Topic: Digital or Retail?

Retail!

HDD are more easily damaged and have a finite life. If you are lugging your console all over town retail games are safer (although you can redownload all those GB of data I guess) If you buy all your content digitally who knows if you will even be able to access it in 20 years, the eshop will probably be down.

I guess that is just a collectors mentallity but especially with the uniqueness of the gamepad Wii U emulation will never be the same as having the actual console and games.

Alot of that is true, but not really for the better. It really depends on what type of HDD you have. I have one that could probably take countless falls before it breaks, but not everyone has that. Cartridges and discs can "die", too, soooo...

As for emulation, it's pretty subjective. I personally prefer the VC versions of games over the original console and games, because they made the games run well on HDTVs, and the sound quality is no longer on a cart, which is a good thing. I've never had a VC game freeze, either.

Yeah usually digital games are $60 no matter what, while with retail you pay less if you get it used or on sale but most of the time its just flat out cheaper. Not to mention you get the disc itself, case and manual.

Retail. They don't take up Hard Drive space, you can display the boxes, and you can sell them once you're done. Plus you can get special editions that come with extra goodies. I'll only go digital for a retail title if the discount is particularly steep, if I know it's something I'm never going to sell, and/or if I'm going to play it every day. The one exception is Pokemon Y, which I purchased digitally because I wanted it ASAP. I stayed up until midnight, downloaded it, and then woke up early to start playing it the next morning.

Logic.

I like seeing my game on the shelf, but I also like having it with me wherever I go. Tough call.

Yeah nintendo is the console that I go retail no matter what.

What are those obvious reasons that you only go retail on Nintendo?

Unless the game is digital only, I will always choose retail. I love having my games on shelves. The one thing I fear with going digital is that the all the data on the system would be erased & I'd have no way of getting those games back, especially years down the line when the online stores are no longer accessible. I'm sure there are ways around this problem but I'd rather not take any chances.

Backup hard drive addresses most of the concerns people have. Speaking of which it's time I ran a backup!

Digital all the way as I'm disabled and it's very awkward to get and change disks in a wheelchair. Digital makes launching of games a million times easier.

They do have a unified account. DRM is no worst than Xbox or Steam, not sure how/if PlayStation is different. Not a huge hassle anymore to recover digital games, may not be as easy as just sign in but they have made things easier. I am surprised by how many people think Nintendo doesn't have a unified account system.

Part of the problem is that Nintendo doesn't make a big deal about the small stuff like this. They make a big deal about their games, and that is about it.

You must live in a different region than I do. Here in Canada, the only digital sale on Wii U that has been cheaper than retail sale pricing was for Darksiders 2. Every other digital game sale has been either more expensive than retail sales or has matched the price but occurred much later. Granted, buying from eShop is more convenient since you never have to worry about games being out of stock.

If you are being cost conscious, going entirely retail is better than going entirely digital for Wii U games. As you point out with the Mario Kart promotion, being willing to accept a mix is really the best option though.

Caveat: I bought my Wii U something like 8 months after launch, so have no data from before that time.

Until you're able to log in to a new/replacement system with your NNID and download all prior purchases that were made on different hardware (e.g. a Wii U or 3DS that broke or was stolen), they don't have a unified account system. I'd take it one step further and also say that buying a VC game on a 3DS should give you the Wii U version for free and vice versa. If they allow all that, then they'd have a true unified account system.

I find it to be the complete opposite in the UK, I've seen retail games on eshop go on sale and they are still more expensive than buying a hardcopy. I've got ZombiU, Injustice, Batman Arkham City etc for £5 or less and the Eshop sales have never gone lower than £9.99, I also don't have to wait months for an eshop game to go on sale.

Those are not what make an account unified.

I prefer physical

@ejamer
Again, alot of it has to do with the fact that I buy most of my games on their release dates. I buy pretty much any game I am even a little interested in, when they are on sale in the eShop, too. So buying on launch with a combination of deals on eShop only games when they are available balances out the cost, for the most part, while still having difital versions. Also, since the Deluxe Digital Promo exists along with Club Nintendo, I've gotten like $75 back. Depending on the game, that's like 1.5-2 full retail games that I've gotten for free. Since I spend so much on the eShop, that 10% back, combined with eShop deals and in-store deals on eShop cards doesn't really cost me all that much more than buying retail. It just really depends on how much you initally want to spend, and how you go about that spending that effects how much it costs in the long run. If you get ZombiU for like $20, then that's awesome, but I bought it on launch or full price before there were even any reviews, so my decison was made long before that $20 deal was even a thought in anyone's mind. It's the same deal with Wii U getting a price cut. Even though I bought it on launch for full price and bought games that people are now getting free(ZombiU bundle, NSMB.U, Mario Kart 8 w/ Wii remote+ is a good deal), I technically got my money's worth by just buying a ton of games and playing it all the time, because I had my console for a long period of time that wouldn't have existed without buying the console on launch.

So ya, if you are buying you stuff at retail for way cheaper, then that is awesome, but the way I spend my money makes it about the same in the long run. I'm the the U.S., BTW.

I got Resident Evil Revelations for $15, on sale + Deluxe Digital $5 off code. That's like 75% off, and that deal didn't exist in stores, and I still got Deluxe points. That's one example, an I do that for a ton of the eShop only games.

@Arronishere
I've seen the prices for digital in the U.K., and I totally agree that they are outrageous. I honestly probably would buy physical if I was in U.K. You got to admit that 9.99 pounds is still pretty cheap, though We don't have that good of deals in the U.S., but at the same time the deals we do have don't really make digital and retail prices, all depending on how you buy. Games over there go for like 45 pounds or something, if I'm not mistaken, but the digital copy is 60 pounds. I totally get why someone wouldn't buy digital in the U.K, unless it was a really good deal, or if it's eShop only.