Poll: Are You Ready to Download More of Your Retail Games From the eShop?

I much prefer downloading to physical because I have the convenience of having all of my games in one spot and not have to fuss over too many discs and cases and the risk of damage. However, Best Buy's and Amazon's 20% discounts have been huge draws for me as of late. I've also been thinking a little too far in advance and have been wondering what would happen if my Wii U's internal memory or the hard drive I use becoming corrupted, and I'm unable to reclaim my purchases on another Wii U because the servers have been shut down. It's an anxiety-ridden balancing act for sure.

The ability to get an actual physical product for your money, being able to have it on your shelf among all the other games. I think it ultimately boils down to that. There have been many cases (Rune Factory 4, Digimon Cyber Sleuth) when I've been noticeably disappointed by the fact that I can't have such great games in my shelf next to the other masterpieces of games I happen to own because they have been digital-only games in my region.

@Shepdawg1 I agree

I used to mostly download games, but then my 3DS's SD card corrupted, and I hadn't backed it up in a long time (it was broken for a while), so all my Animal Crossing and Pokemon Y save data is gone. I'm more inclined to buy cartridges now since I don't trust that downloaded games' save data will stay safe. If I have to buy it on the eShop I will, though.

As much as I do not like a lot of Nintendo's eShop practices this generation, one thing that I have to hand to them is that they did a wonderful job with making digital titles available on the eShop. One especially noteworthy triumph is when they slashed the prices of the 4 Wii U Nintendo Selects games to $20. I am personally open to increasing my downloadable collection of retail games if Nintendo keeps this up.

Virtual Console on the other hand... no, I'm keeping my comment positive. Nintendo has done very well with retail game availability and digital sales and promotions. This makes me happy.

The biggest reason aside from not having the game if my console is wiped is memory. How can we download games when the hard drive is so ridiculously small!?

I like being able to resell games I don't play anymore or didn't really dig that much on eBay to fund the purchase new titles. If done at the right times, my games lose a maximum of $5-10, and for the use I get out of them, serve as a plenty fine rental price in the end. If not, they better be something I don't plan to not want to have (Splatoon) or dirt cheap as a download, since otherwise, I can buy the game new and resell it later if I'm not a big fan.

Until they drop the price of download versions I won't even consider the idea. Why on earth would I pay more for a download game over a physical edition?

My 3DS library is mostly digital since I tend to take my 3DS everywhere I go and it's nice to be able to play any game you want to at any time even if your not at home. And when I said I take my 3DS with me everywhere, I mean it literally. My 3DS XL has made a hole in two of my jeans' pockets and now you can see the green light when I get a StreetPass without taking it out of the pocket first. I still buy physical games when they're at a great price or if there's a special edition I like.

My Wii U library is mostly physical since I don't see any other benefits than price when choosing between physical and digital for a home console.

The bummer here is that 99% of my 3ds purchases are digital for the sake of portability, but most of my Wii U purchases (which would give me the most points) are physical because of the terrible device storage space.

I'm the all download guy. Say goodbye to physical, it's needlessly costly and less convenient.

I'm glad the Wii U brought the retail in digital format. I hope that whatever's next will be digital only - better business and higher convenience.

that wont change i really hate massive dlc except maybe for SF V and asuras wrath since ther was no other physical version on that game!! im still mad i didnt get Fatal Frame blackwater maiden in physical that was a must have retail game not lessened with download only -------_-- and im still waiting for the Minecraft retail version!!! besides its not that cheap the exernal hard drives here so i only have nes, snes and 64 roms on digital maybe Fast racing neo maybe!!!!

A couple of my responses in this poll need addendums or footnotes. The only retail games I own that I downloaded from the eShop are Wii Sports Club, the NES Remix games, and Shovel Knight, as that was the only way to purchase them when they were released. I would go retail only if I could, because I'm a sucker for game cases and packaging, and for resell value. I'm also a sucker for physical bonuses, like the Wolf Link amiibo and Soundtrack CD. No way I was going digital on TP HD.

However, this could also be because I got retail versions of games when I first got the system, and my OCD kicks in when I buy new copies of games now (if one's retail, they all have to be retail). If I was digital only from the beginning, I would be more inclined to stay that way. My next Nintendo system could be all-digital. It's nice not having to swap discs to change games.

Sometimes you can get a physical special edition (with amiibo, CD, or artbook, etc.) for the same money that you are charged on the eShop for just the game code. That doesn't make any sense to me! I only buy digital on 3DS because I like taking it when I travel and not worry about game cartridges.

About the rewards system, it's worse than Club Nintendo. You don't get any rewards for buying physical games. What the...

Download games, Although they are convenient to "save space" in your room and have the game ready when having the console turned on, plus, you may get a game that in physical is hard to find;

however, nowadays, new games are "big" and "need more, more space" in the memory, and need to buy storage hardware of high volume; and, in the Nintendo case, if the console failure (hardware problem), is "Really a big problem" because you need to do a lot to recover the software, and sometimes this don't work... (a Big problem with Nintendo in these years).

This last is some that if they fix/improve, maybe I would think more for buy rentail digital games over physical.

I way prefer digital when done right (Steam ftw). For indie titles, digital works great, but my Wii U has little space for bigger games, and (totally nonsensical to me) disks seem to be cheaper.

Hopefully the new account system is the first step for Nintendo digital services to catch up to industry standard, and the NX will complete that catch up.

There needs to be an option (even if it's only limited to doing it once) to change the country of your NNID. I linked mine to the UK eShop when the Wii U launched because the South African store wasn't available. I know this is my own doing, but the high cost of eShop retail games and the very strong Pound mean I buy very little digitally.

Something I haven't seen anyone bring up yet, is what if this rewards system is indicative of Nintendo's plan to possibly go full digital with the NX?

@SakuraHaruka That's right. No user account. And also, no cross-buy. Nintendo stuck in the 20th century.

If my Wii U doesn't have the space to download a game - I won't bother. But at a drastic contrast, if there's a retail game I want for 3DS, I'll immediately download it because my 3DS has a micro SD of (I think) 128GB. Or whatever size it was. Basically, my 3DS has over 80,000 blocks of free space still and I've downloaded more than a few games over the past few months.

About half my retail purchases are download, ONLY because my 3DS card slot broke. I plan to get a New 3DS VERY soon though!

The older I get the less I care about having a disc in a box on my shelves. However, Nintendo has to improve their account system first. On PS4 I'm 80% digital at this point. I only buy discs when they've been out for a while and I can get them really cheap on ebay.

For 3DS maybe. The Wii U hard drive is terrible and I dont trust my external hard drive all that much. I shouldn't need a seperate box for this.

I still wont download retail games. The issue for me is that an eshop retail game should be about 15 bucks cheaper than the Retail version and its nice packaging and artwork. They have totally screwed this up. To be honest downloading to the system isnt all that more convenient. Gawd all you have to do is pop in a cartridge. A big factor for me also is being able to trade some titles back when buying a new game. I will just keep downloading the eshop exclusives and indie games which is a Ton! I love the Eshop. The 200 or so downloads I have on my system tells me so lol.

For me downloading depends on the game itself. Games like ACNL and Fire Emblem I'd like to have with me at all times on my 3DS so i can jump in whenever and not carry as many gamecards. It also depends on how much space is needed on my SD card. If there's a physical only bonus then I'll probably go physical. All depends on price and convenience for me.

I only have one retail game downloaded, and even then it was a gift promotion download so I don't count it as a purchased download, so I voted none.

I just want to have an actual physical product. That way you can actually see your collection growing, you can borrow the games to friends and borrow your friend's games (should you want to), etc. I really hate the idea of a download-only future, personally...

@Yosher I couldnt agree more.

I download Wii U games (I don't trust my kids with the Wii U discs)

On the other hand, I buy mostly 3DS cartridges because we have 3 3DS units and if I download the games I can only play them on 1 of the units, but if I have cartridges then the game can be played on any of the 3 units.

@Yosher I hate "seeing" it grow because it reminds me of all the money I spent and I hate loaning games out because too many times they haven't returned.

With backwards-compatibility so often an issue and the lack of sales similar to what Steam offers, I find it hard to justify retail downloads on consoles. Plus, I like having a hard copy.

Not really I like to trade or sell my games later on also I need a credit card to pay in the eshop plus the prices are a lot higher than my local stores.

I prefer physical discs whenever possible, but I can be persuaded into a digital download with the games I play most. I do prefer physical discs for their ability to never become obsolete. I never have to worry about the eShop discontinuing a download of a title. Being able to play a game on a friend's console without needing to take mine is another benefit (an account based system like the PSN has would solve this). But on the other hand it's nice not having to worry about kids scratching discs and I would love having a digital copy of several games including Mario Kart 8, that are my go to games without having to load a disc. The problem is I can buy any game I want for 20% off of retail with Best Buy Gamer's Club Unlocked, but the last time the eShop had a sale on MK8 was... never. I could buy eShop cards on sale for 10% off when they go on sale, but the eShop needs some decent sales. Even maybe a reward for having the VC purchases of Super Mario Kart and Mario Kart 64 for VC giving me a special discount would be nice. Nintendo needs to consider more promotionals and reward programs in their eShop pricing scheme going forward. Right now you are monetarily penalized for buying digital over physical.

Convienance above all else.
From this poll it seems like most people are still only buying digital when they don't have a choice.
For me it's actually the opposite.

All my 3DS games are digital (except for my very first which was fire emblem awakening and it basically never leave the cartridge slot) I have all my game with me all the time it's great it's convenient I like it.

For Wii U it's different. First the Wii U storage is ridiculous, and I don't want to have an external DD, the Wii U and all its stuff take enough room already. So most if not all of my games are physical. But because I don't often carry my Wii U with me and I don't have many game it's ok.

As for my PC games... well I don't remember the last time I bough a physical version of a PC game

So yeah, give me an all digital plateform with great online deal and I would actually be greatfull.

I would love Nintendo to be the one with enough balls to pull the trigger. Microsoft went and tried but they failed to explain why it's better that way so they had to back off.

Full digital will happen in video game, it's only logical, video game are digital goods, no amount of pretty collector box and artbook will change that. The PC market do it since forever, the mobile market is built on it from day 1, it makes their owner a fortune and their customers very happy.
Why wouldn't we want something like this ?

Until Nintendo gets an account system that allows you to redownload your purchases in the event that your console is gone, I think it's a piss poor idea to go all digital with retail purchases at almost $70 a pop per game. I admit I have done this with a few games out of convenience, but if my hard drive corrupts or my Wii U breaks down or is lost in a fire or whatever, I'm screwed out of a ton of money.

I download everything now,for the the most part it's the cheapest option for me and if I want to buy anything day one,it's my only option.I like the convenience of it too and having all the game icons there helps bring an otherwise bland menu to life.

For full price games I usually buy my download codes from sites where they're 20 to 25% cheaper than the E--shop but unfortunately they don't count as an actual E-shop purchase.I noticed that when I never qualified for the free Yoshi Touch'n'Go with Wooly World,there was another bonus I missed out on too but I can't remember what it was.You'd think the fact you're entering your code on the actual E-shop and going through the same steps to download it as you would if you'd just bought it,that it would count as an E-shop purchase?Nope,it doesn't. So as it is,I'm not sure how much I'll gain out of this new program from the full price games.It doesn't make sense for me to pay up to 25% more on 3 or 4 games just to qualify for a free one that I could have bought with my savings I made buying them elswhere.It may well be that I wont be able to buy NX download codes the same way I have been with Wii U,I'll have to wait and see.

The big issue I have with digital only is memory space. Nintendo doesn't include enough memory space to support a lot of retail downloads, so you either have to stick with physical or buy extra memory to support it, which makes buying digital more expensive. If Nintendo consoles had a reasonable amount of memory I'd be more inclined to go digital, but with how little they give you for the 3DS and Wii U, it's just not worth it.

And yes, not being able to trade them in and the risk of losing them or having to double pay are factors as well.

I bought only three games so far from the Wii U eshop. All were on sale and I know for sure at least one person in the family would play for many hours. (e.g. Super Mario 3D world) I buy mostly pre-owned games that look/function like new at deeply discounted prices. They may not be the newest but the resale values are good as long as they come in good conditions. I traded in Hyrule Warriors for a few more bucks than what I paid and got almost all of my money back trading in Mario Party 10. It is very risky to buy eshop games due to the refund policy and even worse if I have to pay full price. Steam does it way better than Nintendo. If you don't like a game bought on Steam you can get a full refund within 2 hours of play time. Also Steam has way more sales on older AAA titles.... Also, games bought from eshop cannot be traded-in no matter what.

@Bolt_Strike: For Wii U the space issue can be easily fixed. I bought a 60GB SSD for $25 and put it in a $6 USB enclosure. It is very fast, reliable and has been working great with my Wii U. The prices of harddrives and SSDs has been falling very quickly, too...

I mostly want to have physical discs because I don't want to have to rely on a server to download my games whenever I want to play them. I am also a collector so I like having all those physical games displayed on a shelf neatly and alphabetically.

So thanks for punishing retail purchasers Nintendo. Although I'm sure they want to move to an all digital future because they could shut down a lot of manufacturing deals if they did that. Might even drop the price of games if they didn't have to manufacture them as well as develop them.

I buy the majority of my games on physical because it's cheaper and my internet cap would easily be breached if I downloaded all the games I wanted (this the norm on most ISPs in NA).

I mean I bought Pokken brand new at launch an hour a go for $22.93 (yay retailer rewards program).

I have no problem buying small games, retro games and indie titles as digital only.

Though I don't expect cross buy either, since Microsoft makes you pay money to get the Windows 10 Store copy of the same game you own on Xbox One.

Sony doesn't do cross buy for most PS4/PSV games, due to how it went on PS3.

With Nintendo allowing us to use standard memory cards on handhelds and external HDDs on consoles, I have plenty of GBs to fill.

@DarthNocturnal
To be fair Xbox One, PS4 and Steam owners are forced to buy new HDDs due to all the data this gen takes up.
At least Xbox One like Wii U allows you to use external HDDs.

You can easily buy a good external HDD for less than $100 and get 500GBs+.

I spend around third of my Nintendo game money on downloads. What I like about these services, and I feel this cannot be denied, is that is allows smaller developers to publish on the hardware, as well as giving Japanese developers a much easier time to localize games that might have a limited audience in the West. The kind of smaller and niche experiences that would have a hard time in today's retail market. But download-only sucks, sure. I can't defend that kind of policy for a gaming device.

Physical, digital, they're the same to me. You just have to choose if you want them all in one physical hard drive or multiple discs. I prefer digital as I can redownload them. And when servers go down? I'll have a different console by then and mostly those old games are already out dated I'll be buying their remakes/remasters.

If your Wii U breaks down, your physical discs will be useless if you can't buy another Wii U in 10 years. At least with digital, there's a chance you can redownload through backwards compatible NX? I hope!

Depends. I'm probably going to stay physical only with the Wii U as long as pricing on the eshop hovers around MSRP. I like having a pretty, physical game collection. I am, however, planning on purchasing a hard drive for games like Fatal Frame V and Xenoblade X that take up a lot of space.

On the other hand, I'm much more inclined to purchase certain 3DS games digitally, as the risk factor associated with physical games increases if you keep them in a case like I do, and digital is very convenient.

Absolutely not!
I don't want games who're bound to disappear with my current console and/or the current "e-shop" service.
ヾ( ￣O￣)ツ
Fire Emblem Fates for example, were the bonus maps not enough already? Since I can't have three cartridges for the 3 games, I won't give anything to Nintendo! I can't support such ideas. What was there to lost by releasing the full cartridge or three different ones instead? Since I can't have all on an actual game card (even as import), I just took an illegal copy I will play patched.
Sorry, I still did not digest it.

edit: I obviously hate the discrepancy between America, Europe and Japan. I was forced to buy SMT4, Code of Princess, the Gyakuten Saiban trilogy and the Guild games as a bunch of datas just because I am french. I only payed for those because they were discounted (at that time, RegionFree was not accessible to every 3DS) Now, there are the Rockman NES compilation and the Popolocrois "Harvest Moon" and soon... the third point-and-click game. Curse them all! (import ing is better but not cheap enough)

I'm in the physical media camp too. I like having an actual box and I can always resell it if I choose too.

No. I prefer the safety of my physical media, making me able to lend them to friends, resell once I get tired of the game, returning to retailer among other stuff. Thanks.

Digital only when the game has not been released as a physical edition and then I will wait as long as its been put on sale. The only retail game thus far is Ace Attorney dual destinies - bought it when it was on sale and only because europe didnt get a physical release. I will apply the same strategy for zero time dilemma and probably rune factory 4.

I understand game companies earn more with digital and they can control the price which is generally higher than the physical release. Moreover there are limited options with digital, you cannot sell it and you cannot give or take it to your friend.

I guess I wont buy anymore consoles/games when its digital only.

As far as this mynintendo account is concerned, I dont care. First of all I live in Poland, there is no mynintendo. btw THANK YOU NINTENDO for treating your fans equal.

@Rei

Totally agreed. Maybe its just one of those strategies to get people more accustomed to the idea of buying digital games. Mircrosoft tried that once. Nintendo should be better than this.

@Ralizah

What risk factor? Please, enlighten me!

@Yosher

When its download only then I am out.

If Nintendo's system were more like Steam than I would be more digital. As it is the Wii U days are coming to an end so I'll buy the remaining few titles on disc before the end of another chapter.

When the great eShop servers are shut down and people's storage devices fail leaving them unable recover their lost titles I can calmly reach for the shelf and hug the beautiful disc / cartridge I have nurtured all these years.

Okay jokes aside I just prefer physical, a little more hassle but a small price to pay for the ability to trade, resell, loan and just generally look awesome on a shelf.

Can't really answer the last poll as there is no case by case, it's basically physical all the way even if I have to import. Heck I even imported Rune Factory 4 and Lord of Magna then bought the eShop versions when they went on sale.

@mjharper I feel Nintendo does need to release soundtracks in an easier way. It feels that they only release them via special promotions. I would love for them to be available digitally on iTunes, Amazon, Google, etc.

@DarthNocturnal
I bet you're in the minority Steam and Xbox One.

Valve regularly has to deal with media interviews about the size of Steam games being too big and causing users to constantly upgrade their HDDs.
Regular Steam users download huge games on a regular basis.

Microsoft was forced to release the bigger HDD models of Xbox One due to criticisms from consumers who were maxing out their HDDs. That's why they allowed you use use external HDDs on the system.

Sony does allow you change the PS4 Internal HDDs, but they like Steam do not allow external HDDs.

I mean I have a 320GBs HDD hooked up to my Wii U and it works nearly perfectly (Only paid $60 for it).

Anyways I don't see digital retail releases of major games if ever due to retailers not wanting, majority of consumers not wanting it, and ISPs enforcing strict caps and speeds.

Not to mention all the legalities involved regarding consumer rights.

There is no way any retailer in NA will support a full digital systems anytime soon due to profit margins on retail games and systems.

I mean digital music sales declining at double digit rates these days and have been declining since early 2010.
Physical music sales having been rising year after year by significant amounts for the past few years.
Music piracy is now rising faster than streaming.

Same thing is happening to ebooks, digital movies, Android Apps etc...

I'd really hope that paying FULL PRICE for a retail release would give me reward coins just as buying an eShop version, especially until they work out linking purchases to your account and not system. It's absurd to charge more, multiple times, to get a game on multiple systems when buying retail means I can more easily loan it or use it with friends.

I used to be a 'retail-only' kind of guy, and then my daughter and I had ALL of our DS games and both of our systems stolen. Now, I'm thinking that if Nintendo would add a reasonable amount of storage to their handheld systems and provide a cloud-based back up so that when my storage is full I can delete the game from my device and re-add it later that would be ideal. Add another level of customer friendliness by coming up with a family plan where I can group 2-4 systems under one account and pay a family plan annual premium that allows any of the 2-4 devices registered under my family plan to all share the games we've purchased and I think Nintendo would be on to something.

I lean towards physical in case it's a game that I can't get into and I can trade it in for store credit towards other games. Having said that, if it's a game I go back to frequently I am open to getting the digital copy.

@efaulk84
If Nintendo releases their soundtracks for purchase (or any other company for that matter), they are required by law to allow limited fair use and limited licensing to other industries for usage.

Nintendo doesn't want to license their music out to other companies and people.

This why NoA and NoE have said why they are holding back.

Thought to be fair most gaming companies don't release soundtracks.

I've been very hesitant to buy Alot of digital on WiiU, mainly because of the lack of easy accessibility on multiple systems and the lack of console based storage (I know I can attach an external, that's not the point) so as long as Im able to use things easily between multiple systems, like Xbox and Playstation allows, then I'll stick with physical as much as possible.

The story is different for 3DS though. About 90% of all my games in 3ds are digital. Mostly for the sake of convenience. The only games I buy physical for it are single player, play-once-and-done games. Anything Multiplayer is always digital because you never know when you'll need that game and having it on the system makes that easy. Again, I wish they'd fix it so I can have multiple systems tied to my account... But I'll take what I can get.

If their big push for digital is gonna happen, then they need better access to purchase and plenty of storage space on hand. 500gb consoles won't handle many full size retail games these days...

I can't stand downloaded games, because I'm a collector, I love my wardrobe full of cases! A few from Snes era, a little less from N64, a few from GC, a ton from Wii/Wii U, and more than hundred portable titles. So I really can't stand download only, and to be honest I did not purchased Fatal Frame, because it's digital only.

@leo13 Well then by all means keep downloading your stuff. You're lucky that downloads are here to stay either way, but for those of us that prefer physical collections, it's really not fun to have all these downloads basically shoved down our throats.

Voted against the hipsters

I tend to balance price and value of the physical release. If it is a franchise I care about, almost always I will get a physical cart. If it is eShop only or something that would be less convenient to get on cartridge, then I usually download it instead, but these cases have been rare for me.

tbh, the balance between physical and download is all about how much extra SD memory put into it, and this is where I feel Nintendo really dropped the ball. Having the New unit's SD card slot inside the system plate remains a pretty bad decision if they wanted to promote downloading software, whereas the old 3DS and even PSP had the option to open a door and pop out/push in cards whenever you wanted.

@Yosher Is it me or part of the comments is purged? There are some answers I can't even relate to previous messages (even when checking names)

@twistedbee ."The only games I buy digital for it are single player, play-once-and-done games" Do you mean the only ones you buy as cartridges?

@Andrzej777 What is this Microsoft example? Didn't SONY create a "joke console" with no external game support?

Funny how Nintendo is often criticized as a backward company, and yet thoses same people are clinging to dying old habit.

I like games, not plastic disc or box.

@Shepdawg1 Even now transfer would be very difficult as purchases are still kind of attached to the console rather than your NNID.

I mostly go physical wherever possible especially for home consoles but I may every so often get a digital copy if I already own the physical copy due to excess use of the disc. My MK8 and Hyrule Warriors discs would likely be completely wrecked by now if I didn't get digital copies later on (currently at over 850 hours and 500 hours respectively).

@Grumblevolcano
Wait, you mean physical copies are not internal? 😀

The only two retail games that I own digitally are Nintendo Land and Super Mario 3D World, and that's because they came with my Wii U. I like to have the option to share games and move them between multiple systems.

In terms of the 3DS, I feel more secure knowing that if something happens to my system or SD card, I won't have to worry about losing all of my save data as it's saved onto separate cartridges for each game.

I also don't care for digital-only as you don't technically "own" the game; you're only buying a license to download and play the software. While I haven't seen any cases of this on Wii U, it is entirely possible for a company to revoke the availability of the software (usually due to factors outside your control) that you paid good money for.

...Plus, the internet options in my area aren't the best. It took me nearly two hours to download the FTS edition of Fatal Frame.

@DarthNocturnal
I wouldn't know, I have 3MB DSL with 250GB monthly cap (yeah I do a lot online outside of gaming).

I'd rather have cheaper systems with low internal storage and external HDD than the other way around.
I don't want to have to pay the price for a huge internal HDD when I can buy a bigger external HDD at a much cheaper price.

@Grumblevolcano
The discs will be fine since they are modified version of Blu-ray.
All Blu-ray discs have special coating that prevent scratching, dust and other stuff.

I just recently sold all of my physical copies to switch over to digital. I figure it will probably be the best shot of backwards compatibility with NX ( I have a feeling NX wont have a disc drive. Could be cartridge or download or both.) I wont be repurchasing my library or new games until Nintendo Account launches. I want those COINS!!!

@Trinexx
So you're carrying your little bag with your 3ds and multiple cartridge inside of it. Do

you feel more secured than carrying with you a 3ds with all your digital library inside of it?

Because from what I can see, if you happen to loose your bag, in one case you definitely lose everything and in the other you can manage to get your games back by asking Nintendo.

Which one is the safest in reality?

And above all we're talking about the extra super duper bad nnid of today. Tomorrow we won't be locked to one physical device anymore.

I only buy physical copies for consoles, but I will buy the odd one for my 3DS, just cause it is convient to not carry around abunch of little cartridges. Personally, I prefer physical cause it's easy to resale, you usually get extra bonuses with first day releases, and there nice to collect

I care not a jot whether I have a physical game or not, but I hate the fact that I can only play a download game on one of the 3 x 3DS systems I own.
I have an iphone and an ipad and an ipod, and I can use the apps I've paid for on all three. I have a steam account and can play the games I've paid for on any PC I link to it. Nintendo are SO behind on this it is ridiculous.....

Echoing what many others have said above, I prefer to have physical copies of my games; to have a case (& hopefully a nice manual to go with) to hold & look at & to be able to see my collection grow along with being able to share games with my younger brother.

I've made a few rare digital purchases in the past like SteamWorld Heist, Pokemon Yellow, Muramasa Rebirth & Radio Hammer but only because of the reasonable price at the time, their genre & a physical copy being extremely unlikely or very hard to come by.

I'm happy to wait on some games for a possible physical copy in the future too like with Life Is Strange LE & Child Of Light.
& If I can spare some funds after bills & rent have been paid each month, I'd happily import like I did with Return To PopoloCrois & will do so again with Sega 3D Classics Collections & 7th Dragon Code.

If Nintendo somehow ever started following MS with offering previous games in a series as a bonus or incentive for pre-ordering/buying games (eg Just Cause 3 getting JC2 or Quantum Break with Alan Wake, it's dlc & American Nightmare) then maybe I'd be a bit more interested.

There's only two rational argument against digital only.

1 - You can't have a good enough Internet connection. Lows data cap, abysmal download rate, no public free Wi-Fi anywhere. You're basically screwed. I feel like very few gamer are actually in this situation but what do I know.

2 - The online service sucks. If you can't lend your digital game to a friend, if your games are tied to a device, if it require constant Internet connection, if download speeds are super slow, etc... Etc...

And that's it... Everything thing else is irrational fears or the desire to collect physical stuff, which are fine but still irrational

Physical for me because I can obtain a copy much cheaper then the eShop. For example I bought POKKÉN Tournament at Best Buy for $36.

@Rei I meant physical. My bad. Thanks for pointing it out.

@Rei
Cant follow you. What do you mean by joke console?
My microsoft example refers to their digital only plan which backfired. Just btw its always about the consumers! In the end its the consumer who decides! As a consumer you have two options:
1. BUY A PRODUCT
2. NOT BUY A PRODUCT
So, if most consumers dont buy a product, the product is less likely to be succesful. This does not only appy to products but also business strategies. If there is a majority of people who are against digital only then it is less likely to happen. Thats it. You just have to be stand firm.
And in regard to Microsoft, I owned a 360 back in the day, and was prepared to buy the xbox one, until they came up with their digital only plan (and some other policies they wanted to enforce on the consumer). Its always the consumer who decides.

Already way ahead of you Nintendo life. All my 3DS & Wii U software is digital.

@ThomasBW84
"Do My Nintendo rewards change your perspective on retail downloads? "

Not a jot, I'll carry on with my usual eShop spending habits

I think it goes both ways for those who preferred physical and those who preferred digital. As someone who prefer digital downloads, I chose this option. Maybe others like me too? I'm not sure how it'll affect your conclusion when you write the follow up editorial/article on this one.

Like many others already said, with an account system not tied to the hardware I would buy most of my games as downloads.

Between the Deluxe Digital Promotion, Club Nintendo, and occasional sales on eShop cards at Best Buy, I saved a bunch of money buying multiple retail games digitally on my Wii U. If that kind of stuff continues, and especially if they finally make unified accounts and all that, I can see myself doing it more in the future.

@Kokusho: I don't travel with my 3DS much (as I normally do the driving) and when I do, I don't take more than 2-3 games along. What if my 3DS, with all of its digital games, gets stolen, or something else happens to the system? Yes, I could contact Nintendo, but I would have to redownload all of my games, AND start those games over from scratch. Now, in a case like that, I have two problems:

1. My internet connection isn't the best, but it's the best that I can get in my area. Downloading all of those games would take a lot of time, plus my ISP likes to do a lovely thing called shaping (lowering or completely cutting off your download speed if there's "too much activity".)

2. I work a lot and have other obligations besides, so finding any time to play video games is at times difficult. I cherish what time I do get with games, and losing a save that I've spent a lot of time on is horrible. Sure, this isn't bad with a short game, but with titles like Bravely Default? The task ahead would be daunting.

You are correct that things would be improved if the NNID wasn't tied to one of each system. Even better yet would be if, for a monthly fee, you could actually back up and restore games (and their save files) onto any Nintendo device that supports that game.

I do have a lot of downloads on my 3DS, but not as many on my Wii U, mainly because I upgraded it from a 32GB USB to a 2TB external hard drive not too long ago. One thing that I do wish they would do is tie eShop downloaded games to my NNID rather than to just my system. I am afraid that if ever, one of my systems becomes dysfunctional or some problem occurs where I no longer have access to these games, it would be easy to just download them onto a new system like you can using PSN. I have a large amount of games downloaded onto my PS4 because I know that it is safe to do. Discs & cards are just safer to have in the case of the Wii U.

Nope, never. I refuse to buy anything digital that is over 20 dollars. I want physical packaging. If I can't have that, then good luck selling your system to me.

I think i stick to disks as i like having my games on a shelf in my room and so long as they keep making special editions i doubt i will ever stop buying them the old fashion way.

@Late I got s belt pouch for mine to csrry. No pockey carrying for me. I don't want to scratch mine.

I've downloaded many retail games both for 3DS and Wii U. Space is not an issue for me, as I have a 2TB external hard drive for Wii U and 16Gb SD-card for 3DS.

Why do I download retail games? Mainly because of price and convenience. If a game is on sale on eShop, I may pick it up. Physical games don't have any extra value for me.

That said, if I happen to like a certain collector's edition or limited edition, I may just get a physical copy.

Once I noticed the Wii U makes a bunch of noise when there's a disc in it, yet when you play games from the Eshop (obviously without a disc still in the console) it's as quiet as can be, I started buying everything digitally. Wasn't that hard for me to do either, since I mostly play on PC through Steam.

The problem with retail games on the eShop is that they are usually for the same price than the retail version - some games even sell for less in physical stores. You also cannot get a price reduction on the eShop like you can in physical game stores of warehouses so there's that too.

All I want is the safety of knowing that should my console brick, I won't lose my purchases. If it weren't for that, I probably wouldn't even bother buying physical copies at all... IF the Wii U had better storage space, that is.

I only buy physical once in a blue moon. When I see a shiny wolf amibo or I run out of GBs. That has not happened in a while. The last one before Zelda TP was Xenoblade for 3DS. (to lazy to get GBs.) So I guess I'm one of those hippies. I mean hipsters.

Nope. Their account system still needs a bit of growing to do before digital can be truly viable.

I've been retail-only for a while, but lately I've been considering going digital-only next generation. I'd hate to spend money on an ugly external hard-drive, especially if it requires its own plug, but I'm starting to wonder how I'm going to haul my games everywhere in a few generations if I keep buying cases. Nintendo understandably is pushing digital purchases pretty heavily lately. I guess we'll see how the NX handles it.

3DS I go digital, so I have tons of games on roadtrips and plane rides. But WiiU is almost all physical, other than VC titles of course.

There is no way physical copies will go away despite everything going digital. There's one thing that Physical units have compared to digital. The ability to reuse it over and over again.

@erv Buying physical cost me way less than buying digital. So I am confused by your statement.

I also have never been inconvenienced by owning physical copies of games. So once again I am confused.

@Kokusho So the fact I can get physical games 40 to 70%+ cheaper than what it would cost me on the eshop, that is not a rational reason?

Or the fact I own 3 3DS XL's for me and my two kids, if I only bought digital I would have to pay full price for 3 copies of the same game. So that is not a rational reason either?

@Andrzej777 If you transport cartridges around in a case, there's a chance they could get lost. In fact, that exact thing happened to me with four games for some reason a few months back.

Like it or not, I think this is the way Nintendo is wanting to go. Apple and Android are already doing this and no one complains. Now, Nintendo will need to give us a system that is more than 32gb if this is their plans.

I buy all my 3DS games from the eshop. It's easier than having to tote around a bunch of games.

I don't really buy eshop games on the Wii U though, simply because of storage. I have the 32GB model and that may be good for a smartphone or tablet, but it's pathetic on a home console. It's not super practical to set up an external hard drive for the Wii U in my current set up either so it's easier just to buy disks.

I mostly buy physical, but will sometimes buy digital if digital is discounted and cheaper. I enjoy having the physical boxes, and physical is usually cheaper where I am.

This reward system isn't going to change my buying habits. If Nintendo decides to push too heavily to get people to do digital only, then that may make me less reluctant to buy things.

Been going alot more digital lately, in my 3DS it's aboyt 90% digital, love that i can carry around all my games on one handheld. For my WiiU it's about 6040 in favor of Physical at the moment, and only because i don't buy that many games for my WiiU at the time (im so behind on the ones i wanthave) but when i do its mostly big titles that deserves to be bought physical. The latest game i bought digitaly was Xenoblade Chronicles X. I prefer digital for the convience of not having to swap out discs all the time.

I live in a rural location, so my internet bandwidth isn't the greatest. I'd rather not tie up that bandwidth with having to download big retail releases. I can easily trade in my physical games. I do not value digital games as much as I value my physical ones. I can often get a physical game for much, much cheaper than the digital release, even at launch by shopping around.

I only buy digital if the game is only available there, and when it is a case of Europe not getting a physical release (Shin Megami Tensei IV, Rune Factory 4, Samurai Warriors Chronices 3, the upcoming Zero Time Dilemma in particular) I will wait for sales or not bother. I made sure to get the LE of Project Zero 5, being the only way to get a physical copy.

It's not that I don't want to buy download, it's that I can't. You can't just give 32 gigs of space, some of which isn't even available for storage of eShop games, and put in a download-only system. Either give us more space or open up physical rewards. If I bought an external hard drive now, it would render any rewards I get pointless because of the money I'd be spending on the freaking hard drive!

As for my 3DS, I have 16 gigs, so I'm good.

When Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft along with all second and third parties actually lower the price of digital games so that it is LOWER than the physical version in retail, then I will start to take buying this way more seriously.

I cannot understand how people are okay with paying such high prices for their digital games? It's so much cheaper for the developer and publisher to sell this way so it's not like there's any huge costs involved. Just pure and outright greed. Plus the prices rarely go down, especially with Nintendo's first party games.

Also what about trade ins if you no longer want the games?

And finally internet speeds are still terrible for a huge market of gamers, as well as internet caps that just make it impossible to buy digital. This is worse when game sizes are increasing along with patches and DLC.

There is way too much to do before I see all digital being the only future, unless the console manufacturers want to see a large portion of their consumers turn away.

I would sometimes buy retail games from PSN if they were on sale for really cheap. However, I'm thinking about rebuying a couple on physical medium primarily because my PS3's hard drive is filling up. The same philosophy would apply for Nintendo. If a game is on sale and I did not have to worry about storage space, I would pick it up.

I want to go all digital, but until they show they have a real account system and sort their prices out, then I don't trust it. And no, they don't have a real account system yet. I shouldn't have to get on the phone with someone to access my games when I buy a new machine. I know the digital pricing might not be a problem in the States as for some reason stores all stick to RRP (maybe forced to stick to RRP?), but in the UK, stores actually sell the games for close to half the price Nintendo suggests. So when Nintendo sticks to it's RRP on the eShop the prices come off as insane. I know Sony and MS have the same thing, but at least they have frequent and brilliant sales. Nintendo will only very occasionally put a small handful of titles up for sale, and even then it's between 25% and 50% off.

I just today bought Fatal Frame, Fatal Frame 2 and Fatal Frame 3 digitally for less than $3. That's digital 6th gen games. The number of retail games I've got on Xbox or PSN for under £5 is too high to count. Nintendo do a sale and it's like... and for this week, these Wii U games are only £30!

If I could download Wii U games on an SD card, I might download more, but I really prefer physical product.

Personally I wont mind going having to go all digital once Nintendo get their account system fleshed out more. My PC is pretty much all digital

I feel like their should have been a few more options or questions to the survey.

about 60-70% of my games on playstation and xbox are digital (except for Vita because I love how tiny the cartridges are) and I'm totally willing to buy more digital games.

But Nintendo has a 32 gb hard drive, with digital games tied to consoles instead of accounts. No way am I going to buy retail games for the Wii U! Forget that. Fatal Frame is 14 gb or so. That means that if it was an Xbone game it would be a 250 gb game install!!

Nintendo, make a console digital friendly and then I'll consider it.

@MetaRyan I'm very sorry to hear that your sd card got corrupted. That right there is why I rarely go digital on retail titles. I don't want to worry about something happening to my system and losing all my games/progress.

@Utena-mobile I completely agree. It's very frustrating seeing nintendo try to push digital more when they have antiquated practices when it comes to digital ownership. The fact that games are tied to your hardware and not an account is very problematic. I read an earlier comment when someone said their sd card got corrupted on their 3ds and now they're considering buying physical more. If there was a true account system at the very least he could get his games back. In addition the lack of internal storage on the wii u, lack of crossbuy, lack of sales, along with a lack of features on the eshop (why can't I select multiple games to buy at once on the eshop? Why do I have to buy them all individually but for dlc I can buy multiple packs at once?) all make going digital with nintendo very unappealing to me.

It's still gonna depend on the game itself for me, as well as size...For whatever reason, big downloads bog down my net.

I already buy most of my games digital so I'm completely okay with it. Space isn't a problem for me as I bought a 2TB hard drive some time ago.

The only physical games I buy anymore are preorders with physical preorder bonuses that I want, and even then it depends on what the preorder reward is. If it's a keychain or something, forget it.

I buy retail because the current user agreements on digital content are too in favour of the retailer and not the customer. You do not own that content in the way you own a physical copy. If they shut down the server, your game is lost. In 10 years, will there be Wii U support? Nintendo is pretty keen to run away from the Wii U so it doesn't feel like there will be support for it. What happens to your digital content? I may not be able to play Splatoon in 10 years but I can fire up some local Smash Wii U or some local Mario Kart 8 no problem. I'd still be able to mess around with Mario Maker even if I couldn't share it. As it stands, digital content is not completely in your control like a physical copy is. Also, what are the return policies for games you don't like? Mario Party Island Tour was awful (imo) and I returned it to my EB Games (Canadian GameStop) 3 days later and I got my money back. I used that to buy a different game that I enjoyed (Animal Crossing New Leaf). What if I made that purchase digitally? I don't think I could have returned it (maybe I'm wrong?). Interesting final note, Game Stop is doing away with digital content in their hardware bundles. Too many customers complained about the lack of physical titles. Will Nintendo cave to specific retailers who have clout?

I've mostly gone all digital on my Wii U, with the exception of disc-only releases and sales. With no one else I know using a Wii U, and the digital deluxe promotion in the beginning, I was hooked on getting digital versions of everything, not just digital-only releases. Convenience was incredible, and I don't have to keep a bookshelf or boxes stuffed with game boxes, with are increasingly getting more and more sad (no full manuals, no freebies unless you get SE's, etc.) I get that the system seems archaic to a lot of people, and it could be better, but it works for me, and that's all that matters.

@Captain_Gonru What do you mean, maybe?

So does anybody else not notice that while 1 hand of Nintendo - the My Nintendo hand - is trying to convince us to go all digital, the other hand - the retail hand - is giving us more reasons than ever before to buy retail?

Chili Robo, AC:aF, TP HD have exclusive amiibo in the box
AC:HHD, Pokken Tournament have an exclusive amiibo card in the box

Do they want us to go digital or get amiibo, b/c we can't do both?

I won't go as far as saying they are being hypocritical, but they are clearly sending a mixed message.

@Xenocity Hi, I know I'm super late and somebody already said this before but Steam lets you download and play games from external drives, as long as you have them plugged in naturally.
Can't speak for PS4/Xbone since I own neither.

I like to digitally download a game when it fits, otherwise I try to get it physically because for all the reasons listed above by 130 other people. Used games for 360/PS3/Wii are super cheap at the moment so that's been an incentive too.

If nintendo is planning to do this, they should make their consoles with more capacity. 32GB is a joke today.

@Gridatttack Your right, 32GB is just awful. It's why I've stuck with physical.

This might push me over the edge if I'm really close to a reward but usually I'm irrationally stingy with my 3DS memory card. I've got 95,000 blocks left on it and even now I'm wary of how big a game is going to be even though no games are more than 20,000.

Kirby Robobot definitely has to be physical though, I cannot pass up that box art.

I just can't get behind going all digital. Aside from the obvious of not having a physical product (which is extremely important), and being unable to sell/share the thing you bought and own in its entirity, digital titles are so much more expensive than their physical counterparts. Finding good retail games on sale is rare and the RRP on the e-shop is laughable - they still want £50 for wind waker HD for crying out loud. If they want to sell more digital copies it needs to be outright cheaper than a physical copy, no reward scheme is ever going to compensate for the huge difference in price.

@VanillaLake

I completely agree with your comment. Nintendo needs to listen to you.

MM Legacy collection was a steal @ $15 on the e-shop compared to retail. And I also bought the Project X Zone 2 cartridge so I could lend it to my brother once I was finished. Certain games (depending on size) I will buy so I can let my friends play them too. Xenoblade 3D was another instance of this. But, that being said, I have tons of VC titles and a few RPGs (Etrain IV, Soul Hackers, etc.) that I have downloaded just because they were on sale at the time. And in addition to these, I have downloaded plenty of indie titles that are only available on the e-shop such as VVVVVV, Shantae, Art of Balance, and more.

As the Wii U is concerned...It is pretty limited on space so I try to purchase physical as often as I can to help out my hardware.

Another reason I prefer download is that THERE IS NO TAX! so, they are (usually) always cheaper and more convenient!

Gs Up,
K-Flow @325Music

If the future of video games is download only, then MY future will consist of retro only, and by that I mean my vast catalog of PHYSICAL copy games I have, and won't part with. I wonder how people will feel in 10 years when they want to pull out that "old game" to play but, whoops, it was digital only and that system is long gone and so is the game, and the investment. If laziness has prompted this new generation to want digital copies of games so they don't have to pop in the physical copies when they want to play, then the future of this world is going to be an absolute disaster.

Wait... is my Nintendo for digital purchases only?

I will always prefer Physical over digital and the only time i will go digital is if a game is eShop exclusive. Why?
Because I can hug my games, carry it with me, feel them and appreciate them, smell them, the joy of unwrapping a game disc is priceless, Using it as a mirror, I can decorate them, above all I can play them even when they are taken off the server and the console is no longer supported. So many reasons I'll always prefer physical discs.

To be honest I love downloading digitally (on 3DS), BUT I also love shopping in second hand stores and ebay for games. This will not exist anymore if we all go digital.

Not to mention that physical games are often WAY cheaper than they are on the eShop.

I'm not going to lie, I'm not prepared to pay £40 on a download (unless it's something VERY special). I have got retail games downloaded on 3DS, and Wii U, but very rarely will I pay full price for a game on the eShop. I can't justify paying that much for something that's going to be tied to the system.

I'm fairly sure Ninty still make most of their money from physical sales so I can't see them going fully digital anytime soon.

My biggest hobby is collecting games physical, sinds you can get the best deals when you time your purchases.

My biggest concern is, what will happen when the service stops and your hd crashed, i think it will be tuff to redownload the game at some point, with physical copies i do not ever had this problem, im still running super mario world on my original Snes for example, wich i like,. very very much, the way its ment to be, the nostalgia.

Also physical copies can be swapped sold, etc, wich is not possible with a downloaded title.

ah well i think i'm old ,....

nevermind us being ready for digital download only games. the question is whether they are ready over at nintendo. their best-selling console ever has a total representation of 10 games in the eshop, and it took over 3 years to get to that double digit. the gamecube itself has zero representation.

the nintendo 3ds cannot download ds games even if it's fully compatible with them save for that one new release in japan. in the entire life of the 3ds, that could be the very first one and it's coming towards the end of the system's life cycle.

the reason i'm not buying any digital download games for now is that their my nintendo service will not recognize previous eshop purchases for rewards. i will wait for it to come online and it's likely that i'm not the only one doing that.

I prefer having physical copies. I only buy digital if I can get it super cheap.

With Nintendo, physical is always better if you can get it physical, then it is not tied to a single system with an ID that is incredible frustrating to move around.

Retail is cheaper than download. I don´t agree to pay the same only for a digital game than buy it in store cheaper with package and saving space in my memory.

IIRC, I haven't bought physical games since 2012. The convenience and quickness in finding and starting the game you want is just too big of a pro for me. You can also easily keep all your games with you when traveling and the game boxes don't take up precious shelf space. Having a digital game could of course be a bother if you find yourself unhappy with your purchase, but for me that's so rare that I'm willing to take the risk.

@Palom i bought the game digitally and had to import the amiibo from Japan.

I prefer digital due to convenience.

This old chestnut! I love digital because I love simplicity. But some of these special edition packages are just too lovely to miss.

I think it's quite probable the NX will be digital-only. Apart from anything, it would be a great way for the Big N to save production costs and undercut the price of the competition.

@Ralizah

Ah, OK! (or stolen!)

I dont actually carry my 2ds around . As a matter of fact I am not too much into handhelds, just bought it for the games.

@MarioPhD exactly I sell my games after playing to get some of my money back. Digital copies should be cheaper than physical releases, big ripoff that's been embraced by many.

I like the convenience of downloaded games on my system and the space they save in the cabinet under my TV but I like that with physical you've got a physical product you can keep or sell or trade in or whatever, plus I generally keep all my games anyway. I only download if it's the only option available.

Physical only. Lost memory and corrupted files (Braid on my 360 will never save my progress) are specters that keep me away from downloads. And I don't find it terribly inconvenient to take a disc out of a case and load it into the system.

@Kuhang I need to start hugging my games more often!

If i have a choice (And with retail-games i almost always do) i'll buy games retail, part of it is wanting ownership of the games instead of paid-for lending, but a big part of it is price, Nintendo is very stingy with discounts on retail-games and they stick to RRP with nigh-religious enthusiasm, while discounts are frequent enough in stores (Even the big-name games are often cheaper)

And then there's stuff like "Hatsune Miku project Mirai DX" (Or something like that), which includes AR-cards with the retail-version and a link to a PDF to print out with the download-version, pack-in items are another good reason to stick with physical games...

@Morph If you buy downloadable games form the shop - you support Nintendo Directly - allowing them to make more and better games! And I think that's cool!

@cfgk24 If I recall correctly the price for a retail game on the eshop is £49.99, and it is also the price for a retail boxed version on the official nintendo store. The prices very rarely fluctuate.

If I pre-order that same game from somewhere like amazon, I will pay about £35/36. I love Nintendo as much as the next guy but I'm not paying £14/15 more for a game just for the privilege of buying it directly from them.

I don't know how that pricing pans out in other regions but in the UK it is absolutely not the best for the consumer buy from nintendo directly other than to secure exclusive limited editions like I did with Bayonetta and now Star Fox

I've downloaded some eshop exclusives and vc titles, but I'm not downloading full retail titles until Nintendo sell consoles that accommodate it, without requiring me to invest in a third party hard drive. Had enough of that kind of rubbish with the ps vita. And yes, I know the 32gb memory can accommodate a few titles, but if I was serious about going digital then I wouldn't be able to own most of the games I have on disc without having to buy an external hard drive. I don't mind though, I like my physical collection.

I don't think physical copies will disappear altogether. At least I hope not.
Much like the resurgence in vinyl record sales, a lot of people like the idea of buying something, unwrapping it, looking at the cover artwork before playing.
It's just more fun to actually own something.

@freaksloan well it might need some context: physical gets lost, the kids break it, loads longer - digital is always one tap away.

No waiting times or availability issues help, though I do miss some stronger discounts. Perhaps soon, when more retail ends up running discounts, I'll buy some. As for now I'm getting by with the occasional eshop promotion though.

Once amazon etc start selling and discounting download codes things will really take off I guess.

After going through all the comments I think the one thing we can all agree on is that Physical and Digital each have their own advantages.

It all depends which factors are most important to us.

I generally prefer to own a physical copy because I feel like doing so I have true ownership of the title and I cant look at it on the shelf, lend it to my mates and siblings etc. What if in a distant future Nintendo pulls the plug of the store and I am not able to re-download some of the content I bought? (I know it's a very unlikely scenario, but still...)

With the 3DS though I don't mind having some digital versions so I can have them on the SD without swapping the cartridge...an inviting pricing does the trick. If the price is the same, I will always go physical and usually save some money buying from online sellers.

I hope Nintendo will have more deal and offers in the vein of Steam and PSN so I can collect some of those coins.

'I want to register a protest vote at the idea of eShop-only rewards / coins'

NintendoLife- the site that's very savvy to some fan opinions

Your "none" options in the poll are $H1T€. I chose none but it's not for the none you listed.

@Kokusho the real reason the industry hasn't gone digital only yet is that they still need retailers to push the consoles, but there's little to no retailer markup there. The retailer markup is on the games. If you cut the retailer out of games sales, they aren't gonna waste shelf space on your console. They might be able to alleviate that somewhat with download code cards in stores, but they don't want to risk getting on Walmart's bad side... I may not agree with the assertion that Nintendo is a "kiddie" company, as some do, but I do think it's important for them to have boxes on shelves at Christmas time.
Whichever of the 3 goes digital only first, without some sort of solution for the brick and mortar retailers, risks losing shelf space for their console to the other 2. Although I do believe once one does, they all will... Its just no one wants to be first.

@NewAdvent I completely agree with you and actually emailed Nintendo's customers service about that issue, just got a standard 'the collectors edition is physical only' reply. It's actually crazy how much more money they can make if they just copy Steam's store. Slightly off topic, the badge arcade on 3DS is a perfect example of how Nintendo can create a micro economy and have users trade/sell or purchase badges they don't have.

Almost all of my retail purchases are physical since I like to collect cases. However, now since I'll be rewarded for buying retaill games digitally, I'll definitely pick up more games that way. If the retail download is pretty reasonable in data size, I'll download it. It'll be cool getting discounts off of other downloadable purchases so I can justify it.

Not only that, I buy plenty of eShop only games so the more reward points the merrier.

I'm not buying any of this overpriced digital stuff. The games should be 30 euros max, no more and there should be good sales like on PC. Not the usual 20% off crap. All console-makers are very greedy and want insane prices for their digital content. No thanks. Keep your games and DLCs/season passes. I'm done with Nintendo and consoles in general after this generation ends if this same thing continues.

I like having all games on a single hdd but i prefer physical copy expecially for multiplayer ones so i had not to take my console if i'm going to a friend house.
The best would be if with physical copy they gave you a code to download free (or just for a couple of euro) the digital one like many book seller with the book and ebook bundle.

No, not right now. If Nintendo could offer decent pricing, a decent sized harddrive to store multiple games on and get rid of the current system that largely ties downloaded games to hardware, then I'd be in. But until that time, I'm still going physical.

I've been starting to lean towards downloading retail games lately, if only because physical Nintendo games have become quite overpriced since official distribution left my country. I'll probably still get retail versions of my most anticipated titles (I'm a sucker for having pretty boxes displayed in my shelf) but it's clear to me that I'll embrace digital with MyNintendo.

@daveh30
It may be true for specialized retailers but what about general distribution (I won't give you retailers exemple I'm not in the US).
A general retailer doesn't need to make big profit on every item they sell they only need to have the product in order to get people into the store.
With Nintendo selling more and more non game physical goods (amiibo and such) there' still an incentive to sell Nintendo product without trying to make a profit on software. In the end, the more middle man there is the worse it is for consumers.

Let's imagine a moment that video games retailers don't sell physical software anymore. Will they still exist?
What would they sell? Consoles? Accessories? Goodies? Could they sell download keys? Far easier to manage you could even have a system during cashing where you get your discount. Now what's incentive as a consumers would I have to go in such a store? Maybe there could be a lot more demonstration stand to try games and consoles before buying them.

As of right now I don't care about retailers stores anymore. I already now what games are out or not. I don't need to pre-order anything. If I need a physical game I buy it cheaper on Internet and is delivered right the day it comes out. If I need any accessories I can find online or in any general store.

Vidéo game retailers needs to change with the time or else they'll die. They're already dying while still selling a more and more video games. How 's that for a shitty business model?!

Give me a place where I can try video games with strangers, have fun in local multiplayer games, try upcoming game in advance, buy goodies consoles and accessories.
Dump the whole pre order business because you won't need it if you don't have to manage stocks and inventories with digital games. By getting rid of all thoses bad business practice and embracing the all digital you actually could have a decent profit margins on new video games sales while having the same prices as online.
Here's an idea. How about retailers could help you download games on your system when you buy in their store. That way even if you have abaf connection at home you could still buy digital games.

Im pretty sure that In the digital world there's still a place for video games retailers. It's just not the same and I'm pretty sure it would be a better place than what it currently is (which is super duper bad if you didn't already know)

@Morph The key thing to note regarding physical versions on the official UK store is they usually come with bonuses not available elsewhere. Like Star Fox for example, Zero digitally is £39.99 while physically for the same price you get the game and a cap. Zero + Guard is £49.99 digitally whereas for the same price you can get physical versions with a steelbook case and a shirt. Both approaches though (buying from UK online store for bonuses or buying normal version for cheaper price) are better value than digital.

I won't pay full price for digital non-indie games that's for sure.

As a collector, hell no.

@Splatburst

Ouch. I love playing my SNES collection today, many of which have never been rereleased. I'd guess you are young. When I was young I remembered thinking games always would get better. Now I know that's not necessarily the case.

Also, I just bought a 30+ year old Colecovision. I'd put the odds of me being able to buy a Wii U in 20 years at 100%

I have flash carts for my old consoles because I like having everything in one place. I would like to embrace digital but for a myriad of reasons I only download when it's something I can't get retail. All of the issues have been mentioned already but Network account tied to a system, ridiculously priced downloads compared to retail, horrible system constraints, and downloads that take forever to accomplish are the primary reasons.

For example, I have DK Tropical Freeze I got for free as a Club Nintendo prize and it took over an hour to download and install. It's nuts. Plus it left me virtually no room for anything else. When the selects came out I bought the original retail used at a much reduced price and deleted the one from my Wii U. It's just not worth it right now.

I still prefer to have physical releases. I like the collector aspect and I prefer to buy used when possible to save money. I can buy a used Wii U game for usually around 50% less or better than the going eShop rate. No incentives for this program will change my mind on this.

The fact that oftentimes after a few weeks/months, there are deals on physical editions but the eshop versions stay at full price is the biggest problem. Eshop versions should always be 10% less than physical, but alas, Nintendo can and do what they want so this will never change.

If Nintendo is thinking about digital,then they should add more capacity in their consoles. 32GB? Really Nintendo? This isn't 2006. If they add more capacity into the NX,maybe I'll try digital,but I still prefer physical.

Calling digital downloads "hipster" makes it sound like you guys here at Nintendo Life are pretty out of touch with social trends.

Your rooms are sadly already full of amiibo. Let the physical disc boxes go people..

Physical. Other than extremely rare exceptions, I refuse to buy a digital download game if there isn't a physical option.

Give me one good reason why I should change from physical games to downloading them, other than Nintendo would like me to.

Physical game.....

Cheaper.

Can trade and get at least 30% of the price back.

If all the reviewers are wrong and its the worst game I've ever played I can ebay it straight away and get 70% back

I can lend it to others in the family if they have their own Wii U in their room, or have their own 3DS.

Nice box.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Download game......

I can download it before the shops open.

I will make Nintendo happy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Also where are us White Wii U users suppose to download these games to? Buy a hard drive for 50 quid or stick them on a USB stick, which Nintendo does not recommend.

@remlapgamer Thanks.

Sure I'm repeating myself here, but physical is so much cheaper in the UK (at least 25% usually), has resale value and I can use 3DS games in any of my 3DS consoles. Digital is comparatively expensive. The My Nintendo discounts can be claimed only after purchasing full price digital and even then, physical is still chaeaper. Digital just isn't competitive.

I will continue to avoid eShop purchases until Nintendo introduces an account system that functions like Sony's. EShop is more expensive, slower, and far more restrictive to the consumer. They're doing it very, very wrong.

@Andrzej777 I checked the name, Sony released a console without any reading entry, called the Playstation Go. I understand it was a big "flop".

@Kokusho I have some trouble to see how it is irrational and hard to imagine Nintendo turning off the 3DS e-shop in a few years. I still have my N64 (and still regret the lack of a SFC/SNES) and can play games on it. Sure, it might happen that a game cartridge dies (or worse, the machine itself) but if I own only virtual games, I won't have this semi-permanence available to me.

@Andrzej777

Does anyone know if Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Mario Kart Wii will become downloadable from the eShop anytime soon?

@Rei

true!!!

I was actually referring to the xbox one/ps4 difference at e3 a couple of years back. Like I said before, I wanted to buy an xbox one but after that e3 I was leaning more towards ps4. Luckily I made a quick decision at christmas 2014 and bought myself a wii u and 2ds. Didnt regret it so far

I love buying the digital copies, but hate that they areore expensive then the physical. I feel like I'm being ripped off.

There's a 3DS download limit too so after that point you can't get anymore digital content unless you delete some but this is not a SD card space limitation but instead a limitation forced by Nintendo kind of like the streetpass data limit.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1198645

@Rei
If tomorrow Nintendo stop the Eshop (I'm still waiting for Steam to shutdown after people said such thing long time ago, at this rate I'll be long dead before it happens)

Well, I'll STILL have all my game on my 3DS.

And If by a sad twist of fate I then loose my 3DS and all its data. Well I can still pirates thoses games, I won't feel any guilt because I've already bought them.

So yeah, with a lot of "if" it may be an issu.

But what "if" you loose your physical tiny cartridge, it slips from your bag/pocket/3DSslot or anything really, never to be found again. Not quite as big an "if" as thoses previously mentionned.

Well, your game is gone. Woosh, farewell.

So you're fearing thoses improbables "if" of the digital field while ignoring the obvious one of the physical realm.
You see ? That's irrationnal.

And once again, I might add, as of today with Nintendo's digital state, you MIGHT have a point (I don't think we'll ever loose our eShop purchases at this point but we don't now yet so...).
But with their new unified account system, accros all devices I don't see a point where the service will stop, and if it does in the very far future, you will be able to play your game in some form.

Games are not a physical thing, games are not rare, there's an infinite number of copies of any given games.

I agree with everyone who is irritated with games being tied to 1 system. It's the single biggest factor in my lack of enthusiasm for download games. If N can sort this I will possibly download more but I don't think they want to since it encourages multiple purchases.

i don't mind Digital or Retail.
BUUUUUUT,
Xenoblade. that's a Mistake, i won't ever do again. (due to how long it took to download )

Buying digital only makes sense if you do not have to keep rebuying the same stuff every time an upgraded console comes out. Steam has been with me through multiple pcs. iTunes as well. All of my 16gb of music stays with me from my first iPod to my newest touch. Nintendo should be like that. Then yes, I would buy everything digital. All I can say is I'm happy my wii vc games are all on my wii u. I can't say I don't have a couple retail wii u games, but they only there because they were free or huge sales. I have over 100 disc for wii and u.

@Grumblevolcano That's only true some of the time and also only particularly usueful if you want the free gift. I pre ordered star fox because I want the limited boxed set, I however do not want the tshirt that comes with it.

Have a look at Super Smash Bros, currently £35 on Amazon, and £49.99 on both the nintendo UK store and the eshop, lets be honest there's absolutely no justification for the the nintendo pricing.

Have downloaded a lot recently to save on physical space.
But if the transition of games to next gen doesn't go well I won't do it again.

@Morph This is what I'm talking about, Nintendo UK Online Store is best when you want more than just the game on its own. While Smash Wii U on its own is £15 cheaper on Amazon, the GC adapter bundle for Smash is £5 cheaper on Nintendo UK Online Store.

@erv

"Say goodbye to physical, it's needlessly costly"

I'd say you have that argument the wrong way around. FIFA 13 is still £49.99 on the E Shop as one example! I buy mainly downloadable due to living outside of Europe at the moment and the biggest thing that annoys me is price. It's a lot cheaper being able to shop around for physical editions.

That's unless you're talking from Nintendo's perspective.

I've never ever bought a physical GAME on the eshop, the reason I have some on my 3ds is due to previous club Nintendo promotions where if your register some games you get another free or if you register a console you get another free! I always prefer retailer but I won't miss out on a free download here and there

Even virtual console games I buy the original version haha Mario and Luigi superstar saga is an example of this! However if it's behind the gamecube/GBA era I don't as I don't have any older console's nor the money to get them! But DS/GBA/Wii/Gamecube all physical for me!

All digital since day 1. I've never purchased physical media for my Wii U and I don't intend to. I do have a decent collection of Wii games, but I'd dump the discs in a heartbeat if I could have downloads. The ability to back up my data without a subscription (screw you Sony) makes this an easy choice.

If there is an option to go physical, I do it. The only case of this not being true so far is Shovel Knight, because I never expected a physical edition. And seeing as I have the 3DS digital version, I might still get the physical WiiU one, it helps the game is that good.

Unless Nintendo's rewards are amazing - and we all know they won't be - I'm sticking to physical whenever I can.

I do buy plenty of indy games on the eshop though, so I'll pick up some points to get Ninty's new rewards - which I expect to be like coupons and other not so hot digital stuff.

Nintendo should increase hard drive size. My Wii U was is basically full, and I only have 1 retail game (Pikmin 3) and a few VC games installed.

I have only purchased one 3DS retail game on the eshop for full price.I also have about two full retail games I purchased on the 3DS eshop on sale for really cheap.On Wii U have two full retail games but, both were free from various promotions.I also have various indie and virtual console games on both systems.It's not really Nintendo's account system that keeps me form purchasing more full digital retail games.I just like to have something physical to hold.

When Club Nintendo was still around, I bought several 3rd party retail games digitally when they were on sale for $10 or under, solely for the coins. In the final months, I didn't even bother hiding the fact. "What did you like about the game?" Scoring 40 coins for $10. "What did you dislike about the game?" Didn't bother playing it. But I think this new system is going to prevent such abuse, so that spending habit will change.

I prefer buying physical carts, and if we're only getting gold coins and eshop discounts for our purchases, it's not enough to persuade me otherwise. I'll abuse Miitomo for platinum coins and the promise of free games.

I had a reason not specified in the last question. (What's the most important factor when choosing physical or download retail?)

We sill play NES games after all these year. We can pop them into a retcon 5 if we wanted to with no problem if our original NES died. I have Oregon trail on my DSi. It was one of the few games I couldn't transfer to my new 3DS xl. Because of the way eShop purchases are tied to hardware as soon as that DSi dies so does that copy/licence for that game. Even if I were to get another DSi Both would have to be operational to transfer the game. I'm pretty sure Nintendo wont fix it at this point either if it were to die.

I was happy when the Wii U was backwards compatible because my Wii disc drive was sounding like a band saw. I know that disc drive wouldn't last forever and with that transfer all my DLC went with it to the newer Wii U. I have Digital purchases from my Wii and the eShop on there. I can't know if they will move it all forward again. If my Wii U dies then those licence will die with it too.

We may be able to play old NES game today but will we be able to play Wii U games 20 years from now? Even though I have a digital copy of Pikman 3 on my Wii U, and considering they are making us pay for virtual console games on my 3ds that I already baught for my wii and paid to upgrade to my Wii U I believe that I will have to pay for pikman 3 on the future virtual console.

In 20 years my digital purchases will die on what ever hardware they came on and I will have to rebuy them again. My physical disc can transfer to another system if it dies.

Bottom line for me is that until digital prices stop extracting the urine I'll go for whatever costs less.

Why should I pay more for a digital copy when I can just order something physical and have it arrive through my door in a couple of days for anywhere between £10 to £25+ cheaper?

Unless the rewards for buying digital end up being fantastic I'll just keep doing what I'm doing.

@freaksloan There's some retail cheaper, yes, but with the occasional eshop promotion you get by.

I was talking from a production perspective, though - no physical, retail channels, production and shipping, 2nd hand game sells - they all hurt the bottom line of software. If your platform is digital only than selling a million of 40 bucks is way better than selling a million at 60 but in retail.

The sooner nintendo goes all digital the better. No more 2nd hands and a single place to buy stuff. But that's just me

@Kokusho Sorry about the hypothesis, by eshop shutdown, I wasn't referring to the shutdown of Nintendo's online selling services but only the support of an "old" console.
About the chance of losing my cartridges, yes, I indeed forgot they are so tiny compared to my old home consoles games. XD But I mostly play at home and I only "travel" with one game in the cartridge slot.

@Kiyata I have the same incomprehension for people who collect those enormous virtual libraries on an electronic device.

I mostly go digital with both Wii U and 3ds for the usual space and convenience reasons, especially in a small NYC apartment.

The hardest part to deal with is when Nintendo, 3rd party, and/or retail stores have preorder bonus and special/limited/collector editions that is the same price as the digital. Good example, buying Stella Glow $50 in the eshop and get a free theme, or buy it on amazon for <$45 and get a soundtrack cd, poster and charm. That when I cave.

I guess the reason I like the new loyalty system is because now digital buyers are getting some credit/acknowledgment for their buy since the 10% discount ddp (Wii U only) is gone, no early digital play since LoZ: WWHD (midnight pre-download release don't count), and only Super Mario Maker had a included item physically which they can mail to your home with eshop buy. They couldn't even do that with Pokken Tournament amiibo card

@Captain_Gonru "seemingly only has a casual relationship with logic."

And you know I think that's being generous. Ralph Kramden and Lucy Ricardo could pair up and do a better job running the company, its just one hair-brained scheme after another after all.

Oh, and thanks for mentioning Yoshi Woolly World, forgot about that one even though it's the only one we own. No wiat, we just go tPokken Friday. An dmy son ahs said many times he only got it b/c he wanted the Shadow Mewtwo card, so bundling does work. But you can't bundle downloads. OK, technically you can, just put a code in the amiibo and let the code DL the game, that's how new DI works after all. But if you are going to package and sell the amiibo, just put the game in there, don't make it a download. But I suppose they could. Soon all games will be sold on toys as DL codes.

Physical all day long for me but I do download also but physical always first tho.

Physical only for me.

@erv I don't know where you're shopping but the only reasons why I ever download a retail game is if there is a special offer or it's free (MK8 deal). Download is HUGELY overpriced. I also quite enjoy hunting around for the best deal online