Physical copies or digital copies?

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BabyTyrant

BabyTyrant

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I know the majority of people seem to buy digital copies of games, I understand it is convenient in that you don't have to go anywhere, trust people on websites like eBay (which I will get to below), and switching games is easier

As for trust and eBay, I understand some people dont like taking risks, but despite being burned before both as seller and buyer most of the time if the seller slipped up they have made it right without trouble; I have had bigger troubles with bad sellers; but neither is inherently a great risk; and to avoid future risks I am no longer willing to buy anything too expensive from a seller that doesn't have an insane amount of positive feedback and as a seller I only sell at or above a certain price point and dont do free shipping anymore.

For me as a gamer that is usually on a budget (mostly because you dont want to pay $65 and then end up hating the game) I usually combine eBay with their higher eBay bucks offers or sometimes 15% off when I find the price is close to what I want to spend; and well then I have a physical copy I can sell if I really need money or absolutely hate the game, plus you cant really "collect" digital games as you never truly own them the same way you can own, trade, and sell physical copies.

Now the downside is that sometimes it can be hard to make a sale locally (in case it is too cheap to sell on eBay and eat 13.5% fees plus shipping) - even if it is a fairly recent release of a popular game series (even if I am selling a fair amount cheaper than eBay low) ; but a lower (sometimes much lower) price is still better than paying retail ($65 on most games, but some get released at $40 or less) ; as many games as I play if I bought them all for retail I would go through way too much money (hell I would probably be broke almost constantly)

But the way things are going we could see physical copies stop being a thing within 5 years (I know Nintendo made a comment at some point about physical and digital copies being available to whoever wants to buy either one), which I would hate to see, especially with the game companies that dont allow you any time to try a game (Sony and Nintendo have worse policies in this regard than Xbox/Steam) without giving up the right to a refund.
 
I too prefer physical copies of games. I still have the original doom cd and still periodically play it on an emulated win95 pc. I've "had" other digital downloaded games before, but have had the servers supporting them go bust. This has taught me the only real way to own a game, long term, is to actually have the game in hand.
 
I have been screwed over by ebay i think it was 2016 when i bought my first motherboard for my computer and it was working swimmingly then it throw up an error which was hard to get around but it was past it's return date, so i'm like i'll just toss it and i got a new board from amazon which i'm using right now no complaints however i had a activated copy of windows 10 already on my ssd from the last board
so in my head I am like "hey i don'nt need to activate it will carry over, however that was not the case so i bought a licence key on ebay, but i decided to completly wipe my system and to my suprise it activated using the internet to activate, but then i'm like "aw man I already bought this key" so i went into ebay and requested a return and the seller emailed me back saying "unfortunately if I return the key that the seller will be losing money" and i was like what that is impossible. So i closed the return request and haven't bought from eBay since.

BabyTyrant said:
I know the majority of people seem to buy digital copies of games, I understand it is convenient in that you don't have to go anywhere, trust people on websites like eBay (which I will get to below), and switching games is easier

As for trust and eBay, I understand some people dont like taking risks, but despite being burned before both as seller and buyer most of the time if the seller slipped up they have made it right without trouble; I have had bigger troubles with bad sellers; but neither is inherently a great risk; and to avoid future risks I am no longer willing to buy anything too expensive from a seller that doesn't have an insane amount of positive feedback and as a seller I only sell at or above a certain price point and dont do free shipping anymore.

For me as a gamer that is usually on a budget (mostly because you dont want to pay $65 and then end up hating the game) I usually combine eBay with their higher eBay bucks offers or sometimes 15% off when I find the price is close to what I want to spend; and well then I have a physical copy I can sell if I really need money or absolutely hate the game, plus you cant really "collect" digital games as you never truly own them the same way you can own, trade, and sell physical copies.

Now the downside is that sometimes it can be hard to make a sale locally (in case it is too cheap to sell on eBay and eat 13.5% fees plus shipping) - even if it is a fairly recent release of a popular game series (even if I am selling a fair amount cheaper than eBay low) ; but a lower (sometimes much lower) price is still better than paying retail ($65 on most games, but some get released at $40 or less) ; as many games as I play if I bought them all for retail I would go through way too much money (hell I would probably be broke almost constantly)

But the way things are going we could see physical copies stop being a thing within 5 years (I know Nintendo made a comment at some point about physical and digital copies being available to whoever wants to buy either one), which I would hate to see, especially with the game companies that dont allow you any time to try a game (Sony and Nintendo have worse policies in this regard than Xbox/Steam) without giving up the right to a refund.
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Well, from my experience with Walmart buying a PSN code on Black Thursday buying an online code for things can be finicky, even if it is a good code.

In my case eventually a Walmart employee told me to go to a specific version of Walmart.com that magically had the PSN code they never gave me by email.

I usually buy physical goods and almost never have any problems on eBay, but the few occasions where I ran into trouble make me be more cautious about transactions in the future.

My worst case was having to wait almost 2 weeks when I had proof I got sent a frickin 5 dollar magazine when I paid for a PS4 pro, and I was even blamed for not realizing I was gonna be scammed from the get go.
 
I somewhat enjoy both. having a physical over a digital copy feels more like I "own" the game rather downloading a digital copy that could be deleted anytime do to an error or something. But on the flip side of what you were saying digital is fast, (for most depending on download speed,) easy, and hassle free. You can sit on your butt on watch the download bar go and not have to go anywhere.
 
What worries me about the future of gaming with the majority moving on to Digital Copies, is if they do away with Physical Copies they can basically control the price of the games and still try to charge $40+ when a Physical Copy would probably cost you $20.

That would make gaming harder for people on a budget (as I usually am), and would hopefully blow up in their face when a game is anything less than spectacular.
 
I prefer physical games because I like to see the box art and the cases on my shelf. It gives me a feeling of ownership that I don't really get from digital.
 
I once had a OEM license of Windows 98 which I digitally copied just to a) be able to install or repair without worrying of mucking up the CD, and b) it was out of date, Win98 and Millennium Edition were the supported editions. I could even do an update on SOME of the features, like IE. The reason it's relevant is aside from bit-rot if you have the digital installs can be easier and cheaper for the customer and the provider than shooting out a new in the box medium. Back then it was a necessity, the usual modem was a 56k. Getting an update was an all-day process. So my take, keep both options. Regardless of the wild claims of the vendors, it ain't perfect yet.
 
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Being a pc gamer, 99% of my games are now digital...shit my gaming laptop doesn't even include a optical drive so I couldn't install a physical copy of a PC if I wanted to, unless I bought an external optical drive. As much as it sucks that the digital future will mean they have more control over prices/updates/whatever else, it is the future. Which is further confirmed by M$ releasing an Xbox One S: All-digital edition. Honestly digital copies of games don't bother me as much as the rise of OnLive-style game streaming like Geforce Now or Google Stadia. Some people are claiming that in 10-20 years we will all be gaming off the cloud, I'll believe it when I see it! Because I'd rather play on my local hardware; I'd rather play on lower settings than deal with high ping/lag spikes. I'm sure I'm not alone there.

To be fair, I've only tried streaming a game once and it was with my friend's PS4 playing an old PS3 game with Playstation now. Long story short, it ran like shit and it wasn't acceptable. I'm sure those of you with gigabit fiber connections have no problem though.
 
Chimera said:
Being a pc gamer, 99% of my games are now digital...shit my gaming laptop doesn't even include a optical drive so I couldn't install a physical copy of a PC if I wanted to, unless I bought an external optical drive. As much as it sucks that the digital future will mean they have more control over prices/updates/whatever else, it is the future. Which is further confirmed by M$ releasing an Xbox One S: All-digital edition. Honestly digital copies of games don't bother me as much as the rise of OnLive-style game streaming like Geforce Now or Google Stadia. Some people are claiming that in 10-20 years we will all be gaming off the cloud, I'll believe it when I see it! Because I'd rather play on my local hardware; I'd rather play on lower settings than deal with high ping/lag spikes. I'm sure I'm not alone there.

To be fair, I've only tried streaming a game once and it was with my friend's PS4 playing an old PS3 game with Playstation now. Long story short, it ran like shit and it wasn't acceptable. I'm sure those of you with gigabit fiber connections have no problem though.
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Well a lot of places don't have super fast internet.

They have faster wireless services on the way with more Fiber Optic choices and the oncoming advent of 5G

But for now there are too many places lacking a reliably fast internet service to make Game Streaming a reliable option; not to mention the cost of high speeds is still quite high

I'm paying like 70 or 80 a month and that is for regular speed internet service, not Fiber Optic (probably not an option in my area) and definitely not 5G (which is just recently spreading to big city areas) so I only have physical or digital gaming as an option

And as long as physical is an option that will be my choice; I like being able to afford a bigger variety of games due to lower prices

The only outright affordable game options currently are used games that have been out a while, and cheaper Indie studio games that typically charge $20 or less at full price.

I had that service before too

I played through a few games with no problem, and then it got so slow I stopped paying for the service because it would freeze basically all the time.
 
"mostly because you dont want to pay $65 and then end up hating the game"
this never happened to me but I never got into a game that had clear advertising violations.
I prefer to have physical because I want something I can like hold and such, but I have done digital here and there when there is great price discrepancy.
 
I've always preferred physical media. At least you've bought an actual thing.

www.bbc.co.uk

Microsoft's eBook store: When this closes, your books disappear too

The closure of Microsoft's eBook store is a reminder our digital "belongings" rarely belong to us.
www.bbc.co.uk

I'd hate to imagine that, one day, a publisher will go out of business and send bailiffs to break into my house and destroy any books I bought from them.
 
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CutePrincess said:
"mostly because you dont want to pay $65 and then end up hating the game"
this never happened to me but I never got into a game that had clear advertising violations.
I prefer to have physical because I want something I can like hold and such, but I have done digital here and there when there is great price discrepancy.
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It's easy enough for the Studios/developers to make a game look good, but that doesn't necessarily mean you will like it.

You could play a game for hours, try to enjoy it, and then give up

I did that with Shadow of War; strictly because of the respawning enemies system they decided to put in.

Im sorry, but I expect to be able to advance in a game in an expected way; you kill an enemy it should stay dead; especially when you dismember the enemy.

If not for that I could have loved that game; but at least I tried it for free on a free trial weekend.

They should do that more often with more games.
 
BabyTyrant said:
It's easy enough for the Studios/developers to make a game look good, but that doesn't necessarily mean you will like it.

You could play a game for hours, try to enjoy it, and then give up

I did that with Shadow of War; strictly because of the respawning enemies system they decided to put in.

Im sorry, but I expect to be able to advance in a game in an expected way; you kill an enemy it should stay dead; especially when you dismember the enemy.

If not for that I could have loved that game; but at least I tried it for free on a free trial weekend.

They should do that more often with more games.
Click to expand...
I take it back i been fooled once, and that was ffxii, cuz a good gaming company started to make bare bones story lines and combat systems. Sooo since then.. mixed reviews on a SE game, no buy, rofl
 
I like physical copies, but there aren't as many sales for them until they go down in price for good. I prefer a physical copy for console games.
I like digital copies because of sales & not needing to play with discs. I prefer a digital copy for PC games.

They both have pros and cons.
 
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ShippoFox said:
I like physical copies, but there aren't as many sales for them until they go down in price for good. I prefer a physical copy for console games.
I like digital copies because of sales & not needing to play with discs. I prefer a digital copy for PC games.

They both have pros and cons.
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There is always the option of Used Games (through a Game Store like GameStop or GameCraze, through online websites like eBay, or locally through Craigslist, FaceBook and so on).

While a retail store may not always run sales, light scratches on used Games don't render a Game unplayable, it's not like they are so fragile that a single scratch will render a game useless (unless it is a very deep scratch)
 
I've always preferred physical media. At least you've bought an actual thing.




When this eBook store closes, your books disappear too

The closure of Microsoft's eBook store is a reminder our digital "belongings" rarely belong to us.

www.bbc.co.uk
www.bbc.co.uk




I'd hate to imagine that, one day, a publisher will go out of business and send bailiffs to break into my house and destroy any books I bought from them
Click to expand...

Yeah, that borders onto some really sticky wickets... Such as gold as money and "money" being papers saying the governments owe you the stated value of said Promissory Notes. In a post-nuclear non-existent governance, banking public or private, and people are subsiding on rats, roaches and/or whatever is left, Which Has Happened In Failed Empires... Yeah, Road Warrior stuff... Somewhere between Then and Now such commodities as electricity will be far enough apart, you could secure enough for your devices but not for anybody else in a large gap...

Then there's the notion of Universal Mandatory internet... Dystopia abounds.
At least in theory. Fahrenheit 451 with the twist that whichever arbitrary governance could simply cut your service from a far remote server. Yeah I read the book first. After that the movie suktalot.

I noticed that what I just wrote is a perfect script for a WoW knockoff.

Maybe do a NASA 'belt AND suspenders' protocol, backup measures layer upon layer... get a 5 gallon fishtank, have your Hard Copies, copied to a Hard Drive, a USB DVD AND Thumb Drives, a stack of DVDs, put them into separate anti-static bags, put those into a larger anti-static, put them in the fishtank and cap it, (dessication chamber, a really cool tool) and put the lot into a chest freezer and use CO2 as the coolant et voila ici. Maybe put it into a walk in freezer but that might be just silly. One advantage to that scenario is you can get the parts at recycling yards.

OR-- hope civilization will prevail and if not it doesn't make any difference.
 
I prefer physical copies because then I can show off my awesome collection to my friends. Also, Nothing gets the blood pumping and adrenaline flowing when popping a game into the system and you hear it starting up. Now with Digital copies, I like them as well. They stay on the system (either console or PC) and they can all be found conveniently in one place. Plus, with the online gaming and mods it adds a whole new dimension to the gaming world.

But if I were to choose which one I prefer: Physical
 
Digital copies all the way. Steam has truly changed the way I buy games. I currently have 290 games in my Steam library, which would take up a huge amount of space if I had bought all of them on physical media.

Now I do have some of these games as physical copies, but I got those before they were released on Steam. A large proportion of the games in my Steam library are indie titles that never got a release on physical media.
 
BabyTyrant said:
Well a lot of places don't have super fast internet.

They have faster wireless services on the way with more Fiber Optic choices and the oncoming advent of 5G

But for now there are too many places lacking a reliably fast internet service to make Game Streaming a reliable option; not to mention the cost of high speeds is still quite high

I'm paying like 70 or 80 a month and that is for regular speed internet service, not Fiber Optic (probably not an option in my area) and definitely not 5G (which is just recently spreading to big city areas) so I only have physical or digital gaming as an option

And as long as physical is an option that will be my choice; I like being able to afford a bigger variety of games due to lower prices

The only outright affordable game options currently are used games that have been out a while, and cheaper Indie studio games that typically charge $20 or less at full price.

I had that service before too

I played through a few games with no problem, and then it got so slow I stopped paying for the service because it would freeze basically all the time.
Click to expand...
That's true, our country is way behind in internet connection speeds. Our only choices in northern michigan is either Charter Spectrum (100mb/s) or DSL. I think everyone streaming games online is far from becoming commonplace, Unless we start seeing major internet upgrades over the next coming decade. Whether we like it or not though, companies like Sony and Microsoft are going to continue pushing for more digital sales, whether it's by having more discount sales on the online stores or whatever else.

Unfortunately, Like it or not, the demise of gamestop is inevitable. As of about 2016, their stock have been on a steady decline as stockholders lose more and more hope for the future of the company.
 
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