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Topic: Physical vs Digital my take 2 years later

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RunGMhx

So I bought my switch back in 2018. I like it very much and lately my whole family like it very much, to the point where I barely ever see it anymore with the wife on animal crossing and my son chasing Pokémon’s just like on his favorite tv show. In fact the family love it so much that my wife now entertain the idea of buying a second one. My son has demonstrated some interest in animal crossing and my wife is pretty strict about not sharing her island.

Now this idea of second switch shade light on a debate I’ve been having with myself for quite some time. When I bought my switch, I had one strict rule, I buy every first party game physically and every other game whichever way is the cheapest. The principle was that the Nintendo games, unlike most 3rd party, hold value pretty well if I ever want/need to sell them and they’re likely to be the only one I’m nostalgic of when the eShop go down in a few years (hopefully stil far away).

But lately I’ve been cheating on this rule more and more with Mario Maker (sold the physical but the digital), animal crossing (bought digital, there’s no way I’m switching the cartridge every day in the next few months) and just last week sold Splatoon 2 with the intention of buying it digital if we buy a new switch. Basically, the switch and the whole state of games in 2020 is switching my take on the physical vs digital debate.

Here’s my reasons :
1) Some games receive so many free updates that even if you own the physical media, you’ll still be unable to play the game you likely will remember when the eShop goes down. This is why I started this whole digitalization process of some first party title two months ago. Mario Maker was the culprit, what will that game be when there’s no more level to download? The game received some important update in the last year and received another major one today, to the point where the game on the cart is nowhere near what I’ll be playing in the next few months. Same logic went for animal crossing as I was expecting the game to receive a few updates that would change it trough time and the upcoming update prove me right. Also the same goes for smash but to a lesser extent but it still received sizeable update even without the paid DLC.

2) For the first time ever in my life I’ve bought DLC, did it for Breath of the Wild, Fire Emblem (To be fair I got the Walmart pricing error which was 30$ for the game and expansion, so this was pretty much a no brainer, would have never bought the game otherwise as I had no interest, but god am I happy I did now having played it) and recently did it for Pokemon and I’m entertaining it for Splatoon and potentially Smash. Once you bought DLC well you pretty much might as well go digital because a good portion of the game will never be on the physical media and you’ll therefore lose it anyway when the eShop goes down.

3) Its way more covinient, especially when playing in TV mode. You can switch games easily and I’ve found myself playing more Mario Maker because of it. I can just jump in and out for 15 minutes without having to change the cart ridge so it’s more of an impulse play. On the plus side, I don’t trust my 5 years old handeling the cart properly without damaging the switch or the media itself.

4) With more than one switch you can play the same game on more than one console at the same time without having to own two copies (wich is a big no for me). For most game this is simply a convenience factor but with other it’s simply a game changer. There’s no local multiplayer in Splatoon, but being able to play against my son on two console while owning only a copy is a huge plus. Same goes for animal crossing, being able to have two island on two console with one copy and being able to play at the same time if not together is a huge plus. Yes there’s some strict limitation in order to that as to how you set up primary account and where but it’s still possible which would not be the case with a physical media.

So basically here are my reasons, I doesn’t go digital for every game, Mario Galaxy and Breath of the wild will remain physical for me as the vast majority of the game is on the cart and multiplayer is a non factor. But for a lot of other game digital advantage can easily outweight physical...

What’s you take on it? Am I missing something?

Edited on by RunGMhx

RunGMhx

Magician

I wish I had a Switch back in 2008, lol.

In all seriousness, on Switch I prefer physical because of the cartridge format.

But for most other platforms I own I prefer digital as convenience is king.

Switch Physical Collection - 1,241 games (as of March 23rd, 2024)
Favorite Quote: "Childhood is not from birth to a certain age and at a certain age the child is grown, and puts away childish things. Childhood is the kingdom where nobody dies." -Edna St. Vincent Millay

Anti-Matter

@RunGMhx
So I bought my switch back in 2008.

LOL
Two thousand eight.
Are you a time traveller from the future ? 😂

Btw, i will always choose physical games.
Never have any interest with digital download.
I don't like convenience like that, that's insulting me as a physical collector.
I want a complicated way to play games (by inserting cartridge or disc) rather than tapping an App icon.
#letsgophysical 🤟

Anti-Matter

GrailUK

I love physical, but to be honest, I would need a while to be able to articulate why lol.

I never drive faster than I can see. Besides, it's all in the reflexes.

Switch FC: SW-0287-5760-4611

RunGMhx

@Anti-Matter I thought that with Animal Crossing and the date glitch in Pokemon time travel was pretty much a given in the Nintendo community...😉 (Good catch).

But yeah I like physical but to me the point of having only part of the game on the physical media is the insulting part, but nowadays it’s pretty much a certainty, so you either play the game not updating them or you accept the fact that the physical will never be the game you’re use too... once I’ve come to this conclusion, physical lost a lot of interest opening the way for digital and convenience...

RunGMhx

GrailUK

@RunGMhx Oh, having an 8gb download day one for half the game IS insulting. To the point where I don't buy those games. Not even on the eshop, because I would rather wait on the off chance that it releases complete further down the line. There are a lot of games to play and I'm not entertaining the ones that can't release a physical edition properly. Going digital is one increment closer to a full subscription service. And then what's next, we only play the games that Company A have cycled that month? Nah man, I want to keep my hobby on my terms and not give it to corporate for the sake of a minor convenience (no way it's 'way more')

Edited on by GrailUK

I never drive faster than I can see. Besides, it's all in the reflexes.

Switch FC: SW-0287-5760-4611

Anti-Matter

@RunGMhx
I'm thinking about long term satisfaction.
Convenience by digital download is a short term satisfaction, will not lasting for long term after 10 - 20 years from now.
Physical games at least still last long until more than 20 years.
I have DDR 3rd Mix PS1 in Like New condition from Ebay and now it's already 20 years old and still working. Long term satisfaction.

Edited on by Anti-Matter

Anti-Matter

BruceCM

On Switch, it does save the internal memory, which is at least one practical reason, @GrailUK .... Some like having the physical boxes, too!

SW-4357-9287-0699
Steam: Bruce_CM

Cotillion

I was all physical on console up to this generation. Now, you very rarely get the entire game physically. There's updates, patches, additions, DLC, and whatever else, it just seems pointless.
Then the whole debacle of even trying to get some games physical - a lot of the time paying a lot more or having to content with these companies like LRG taking advantage of the physical devoted with artificially limited quantities that sell out in minutes (why not make more copies or 2nd runs of it?), not to mention scalpers grabbing so many quantities of these artificially limited games.

It's just so much hassle. Digital, I can just buy, download and play without even leaving my house. With Switch being the kind of platform it is, I can take all my games without having to take carts around. I can just jump into Mario Kart for a few laps, then into something else without switching carts.

This generation really just killed my interest in physical collecting and I gave up on it. The only things I really buy physical now are huge games with low replay value to save SD card space (like lengthy RPGs) or the rare few I still want for collecting sake (Zeldas, Xenoblade). This generation I've gone from 100% physical to probably only 10%, if even that.

Cotillion

gcunit

Untitled

@RunGMhx Are you sure that's how it will work having one digital purchase of Splatoon 2? My understanding was that only one account can access the game at a time if it's a 'shared' purchase.

And whatever Mario Maker 2 becomes, I'll have more of it available to me should I be unable to download it than if I only bought digital.

Plus, and the MAJOR point for me, is that, with patience, I have been able to digitise my physical collections from GameCube, Wii, Wii U, DS, and 3DS. In time I will be able to digitise my Switch physical purchases too (possibly already could if I was willing to hack it, but I'm happy to wait). I will have my cake AND eat it. Sure, there's some short-medium term inconvenience that I have to swap cartridges over, but I am more than happy to tolerate that for a few years. Then I'll probably be able to buy a 2tb SD card and rip a whole heap of physical goodness on to it, just as I have done with my 3DS.

Plus... I bought a couple of Switch games I tried and decided weren't for me. I put them on eBay and made an approx. 25% profit. How many times have you done that with an unwanted digital purchase?

Edited on by gcunit

You guys had me at blood and semen.

What better way to celebrate than firing something out of the pipe?

Nothing is true. Everything is permitted.

My Nintendo: gcunit | Nintendo Network ID: gcunit

GrailUK

@BruceCM haha. Yeah, agreed. If I had my way, we would still have instruction manuals with artwork

I never drive faster than I can see. Besides, it's all in the reflexes.

Switch FC: SW-0287-5760-4611

Anti-Matter

@Cotillion
I know those practicals (half digital download games, a lot of patches, very pricey limited games by scalpers) are sucks. But, i will not give up.
I will try to get the games in physical even if i have to spend a lot of money to get one game (as long the price was not too insane).

Anti-Matter

gcunit

Everyone that has 'given up' on physical because of the patches, DLC etc is just bending over for the games companies. I wanted Wolfenstein on my Switch, but I refused to buy it because they couldn't put the whole of the base game on to a cartridge. Same will go for Borderlands, Bioshock and Xcom. I'm not some ***** that will just bend over and submit. I have more than enough games. If they don't want to provide the goods I want then they will not see my money.

You guys had me at blood and semen.

What better way to celebrate than firing something out of the pipe?

Nothing is true. Everything is permitted.

My Nintendo: gcunit | Nintendo Network ID: gcunit

Anti-Matter

@gcunit
Say, do you have physical games on sale ? 😀
If you want to sell your unwanted games, please let me know your user name on Ebay.
I'm looking for some old games.

Edited on by Anti-Matter

Anti-Matter

alpacatears

I own two physical games for my switch, Breath of the wild which was bundled with my original switch and then Witcher 3 which was a gift from my partner.
I've never been much of a fan of physical media so I'm happy that the Switch gives me the option to almost completely forego any cartridges and just upgrade my SD card from time to time as the technology improves and the price points get lowered.
With that being said, I fully appreciate that some people really enjoy their physical collections and the joy that the art of collecting things can give them on top of the games themselves.

It'll be interesting to see how the next few years fares in terms of the physical and digital divide and whether the two mediums will continue to coexist or if one will eventually take the reigns.

alpacatears

BruceCM

Heh, those were the days, @GrailUK ... Although I seem to remember a lot of manuals didn't actually give me much in the way of useful info! Still, nice to have, at least

SW-4357-9287-0699
Steam: Bruce_CM

RunGMhx

@GrailUK We do agree that the subscription service is the worst end of the line here, but in most media subscription is an option not fate (music, movie, a lot of software).

To me the off chance of complete edition is a no factor. Some games do it sure but I don't see most games do it because it would be an admission that the practice is flawed... It's much nicer to say here's some extra content free of charge for the game that you bought than to say here's the real game we should have sold you two years ago...

RunGMhx

JoeDiddley

My preference is to get a physical copy of a game. It’s usually cheaper and I’m still on my 200gb memory card so even some of the game being on the disk helps.

My first choices to go digital when there was the option was on 3DS with Smash and Animal Crossing as I knew I’d come back to them a lot, and I kind of regretted them not being with the others in my collection.

I also like that I can take a risk on a game that’s out of my comfort zone knowing I can trade it. Buyers remorse occasionally frustrates me when it’s a download and I can’t get money back or give it to a friend.

So far though I’ve never waited for the physical version if it’s a game I really want and it’s available digitally first. And I’ve not succumb to the temptation yet of buying the box for a game I already have digitally - that day will come though I’m sure.

Switch: SW-2923-8106-2126
Steam ID: joediddley
https://myanimelist.net/profile/JoeDiddley

RunGMhx

@Anti-Matter Sure the games from back then last long because they were an end product... But most games aren't like this anymore. Some have smaller update that don't really affect the base game BotW, Galaxy, other are simply other games like Mario Maker. I don't think my 5 years old will remember is first Pokemon game to have only 400 the pokemons when he pop up the cartridge 10 years from now, so either way (we're physical on pokemon btw) for him the game that he loves never even existed in physical form, that is Pokemon Sword and shield with with his favorite Pokemon from the show and mew two and others to come.

To be fair I'm not for digital, I would much rather be able to have full game on physical media like on PS2 or PS1. But we're not there and it feels more an more like an illusion of a choice, sure you get a physical copy but if you don't have access to internet you'll likely have an incomplete experience. So you either stay in what I would call in a hybrid format thinking you're physical or you reluctantly accept that the trend is very unlikely to reverse and therefore accept digital.

When the eShop goes down, if the switch is still alive, as battery are also temporary... I guess I'll find some way to get a digital version of the game running on it just like you could with ps1 or ps2 games nowadays.

RunGMhx

rallydefault

This is probably the last generation of physical media for me, but I'm still enjoying it for the most part.

But there are still some ridiculous statements from the "digital people." Like, yea, some AAA third-party games make you download a good chunk even with the cartridge, but every single first-party game and most indies are totally on the cartridge (before DLC). I don't know many people who bought a Switch to primarily do AAA third-party stuff, so chances are if you're collecting physical media, the majority of your games are still entirely on the cartridge. I own plenty of AAA third-party stuff, but I only have a handful of games that still required downloads.

The ability to sell physical media still trumps the convenience of digital, in my opinion. There is the somewhat slippery argument of always owning it, as well. I know it requires a bit of paranoia and extreme long-term thinking, but owning something physically is a an assurance that you will always be able to play it unless you would literally lose it or destroy it. Digital, although unlikely for lots of reasons, could become unplayable for various reasons down the road. Not likely, but possible.

That being said, I will go digital for Switch 2, mostly because I can see even Nintendo not putting the whole game on expensive cartridges, especially with the pandemic affecting manufacturing of pretty much everything for the next long while. Delivery times, costs, and everything physical will probably be affected for the next few years, and in that time digital will probably accelerate in its appeal even faster than the path it was already on.

rallydefault

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