If AAA games were released in digital formats at lower prices than physical copies...

[Leemaster777]

...would you be more likely to purchase the digital copy than a physical version?

Say, for example, that when Bioshock Infinite was released, it came out on all platforms, but also on all platforms digitally for $10 less. Would you buy that over a physical copy?

Now obviously, digital games have inherent problems (can't trade them in, uses up space on your console, etc.) but at a cheaper price, would it be worth it in your book?

Personally... I'd still probably go for a physical copy over digital. Even if it was a game I was extremely unlikely to trade in (like Bioshock Infinite). I just prefer having something tangible in my hands.

What about the rest of you? Are physical copies of games important to you too? How much of a price difference would there have to be in order for digital to be more appealing than physical copies?

 

[Daystar Clarion]

They already do, it's called Steam.

I got Bioshock infinite for £30.

I'm looking at the next generation of consoles (excluding the WiiU) and games are looking to cost around 50 quid a pop.

Fuck that I say, looks like I'm a PC and WiiU player from here on out...

 

[shrekfan246]

Personally... I'd still probably go for a physical copy over digital. Even if it was a game I was extremely unlikely to trade in (like Bioshock Infinite). I just prefer having something tangible in my hands.

How nice of you to answer your question for me.

On PC, I like being able to play games without disks. The disk-checking DRM back in the 90's always annoyed me, because hey, the game is installed right on my system, right?

While you could make the same argument for modern consoles, one of the things that's always given me a sense of satisfaction is to slip a physical copy of a game into the console and watch it load up and start. Garish and loud though it may be, I still love that classic PS1 start-up jingle.

And I like to collect things. I like to be able to look at the physical manifestation of what I own, not just take a glance at a piece of hardware and think "Yep, I've got a couple thousands of dollars worth of software installed on that."

 

[tippy2k2]

Yes

I'm not a big fan of the used game market and so I rarely buy/sell my video games. Losing the ability to borrow out the games would be a bit of a stumbling block but if I had the choice to pick up "The Last of Us" for $60 in the store or $30 on the PSN, I would download the game in a heart beat over the physical copy.

So to answer your question completely, $10 would not be enough. It would have to be (at least) 50% off.

 

[Longstreet]

I go for whatever is cheapest.

Cost wise there is no reason that digital sales are the same price as physical copies. There is no cost in printing the dvd's, booklets or the transport.

The only reason they are at the same price is to prevent pissed off retailers.

So when i retailer happens to run a nice discount i'll go there, otherwise it's steam for me.

That reminds me, almost summer sale time. *ohgodwhy* my poor wallet.

 

[Anthony Corrigan]

Physical, the special would have to be very large and I like collectibles as well, have a wall full of things from infamous, and bioshock and darksiders and AC and heaps more

 

[doomed89]

60GB ps3 so probably not.

 

[ScrabbitRabbit]

They already do, it's called Steam.

I got Bioshock infinite for £30.

I'm looking at the next generation of consoles (excluding the WiiU) and games are looking to cost around 50 quid a pop.

Fuck that I say, looks like I'm a PC and WiiU player from here on out...

I consistently get PC games cheaper from Amazon than Steam, myself. Got Sonic Generations for £15 at release! Waiting for delivery isn't an issue, either, because my internet is shit Takes less time wait for the game to arrive and then install it than it does to download it!

That's my major issue with DD at the moment, actually. Even average-sized AAA games (about 8-12 gigs or so) is *really* pushing it for what I can download. If I'd bought Max Payne 3 on Steam it would have taken two weeks in real-time for me to download. On top of that, my connection is shared and I'm only allowed to download for an hour or two per day :[ I can only see next-gen games being even bigger since the next-gen consoles both use Blu-ray.

If my internet was better, then I'd just buy from wherever was the cheapest, yeah. Right now, though, I don't have a choice. I have to buy retail.

 

[LetalisK]

That reminds me, almost summer sale time. *ohgodwhy* my poor wallet.

You wouldn't happen to know an exact date, would you? I really want to get Gunpoint, but it is summer and I'm a cheap asshole.

 

[MysticSlayer]

Only if the price was significantly lower than the retail price. I like having something in my hand, and buying a physical copy also gives me an extra sense of security that it's mine and I can keep it if I want to, or get rid of it if I want to.

The only reason they are at the same price is to prevent pissed off retailers.

There's probably more to it than just that, though that might be one reason they do it. However, they also understand that people, no matter how much they complain about price, are still willing to buy a game at $60 on release, so they likely figure that they should just put it at that price, regardless of there being less cost to them, and make a little extra money off the digital distribution market. It's certainly not the most lovable business practice, but it is one that businesses follow in their effort to get the greatest return on their investment. On the other hand, digital distribution also comes with its own fees, such as Valve taking a portion of every sale on Steam. I'm not sure the exact numbers, but that cut might be enough to raise the price as much as all the extra things surrounding retail copies, such as booklets, cases, discs, shipping, etc.

 

[AngelOfBlueRoses]

That reminds me, almost summer sale time. *ohgodwhy* my poor wallet.

You wouldn't happen to know an exact date, would you? I really want to get Gunpoint, but it is summer and I'm a cheap asshole.

There's no set date yet. We know a few things already, though. It always starts on a Thursday, and it's started late June and early July, the latest date being July 12th. Since it wasn't this week, I'm going to hazard a guess and say it'll be next week. July 4th, so a lot of people have off. How better to celebrate that than by spending all of your money on games? That's the thing, though. This is all just guesswork because we won't know until it happens, though some people say you can predict it from how bundles start showing up in the Steam Store.

OT: I mostly use Steam. The only time I use my PS3 anymore is when I'm playing PS2 games or the PS3 games that I got before switching to PC. I learned my lesson after buying the Fallout games and Skyrim for console and I've been PC ever since.

 

[Windcaler]

Even though Im a PC gamer and we pretty much only have digital if I had a choice I would get a physical copy, ever single time. The reason being that they are IMO more convienant then just having a library on a company server that I have no control over.

 

[krazykidd]

No . I like having physical copies of my games. I like having something i can hold and see and lend . I love stacking my games and coutinf them and looking at my behemoth of a library . I don't play PC ... And i don't want my consoles digital only. I'd stop gaming when that happens.

 

[mbarker]

the boxes have become a collection for me. It would be dissapointing if I don't get a nicely designed box with some form of optical media to commemorate the game I bought. I would buy a physical game before going digital. but if I want to just play the game I would go to Steam or GOG.

 

[Zhukov]

You just described greenmangaming.com. Also, Steam sales, although of course you have to wait for them.

So yes, I'd buy them, judging by the fact that I already do.

I do not require a CD on a shelf to fill the yawning chasm in my soul or whatever. All I care about is that paying the money allows me to play the game.

 

[Maximum Bert]

They already do, it's called Steam.

Except thats not always the case especially on new releases where I usually find Steam more expensive than the boxed copy even when games are in the steam sales you can still find cheaper boxed copies a reasonable amount of the time even though they are not on sale.

OT: If digital was always cheaper than retail then I would go digital but not on large games as they take me too long to download and can make me go over my broadband limit which will likely make it more expensive and time consuming than just buying the boxed copy anyway.

 

[TrevHead]

I'm fine with all my PC games been downloadable but many of my console games like my CAVE shmups that are "keepers" I want a physical box to sit on my shelf.

I think if consoles weren't so stingy and backwards with their hard drive / memorycard I would be more willing to go download. So would the ability to transfer my games to another console / HD once the hardware is no longer been supported would help too.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

Nope: I just wait for the physical release to drop in price a bit before I grab mine. I try really hard to not spend money on intangible things.

 

[J Tyran]

I already buy digital whenever I can, unless physical medium is remarkably cheaper. I hate clutter and I have enough of it with collectors edition games, favourite hardcover books and boxed set DVD/BDs. If I had every game and movie on physical medium I would need meter after meter of shelf space. I like my media servers and games I do not need to rummage around for a disk to play.

I will not even start with the books, if my kindle books where real books I would be inundated. Same goes for movies music, its easier to sign up for an unlimited streaming service and play whatever I want.

 

[Lilani]

That reminds me, almost summer sale time. *ohgodwhy* my poor wallet.

You wouldn't happen to know an exact date, would you? I really want to get Gunpoint, but it is summer and I'm a cheap asshole.

Last year the "Summer Sales" didn't arrive until like September, if I recall correctly. So it seems the date is whenever the hell Valve feels like it, lol. Though I'm also eagerly awaiting, I want the Walking Dead but I'm too cheap to drop $25 on it.