Assuming the two versions are around the same price, would you rather have the instant access of a download or the physical media of a disc or cartridge?

I can sell or trade in a disc or cartridge if I'm bored with it or I don't like it.

I prefer downloading. Buying from home is both more convenient and it skips most middlemen. I prefer for more of my money spent to go back to the company who made the game to support them.

It's also more convenient to load the game straight off the HD (or SD in the Wii's case) rather than get up to disc swap constantly. I generally only play a game for a few minutes at a time, and I just wouldn't feel like playing much if I had to keep swapping discs. It also frees up my limited shelf space.

The only game I've bought that was equal value in retail was Warhawk (PS3). Only Sony seems interested in selling games online and offline for the same price. It's odd that they do that. I would think that if a game is at retail, interested buyers will find it, and the online copy just reduces sales of the product that you actually had to spend extra money physically producing. shrug Works for me.

I prefer buying retail so that I can hold it and own it and (if need be) sell it when I'm done with it. Downloading is only a temporary ownership, possibly taken if the system dies or is succeeded by the next generation (depending on the service.)

I prefer downloading if you are able to transfer the game onto a memory card for easy storage and put it on another family or friends console.

This is a really important question in today's economy.

Think about it -- you buy a substandard game at the store and take home an actual disc. The game sucks, but at least you have the opportunity to sell the item on an auction site or trade it in at the store for some credit.

If you buy a digital download, however, you are basically out of luck. Digital downloads benefit the producers of games because there is a relatively low cost of getting the game to the consumer, but they are of less value dollar for dollar to the consumer because there is no resale value.

If you really think about it, this negatively effects the world economy because $'s are permanently taken out of circulation after the purchase is made. Having no chance to resell the game means less money you have spend on other things or invest. Taking this further, for every dollar spent on digital downloads, one less dollar is floating around in the economy. This pretty clearly concentrates wealth at the cost of the consumer, not to mention the poor.

That said, I love me the convenience of some downloaded games, nothing beats being hard-up for entertainment and downloading something like World of Goo that can really entertain, and even enrich your life.

Money spent on downloadable games doesn't disappear. It is still "in circulation." It goes to the creator, who then uses it to continue doing what you paid him to do. If you spend on used items, you are encouraging nothing but the circumvention of the standard model of business: I make something, you give me money for it. Replacing this with, "I make something, one person pays me money for it, then gets money from someone else for it, who then... etc. etc." just means that that the original creator is being deprived of sales, which discourages business, which is bad for the economy.

Not that I am condemning anyone for buying used. I've done it quite a bit, though I prefer to buy new or download when possible and not at too big a price difference. I'm just saying that economics is probably not the best reason, and people constantly saying stuff like "in today's economy" (seriously, is that not in every commercial you hear?) only creates more fear of spending, which is not good. Anyway, just a differing opinion, and I'm no economics expert. Personally, I just do what's best for myself without compromising ethically too much.

Try to understand, Adam:

If you spend $10 on a game and the developer gets it, great.

If you spend $10 on a game, and a middle-man or two and the developer get paid, that's okay also.

You have to look at the math for this:

Game purchased = $10

Game purchased and resold = $10 + resale value.

This has nothing to do with game stores, but I for one will be really sad if there are no more game shops because of downloadable games. I hope you can at least see that. Game shops have provided a lot of us with our first jobs, fond memories, and even sometimes great friends.

I never said the money goes out of circulation, I said it erases $'s from the economy.

As for "in today's economy", I don't mean to sound cliche! I guess I could have said "Since our poor communities have a higher infant mortality rate than Somalia..."

I respect your opinion and it is indeed valid!

I prefer having a physical medium BY FAR. I'll buy a few downloadable games, but I have a great distaste for the system.

I love the thought of DLG, But it's not the same as actually going to the store and buying one. I love my GameStop.

I prefer having a physical disc and case over a digital copy. I do make exception like in the case of World of Goo.

I like both in different ways. I enjoy the ease and speed of downloading, but I like having a physical box for collection's sake.

Depends i guess. I do like retail disc games, because you can sell them afterwards if you don't like it, you have much less risk of running out of storage space and they show off your collection, unlike Downloadable ones. With Downloadable ones though, i can access them a lot more quickly and easily. Hmm...

This is a hard one. I think I'll go for Downloading

Honestly, like I said, I don't know economics well, and this sorry attempt of mine to discuss the subject has confused me. Fortunately, it looks like a bit of my confusion has rubbed off on you, so at least I'm not alone.

Same here. Seriously, I don't know what I'm talking about. I just enjoy being nay-sayer.
And yea, I wouldn't want to see stores taken out of the picture, either. I was really thinking of downloading versus buying used. I tend to download anyway though because downloadable games are cheaper and generally just as fun, if not more fun, than retail games.

Hahahha, ok, you got me. I think you know what I meant, right? Just those dollars of the resale value!!

Ok, off my soapbox.

If by "same price" you mean "cheap enough to justify a digital download", then my answer is (drumroll please): I like both.

Put simply, I feel that large, epic games are better with physical media. e.g. I don't want to see Super Paper Mario as a digital download. However, I have a ton of games on my shelf that are (IMHO) just taking up needless space. Dream Pinball, Blastworks, and Mercury Meltdown are just a few examples of games that really should be downloadable titles. The amount of content is good in these titles, but hardly of the epic proportions that demand physical media. More to the point, there's very little that comes with these games that justifies the physical box. The artwork is nothing to write home about, the manuals are thin, and that's really all there is to consider.

Getting back to the price thing, if you meant that "downloadable titles cost the same as retail", then I don't want them downloadable. A significant chunk of value is lost when you go pure digital. The publisher saves that value via the lower costs of the channel, so there's no reason why they should charge consumers for that non-existent value.

Seeing Dead Space for PS3 brought me back to this. Should I wait until I can get a console for it or should I download it for my computer? (which could probably handle it, I'm referring to the PC controls.)

I prefer retail although I collected so many games that space and storage issues are becoming a serious problem. The good thing about retail is that you can sell the game if you don't like it or if it becomes very valuable later on and can't do that with downloadable games. Plus, DOWNLOADED GAMES DON'T GIVE YOU OWNERSHIP, JUST LICENSE TO PLAY IT.

I think I prefer the retail stuff as it's a physical thing I can keep and use anytime I want to.

The poor thing about downloadable games is that if you want to go over a friend's house and play with him....you'll have to bring your whole entire Wii, instead of just bringing the disc over his house.