Physical vs Digital (Full Retail)

[Chambers35]

Definitely physical, without a doubt.

 

I don't have to worry about downloading the entire game when all I really want to do is play it asap, especially if it's a new title.

At the moment I only have a 120gb HDD so I just don't have the space for many big games.

I can lend my games to my friends

 

Plus in the end I feel like I own the disc more than I do a digital download. Nice to have a collection too.

 

Oh and that new game smell

[Beyondthegrave07]

I'll always take a physical copy EXCEPT PS1 and PS2 classics. a lot of the older copies are damaged or hard to find and are much cheaper on psn. To me, this question is a no brainer

[Zettaslow]

Always physical stuff. Especially in the case of any game by Working Designs. Their instruction manuals were always embossed, full of art and color. Alundra

[ChickenExotic]

Physical all the way! save all those gigs for PSN titles or porn. 

[zorry777]

always go physical

[JONNY-1992-_-]

First post in over 2 Years! lol. I like Physical better because it's cool to be able to look at my Games and go through them. I like being able to have the Boxes, Manuals and Discs even though it is harder to look after. Also, Who doesn't love that New Game smell? You don't get that with Digital. Finally, I've seen older FIFA Games on PS3 still sell for up to full retail price on Digital and you can't sell Digital Games which you can do for Physical Games.

[colia100]

I love having a physical case that i can see/touch, also cause it reminds me i have to play the game. With digital copies, they can sit on my hdd for years cause i don't think of them or just tell myself i can get back to them any time...

Although lately i find my self enjoying the fact that i can change games on digital without having to get up and travel those full 3 feet to my console to change discs. God, i am so gonna be fat soon...

[vanesamacri]

I used to be a die-hard fundamentalist of physical over digital games, but slowly began drifting the other way. I've been buying exclusively digital for 2-3 years now.

 

In an age where the growing trend is to release games with multi-gigabytes day one patches (some of them, mandatory to boot properly) and several more in the following months (not to mention DLCs), having the physical disc became pointless in my book. The "servers shutdown" argument against digital media I defended for years fell flat because you are still pretty much tied to having to download quite the chunk of the game even if you have the physical disc.

 

Even more, prices of physical games in my country are over inflated by taxes and I can no longer import them freely as I did a couple of years ago. Even at full price, digital games are still cheaper than buying physical.

 

I don't see myself going back to physical anytime soon.

[BooneIronshield]

In regards to the PS3, it varies for me, if it's a game I really want and there's a collector's edition for it then I'll go for physical. If the game is for the Vita then I'll go for a physical copy even if I have to import it. I'm still undecided in regards to the PS4.

 

However after upgrading my PS3's hard drive a couple weeks ago and now seeing the improvements when playing a digital copy of Mugen Souls, and getting 25%-45% faster loading times than I was getting on the disc-based copy, I'm really leaning more towards getting my games as digital from now on.

[Warpedsavior]

For me, it doesn't really matter. I have a good amount of both physical and digital games though a lot of the digital games I have are from various sales.

[KingGuy420]

It's digital for me for a lot of reasons...

1. I have 2 PS3's in 2 locations. Saves me from hauling games around.

2. The closest video game store is half hour away. The time and the money I save in gas alone is more then enough of a reason.

3. My disc drive is always the first thing to break on my systems. Digital doesn't have that issue.

4. My place isn't very big but my video game collection is. I just don't have the space for physical.

In all seriousness though, it's natural progression. I've always paid for TV and never owned anything physical. I stopped buying physical movies years ago. It's been even longer since I bought physical music. Books and Video Games are just the next step in that progression. The sooner people realize that, the better.

Edited February 25, 2016 by KingGuy420

[effdeegee]

Physical or gtfo.

[DaivRules]

Books and Video Games are just the next step in that progression. The sooner people realize that, the better.

 

Well, that's just like, your opinion, man.

 

No. Infinity times, no. Just because you are willing to give up your hard earned consumer rights in the digital age, doesn't mean it's "better" when others keep stripping them away.

 

Digital CAN exist with physical and it doesn't HAVE to be either/or. It can be both so that I retain my *right* to lend things, resell them or put them on my shelf and you retain your right to access your items as long as you're allowed.

Edited March 2, 2016 by DaivRules

[harsly]

I always buy physical unless there's a really great sale on PSN. I've been obsessed with keeping my games in perfect order on a shelf, and I've been trying to force myself to sell them. Recently I overcame my "problem" with keeping games I'll never play again and started trading thems, for which my wallet is thankful for and it feels great.

 

So physical.

[KingGuy420]

Well, that's just like, your opinion, man.

No. Infinity times, no. Just because you are willing to give up your hard earned consumer rights in the digital age, doesn't mean it's "better" when others keep stripping them away.

Digital CAN exist with physical and it doesn't HAVE to be either/or. It can be both so that I retain my *right* to lend things, resell them or put them on my shelf and you retain your right to access your items as long as you're allowed.

It is just my opinion. I never said it was anything but.

But to get right down to it, when you say things like "give up consumer rights" or "access your items as long as you're allowed" you're implying that someday these companies are just going to take our stuff away, which is just ridiculous. There's 0 precedent to make people think that.

If anything it's the exact opposite. There's been a bunch of consoles to shut down their servers but still continue to give people access to their paid content. Sure, someday a major company might make a hard left turn and screw all their customers, but it hasn't happened yet and I don't live my life in fear of hypothetical situations.

Edited March 3, 2016 by KingGuy420

[DaivRules]

It is just my opinion. I never said it was anything but.

But to get right down to it, when you say things like "give up consumer rights" or "access your items as long as you're allowed" you're implying that someday these companies are just going to take our stuff away, which is just ridiculous. There's 0 precedent to make people think that.

If anything it's the exact opposite. There's been a bunch of consoles to shut down their servers but still continue to give people access to their paid content. Sure, someday a major company might make a hard left turn and screw all their customers, but it hasn't happened yet and I don't live my life in fear of hypothetical situations.

 

Whooooosh. Watch the Big Lebowski sometime. It'll make you relax a little and you'll get the opinion joke.

 

Going digital gives up consumer rights established for physical goods. It's a fact.

People have had their account access taken away for arbitrary reasons. Also a fact.

 

I never said or implied companies will wholesale take everyone's stuff away. I'm not even advocating that standpoint.

 

I'm advocating for *both* formats. You're advocating my options should be limited to your choices because, as you said, "The sooner people realize that, the better."

[diskdocx]

It is just my opinion. I never said it was anything but.

But to get right down to it, when you say things like "give up consumer rights" or "access your items as long as you're allowed" you're implying that someday these companies are just going to take our stuff away, which is just ridiculous. There's 0 precedent to make people think that.

If anything it's the exact opposite. There's been a bunch of consoles to shut down their servers but still continue to give people access to their paid content. Sure, someday a major company might make a hard left turn and screw all their customers, but it hasn't happened yet and I don't live my life in fear of hypothetical situations.

 

You do give up a lot of customer rights when you go digital. Doesn't mean Sony is going to up and cancel your account - but according to the ToS they can, at their sole discretion, if they deem you to have violated the terms. There are numerous reports of people being banned, hacked - mostly negative customer service stories - and Sony doing very little to help.

 

It CAN happen. Not often, but you have very little in terms of recourse if it does.

 

Furthermore, as gamers we should be advocating for, and protecting ourselves. If gaming goes fully digital, you have a complete monopoly. There are so many posts about how digital is usually not competitive with retail. Eliminate physical, and there is absolutely no reason to expect that prices won;t go up substantially and the quality of service will go down. Sony is not the most consumer friendly company to start with, so if you think getting rid of physical is going to improve that...well think again.

 

None of this is to say that the evolution is not occurring, and will not continue. I won't embrace it, but I do think the slow creep will continue. At best, I hope it continues to be slow.

 

It does concern me, though, when consumers view it as a positive evolution.

Edited March 3, 2016 by diskdocx

[KingGuy420]

Going digital gives up consumer rights established for physical goods. It's a fact.

People have had their account access taken away for arbitrary reasons. Also a fact.

I never said or implied companies will wholesale take everyone's stuff away. I'm not even advocating that standpoint.

I'm advocating for *both* formats. You're advocating my options should be limited to your choices because, as you said, "The sooner people realize that, the better."

I'm not trying to say they can't both exist. I suppose that was just a poor choice of words.

To be fair though, yes my account could be hacked or suspended. Just like your house could be robbed or catch fire and you could lose all yours the same as I could lose all mine. Nothing lasts forever, physical or digital. Can't live in fear of "might happen"s.

Again, I'm not saying physical shouldn't exist. People should always have options. Like I said in my original post, I buy digital because it's a lot more convenient for me. Convenience is the option I'm looking for. If we didn't have multiple options, my gaming life would be a lot more annoying.

I'm just more implying that digital isn't quite the devil a lot of people make it out to be. Sure it has it's cons but it also has a lot of pros. Just like physical. TV, movies, and music have all embraced the digital option. It boggles my mind the video games are still fighting it.

Edited March 3, 2016 by KingGuy420

[demonoid321]

I like digital more then physical

With digital I have more room on my shelves for other things, don't worry about having my digital copy getting scratched and making it so I can't play it, can't lose your digital copy (unless you get hacked)

Only in some cases would I buy a physical (like it not being on the pa store) and so I can get the day one dlc if I pre order it

[DaivRules]

I like digital more then physical

With digital I have more room on my shelves for other things, don't worry about having my digital copy getting scratched and making it so I can't play it, can't lose your digital copy (unless you get hacked)

Only in some cases would I buy a physical (like it not being on the pa store) and so I can get the day one dlc if I pre order it

 

Blu-ray has an anti-scratch spec built in that is 1000 times more resistant to scratches than DVDs or CDs. In short, you don't have to worry about scratches on Blu-rays, ever.

[DreakonXIII]

can't lose your digital copy (unless you get hacked)

 

Or until the day PSN breathes it's final breath.  Or until Sony goes AWOL and says you aren't allowed to have it anymore (Ubisoft added a clause to their digital uPlay storefront that they reserve the right to close your account for inactivity or any other reason they feel like it regardless of how much money you've spent).  Or until your hard drive breaks the same day your internet goes out.

 

Granted, in terms of things breaking, the same could be said of our optical disk drives... but I'd be more comfortable knowing if the disk drive broke that I'm at least still in possession of my games.  Whether it's true of all cases or not, the whole digital thing just makes it painfully clear that these games are being lent to us.

 

Needless to say, being the same guy that started the topic on a different account, I prefer physical.

[Cautious_PS]

Definitely physical.  When I buy digital I just get this feeling that all I'm really doing is giving them the money but not actually owning the game itself.  I want a physical case, disc, etc to put in my collection.  Digital just doesn't feel right to me.

[Condemned09]

I always prefer physical. When i buy digital it takes a very long time to download

[Tao-Sianu]

I prefer physical.

It's just nice having that box in my hands when I've bought it and put it on 'the shelf', seeing it organized in alphabetical/sequel order.

That's not to mention special editions. A lot of the time they're not that impressive, maybe just the regular game box with DLC codes, maybe the only difference is it comes in a sleeve...But for something like 'Senran Kagura Estival Versus', 'Soul Calibur V', 'Witcher 3' or 'Kingdom Hearts 1.5' special editions, they feel special in their presentation. I mean, I don't even like Soul Calibur V, but that 'book box' is gorgeous. That box is the only reason I even still own Soul Calibur V.

Then just the 'security' of it. I like knowing that as long as I have the disc and the console, I'm good to go. Even if the console breaks, I can replace or fix it easy enough. Multiplayer games are obviously irrelevant here since they're useless whether you get it digitally or physically once the games servers shut down, but for MOST single player games, that logic applies (though good luck playing Assassins Creed Unity when the servers are down and you can't get the highly necessary updates).

Also (and I nearly forgot since I barely have to do this) I can sell the games if I didn't like them or if it's just something I know I'll never play again. I'm picky over my purchases these days, so it's rare I have to do that, but it's good knowing that I can just get rid of a game I don't want anymore and put the cash towards another.

[Lucas]

I prefer physical.

It's just nice having that box in my hands when I've bought it and put it on 'the shelf', seeing it organized in alphabetical/sequel order.

That's not to mention special editions. A lot of the time they're not that impressive, maybe just the regular game box with DLC codes, maybe the only difference is it comes in a sleeve...But for something like 'Senran Kagura Estival Versus', 'Soul Calibur V', 'Witcher 3' or 'Kingdom Hearts 1.5' special editions, they feel special in their presentation. I mean, I don't even like Soul Calibur V, but that 'book box' is gorgeous. That box is the only reason I even still own Soul Calibur V.

Then just the 'security' of it. I like knowing that as long as I have the disc and the console, I'm good to go. Even if the console breaks, I can replace or fix it easy enough. Multiplayer games are obviously irrelevant here since they're useless whether you get it digitally or physically once the games servers shut down, but for MOST single player games, that logic applies (though good luck playing Assassins Creed Unity when the servers are down and you can't get the highly necessary updates).

Also (and I nearly forgot since I barely have to do this) I can sell the games if I didn't like them or if it's just something I know I'll never play again. I'm picky over my purchases these days, so it's rare I have to do that, but it's good knowing that I can just get rid of a game I don't want anymore and put the cash towards another.

 

This. Though, I never sell any of the games I buy, even if it's absolute crap  .