Physical Vs Digital Ownership: Dude, Where’s My Disc?

Robin Parker: "The debate between possessing actual physical copies of your games, or simply owning digital licenses for said titles is one that widely splits opinion with gamers, critics and industry figures alike. Both sides of the argument have their positives and their negatives, although digital ownership certainly still has more detractors and maintains a certain – often undeserved – stigma."

[ARESWARLORD]

I love digital. It is less clutter, and nice to not have to get up to change games. Plus no chance of damaging a disk. I think digital is the future, Steam had been solid for years. I go digital on my PS4 and Xbox One. The only systems I buy disks for are the wii u and 3DS. Nintendo locks the games to a system and not your account, so if your 3DS gets lost so do all your games. If your PS Vita gets lost you buy a new one and re download all your games. Hope Nintendo follows suit soon.

[Balsanoid]

I agree. I love being able to access my entire PS4 library instantly on my Vita's remote play. I can leave my PS4 at home and access all of them when I'm at my inlaws.

[NicSage]

You say all this now, but try playing your digital content without internet, or you loose access to your account.

[Nerdmaster]

It's the same as saying "try playing your game discs if a burglar breaks into your house and steals your games", or "you break up with your girlfriend and she throws everything away", or "you lend your games to a friend and he doesn't return them". Both options have its risks. And I'd say that you have better chances of recovering your accounts and digital games than recovering stolen game discs.

"try playing your digital content without internet"
I do it all the time. All my digital 3DS games are in my SD card, all the PC games that I still want to play are in my HD, same for my Vita and PS3... Even if internet crashes forever, I have enough games to keep me busy for some years.

[raWfodog]

I love both mediums depending on the situation. I prefer digital on my Vita on my kids 3DS's strictly for the convenience of not having to mess with a whole bunch of physical games, especially when we are traveling.

When I'm at home on my console(s), I don't mind physical at all.

[Joey_Leone]

You have no control over your digital games its a fact, you can't trade them in, lend them to a friend (Some services have that option but its up to the company to make that decision for you), or even collect them, i hear nonsense like it sucks having to get up to change discs (Quit being lazy, it only takes a few seconds), or dirty discs (Try scratching up a Blu-ray without any effort, lets see how that works out for ya), I've seen the bs people go through when they lose all access to their accounts, and end up losing all of their purchased digital content, It's not worth the risk.

[3-4-5]

Physical.....as long as it's an option and good price.

[paradigmfellow]

I prefer physical.

[Geobros]

I liked when I was young and I was going to a store full of video games. I was talking to the owner who was a gamer too and I could choose the game I liked the most. Nowdays is very different...

[Kyosuke_Sanada]

I agree, there is still people I keep in contact with who are gamers behind the cashier's desk (most of them are local) but almost every person in Gamestop sounds like a used car salesman.

[Mankey]

I have always preferred physical games, for collecting, swapping, lending and simply put, more consumer rights.

So long as this demand exists, physical games arn't going anywhere, just look at CDs and DVDs, people said they were dead back in 2011. Stuck around, because consumers demanded it.

[Fro_xoxo]

I prefer digital. The convenience. Being able to switch between my games on the fly.

If I purchase one copy of a game. I can share it with my brother.

for example, he doesn't have to buy another copy of Titanfall to play online with me.

Only downside to digital is the pricing. These days, we have the occasional 'sales'. I wait for these.

[ScorpiusX]

Used to be Physical disc buyer , but getting on line ,waiting , gas cost, travel time . Has pushed me to go all digital beside with incentive of preloading and being able to start playing it at say 12:01 is way to cool. So it's digital time for me .

[BattleTorn]

Or 9pm PST, in some cases =D =D

[Copat]

Physical copy will ALWAYS be better! I love the artwork and packaging of a game and being able to play it without an internet connection or PSN needing to verify the content. Doesn't take up as much space on my hard drive and not to mention, you could always trade it in when you are done with it and get some money back. And it costs the same as digital. No need for digital unless the game companies are going to give us a big price break for incentive!

[Tetsujin]

Depends on the game for me; some games I prefer digital and some I like a physical copy "just in case."

[Stringerbell]

Physical all the way. These days consoles are trying to be more and more like PC's. The Physical disk is the trump card in the console vs PS debate. Eliminate that and we are all playing on gimped restricted PC's.

[MetroidFREAK21]

I love having physical retro games. I love the satisfaction I get when I pop in a SNES cart, or a GD-ROM disc in my Dreamcast. But for the new generation of consoles, I went digital. Easier to keep tabs on, able to play instantly without switching discs, and not worrying about damaging them either. Which way you go is totally up to the user, but for me digital is now the best way to buy current games

[Grave]

Digital is the future, how many CDs u bought lately?

[rawrock]

Actually I just baough a lot of 10 REM cds off ebay lol...

[Dasteru]

Several. The sound quality is much better.

[AudioEppa]

Digital only. sometimes I'll wait for a price drop, mostly I'll get it at full price, depending on the game or my mood. I don't sell back games anymore and I don't care about a case, if I want some artwork from the game I'll buy a poster lol

[rawrock]

well digital sales keep growing every year. Probably i sthe future of gaming just like music...

[IGiveHugs2NakedWomen]

LOL...

Physical games for gaming consoles are still outselling digital console games two to one. I buy mostly physical copies because I want complete and total control over how a I play my games and when I play them. If the company suddenly goes out of business how will you get access to ALL of the games you paid for?

[dumahim]

Yep. This has been a problem for people who have bought music from some services that shut down. They have no obligation to stay running so you can redownload music you purchased.

Besides, I like having a collection to fill my bookshelves with and if I ever needed to, I could start selling it all and get some decent money for it all.

[rawrock]

I love my game cases sitting on my shelf lol, but the ease of not having to swap discs every time I want to play a game has me buying some digital games now. The last 10 games I have bought are pretty much 5 digital, 5 disc. I tend to get disc for the games I am super excited for like Halo or Dying Light, and get digital for games I take more casually like Forza and Battlefield. Maybe one day I'll be all digital, not sure. The industry may go that way anyway.

[DragonKnight]

The one and only reason I have bought digital games is because of the insane cost of physical games in Canada. It's bad enough that the cost of games has gone up to $70, but after you add in taxes it's almost $80. With digital, I don't have to worry about the taxes and that's literally the only benefit for me.

[PaulFiend]

I dunno guys, with all these "day 1 patches" and heavy patching overall, it is like having a beta version of the game on a disc these days.

Actually, one day I'll re-buy some of my fav. games like next GoW, Uncharted 4 and Batman Arkham Knight on discs, maybe GOTY editions, just in case...

[JackVagina]

Physical for me, I still download games at less then 1mb/sec downloading a 50gig game would take a whole day.

My PS4 HDD is already full, having to re-download games would be a massive pain in the arse. re-installing disc games takes 5-10 mins max.

And i like to have a physical collection on display, it looks nice.

Not to mention you can trade games in. IMO there is no compition here physical is better.

[Thehyph]

Just in case you didn't know: even though the PS store says a game may be 50GB, that's not the actual download size. That's the full install size of the game and most of that space is just for use as a page file.

Example: I just recently downloaded Shadow of Mordor and Dragon Age: I on ps4 and the actual downloads were about 6GB each.

I'm sure that's not much help if you're only using a 1MB connection though.

[JackVagina]

Hmm you may be right, i remember downloading injustice from PS+ and it was pretty small

[GNCFLYER]

They need to offer me better value to go digital. I can't sell or trade digital. It doesn't bother me to get up to change a disk.

[MasterCornholio]

I'm against an all digital future but I don't mind having both as an option.

I always buy retail when I can.

[Sir_Simba]

On pc i dont even have a disk drive, i love it, very very convinient.
On ps4 digital AAA are overpriced for no reason. So i have to buy hard copie. The order before realese was £39.99 to £44.99
Digital was between £60 to £70

[MilkMan]

I've been an advocate for digital since inception. I have no problems with it. NOW, I DO want some kind of commitment from these corporations as to how my digital collections moves from one gen to the next. This is a conversion that needs to happen the data and the research is abundantly clear.
Digital sales are here to stay and they increase 100 fold every year. Even Nintendo as ultra-conservative as they are understand this.

[Dan50]

Digital for PC and physical for consoles.

[Wonderful101]

Physical. Digital only if there's no physical option.

[InKnight7s]

Digital all the way if i i have good connection but good is not enough in my country we still suffering from false speeds and high prices so i prefer my collection for ps4. The two reasons for hating digital games that they are stuck on 59.99$ and restrictions. I am jealous from pc owners for the amazing prices and offers and sometimes free games.

[scruffy_bear]

Physical hate the idea that some day my digital title may disappear ie company goes bankrupt and turns off the server holding my titles, that do you do then.

[bananaboats]

physical all the way. I like having a collection of all my games I have bought. and I can resell my games if I ever want to. Cant resell digital games.

[snarls2000]

and that has happened with ebooks and music

[iamnsuperman]

I love digital and I would go fully digital if it wasn't the insane pricing. The ease and safety of having everything online/download is far more convenient

[Psychotica]

Physical for the consoles because it allows me to trade them in once I am done with them. Digital for PC though, no reason to get anything else now since most of them require some kind of online authentication and even some digital download after you pop the disk in.

[Valenka]

I prefer physical. Faster install times since it doesn't need to rely on the Internet, I'm not stuck with the game forever if I decide I want to sell it or trade it in, and I can purchase preowned and return it if I don't like it.

Digital = permanent, and I'm not into that.

Plus, I like having a physical collection to look at and appease the materialistic part of me. If it's a PC game, I get digital. Can't trade in PC games anyway, so there's really no point. Plus, Steam usually has great sales. I got Skyrim for $5 last month. Brilliant!

[Toiletsteak]

I would gladly go fully digital but the pricing is to damn high.

[jmc8888]

Both are great. There's little reason to say it's an either/or proposition.

Some games you know you are never going to trade in... or at least until many years later when it's only worth a dollar or three.

Other games you aren't sure of, and you may want a disc copy if you want to trade it in.

Sometimes you don't have the HD space, so you go disc.

There's many pros to both and cons to both. It's good to have both as an option.

After having suffered many scratched discs from a defect in the 360, one which even 'protection plans' didn't cover (so why buy protection if they don't cover it!!!), when buying digital, you don't have to worry about that.

Also, in years past, when I was younger, you would have 'friends' that would walk off with a cartridge or disc. You don't have to worry about that with digital.

Of course also when I was younger, I'd tend to be a little less careful with discs and they'd get scratched that way. Or you'd lose them over the course of years and can no longer play the game. With digital you don't have to worry about that.

Plus less clutter.

Of course physical, you can trade with your friends, or trade in for money or another game. Can't do that with digital.

They would tend to come with maps or poster, or whatever, and you don't get that with digital.

You don't have to be one way or the other. Know what you want and why and just buy what is best for your situation and that particular game. At different times in ones life one makes more sense then the other.

When I have kids, I'm sure I'll buy them digital games so I don't have to worry about kids stealing them, or kids being kids and scratching or losing them...nor have the hassle, from a parents point of view on trading them where those kids might scratch it, or your kid might scratch theirs and then you needing to replace it or asking another parent to replace yours. I guess when I was a kid they were all cartridges (for console) and floppy disc trading was much rarer, but you didn't have to worry about scratching a cartridge. They were very soundly built.

So just do what you want and feel best and don't worry about picking one side or the other. There is no right or wrong answer from outside, only you know what's best for you and your situation.

[higgins78]

I'm starting to subscribe to digital. For reasons of 'clutter' it is definitely preferable. Also, the whole Gollum/Amiibo debacle has left a real sour taste in my mouth. I want nothing to do with those who covet physical for reasons of anything OTHER than for profit and vanity.

[NeoTribe]

Physical is best. Fact.

[madcowzz]

I'm all about physical titles for all of my games. Except in the case of my Vita, I get digital simply because it's a mobile gaming machine, so bringing tons of game sticks isn't ideal

[Two-Face]

Physical is the best if you collect older stuff like for the NES.
Digital is the best on modern stuff imo, especially on platform Steam.

[ion666]

How would anybody call it clutter? People must have thrown all the cases on the floor. I keep mines on a shelf nice and neat. There sure a lot of slobs out there.

[cruzngta]

No disc no buy for me. If I cant hold or have it in my sight I don't want it.

[kurruptor]

I'll never go digital due to pricing and no selling of used games.

Usually I buy games on sale $40 or less. Then when I'm done with them I can sell them and get at least half my money back. So, in the end I really only pay $20 or less.

You can't get anywhere close to that buying a fairly new game digital.

[antikbaka]

i would buy only digital games if they were cheaper, but only steam does it, so if a game is multi-platform I get it only there.

Nintendo has got a horrible digital policy when it's even more expensive than a disc...Jesus I wish they go bankrupt.

[Roccetarius]

The only way Digital would be a possible replacement, is if companies went the GOG route and allouwed you to save and install your games at any time. Unfortunately that's not likely to happen.

[DualWielding]

I buy digital because I don't live in the U.S and buying from the U.S PSN is way cheaper than buying discs where I live or have them shipped form the U.S.

[TWB]

I never buy new games digitaly because I dont believe that just a license to use a game that you have to download digitaly over internet is worth a 50-70€

Getting games that Im curious about from (Steam) sales or old games that I cant find a copy of digitaly from Steam/PSN is okay to me.

But I always default to the physical copy, physical is cheaper for console games anyways... not gonna buy digital games at release as long as they are more expensive than physical.

[Dark_Overlord]

Physical all the way :)

I was pretty annoyed when they stopped making manuals in certain games (yes I'd always read them :P)

I just love having a collection to look at :)

If I buy a game digitally that later becomes physical, I go well out of my way to get it, and likewise with kickstarters, I rarely back unless a physical option is offered :)

[aDDicteD]

Physical for me, because remember marvel vs capcom 2 and other old marvel vs games on psn, you cant buy one right now because of license issue and for those who have not bought it during those time will never ever be able to play it. if it comes out on physical however it could have been a different story and you can still play it and buy it on other sellers.