There’s been an undeniable shift in buying habits this last decade. Digital sales have risen significantly across different platforms as online gaming takes greater precedence, whether that’s a simple purchase, streaming or a subscription-based approach. Consoles have moved towards an online-based future and for some, discs and game cards are a thing of the past. For many players though, physical media is far from finished and it continues to hold a place in their personal collections.
Consoles have moved towards an online-based future and for some, discs and game cards are a thing of the past. For many players though, physical media is far from finished and it continues to hold a place in their personal collections
To understand the current situation, it’s important to know why that shift happened and like most technological advances, that comes down to convenience. By offering players near-instant access to games upon payment and preloading for upcoming games, no longer are we waiting on deliveries or finding our local retailer has sold out. You don’t even need to leave the sofa, and that alone is hard to argue against. It’s far from exclusive to gaming as both the music and film industries have seen similar shifts too, many preferring platforms like iTunes, Spotify or Netflix to CDs and Blu-Ray discs (the future of the latter is looking increasingly fragile as Disney has just announced it is ceasing production of 4K discs for its back catalogue releases).
There’s also a lower risk for developers going digital and these online platforms make publishing more accessible, though some still struggle with visibility. Many indie games are quite niche and traditionally, these developers would struggle to justify production costs to big publishers. Money talks, and you’d have much better odds pitching first-person shooters to the average punter than you would visual novels. Some fans will withhold buying in hopes of a physical copy, however, which isn’t always guaranteed. With no standard cross-buy between physical and digital – like modern vinyl, for example – asking people to double-dip isn’t fair either, though dedicated fans often show support on both sides.
Digital comes with its own problems though, and a lot of that ties into the concept of ownership. Most digital platforms sell you a game’s licence only, and if that gets revoked, there’s little recourse. Speaking to Josh Fairhurst, owner of Limited Run Games, he described this problem, telling us how physical copies ensure you can return to your game over time, but digital buyers need to be aware that “when the servers for these new platforms inevitably go down in a few decades, that person will lose access to those games unless they've been backed up or still remain on their hard drive”.
Jeff Smith, CEO at Special Reserve Games, was also happy to discuss this point. Calling it a “what happens when the electricity goes out” type of scenario, he explained: “If you don't have a physical backup of something, it can easily be erased”. It all ties into the risk of delisting, a practice only possible within a digital-exclusive environment. Games can be removed from sale at any point, leaving no legitimate means of purchase available and has claimed some higher profile casualties before, like PT, Minecraft: Story Mode and DriveClub.
It's all too easy and legal for a publisher to decide to pull a game for licensing issues or to just outright pretend a game they don't want to support doesn't exist anymore
Delisting isn’t necessarily permanent. Sometimes that comes down to a change in publisher, as we’re currently seeing with Danganronpa. Other times there’s a new version of a game, replacing the previous one. Nintendo has been seen to do this, Pikmin 3 being a fresh example and, for a brief time, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze’s Wii U edition also disappeared. Often though, these games are gone permanently, forcing you to rely on physical copies for access, if one even exists.
Licencing issues are one of the biggest causes here. One collector, who wished to remain anonymous (we’ll call him Jay), cited games like Scott Pilgrim and Marvel vs Capcom as key examples and advised: “It's all too easy and legal for a publisher to decide to pull a game for licensing issues or to just outright pretend a game they don't want to support doesn't exist anymore”. Ducktales: Remastered was another prominent example too, having been removed last August due to licencing but unusually, saw a surprise re-appearance in March.
Jay dived into this further, also confirming they don’t wish to rely on an internet connection to access their library. Steam recently suffered a glitch that removed access to people’s purchases temporarily and whilst quickly fixed, highlighted his concerns quite well. This also touched upon wider resistance to DRM practices too within gaming. Let’s not forget Microsoft tried to restrict reselling on Xbox One games and require a permanent internet connection; opposition to this later forced them into one of gaming’s biggest u-turns before the One’s launch.
Physicality also allows for preservation, and from Jeff Smith’s perspective, a lot of his reasons go beyond just archiving the finished product. Explaining how he began work as a developer in the mid-'90s, he explained how he wishes to “preserve the art from these great independent digital games, in a physical form", clarifying this further by stating “not only do I like to showcase the art from the game but also concepts that show more about the development studios intentions during the creation of the game”. A lot of it comes down to documentation for him and physical copies highlight the artistic value beyond digital downloads.
For us, games aren't a disposable, fleeting experience; they're lasting experiences and you should be able to return to that whenever you want. If you pay for a game, it should be yours forever, no ifs and or buts
Ryan Brown, head of PR and Communications at Super Rare Games, also touched upon preservation as a driving force in their operations, telling us: “If you look back at a game in, say, 20 years from now, it's important to us and others that you'll easily be able to just pick up that game and play it. For us, games aren't a disposable, fleeting experience; they're lasting experiences and you should be able to return to that whenever you want. If you pay for a game, it should be yours forever, no ifs and or buts.”
Jay also brought up preservation separately, stating: “I don't feel comfortable putting access to my games in the hands of others, especially with how low-priority game preservation has historically been in the industry.” Games preservation is an issue rarely touched in wider gaming as, unlike the film industry, little is done outside internal efforts. Recent leaks have shown Nintendo’s own dedication to keeping development builds but not everyone follows this and, last year, Square-Enix notably admitted they had lost Final Fantasy VIII’s source code.
I also spoke with Jack Sanderson, PR & Event Manager for Coatsink, but unlike the others, this was in a more personal capacity. Jack owns over 200 Wii U titles and tapped into a different part of the appeal, collectability. His own story begins years ago whilst working at GAME, telling us: “I’ve collected gaming-related stuff on and off for years, but the Wii U and Amiibo stuck with me. Soon enough, I realised I was too deep down the rabbit hole”. He also explained a sense of community within collector groups, banding together with fellow enthusiasts for rare titles and how this also led to new friendships.
Jack Sanderson has 300 games in total roughly, though he added that: “my physical copy collecting has stopped dramatically once completing his WiiU collection, now I have finished my Wii U goal I only really buy games I want to own and play”. Jay has lost count of his physical library after 400. Whether that’s down to completionism or a passion, there’s a sense of pride in owning full collections and within gaming, that often focuses on a particular console’s library.
With our publishers, their individual passions for collecting was clear and you can see how they ended up in this business. Josh proudly owns complete game collections for Dreamcast, Saturn, Sega CD, Sega 32X, PS Vita and Neo Geo Pocket Color. With Ryan Brown, his efforts are more Switch-focused, but he’s also built up a good library across most PlayStation consoles (PS3 excluded), alongside boxed copies of Game Boy, PC and DOS Games.
Jeff Smith confirmed he was previously big on PC Game collecting but like Jack Sanderson, his game-related collecting has declined in recent years, informing us: “I have found I don't want to collect as much game-related greatness over the past few years so I can keep my designs and ideas clean from influence of trying to match what else is being produced for other games”. His focus remains elsewhere for now, primarily on figurines and items he has found whilst travelling.
Physical copies hold more benefits beyond ownership and whilst many countries face uncertain economic times due to COVID-19, competitive pricing is more important than ever when people’s wallets are understandably stretched. Digital stores offer little flexibility as a main provider, issuing a set price unless they hold a sale, so big releases like Super Smash Bros Ultimate can remain as high as £59.99 for years after their launch. Third-party sellers had previously sold download codes, which offered some flexibility, but Nintendo recently scrapped this in Europe.
Physical releases allow for more competitive pricing between retailers, something we found with Paper Mario: The Origami King; we were able to locate it for £10 cheaper than via the eShop. With a physical game, you can resell it to reclaim those costs and that alone puts power back into the hands of consumers. Most digital stores don’t offer refunds without restrictions but with the eShop, Nintendo won’t allow it beyond some exceptional circumstances and was previously criticised for it.
Some people will likely say the obvious fix is just keeping our games in print for longer, but that doesn't necessarily work. The limited order window is a call-to-action so people buy the game now rather than waiting
Jay isn’t a fan of reselling, only having sold one game in his life but Jack Sanderson’s view differed, arguing upon finishing The Last Of Us: Part II, he will sell it for extra money if/when the currently rumoured PS5 version drops. Reselling has its own issues, though, and this particularly applies to limited physical releases, which has been previously criticised as liable to scalping. Limited Run Games have long abandoned hard limits on titles and instead use open pre-order windows, something that has helped fan frustrations.
Asking Josh Fairhurst about this, he replied that this isn’t a simple fix with the sale period, telling us: “Some people will likely say the obvious fix is just keeping our games in print for longer, but that doesn't necessarily work. The limited order window is a call-to-action so people buy the game now rather than waiting. This is important for us because it helps us hit the minimum order quantity for each title we publish and it also ensures people don't forget these releases exist until it is too late.”
Super Rare Games utilise a different approach, setting hard limits but keeping collectors in mind. Ryan Brown confirmed: “we actually look over the orders on our back-end and cancel any that go over our hard 2 game per person limit.” There’s a clear, genuine passion in Super Rare’s ethos to ensure collectors get fair treatment, further explaining how they’re continuously reassessing their unit numbers to meet demand. Jeff Smith has a different outlook on the matter here, believing that anything considered 'limited' gives a perception of higher value to collectors.
Taking all of this into consideration, limited print runs make more sense and, as mentioned before, production costs factor in, too. Switch fans have previously noticed that games are often more expensive than their multiplatform counterparts, leading to many dubbing this the “Switch Tax”. It doesn’t explain pricing differences digitally, but Josh Fairhurst confirmed that due to Switch’s use of a proprietary cartridge format, games are more costly to print.
Although new digital releases often cost as much as physical, despite the lower production costs, even if that weren't the case we reckon that permanence is definitely worth the cost
Ryan Brown pointed out this too, though, in regards to these costs, he informed us: “that's seriously balanced out by all the advantages that come with physical releases. Although new digital releases often cost as much as physical, despite the lower production costs, even if that weren't the case we reckon that permanence is definitely worth the cost.” Sure enough, these higher costs haven’t deterred buyers.
Going back to Limited Run Games, Fairhurst confirmed that when compared to other platforms a game is released on, “Switch games tend to sell at a rate of five to one”. Whilst Super Rare only release Switch titles, Special Reserve handles PS4 releases too and Jeff Smith replied that: “Switch is the king of physical these days”, outselling PS4 games, but outlined that there’s still a “vibrant PS4 collector community out there”.
Outside of direct costs, there’s a greater value proposition here too and many first-party Nintendo games often include physical pre-order bonuses. Looking at recent examples, Paper Mario came with a set of origami sheets, Luigi’s Mansion 3 had a keyring and poster and Animal Crossing: New Horizons had no end of different bonus items, depending on the retailer. It gave fans more and in trying to keep pricing competitive, usually remained cheaper than digital editions.
Sadly though, many physical releases from big publishers include little more than a case and cartridge/disc these days. Our publishers have noticed this and it’s quite common to see extras like full manuals, cards or reversible cover art included. Jack Sanderson explained there’s a nostalgic element of this too, telling us about memories of unwrapping freshly-sealed games and reading through their manuals. Nostalgia sells in gaming, as we’ve seen with sequels or remakes, and these elements cater to a different aspect of that feeling.
It’s a sentiment which Jeff Smith also touched upon, explaining his reasoning with Special Reserve releases is to “honour the games in a tangible way adding a physical connection between the game and the fan/collector/gamer. Anything I design is intended to augment the emotions and vibe from the game by taking great artistic content and adding textures, reflectiveness and in some cases, even smell”. He then explains how this helps set the mood upon opening the game box, comparing these physical copies to buying a nice frame for a painting and it backs up Sanderson's point of view.
Some players will instead opt to go physical if a special edition is present, offering exclusive content and physical merchandise you could not replicate digitally. They aren’t to everyone’s taste though and these don’t always match a library’s aesthetic either, with Jay arguing he’d rather buy such merchandise individually.
In the end, though, it all comes down to personal preference. There are benefits to digital media which cannot be ignored, and as digital sales continue climbing, companies are adapting. We’ve begun seeing digital-only console variants with the Xbox One and on PlayStation 5, Sony is following suit. Crucially though, each platform maintains a disc-based version and for now, Nintendo has shown no plans to copy those strategies. Even whilst overall demand has declined, dedicated supporters have kept physical media alive in 2020 and there is clearly still a long future ahead for it.
Are you a fellow collector of physical games? Do you prefer digital or perhaps a mix of the two? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
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Comments 138
I prefer physical, but I buy digital with no hesitation because, since I don't resell, there's no real difference. Video games are a digital product, after all.
I’d do anything to get the Scott Pilgrim game again. To me, that’s even more of a loss than P.T. since it was a full proper game. My collection is probably around 50/50 because most PS4 and Switch games are digital and I have over 300 Steam games but then everything from last-gen and going back is physical.
I’m caring less for physical. Only by it when I think I might not want to keep the game.
When I finally bought a PS4 (little late to the party), I planned to go all digital. I quickly found out that physical games were cheaper than digital. I now own more than 100 physical PS4 games.
I recently bought a Xbox One X, and physical games are no longer to be found here, so I guess I’ll go all digital there.
Collecting? Or compulsive hoarding disguised as collecting? I’ll stick with a clutter free digital library thank you. So many games/remasters available these days, I doubt we’ll ever really have the opportunity to miss a game. Also, you gotta think about all future updates and bug fixes that are happening constantly- Do you really have the most complete and up-to-date copy on that disk? The answer is clearly No!
Bring on the digital era!
Digital games have no value after you buy them because you can't resell them or trade them.
I’m surprised this article didn’t mention the fact that many physical game purchases still require downloading patches, sometimes to fix potentially game breaking bugs. When that’s taken into account, even the physical game itself and it’s DLC might not be playable at a future date. What good will a Smash Bros cartridge be in a decade when you can no longer download all of the additional content and characters? It won’t be a complete experience.
Additionally, we see some “physical” Switch releases being little more than a cart and a download code. The move to digital only form of media seems really inevitable.
Physical, forever! What else would I use to decorate my living room?!?!
I gotta go with physical, I always go for physical edition even if it costs more
All you need to say to get the point home: Wii digital store, Castlevania/Contra/Gradius Rebirth. RIP
@Dino_Damage People said the same thing about music, yet physical media, including vinyl, is still regularly released. Patches and DLC can be backed up, if you know what you are doing
@Tendogamerxxx See: high horse.
@TG16_IS_BAE I have both Spotify and a vinyl collection for the same reason that I occasionally buy games - it’s nice to own things every once in a while but at the end of the day, I’m not made of money and I’ll usually go for the cheapest option.
Got a huge physical collection. 840 games atm. Biggest being 261 for ps3 followed by 138 for ps2 and 64 for psvita. Love my physical collection.
@nessisonett I can relate! My small physical collection is complete, so I rarely buy new games to begin with, but occasionally something good will come out!
@darkswabber Must feel like walking into a library! I just have 3 N64 games, and about 20 each of NES and SNES, with a few Japanese imports of select Saturn/PS1 games. And a couple of GB games. Good on you for having such a robust collection. What’s your rarest?
@CurryPowderKeg79 Yes! Digital titles should be cheaper at retail since there is no way to resell it, trade it, or loan it to friends.
I disagree with the very first sentence. It suggests that it's consumers pushing this change, but that's not the case. This change has been driven by the industry.
People want to play their games. So many of us tolerate digital where needed. And now a new generation of kids are growing up with digital being the norm.
Corporate manipulation.
Sega and Nintendo have not done well in the game preservation area. They can’t be trusted with physical or digital availability of libraries from previous platforms. They’ll summon the most profitable plays on their back catalogue but they’ve done little else. The original vision of the Wii Virtual Console was never fully realized, in my opinion.
Physical is the way to go for me. It may not happen much now, but digital storefronts on older consoles will be phased out and then you're relying on your digital only copy you currently have downloaded to last you and in most cases it'll be tied to that console. When my Wii U kicks it (it'll happen) then no more Earthbound Beginnings.
Plus, I like instruction manuals and other physical ephemera included in some physical Switch games.
@jimtendog In what scenario would a physical library survive a house burning down but not digital? Or am I misunderstanding you?
If at all possible I always prefer physical when it comes to games. However I completely understand the convenience of digital. Over the years I've cut down on the video game graveyard of games and consoles. It just takes up space. I prefer physical especially now because I like to trade them in for new games. Can't do that with digital.
Prefer physical games every time. That said, I do not have the money or patience to buy games at the drop of a hat whenever these companies do their limited print. As a result, I ignore them entirely. I get that they have to at least break even, but it makes limited releases not very appealing to me. So typically, most indie games I get will be a digital. I wish physical editions of indies were more normalised.
@jimtendog Most people go their whole life without something catastrophic happening. Yes, bad things happen. Doesn’t mean you shouldn’t at least TRY to strive for happiness.
"Disney has just announced it is ceasing production of 4K discs."
This is fundamentally untrue.
They will still be releasing select catalogue titles in 4K, and all upcoming releases are still slated to hit the format. You're making it sound a lot worse than it is.
@graysoncharles When something is big, that does not eradicate the small. Digital music is big, and there is still room for physical releases.
You can backup digital games, all DLC, and patches, by the way. It’s easy and requires nothing more than a computer.
I still go the physical route most of the time unless purchasing a game digitally would be significantly cheaper. I've found myself making a couple of exceptions with games that I want on my Switch at all times and would likely never resell.
For me, it mostly comes down to not wanting to pay for an insane amount of digital storage, my distrust of how some digital games have been handled (as outlined in the article), and nostalgia to an extent. Plus, in my experience, most physical games I own are perfectly playable without patches or DLC.
@TG16_IS_BAE High Horse? I don’t know, I feel like I made some valid points. Maybe collecting older games is fine, but new ones?! Why? There’s always day one updates and add-ones (free or paid). When servers shut down and you can’t download the patch you still won’t be able to play the game.
Honestly, I go with both physical and digital. Mostly physical for series I really really like, and digital for some smaller indies games or games that just don't have a physical release, or if it's a physical copy that is rare and costly just to buy.
@Tendogamerxxx You called people who collect compulsive hoarders. Sure kid, valid point LOL
@CurryPowderKeg79
And you loose them when the service close.
So basically it’s just paying for a digital access for a game, until unilateral closure.
Bad habits
Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t see how an all digital gaming catalogue can work, let alone be accepted.
We’d need at least 1TB packaged with the console, because If I’m not owning the games then I’m not paying for them.
They both have their pros and cons, but I ultimately will always go physical unless the digital copy is on sale/significantly cheaper or it's something like Animal Crossing where it's a daily check-in kind of game and swapping cartridges makes it a bit more inconvenient.
Wii's online is completely dead and Wii U and 3DS are slowly being wound down officially as time moves on. Even the PS3 and 360 are starting to go the same route. Many games on 7th gen hardware are no longer available digitally due to licensing and physical copies haven't been printed in years in-turn driving up prices on the second hand market.
Unfortunately the PS5 and XSX are probably going to be the last traditional console generation where physical games will still be an option. Once everything goes completely digital be it digital download and/or streaming, it's ultimately just more limiting choice to the consumer and people are further at the mercy of digital store fronts and licensing not expiring.
@Heavyarms55 If people didn't buy digital, then publishers wouldn't use it. It's not manipulation, it's just the way the industry is going. Just like people decided that downloading a CD or streaming a movie was easier than ordering it off the internet or visiting a rental store.
Buyers vote with their money, and the rise of digital is being driven by people buying digital.
Mixed for me. I only want physical if game at least 20gb, otherwise too long for me to download. I hate clutter so binned plastic cases and have discs n carts in wallet folders.digital usually have great sales. If I was to pick on a game that I don’t own or want I would say the new animal crossing. What is the point of physical for that as they keep adding updates and probably will for a few more years. I do think we are greedy with games always wanting more, I know I am with this Mario 64 rumour! It sucks that some games are delisted and stuff, but I’d wager we all still have something to play xx
@NicolausCamp Apologies, that has been amended.
Physical whenever possible for me. My PS Vita and its library of games that I no longer played paid for my Switch in 2017, plus the case, pro controller and 3 full-price games. If I just had the Vita and a digital library locked to me? Might have been enough to cover the cost of 1 new game. The number of older games I actually want to play on a regular basis isn't particularly big. These days when I 100% a game, I won't be playing it again (not counting endless multiplayer titles like Mario Kart, obviously, talking more about single-player story games).
I'll resist the digital only format until the end of my time. I only buy digital games when heavily discounted & 2 or 3 years after release.
I prefer digital. The lesson of the story here though is to always back up your games when the next generation comes out.
@TG16_IS_BAE One day i hope Konami release the Rebirth Trilogy on Switch
@Tendogamerxxx compulsive hoarding...have you ever watched the show Hoarders? Yeah, those are compulsive hoarders...not these guys.
@KevTastic84 ME TOO That would be really great. Loved Gradius and Castlevania, the Contra one felt a little too cartoony for me, but I'm spoiled on Contra 3.
@TG16_IS_BAE see:
being a total ***** and having a stick up your bum. (Not you, the dude who wrote the original comment)
Scott Pilgrim is not an "if" it will return, but "when" because Bryan Lee O'Malley is fighting to get it back to gamers as he is a fan of the game itself and has clout as a creator.
@Heavyarms55 corporate manipulation. Maybe a bit too strong of a term, no?
@Heavyarms55 I think it's a mix. History shows convenience is typically the driving force behind changes in tech trends. MP3's originally sounded like garbage....until recently digital music was comparatively garbage, and often still is. But people went for it because everything about it was easier and faster (and with streaming services, cheaper.)
Same with games. I was once staunchly in favor of physical only (and required it for the longest time due to lack of real internet availability...) But once I started going the digital route, I find I buy more and more if not almost entirely digital now. Why? Convenience. If you have a library of several hundred games, the ability to just browse the list and play one, or switch between any of several as the mood strikes is appealing rather than sorting through the boxes for that one disc you want (and remembering where it is.)
But, then, I have about 18 big boxes packed dense with hundreds of games going back to the late 70's Atari games, probably weighing hundreds of pounds..... what are the odds I'd spend an hour digging and lifting to find that MK8U disc only to find I'd rather play Smash Ultimate vs. just selecting it on the menu? It has its value for sure.
The industry wanted to push it initially, but convenience is what's really selling it. But I do still buy some physical too, particularly switch, particularly a game I know I'll play cover to cover but probably not again, all at once like Xenoblade or TCS3.
@Sinton Physical games are only sometimes cheaper. There are often sales on the PSN where digital gets cheaper. And as someone who game shares with my fiancée on her PS4, every purchase digitally is basically two copies. Then the convenience of not having to swap the discs.. and PS4 requiring full install from discs anyway doesn't even save hard drive space..
i'm a digital guy, i'm extremely lazy when it comes to switching cards though i get digital when it looks like it'd be cheaper. i did saw a argument i liked from someone here talking about being able to sell the game if they ended up not liking it, it's rare for me since i'm usually picky but ooo do i still get bitter when it does happen, feel duped especially when it ended up being more expensive than a game that does it better, and i'm rewarding unfairly.
@Deltath The sharing is a big deal. That's the biggest thing keeping me from even considering too seriously going back to PC. Buy one get one is hard to beat if you tend to buy 2. Hopefully PS5 keeps that. Switch does it too, but it's harder when you'd have to swap who has the primary console on a handheld.
The only games I want physical are Nintendo games for collecting purposes. Everything else, specially Xbox games I rather have digitally. It's so much more convenient and these days where there's always a patch or something for a game, it's almost impossible to have the actual full game on a physical media anyway.
@MeowMeowKins Oh, I got what you were layin' down.
I don't understand why some people choose to shame others. I can understand if what you are doing is massively criminal, but collecting games is pretty benign, and people will put down their MASSIVELY important opinions about what we do, lmao
Always physical, don't let them fool you. If it was depending on Nintendo, I would not be able to play F-zero GX or Metroid Prime 1 and 2 anymore
3.5 years later, Nintendo's expensive proprietary Switch cartridges still seem like a mistake. I would love for them to finally get competitively cheaper, but I'm not holding my breath.
I'm all for physical releases but if Limited Run don't change their shady practises well I'll have no choice but to go digital.
Depends on the game, really. If a game has all major updates and whatnot on the disc, and it's just a matter of installing it, then I can sort of see the argument for your disc being future-proofed, in some respects.
With that said, most games are shipped out at least partially broken and are highly dependent on updates and patches to smooth over performance issues. And, frankly, is my PS4 or Wii U even going to keep working for decades? As technology becomes increasingly complex, it's reasonable to expect the failure rate of older hardware to increase as well.
"Physical" games are increasingly becoming physical DRM, so I'm very skeptical of talking about a physical modern Ubisoft game in the same way I'd talk about, say, a PS2 game.
Some of that is, of course, bad industry practices, but it's also down to physical media increasingly being unable to meet the needs of a rapidly progressing industry.
What we need is a revolution in how digital content is managed. People should be able to make local back-ups of their digital content for when servers go down. And, frankly, as much as possible, backwards compatibility should be standardized for future consoles, as you can expect on PC. In this one regard, I'm fairly impressed with Microsoft's longer-term vision for the Xbox brand.
GOG is a great vision of how a consumer-friendly all-digital storefront could work, btw. The big console manufacturers would never go for it, but it's do-able.
I came across a Vita the other day and put in my Playstation account details. I was shocked to find that it let me redownload and play games I bought on a PSP 11 years ago. I was pleased that they didn't add the word "deluxe" as an attempt to make me pay again.
I understand why people prefer physical...what I don’t understand is this need that some people seem to have to own every game they have ever played until the end of time, no matter the cost. Is it that important to spend $40 on a physical copy of a mediocre hour long indie game so you can still play it on your replacement Switch three decades from now when you can just get it digitally for like $5? I mean, people can do what they want to do and spend their money on whatever they want, I just don’t really understand.
I do get that collecting is a different beast all together. I’m not talking about that.
I am a collector so ... always physical.
@Krambo42 Well it is part of collecting to be able to play your games 20 years from now just like I do with the NES (in this case 30 years).
What I do not understand is collecting games and NEVER play them and even open them. Not even for profit.
I'd consider myself the most hardcore of Nintendo fans, and it was that lull at the end of the Wii U era where I decided it was the perfect time to go for a full Wii U set. That eventually led to my current goal - every physical game (PAL UK) released on a Nintendo system full-stop. I know I'll likely never achieve it - the closest I am to a full-set is the Wii U, where I'm missing 15 or so (unless you count the two games on the New 3DS). But the limited print market has developed an unwanted sense of urgency in collecting which has really dragged the fun out of collecting for Switch.
@Zuljaras I get that. I’m more talking about these “I’m not paying for a license to play, I want ownership” people. Maybe it’s ok if some games are just $5 (long term) “rentals”? Do these people never go to movies or concerts?
One thing that sucks about physical copies still is what if your console goes out down the line and there are extensive updates and patches?
@Slowdive If your username is a reference to the band, nice.
The thing is, a lot of these physical games rely on a download to make them complete anyway, so the whole idea of them makes them rather redundant anyway. It is not like back in the golden age of gaming were they released a finished game and that was it, complete, and you would never get anymore updates for it. A lot of the Limited Run Games stuff is just tat that you will just put in your drawer anyway and never look at it again.
The only argument for physical is re-sale, but the industry should allow you to sell a digital version anyway, that is one of the biggest cons in gaming now.
I like the option of being able to resell too much to go all digital. I’m probably still 75/25 in favour of physical.
I’m kind of annoyed by the price bump physical games give to digital. Many games are expensive because the physical stores need to be satisfied... sonic forces goes for 40€ usually, I can only understand because that would be the physical price. I’d gladly pay for my games, but I really don’t care about physical stores.
@Krambo42 Well it is true.
In my eyes 60$ for a digital game is pure idiocy but if people want it they should get it
I am one of those people that want to own tangible things because I am a collector
And I only get digital on PC exclusives in GOG because they are THE BEST and they deserve it!
Been on a retro kick lately, so physical for me. I enjoy collecting switch carts too.
The only mediums I feel truly comfortable going all-digital in is books and music because I can easily convert them to a DRM free format. I'll buy digital games and DLC but I also feel confident that one day pirates will help keep my games accessible when the systems are considered retro. I really appreciate what LRG does but I only buy games from them if I consider the game absolutely worth it.
An all-digital future for movies and TV worries me. Streaming services can drop content on a finger snap, and having a service that owns the IPs, like Disney+, isn't a guarantee the stuff you want will be there for life. There could be disputes between people who claim ownership, and there are quite a few Disney-owned properties that aren't on the service. Not to mention the quality of the streaming video. Using the digital code from a Blu Ray box is a royal pain and something I gave up on. I'm not an AV geek, but I don't like how Cybersix on DVD is clear, crisp, and stunning, and Cybersix streamed on Amazon Prime looks like I'm watching it on a CRT TV in 1999. Do they not have access to the remastered video?
My apologies if anything I said breaks the rules. For the record, anything I convert to DRM-free stays on my computer and I don't share.
Let's all just be thankful we have CHOICES. What's better for you might not be better for someone else's situation.
I used to buy purely physical copies. I enjoyed having the boxarts and manuals (what are those?). I also like having MY copy, not a right to use a game, as is digital.
Growing up, I realized boxarts are not as creative as they once were, and manuals are no more. I also joined the military, so I change locations alot. Packing and unpacking the boxes got really annoying, really quickly lol. I now buy digital, unless it's a game I know I will love, like Xenoblade DE.
Hopefully, publishers will continue making physical copies, so everyone benefits. If you don't like it, DON'T BUY IT!
Physical games rules !! 🤟
#letsgophysical
My games collection currently.
I could go download only, the only real hang up is not having the Switch backwards compatible with the 3DS. I would love to have one Nintendo handheld that plays everything and allows me access to my eShop purchases from both the Switch and 3DS. By proxy I fully understand if someone would want access to their Wii U downloads as well.
@NEStalgia Yeah. I was looking to buy a couple of games on PC when I saw Steam sales or with the new Fall Guys, but.. $45 for a $60 game isn't a deal on Steam when I'd have to buy two at $90 or one for $60 (or wait for a PSN sale anyway) that can game share. We share on Switch too and it's no problem. My fiancee rarely takes her Switch out of the house so not being the primary console has no real downside. And she owns a handful on cartridge and on a few of her favorites (like Animal Crossing) on her account that I can gameshare when I'm home too. It's hard to ever consider going physical again. That and the few physical games I have.. I almost never bother popping in.
I like saving money so physical for me. I buy nearly all first party games day 1 so it’s just always cheaper
Because I have no qualms with emulation or roms I will always have my full libraries of oldschool/retro games even when all my physical media is long dead. I will go physical when I can because it holds value to collectors.
@TG16_IS_BAE smh, I personally don't collect games, but you can't shame people for a hobby.
@technotreegrass The other trouble with streaming services is the random price jumps. Like YouTube TV that keeps adding "6 new premium channels you didn't care about not having a year ago when you signed up, but some other people wanted it, so you're going to pay $15 a month for them from now on." They were cool because they were a cheap way to do TV. Now they've just become paid cable like normal cable with all the same problems.
That said, live TV seems to suffer from contractual costs with old media publishers that Netflix and the like don't have to suffer through. And digital ownership libraries are more permanent than scheduled/cycled programming. Mostly they only depend on how much you trust the longevity and ethics of the library host (be it Nintendo, Steam, or Apple....) As long as local backups are a thing it's fine, I suppose. And the "big tech" companies are a bit more likely to keep data 'forever" than fly by nights like Walmart-owned Vudu.
@NEStalgia Yep, I’m not into subscription models either. Never gotten any of the game related subs. Netflix is good because my wife and I enjoy some things on there, but that’s the only digital media source we really use. Well, that and Audible. That’s it though! Much prefer physical media, personally.
@1UP_MARIO Huh? They’re all the same price.
@jimtendog No offense, but if you truly believe that the risk of you losing your digital games library is more or less the same than the risk of you getting robbed or your house burning down, then you definitely have your numbers mixed up, because you couldn't be more wrong.
While the latter two things only might happen, and will in most cases NEVER happen to us, the closing down of servers at a certain point in the near future (and often already when we move to a next generation of consoles), making it impossible to play or (re)download a game you think you own, is an ironclad fact.
The reason why people prefer physical over digital, is because they want to be able to still pull that game out of the closet 10, 20 or even 30 years from now, without having to fear if it will even be playable. Even if you take modern physical games into account, with patches and updates, that's still possible, because it's not like the games are unplayable without those patches, they might just be somewhat buggy, and perhaps there's only the odd game that's completely unplayable without them.
Either way, just to clarify, I'm not against digital, and especially for smaller games and/or indie games I also often choose the digital versions, but I definitely don't see anything good coming from an all digital future, so for the bigger triple A games, I'll always go for physical, so I'll have that full ownership and certainty of still being able to revisit it decades from now, a certainty that gamers that solely rely on the trustworthiness of publishers and their intent to keep supporting their digital media will definitely not have, as already made evident by hundreds upon hundreds of disappeared/disabled digital only titles across various platforms...
@NEStalgia And Netflix losing licenses because supposedly the IP owner of the movie(s) and show(s) wants more money when it comes time to renewal so they jack the subscription price while crying "we're losing money" because the sub rate is dropping. I bought a Hulu subscription because most of my favorite shows moved there. I'll gladly buy DVDs and Blu Ray but some movies and TV shows aren't legally available physically, and I feel much more comfortable if I could find a way to convert at the highest quality available. Animated HD shows look like crap in 480p.
Bravo, beautifully written article that touches on all the strong points of going physical. This is exactly why I prefer physical and most likely always will and I am glad that many other also prefer it. Nothing wrong with going all digital either, and I'm glad the options exist for both.
@ThanosReXXX
Amen brother, preach.
@TG16_IS_BAE The music services tend to work well, because unless it's a classic album, music listening tends to focus around listing to tons of varied music (the reason radio never dies, even when its awful) and discovery of ever more content. In that regard the services provide an experience no library ever could. The low price ($10/mo or $20/mo for full quality) is very cheap compared to buying lots of actual albums as well, where, for music, the desire for ever more albums tends to grow rather than shrink with time. For video and games it's a less economic equation.
TV streaming is a mess. Netflix and Hulu are a duopoly for video and Disney segmenting it is a disaster. Game Pass for gaming is pretty cool, but games are available for limited times, so it's more like a membership to a library. it can't replace owning the games, but it's a great "gaming buffet". Like an "unlimited rentals" plan to Blockbuster if such a thing ever existed....that's kind of cool. Supposedly it does encourage more purchase, and the sub coming with a 10% discount on the games that are featured is cool and encourages (digital) ownership, highlighting directly that it's a rental service not a virtual library service as the music services are. That works great for games.
But, then that's back to digital over physical.
@NEStalgia Mainly, I agree!
@Agent721 Why thank you, kind sir...
@NEStalgia What turned me off on Game Pass is the disposability of it. While three new games are added, five more are being removed at virtually the same time, and I don't like there being some kind of (real or even perceived) pressure put on me in order for me to be able to play, much less complete certain games.
I want to play whenever the hell I want, not when a company gives me the opportunity to do so. It's great for those who want that "buffet" or who apparently DO have the time to play all these games, but with the limited hours per week or sometimes even only per month that I have left to spend on game time, I just wouldn't be able to get the most out of it.
Sadly the Switch is the last holdout for physical gaming for me. Physical games feel kinda pointless for me on the PS4 and Xbox since the discs seem to work as little more than backups, the entire thing needs to be installed which kinda defeats the point, I would rather not have to deal with disc swapping and the wear and tear on my disc drives (since I still like to watch blu-rays/DVD's on occasion).
The Switch is where it actually makes sense the way physical games used to since it saves me space which is a valuable thing on the Switch since expandable storage is limited and it isn't cheap. On the PS4 and Xbox One I can just plug in a relatively cheap USB 3 drive with tons of storage making it easy for me to download and install massive libraries on those consoles. On the Switch I like to leave the space open for games that can't be bought physically.
Physical over digital any day.
Digital has been a blessing in developing countries, where physical editions are either non existant or extremely overpriced.
@RPGamer Don't sleep on Norsemen, it's a great dark comedy. Think David Brent on a viking town.
@Piyo We might, or we might not. I'm 50, and I still own ALL of my games AND consoles. But that was not the point. The point was the likelihood of your house burning down vs losing your digital collection.
Every argument made so far, concerning what might happen to anyone's physical collection is FAR less likely than what is inevitably (and absolutely) going to happen to anyone's all digital collection, provided we're talking about LEGAL collecting, obviously.
I prefer physical, but the realities of life, repeated house moves and the practicality of digital have hit to the point that the Switch is almost entirely digital for me. I only buy physical now if it's something I'll play extensively once then in all likelihood never touch again (Octopath Traveller) or a massive filesize (Witcher3). Or the second version of Pokémon, because trading's a thing.
Almost all my 3DS games are physical and recently I've been playing some of them. It's a definite pain having to go back to keeping an additional folder of gamecards and carefully fumbling to swap them out, and all the physical boxes are back at my parents; like I said, I prefer a physical collection, but I can't pretend it's a better option for me anymore.
@ThanosReXXX I agree. I'm kind of of split mind on Game Pass. There's the crowd of people that used to buy games on launch day, play them all the way through, and return them (in stores, mostly not in the US, that let you return games) - or that sell them fast to GS for the highest trade-in value, etc. For those users, GP is perfect. I suspect they're all high school kids, but still...
I like it overall, but I'm not bent on renewing, either since I don't use it, and most of the games I want on it I end up buying anyway. However, the 10% discount offsets it somewhat, that it mitigates the cost of ownership to a small amount of money to try tons of stuff out. So the value, for me, is very "in the gray" still. If they combine GwG into Ultimate and make online free, that will gray things even more.
I do dislike how much, and how fast they remove content. For a while NOTHING was being removed and it seemed a lot better than it originally was. OTOH there's a lot of XB exclusives or timed exclusives I probably wouldn't buy, but trying it out on GP is good fun, and at 180 a year, I get to try all of them for the price of 3.
I still see it as a kind of cool invention of an "unlimited rentals pass" at the old video rental store. Back then you'd pay $3.50 or so for one game for 2 nights, which is like $7 in todays money. Which means y ou'd only play it a few hours. With GP you pay $15 a month to rent everything you want, whenever you want that's in the store. On one hand I'm not sure I use it enough to justify it. On the other hand if I could tell my 14 year old self I could just go to the video store all month and grab anything I want for just $15....that's the most insane bargain ever. But it still doesn't replace buying the great games.
(Also, RIP the huge video store across the street.... )
@NEStalgia What store was that, BlockBusters?
But yeah, agreed right back at'cha. It's Netflix for games, and it's too fast and disposable for little old retro-minded me. I recently bought another year of Gold for really cheap, so regardless of what they're going to do or what they're going to combine with what, I'm good until August 2021...
Two things that make physical Switch carts more inconvenient than past media:
@ThanosReXXX Same. I was going to allow my prepaid GP sub to auto renew to my PP on file, and I have Gold paid until May, because Halo was coming out and I figured I'd at least try that in November. Now that that's not happening, I might as well cancel GP for a while, at least until May when I probably just need Ultimate anyway.
@Ulysses I agree with the dust cover, that's an annoying issue (but wasn't needed on 3DS??) But the cartridges aren't an issue. The plastic spacers keep things from pressing the teeth. I've palmed them, pocketed them, tossed them in pouches with other cartridges and stick accessories. They're no flimsier than any prior Nintendo handheld cartridge. Tiny as they are.... No special handling needed, they're still far more durable than discs.
I'm not naïve enough to ask if people have read 1984 or Fahreinheit 451, but I will ask those reading and commenting if they are completely unaware of Star Trek or Battlestar Galactica.
Does the concept of the Borg no longer have resonance for people? That represents the tyranny of networks. Do people recall that Galactica survived the nuclear attack because of a command refusal to be network-dependant? That represents the fragility of networks.
People have justly asked about Day 1 patches on physical products. A "Nintendo Selects" line can remedy much of that - and that is just one of the reasons why I have refrained from even considering to purchase a few first-party games.
More and more, however, I find that my purchases are skewing to re-releases. Of late, the physical games I have purchased consist entirely of collections, compilations, and remasters. I would prefer to support products that satisfy me in the month or year of release, but find increasingly that business practices dissuade me entirely. I am now certain that I will not be purchasing SMT V because Atlus will almost certainly include release-day DLC; even if they don't, an "enhanced" version will appear within 24 months.
I am not opposed to the option of digital games. No one should be opposed to the option of widely distributed physical games. I will do whatever I can to preserve the choice.
@Piyo Lucky!! In the states it's not like that at all. I mean, I AM a British citizen (God bless the Queen) so I should start demanding a discount, gosh darn it!!
I'm all digital now. I don't really care that I don't own the game as I'm in it for the experience, not to keep piling up cases and boxes to the point that I need a room dedicated to the collecting (Something I'm now exiting).
To each their own at the end of the day.
Physical all the way.
Even if you go digital, when the switch store closes down in the future, you won't be able to redownload your games if something happens to your unit.
@TG16_IS_BAE well I must be lucky as I always buy my games 10£ or more cheaper than Nintendo’s eshop price.
Physical for me. I’ve waited years for Switch titles to be released physically and my patience has paid off. For those of you that can’t handle waiting or are just naturally impulsive, I get why the rush to digital and decrying those that buy physical.
Let’s face it: if you really don’t care about losing your games in a future electronic loss, then digital is a clean way to go. Even cheaper. But you can’t compare it if you’re either looking for a permanent cost investment (yes, even opened they have value nowadays) or simply something to showcase in hand. This article presents strong arguments.
And to be fair, the average age of the collectors are from the pre-social media days.
I buy both sometimes if the title has great replay value. Once it’s gone, I still have the physical in hand!
Buy, sell, trade, give away, rent. 100% Physical on console.
I locked Cyberpunk 2077 for $43 digital on PC. That way I'll go Digital. I need a decent discount.
@JayJ You have a partial point, concerning Xbox and PlayStation discs, but in actuality, it isn't all that different from PC gaming, which also requires installing, obviously (and has done for ages, so it's nothing new), and uses the disc as a validator/key to prove legal ownership.
However, that last word is still key: ownership. You have the necessary software, right there, on the disc. Maybe not always the final, completely patched version (unless you have some kind of GOTY or Director's Cut/Anniversary audition), but at least A version, that can be played and kept for far longer than the digital version will be available for download or online play, so that still means that physical trumps digital for me, even under those conditions.
With the exception of indie games, I still buy most major releases in physical format. I'm not going to attempt to justify this, as for the last several years it is really against my better judgment.
I am a compulsive collector, nay, a hoarder of things (not just games and consoles but also records/CDs, synthesisers/drum machines, books, DVDs etc). I am addicted to buying and collecting much more so than actually playing/using them. In fact I would need several lifetimes to fully appreciate what I already have backlogged and accumulated.
I desperately want to stop clinging on to physical things, just embrace my impermanence, live like a nomad, enjoy games/music/films/books to the maximum whenever I get to do so without attachment to physical objects and collect nothing but memories.
I'd buy digital, but if my kid wants to play a game I bought for the family on his own Switch, Nintendo won't let him. With a cartridge, there's no problem. Until Nintendo fixes this silliness, I will always buy physical whenever possible.
@jimtendog Good on you, for being a good sport. And mind you, I'm not a massive collector either. I have a couple of hundred games for most of my consoles, but I'm still able to keep those in one closet, so I don't need a massive game room with dozens of shelves filled with games. I'm no completionist either, so I don't care about getting all games for any console or handheld. I only buy and keep games I actually like to play.
The inevitable future of all digital games is not debatable though, I'm afraid. As a sales & marketing professional in the IT business, I know what the cost is of server rent and maintenance, so companies and/or publishers or developers will only support the accompanying services for as long as it is sensible and viable for them to do so. In some specific cases, the cost for maintaining a server environment for a game is so low, that it happens to be one of the odd ones out there that will still be available for download 1 or 2 generations of consoles later, as evident with some smaller games on Wii, DS/3DS and Xbox 360, for example.
But those positive examples are a typical case of few and far between. Big, triple A games will only be supported as long as they are popular, so what sells will be supported, which is why all these MMORPG's and Battle Royale games are now so popular and well supported, because those keep attracting audiences, across platforms, and across generations.
But these too are a mere handful of examples. If I look at the games that I currently own, then I know that 9 out of 10 of them isn't available in any online store anymore, so the only option for me to re-buy them would be second-hand shops or sites like eBay. (edit: and in the case of the latter, I don't think I have to tell you what that might potentially mean for the prices of these second-hand games)
@ThanosReXXX Problem is how so many games these days ship incomplete, expecting you to download day one patches, or they simply rely upon needing to be logged into an online service in order to work. I just don't see PS4, Xbox One, PC games as being worthwhile to have physically, especially PC since I don't even have a disc drive on my gaming PC and nobody seems to bother with physical PC games anymore. It's just easier to have big digital libraries on these modern consoles. That said I love having my collection of physical games for older consoles and I consider that something that I will always enjoy having access to.
@JayJ Why wouldn't you have a disc drive on your PC? Unless it's some kind of Chromebook laptop, most PC's come with a standard Blu-ray player in most cases, so I'd say you'd have to go out of your way, or build your own rig, to end up with a PC without a disc drive.
@Damo To a degree you're not wrong. But only to a degree. Companies have pushed it with sales, unique bonuses, They have conditioned consumers to grow used to it. And further a whole new generation is growing up with it being the norm.
It's companies that pushed this and want it. Because it saves them millions of dollars or more every year. Digital games require no manufacturing costs, no packaging, no shipping, no commissions to retailers. It kills the used game market and forces consumers to only buy new.
But like I said, you're not totally wrong, there are some people who did want more convenience at the expense of everything else.
I've got rid of all physical media other than games and I'm so happy with it. So much needless clutter out of my house.
There's so many issues with games though, and with Nintendo more than most. With music, movies and TV shows I know there's no worry about things becoming unavailable, but with gaming it's far too common. Hopefully in a few years, console generations and dedicated hardware will be consigned to history, and that will at least stop games being 'stuck' on old hardware. The licensing issue will still remain though.
Another issue is the pricing. Sales are great, but it's still so much easier to find physical games dropping in price, and of course the pre-owned market.
@ThanosReXXX I bought a new PC in March, and not many come with a disc drive these days. If you're buying a PC game it's likely through steam or EGS, and if you're watching films, it's probably on a streaming service.
For me there’s something magical about picking up a copy of an old game with box, manual etc and playing the game as closely as possible to what was originally intended.
I’m particularly enjoying the efforts of companies like Analogue in bringing these experiences to modern display / audio technology as faithfully as possible.
I think the Switch is possibly the last format I’ll go mainly physical. The benefits are really starting to move in favour of digital-only: instant access, relatively affordable large-scale storage, regular updates / patches for games. I think we’re right in the middle of the turning point to going fully digital. I’ve little doubt that in another 30 years people will look at physical games as a very strange concept.
But I’m glad, through a combination of physical and digital mediums, much of the beginning of video games history will be preserved thanks to the efforts of people who’ve grown up playing the games. It’s really cool to be able to go back and play an “old school” game and compare it to more modern takes (currently working my way through Cybernator on the SNES and Gigantic Army, alternating between the 2. IMO Gigantic Army is under-rated!).
I recently sold all my physical Nintendo console and games from SNES to Wii with loads of classic games right before lockdown in the UK. While it was nice to get some money for them.. I now have a profound sense of loss (lol) and wish I'd had some classic games to revisit the last few months.
If you play games 5+ years after release there is no other option. Digital is always just a long term rental.
@Peach64 USB 3 drives are plenty common. Mine will even rip 4k disks. Very handy.
I’ve been collecting physical games for 40 years now and my count is probably close to 8,000 in my collection- many sealed. Physical for me is clearly king. I can plug pitfall into my 2600 anytime I want 40 years later. Will we be able to do that in the future with today’s consoles? Not if they are strictly digital based. How much did I spend in the Wii shop? Tons! Store is now closed! Do we really truly own a digital purchase? I say no. But I applaud Microsoft for example giving us the opportunities to bring forth our Xbox, 360 & One digital libraries forward to the Xbox Series X when it hits! That’s so huge! Gives you more confidence in buying digital games. And although I’ve always preferred physical, there’s just too many games available digital only like the Hamster lineup for example. The only other thing I like about digital is you can grab many triple A games mad cheap with sales!! I’ve bought a ton of AAA games for under $10! All this said physical games still rule for me and I like showing off my game cave to my friends lol along with the fact that 30 years from now I’ll still be able to plug a game card into my switch or a disc in my PS4 etc! Lastly, My game collection goes to my kids when I leave this world and they can sell it for whatever money they can get for themselves to split up! 😊
I'm not interested in buying a set top box and subscribing to play games. It's all fine and dandy now while they are trying to lure you in, but it's a consumer trap. It's pretty much like buying into SKY.
It's great while you have all the games, but what happens further down the line when other companies want to put their games on other subscription services. Maybe Microsoft will start running sports subscriptions. Worse still, a particular game needs a particular subscription. With premium packages to basic packages. Etc Etc.
It's nauseating thinking about it. but at the moment, you get shills like Alanah Pearce appearing on an Xbox presentation, then harping on about it being 1 pound for the first month.
CONSUMER TRAP!
Who in their right mind that is enthusiastic about gaming would allow corporations to control what you play and how you pay. You will get milked for year on year growth. Adverts in games etc etc.
I would also argue that you get most value from dabbling in as many games as possible. If you play one game, the suddenly you get much less value for money. And dabbling is pretty much the text book definition of casual. The type of folk who will not see anything wrong with it all. Bah. I just hate it.
This whole digital VS physical is just exhausting at this point.
Who really cares what other people are buying? Just buy the format you prefer and be done with it.
I prefer physical. Just last week I pulled out the ol Clam Shell DS and would be hella pissed at past me if there werent any physical games to put in it....
Physical unless there is a steep discount. I can sell, trade, gift a physical game when I'm done with it so the price of digital has to be quite a bit lower for me to bite. I will admit to feeling some envy not being able to have every game instantly available on my switch! I see pros and cons for both.
@ThanosReXXX It's a custom gaming laptop and I wanted it to be somewhat slim for what it is. Works well as far as my modern PC gaming needs are concerned. I also have an old Thinkpad with a disc drive that I play some classics on.
Physical, because they're cheaper, and it's always nice to actually "own" something. The Switch's limited storage made it an even more obvious decision. Some game are $20 less physically. Even PS4, I stick to physical, not that I buy many for it. If I do sell the system, and I can sell it with a bunch of games too.
I like the digital idea that you can't really be sold out of it. However, the downside is it might disappear and never be put out again.
As for cheapness, is depends. I have seen physical games go on sale more than digital, but then I have seen digital games far more on sale than the physical ones.
But many “physical” copies require a significant download the first time you play the game. If the game’s severs have ceased to exist then that physical game is useless! Am I wrong?
I always wait for physicals, there has only been a few times I bought digital, Hollow Knight (which then a week later the physical was announced so then I got that), Fe (just because the reviews were awful therefore knew a physical would not be on the cards, I loved it myself), Bayonetta 2 (as it was a pack in in the non Japanese physical), Golf Story (as i missed the Limited Run pre-order).
I dont trust Digital, as they say in the article, when they turn off the server, you cant get the game. Just like the virtual console on the Wii, I lost a few games from them turning that off.
You dont own a game if you have it digitally, you are renting it until thy turn it off. Give me something solid to hold on to, especially ones with an instruction manual.
@Petriebird that's true for many AAA releases. One nice thing about the physical editions from Limited Run, Super Rare, Special Resere, etc. is they don't manufacture the game cards / discs until after all DLC and patches are released and complete. The downside is that it can take a very long time for these games to be sent to buyers after pre-orders close. A famous example is the Limited Run edition of Celeste, which took nearly a year to be shipped to pre-order buyers (including me).
I'm against physical games nowadays. I rather have physical games for a few reasons tho: you can sell them, you can get used games for a lower price, you can have the games forever, especially if the publisher removes it from any digital store (mostly for license reasons).
But physical is such a waste of plastic, and things should go digital just like PC. But also policies should be more like Steam, where you can use your games anywhere with your account (as long as no one else is using the same account) and they should always be backward compatible to keep your collection intact and playable at any time.
Think about this: games would be cheaper to publish (no manufacturing, no distribution), we could see a permanent price drop and cheaper games. I hate to hear that we'll probably get US$70 games with the launch of the PS5, and Series X, and digital could help fix this problem.
@jimtendog Oh, definitely agreed on Indie games. As I already mentioned in my initial comment, I usually also buy indies or other smaller games in digital form, and I've never bought any of these Limited Run games, but for the big triple A or first party titles, I still prefer physical.
@Peach64 Well, that may be true where you're at, but over here, customers still like their ready-made PC's with a disc drive. Of course there's also other options available, but the standard box is still with a drive. Personally, I assume it's for legacy support.
@JayJ Aha, I see. Makes sense, then.
Yea I am horder what's it's to you......
I wish we could get the Switch Sega Ages games on physical media
@Losermagnet Actually already happened on the Wii, which caused a big stir because the Wii was widely considered Nintendo's best digital storefront, particularly for retro games.
I like buying digital for the convenience. However I'm frugal with my gaming purchases and I rarely buy games when they first release. Instead, I wait for a price drop.
Usually (but not always) the physical version will drop in price before its digital equivalent. In that case, I go with the physical to save money.
I used to love Physical because I appreciated a good instruction manual. But I'm finding that if I really love a game and its assets, there are usually art books available. That's what I did with Assassin's Creed Odyssey: Bought the digital version for Xbox but purchased "The Art of Assassin's Creed Odyssey" book for dirt cheap off Amazon.
@Tendogamerxxx so let's just say, and there's no indication that this could happen.
But let's just say in 10 years time, you're switch in storage breaks, it gets something dropped on it by mistake and breaks for whatever reason.
You can just buy another one from eBay or whatever, but what happens to your games that you owned? I doubt you'll be able to download them, I mean look at the 3DS... If you lost that, you lose all your games. They took down eShop in June.
What would you do?
Keep your digital age to yourself thanks.
My collection is 99% physical. I have no desire to "rent" a game for full price. That's just ridiculous. If it doesn't have a physical copy, I don't buy it.
Unless my wife demands it(I'm picky, not stupid!)
On a side note, can you guys please get an editor? There are so many mistakes in this article and most others. I'll higlight one. Jay "dived"? No, he "dove".
It's not hard. Infact, with modern technology it should be a pretty simple job. Not trying to be a jerk. But, news articles, regardless of subject, should be properly edited.
I buy physical whenever I can.
However, I also base my purchases on size considerations. The larger a game file is, the more likely I am to buy it physically. I only have so much space on my Switch's SD card, so I try to maximize what space I have by only buying smaller games digitally.
All that said, I much prefer a shelf lined with physical games. It looks so nice.
I am still primarily a physical game player. On the Switch I have one of the largest physical collections I have had outside of possibly the NES. I do have digital games because some things cannot be had on physical media but these are stand alone older games with no live connection needed to validate. I have been burned by digital storefronts and I say no thank you to Steam and the like. If I want it forever I try to buy digital.
i'm mainly a physical guy unless if it's a retro game i'm only 13 so i pretty much have to use virtual console for snes games and psn for ps1 games
@RPGamer That's awesome, glad to hear you enjoyed it! Now you're making me want to go back and read it! Also, love your NSR avatar!
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