Would you rather buy a phyiscal copy of the PC game or buy a digital copy?

[kreillyrogers322]

Hello, for my media task I have been asked to create an online form based on a question about gaming. Please leave a reply if possible, thanks.

 

[silverfeather]

for consoles like ps4/xbox1, physical ALWAYS.

For pc its digital without any doubts(HAIL GABEN OUR LORD AND SAVIOR)

 

[madmatt30]

Digital for console as well as PC .

Owning an Xbox one even if you buy a physical disk it installs the game in its entirety to the hard drive anyway.

& you then need the disk in the drive too so its not like you can put it away & keep it in pristine condition.

I have 6 physical Xbox one disks & actually having to hunt them out to play a game & swap disks is a PITA IMO.

 

[SoggyTissue]

always physical copies for 2 main reasons:
1. no download wait.
2. appreciation of price.

yep, physical copies can appreciate in resale price, a digital copy does not allow you to sell on. even if they dont appreciate, you can still sell most of them on (non-subbed) enough said.

nb. if anyone recalls the games industry tried to impose a tax on second hand games so they could scoop up more cash ... the push to digital is their way of ensuring no re-sales.

 

[birne]

I would much rather have the game in digital form.
Reason being physical discs are often lost/scratched or damaged somehow. This cannot happen to digital games.
It may be that it is easier lending a game to a friend if it is physical, but all platforms pc and consoles nowadays have some way of lending the game digitally, may it be through steams family thing, or sonys primary ps4..(never had xbox)

prize wise i think it also is cheaper buying it digitally.

downside of digital is that all games are registered to one account, and if you lose access to it you lose all of the games, although if you're a little carefull this should not be a problem either.

 

[kreillyrogers322]

for consoles like ps4/xbox1, physical ALWAYS.

For pc its digital without any doubts(HAIL GABEN OUR LORD AND SAVIOR)

Thanks for replying!

 

[4745454b]

I love steam and all my games sitting there. Another advantage to digital is you can go anywhere, log into your platform, and install your favorite game. The example I use is when you are visiting the grandparents and for whatever reason you are left alone. Perhaps they left to pick up someone else, Perhaps there is only one grandparent and s/he still works. With digital you can sign into a game service and download a simple game quickly and one that might play on their PC. Basically, you have all your disks with you at all times.

For those that said physical disk, not only are there often Day 1 patches, but there are also one time use codes. They really are trying anything to make disks worthless. About the only down side to digital is what happens if the service folds. Bigger ones like Steam and Origin I don't see going anywhere any time soon. But there are smaller ones out there that might have issues. If the company folds, your games might stop working.

 

[kreillyrogers322]

for consoles like ps4/xbox1, physical ALWAYS.

For pc its digital without any doubts(HAIL GABEN OUR LORD AND SAVIOR)

Digital for console as well as PC .

Owning an Xbox one even if you buy a physical disk it installs the game in its entirety to the hard drive anyway.

& you then need the disk in the drive too so its not like you can put it away & keep it in pristine condition.

I have 6 physical Xbox one disks & actually having to hunt them out to play a game & swap disks is a PITA IMO.

Thanks for replying!

 

[spdragoo]

It all depends on the game & the platform. I prefer to have a physical disc whenever possible as a physical backup, because it does provide that extra security. However, some of my older games have had to be put aside because they won't run in Windows anymore (not a Windows 10 issue, but a 64-bit Windows issue, as the problem started with Windows 7). Luckily they were (for the most part) available for purchase from GOG.

When it comes to digital, I'm more open -- especially since some services don't even give you an option (like Steam) -- I have a few Steam games, but for the most part my collection is not tied into them. And my primary sources (EA Origins, Blizzard) give you the option of digital downloads or tying your physical disc into the digital anyway.

 

[4745454b]

I prefer to have a physical disc whenever possible as a physical backup

Huh? Digital is a backup, the "disk" is in the cloud.

 

[spdragoo]

Having a physical disk means that I can install the game irregardless of whether I'm connected to the Internet or not -- & in many cases, even with 60Mbps Internet, the physical disc access speeds are much faster than the speeds available from the company's servers (one of the things I hate about patching from Blizzard, as their connections seem to top out around 20-25Mbps even if it's the only thing running in the house).

 

[4745454b]

Ah, ok. That does make sense. Having spotty or low speed internet would be another reason to get disks.

 

[neatfeatguy]

Physical copy of PC games....I miss these days. You could go into a local Best Buy (heck, even a GameStop) and browse through so many games on the shelf. Outside of subscribing to a gaming magazine, you didn't have an easy way to read up on game reviews so you had to rely on word of mouth or simply - the awesome box art and information provided on the game box itself.

I remember killing a solid 30-60 minutes just going through all the games on all the shelves at my local Best Buy. Looking things over, reading captions and taking in the pictures.

You get home and open the box and not only was there a game disc you installed the software from, there was a user guide or manual. Often times there'd be other things included at no extra cost (mouse pad, collectible card, world map and so on) that just added to the amazing feeling of not only owning a brand new game, but also the amazing extras you got with that you could actually find some practical use for.
You get a poster - you could hang it on your wall.
You get a mousepad - you could use it with your mouse.
You get a game map - you could use it to find your location or hang it on the wall.
You get a tree skill chart - so much easier it was trying to figure out what skills you want and how to get there as you leveled.

I miss those days. Sure, you can still find physical copies to PC games these days (they're far and few between when compared to years back), but they're generally just a disc that provides an activation key for the DRM program you need to active the game through; such as Steam or Origin. You don't usually see anything else inside the box either, other than maybe some advertisement for other games from that company or some cheap, basic game manual.

I could certainly track down a collector's edition for some games now, but they're usually 2-3x the cost over a basic copy of the game. What you get inside these collector editions aren't worth, in my opinion, the extra cost. You tend to get a disc that includes the game music, a "How it was made" disc, some little collector figure or some art-based picture book and to top it off, usually some kind of digital key-code for "extra" things in game that make your character overpowered or just look slightly different.

 

[piechockidocent9]

Definitely digital on both pc and consoles thought I do buy collector's editions of games I like that actually have some cool stuff in them.

Cons:

-whatnot decent internet speed for bigger titles but honestly who doesn't have one these days;
-you physicly don't have it in hand but on some internet platform like Steam but it's same as having money in bank vs in sock or mattress;
-you can't get collector's editions as they are physical exclusively;
-no re-selling option unless you sell your entire acount with all games within.

Pros:
-you do have to download it once but afterwards no need for internet unless playing internet based game obviously. Just like with physical installation which in many cases will additionly ask you to insert game disk afterwards with every start;
-good for eternity, no chance of physical carrier getting scratched, cracked, oxydized etc. the last one happened for example with my neat condition diablo II. Even if somehow platform is going down you can freely and rightfully demand a refund for every game you have on it;
-have all your games in one or as in my case 3 places you just have to log into, no need for storage space or digging through boxes/disks;
-price is lower with digital version and additionly you can get lots of games for literally next nothing with for example humblebundle.

 

[The Paladin]

few things;

1. if you have an old game on cd, and download it from steam for example, you c an use your license CD to initialise and make it yours again
2. if you tire of a game you can on steam exchange it with someone else that may have a game you like. you license will be move to their account.
3. if your hard drive crashes you can set all games on steam to be installed, go to bed and all will be restored in the morning. (no flipping of disks/cd's)
4. mentioned earlier, if you have a laptop and going on a trip, you can load you favorite games before the trip and have them handy when hotel boredom settles in (online or not)
5. older games are being functional again on steam and therefore work under windows 10.
6. oldest games (old school ones can be accessed via specialized web pages without having to lug diskettes/emulators around)
7. buy a game and 48 hours later realize its a crappy games, its dont run , its just not a game for you , you email steam and they refund your purchase, remove the license from your account and you just delete it from your steam library and use that money to buy another game your eyes wandered to.

disk are nice to have in your hands... I have a shed full of them... and after ready what I just wrote, wonder, why that box of cd's isn't in the garbage bin, and I cannot find a real reason why they are not.

the reasons to be online over cd copies has been along time coming... and isn't going anywhere.

*excuse me I have a box of cd's to dump in the garbage....*

PS: all licenses of cd's I have scanned/photographed and kept in an image folder, all O/S I use have a license for also are made into ISO's stored into a NAs drive at the house... another reason to not keep the cd's