bought digitally.Because there games are way cheaper than triple A games.

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1 hour ago, B1rvine said:

 

And I get them twice for since I have two PS4s.

 

 

Then for the record, physical versions give us infinite copies since you can take the disc out and put it on infinite PS4s where you can only put your digital copies on just two consoles.

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32 minutes ago, patrickogorman19 said:

Are they Indi games or games that could only be bought digitally.Because there games are way cheaper than triple A games.

 

Listen, I'm not trying to argue digital is better or worse than physical. I really only responded because you said I was wrong that digital downloads work on multiple systems and flash sales are cheaper than regular price, when in fact that's correct.  You then followed up and stated that digital prices are more expensive than physical, which I showed you they weren't.  If you like physical games better, then all the power to you.  I acknowledge there's some benefits.  But price really isn't one of them.

 

The games were a mix of indies and AAA games from the two NA Flash sales.  But even only counting AAA, they were cheaper. Such as God of War 3 for $6.00, Twisted Metal(s) for $2.50, Terraria for $6.00, The Evil Within for $6.00 and several others I won't list.

 

11 minutes ago, DaivRules said:

 

Then for the record, physical versions give us infinite copies since you can take the disc out and put it on infinite PS4s where you can only put your digital copies on just two consoles.

 

But not at the same time.  I can play on two systems at the SAME time with my account and my GF's account on two different PS4's with a SINGLE purchase.  You'd have to purchase the disc two times.  Also, I can reinstall on as many PS systems as I want as long as I delete it, so digital can be played on infinite systems as well.

 

Edited by B1rvine
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2 minutes ago, B1rvine said:

 

But not at the same time.  I can play on two versions at the SAME time with my account and my GF's account.  You'd have to purchase the disc two times.

 

I'm only one person, playing the same game on two consoles at the same time sounds like just about the dumbest selling feature of anything I've ever heard of.

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5 minutes ago, DaivRules said:

 

I'm only one person, playing the same game on two consoles at the same time sounds like just about the dumbest selling feature of anything I've ever heard of.

 

I only engaged in conversation with the other guy because he stated my reasons were factually incorrect, and then tried to justify his position with more factually incorrect statements.  In my case, I have two consoles because I play with my girlfriend.  We only need to buy the game once, not twice, thus its way cheaper to get it digitally. If that doesn't benefit you, fine.  But I said that's the reason I personally like digital because it benefits my wallet quite a bit.

 

Edit: I'm generally talking about multiplayer games that we play at the same time.

 

Edited by B1rvine
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39 minutes ago, B1rvine said:

 

I only engaged in conversation with the other guy because he stated my reasons were factually incorrect, and then tried to justify his position with more factually incorrect statements.  In my case, I have two consoles because I play with my girlfriend.  We only need to buy the game once, not twice, thus its way cheaper to get it digitally. If that doesn't benefit you, fine.  But I said that's the reason I personally like digital because it benefits my wallet quite a bit.

 

Edit: I'm generally talking about multiplayer games that we play at the same time.

 

Not every digital game is cheaper which I already have stated, the games that you mention that were are either ps3 or older PS4 titles. I responded because you didn't believe me that there are $100 games on the PS store, which proved to you that there were.I only buy digital games when there cheap as well, thats only if there digital only.  

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59 minutes ago, patrickogorman19 said:

Not every digital game is cheaper which I already have stated, the games that you mention that were are either ps3 or older PS4 titles. I responded because you didn't believe me that there are $100 games on the PS store, which proved to you that there were.I only buy digital games when there cheap as well, thats only if there digital only.  

 

No, you didn't prove anything because I was talking about USA prices, not AU prices. I also said in my first post, I was specifically referring to older games, so they count.  Last response on this.

 

First, so we're talking about apples and oranges on prices of games.  You live in Australia, I live in USA.  There's a substantial difference in value of a dollar due to our different countries. $1 in USA is worth about $1.35 in AU.  So, I'll rephrase what I originally said for clarity:  Show me a game that is over $100 in USA dollars, OR show me a game that's over $135 in AU dollars.  And it needs to be JUST the game, not a bundle with DLC.  You will be pressed to find such a game.  The 3 games you showed me are only $60 here in the USA, well below $100.

 

Next: Age of game doesn't matter.  The games are either the same price if they're new games, or may be cheaper for older games (with flash sales).  In USA dollars:

 

MLB 17 The Show:  $59.99 Retail,  $59.99 PSN Store

Madden NFL 17   :   $59.99 Retail,  $59.99 PSN Store

Mass Effect Andro:  $59.99 Retail,  $59.99 PSN Store

 

(Eventually, both will go down, I don't care which does first, as I've seen both be the "first", but eventually they get super cheap.  Retail physical copies bottom out at $19.99 or $9.99, while flash sales get super cheap)

 

God of War III PS4 is $19.99 New at various locations  -  was $6 on PSN Sale.

Twisted Metal PS3 is $15 Used at Gamestop  -  was $2.50 on PSN Sale.

Terraria PS4 is $19.99 New / $15 Used at Gamestop  -  $6 on PSN Sale.

The Evil Within PS4 is $19.99 New at Walmart / $6 on PSN sale (note there was one with DLC almost the same price)


Now a few disclaimers. 1: Yes, I know the price may slightly vary from store to store, but these are your "normal" prices, which is all I care about because,  2: PSN sales happen like twice a month while retailers don't.  3: Remember, I need two copies to play most games online with my family, not one, so you multiply your retail cost by 2 for my scenario when figuring out actual cost, and finally 4: I don't care about the one single exception you find to all this, because that's not the normal.

 

TLDR: Prices are going to be competitive if you're buying on a whim, or cheaper on PSN sales if you wait a little longer.

 

PS:  I like digital games.  I like physical games. Both have their benefits.  But please don't tell me my reason is "factually incorrect" and then instead of telling me why, jump to a completely different reason about why physical games are better that isn't really even correct.

 

 

Edited by B1rvine
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2 hours ago, Dangisuckatgamin said:

 

Not if you buy day one like me. No tax on digital and severe taxing for me on physical.. :(

 

buying games day 1 is dumb wait for reviews, look at no man sky.I usually wait 6-12 months after release then I buy the game at a discounted price.If you buy digital games day 1.Then your silly for buying it.

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2 hours ago, Dangisuckatgamin said:

 

Not if you buy day one like me. No tax on digital and severe taxing for me on physical.. :(

 

 

Well if you live in America, you have plenty of services like Amazon Prime and BB GCU, that offer 20% off on new stuff on day 1. Even with a 10% tax, that is still cheaper than the PSN store. 

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On 3/29/2017 at 0:40 AM, patrickogorman19 said:

At least I don't have to worry about my games being taken away.Better future investment If you buy physical copies.

Where I live they are way more expensive and they take forever to download.We are getting screwed more and more each year with people like you buying digital games.

You are arguing for the sake of arguing. Congrats you have discs that still take just as much space on your hard drive. I have had my account with psn for 6 years without any issues. I change my password regularly and do not game share with anyone. So I do not need to worry about that. Now I am finished but I know you aren't, so have fun with that.

1 hour ago, patrickogorman19 said:

buying games day 1 is dumb wait for reviews, look at no man sky.I usually wait 6-12 months after release then I buy the game at a discounted price.If you buy digital games day 1.Then your silly for buying it.

So choosing to support a developer for making an amazing title that you have looked forward to for months or even years is silly? Not everyone is on such a tight budget. Most people are willing to buy certain titles day one, get over yourself.

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6 hours ago, patrickogorman19 said:

buying games day 1 is dumb wait for reviews, look at no man sky.I usually wait 6-12 months after release then I buy the game at a discounted price.If you buy digital games day 1.Then your silly for buying it.

So much for having my own choices...guess you need to tell me how to butter my toast next?

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  • 2 years later...

Since I know I won't have the motivation to sell my physical copies, and from a sustainable point of view, I'm less and less interested in buying physical copies and more digital games. I do not really care about the price of the game, but I'm not a Day One buyer either. Maybe it's also because I have less time now than I had 3 years ago, but still, I think in possibly maximum 20 years there won't be physical copies around. Just my guess.

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  • 11 months later...

Im just going to use cyberpunk as an example because thats about as good as its going to get ? ive been thinking of buying physical games again to start collecting but then im reminded of all the broken and buggy games, sometimes even unplayable games that gets released.

 

Imagine having cyberpunk sitting on your shelf alongside all of your other games. It looks cool and youre proud of your collection. Imagine a world without internet. Over half of your collection are either very buggy, broken or unplayable sitting at version 1.0.

 

I cant stop thinking, whats the point of owning physical games as part of your collection if theyre broken without patches? I mean there is no way around it, without patches, over half of the games are unpolished/buggy/broken/unplayable etc. The list goes on with a few exceptions of course.

 

cyberpunk without any patches, is simply broken. If i bought cyberpunk physical, in the back of my mind i know down the road, in a few years or more maybe that it will be fixed with 20+ patches and hotfixes. But at the same time, it is still a broken game inside the case without internet.

 

I keep hearing so many people say how happy they are having physical copies so that they will never lose their game, be it via a delisting on the digital storefront or some other reason or because maybe at times they dont have internet and just want to play it offline. But then youre left with a barebone game that requires ton of patches before it reaches the state that it was suppose to be in before it was released.

 

Im just asking, whats the point owning a physical copy if its unplayable without patches? There are exceptions where games just work but yeah, we all know what a rarity that is these days. ?

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1 minute ago, sealightbreeze said:

I personally am going to continue to just buy digital copies. As you stated above- I hate having a game that is corrupted by bugs/glitches. I honestly think that they have lost any value at that point of they need multiple patches or multiple updates

My thoughts exactly. Kinda lost their value.

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14 minutes ago, UlvenFenrir said:

Imagine having cyberpunk sitting on your shelf alongside all of your other games. It looks cool and youre proud of your collection. Imagine a world without internet. Over half of your collection are either very buggy, broken or unplayable sitting at version 1.0.

 

Most games are totally playable at launch, so it's not as bad as you think.

 

Though I recommend not buying physical copies of always online or games as service games, unless you want them purely for the case, as those discs quickly become outdated and serve no purpose if your internet or the servers goes down.  The online games are also the most notorious for launch issues so it's two birds with one stone.

Edited by Dreakon13
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3 minutes ago, Martain2 said:

The digital copies of said games are also broken without the patches but come with it included and you still need the internet to download it in the first place.


Yeah, I was just thinking, I don’t see a difference.  You need internet either way.

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2 minutes ago, djb5f said:


Yeah, I was just thinking, I don’t see a difference.  You need internet either way.

I'd say the digital copies are still worse than physical as if you don't have the game installed and you are without internet you cannot play it at all, at least the disc based games allow you to play it unpatched even if that means it is not fully up to scratch plus it will be quicker when the internet is back up as you don't need to download the entire game each time.

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I think his point was moreso that "being able to play the game without the internet" is no longer an advantage for physical.

 

Which it still is, because launch versions aren't nearly as bad as they're being made out to be.  People act like Cyberpunk 2077, Assassin's Creed Unity, Mass Effect Andromeda and No Man's Sky are the only games to come out in the last 7-8 years.  The vast majority of games are fine, and the disc version would work in a pinch.  Just because a game gets a patch or some DLC doesn't mean the base version is immediately unplayable.

 

EDIT: Plus, for whatever it's worth, the bigger games at least tend to get GOTY editions and DLC compiled re-releases with (ideally) the patches on disc as well.  I'll occasionally sell my launch copies and buy the re-release on a sale if I want to lock that in... for preservation sake lol.

Edited by Dreakon13
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