My decent into digital only.

[Eric the Orange]

So just as a preface I was born in 1981, so the idea of downloadable games has always been against the things I have grown up with.

But back say 4-5 years ago I downloaded my first game. Back then I only did so because the games were available no other way. Mostly indie games that don't have access to physical releases.

Then I downloaded games that were hard to find or were offered really cheep on things like steam.

But I've noticed now-a-days I generally don't even look for a physical copy if a digital one is available. For example none of my 3DS games are physical because all 3DS games are available digitally.

So I ask you what have your experiences with digital games been? Have you, like me, found that you more and more prefer digital releases?

 

[DoPo]

Decent? You probably mean descent. In which case: descent? You mean ASCENT!

All right, I'm joking. I do like DD. In fact, pretty much all my purchases are DD nowadays. I don't really mind physical copies but I just find digital more convenient for me.

 

[Bad Jim]

I have to say that, while physical copies are nicer to own, downloaded copies are nicer to actually play. You don't have to find the disk. You don't have to listen to your disk whirring madly in the drive and sounding like a helicopter about to take off. You just (usually) have to be online, which most people are anyway these days.

Plus, digital copies are in truth probably safer than physical ones. Unless you are super careful to the point of paranoia, you've probably misplaced a few of your disks, had some disks stepped on, ruined by a faulty DVD drive or otherwise broken, or hit the common problem of old games just not working on new machines. While it is possible that Valve or GOG could go belly up or something and take my games with them, this is highly unlikely and on average I'd say I'm a greater danger to my own games than any large digital distributor.

 

[Aris Khandr]

I pretty much went Steam/Origin only on games a few years ago. I love that my collection moves with me easily. When I got my iPad last year, I made the jump to digital only on books, music, and movies as well. The only time I ever buy physical media anymore is if it comes with the digital copy AND is cheaper than just the digital. For example, I've got a CD coming to me in the mail today from Amazon. I've had the digital version on my computer since Friday. But they wanted $14.99 for the digital alone, or $9.99 for the CD+digital. So I've got a CD coming in the mail, which I will immediately hand to my mother for her to enjoy.

I enjoy the ease of digital. I can be out and about and decide I really want to reread a book I own. Rather than waiting to go home and get it, I just redownload it from Amazon on my iPad, and I'm reading the book. Ditto for movies, though it can take a half hour or so if I want to download it rather than streaming it. And, best of all, if I decide to move again in a year, my collection is self-moving! I had to move eleven and a half boxes of books when I moved in August. Just books. If Amazon would do a "send us your books, we'll give you the digital version" promotion, I'd send all eleven and a half boxes to them tomorrow, no questions asked.

 

[Strelok]

Went digital years ago myself,and was born in 1973, not sure what that has to do with it. Now I only rarely get physical copies, like collector's editions (BioShock: Infinite, Skyrim, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. etc.). Physical medium is a bit of relic, will likely not last much longer, similar to the fate of video game stores.

 

[Christopher Fisher]

So just as a preface I was born in 1981, so the idea of downloadable games has always been against the things I have grown up with.

But back say 4-5 years ago I downloaded my first game. Back then I only did so because the games were available no other way. Mostly indie games that don't have access to physical releases.

Then I downloaded games that were hard to find or were offered really cheep on things like steam.

But I've noticed now-a-days I generally don't even look for a physical copy if a digital one is available. For example none of my 3DS games are physical because all 3DS games are available digitally.

So I ask you what have your experiences with digital games been? Have you, like me, found that you more and more prefer digital releases?

Digital downloads are the future and will save the games industry. It's sad that the industry as a whole is held back due to peoples' nerdy desire to have a bunch of boxes sit on a shelf so they can gloat to their friends.

 

[Strazdas]

Im a bit younger born in 1989, so i saw the whole evolution of igital download as i grew up. Frankly, i havent had a physical copy of a game since, i dont know, i was 15 or so. There are many factrs to this. one is that i live in Lithuania, and that means that 90% of the games in physical copies dont even make it here, and those that do are s ridiculously overpriced (think 130 dollars for a copy) and only go down in price when they are 3 years old (i dont mind and often do play games that are older, i never go for the "get on release day" thing). Another thing is that its very convinient to download games instead of looking for physical copy. I also fully love and support internet dinwload platforms and as such i like downloadable games. I have refused to use steam for many years however since i saw how it was back in 2003 and what it did to people, so that is not realy a big deal for me, wasnt a factor.

I am a hoarder (big time), and even as such i find the fascination of needing to have a box to collect dust on a shelf stupid. And thats exactly what 90%+ of physical copies end up doing. Now if only i could trade my digital copies, as per common sense and the european laws....

 

[Inconspicuous Trenchcoat]

Digital Frontier, Come Here!

-PC games: I'm fine with buying everything digitally. I don't want physical PC games.
-eBooks: I have no hesitation to buy books digitally, as I tend to read a book once then not care what happens to it. I just don't have an eReader or tablet. Not buying books digitally until I get around to owning something proper to read them on.

Mix it Up
-3DS games: There's no account system, so I buy almost everything physically. I only buy digital-exclusive small or indie games, like Pushmo or Gunman Clive.
-Music: I have no problems buying music digitally. BUT, I've gone back to buying CDs! Why? Because you can't buy most stuff uncompressed (or whatever CD quality is). Then I import the CD in a loseless format and enjoy CD quality on my iPod. CD quality music sounds so much better than 256kbps MP3s/AACs. Especially when blasting it on a car stereo, which I do frequently. Turn it up to 11, and stuff.
-PS3: I buy both physical and digital. Physical is usually cheaper than on PSN. If it's available physically, I get that cause it's probably cheaper. I buy PSN games too.

I'm Afraid of the Future
-Movies: I have a mental block against owning movies digitally. I'll probably get over it eventually, but for now I really don't like the idea of paying $10+ for a digital movie. Makes no sense, considering I don't care about physically possessing games, but the mental block is still there.
-TV Shows: I don't want to pay $2.99 for each HD episode :/. In the rare case I buy TV shows, I buy physically. I have an emotional attachment to buying TV shows physically: when I'm sick I tend to grab a season of my favorite TV show and go through it on my 10-year-old portable DVD player (remember those?--they still sell them too, crazy eh?).
-Vita: The memory cards are a legal form of highway robbery, so I buy everything physically (well, actually I hardly buy anything and just roll with what PS+ gives me )

I miss rewinding VHS tapes so badly. Don't you?

 

[EstrogenicMuscle]

I'm going to repeat the same thing that got me unjustly warned as "admitting to piracy" in the other thread about the subject of digital distribution.

Digital distribution is popular for many of the same reasons as piracy. People like the rights of physical. They don't want to lose their stuff if servers go down. But just like piracy, legal digital downloads are easy. People want to download their stuff. A lot of people are at their computers and popping in discs is often less fun than just clicking a button and waiting a few minutes for something to reach your hard drive.

I'm scared of all the rights involved, but as a service I prefer digital because it is easier. I want to be able to own stuff. And I want to be able to simply download stuff. Good digital media is easier to deal with than physical media.

I await being banned for being considered "admitting to piracy".:/ Because apparently explaining why piracy is easy or popular is the same as admitting to it.

 

[Eric the Orange]

-3DS games: There's no account system, so I buy almost everything physically. I only buy digital-exclusive small or indie games, like Pushmo or Gunman Clive.

You can re-download things for free, but yeah there's no list of things you've bought and that would be helpful.

 

[Eric the Orange]

Digital downloads are the future and will save the games industry. It's sad that the industry as a whole is held back due to peoples' nerdy desire to have a bunch of boxes sit on a shelf so they can gloat to their friends.

That seems unnecessarily angry and confrontational.

 

[Tayh]

DD usually entails having to deal with DRM, so I tend to avoid it if possible, the only exception being GamersGate, GOG and kickstarter games.
Other than that, I prefer physical copies for my collection shelf, in the same way that I'm building a small library of books I love.

 

[Christopher Fisher]

Digital downloads are the future and will save the games industry. It's sad that the industry as a whole is held back due to peoples' nerdy desire to have a bunch of boxes sit on a shelf so they can gloat to their friends.

That seems unnecessarily angry and confrontational.

I didn't mean it that way (it is nice to have a collection), but my point still stands. Removing retail from the equation really opens up a ton of possibilities. Indies may not even have to go through a publisher. Big studios don't have to worry about sending out the right number of copies to retailers. The cost of games goes down significantly. It's a win win for everyone except the middle-man retailers.

 

[EstrogenicMuscle]

There's more reasons than just wanting to have things on your shelf for wanting to own physical.

With a lot of digital distribution, you are only getting a license that could be revoked for a game. That significantly impedes your legal right to be able to play the game.

Also DRM which can be obnoxious to deal with. Digital has the opportunity to be much better than physical in every way. But it is understandable that many are not convinced.

 

[Maximum Bert]

Digital saves space but I usually go for physical copies because I have a copy then most digital games are tied to accounts and I dont like that plus it takes up space on my hard drive and usually digital copies are more expensive than the physical copies because they dont have to shift anything to clear space.

I sometimes use digital if its a game I cant get anywhere else but usually I find its cheaper and just as easy to get a physical copy unless I have to play it now for some reason but if its a reasonable sized game I could still get the physical copy in the same amount of time or in some cases buy the physical copy complete it and take it back in the time my digital copy is downloading because my internet isnt super fast.

Unless something is done about all the DRM and the goddamn price of digital games if it takes off I think I will definitely be playing less at the moment ots not a place I am willing to go for games, films and books. Digital music not a problem.

 

[SUPA FRANKY]

I prefer digital nowadays actually. More convenient. What i you need to move? it would be a pain in the ass o take all those DVDs and games with you. With Steam and Netflix, all I pretty much need is my Desktop and Laptop and I'm solid.

 

[CardinalPiggles]

If I had an Xbox case for every game I own on Steam then I wouldn't have enough space for clothes, put it that way.

I suppose a persons preference largely relies on whether they have expendable space on their hard drive or in their house. And how much they trust that their games will always be available.

 

[ninjapenguin1414]

I prefer hard copies over DD because I just prefer to see/feel the thing I own that being said of course I don't own a single computer game disk as I've bought them all from Steam. The only things I actually prefer downloading are Comics and Anime not for any good reason but beacause they are normally ridiculously expensive (60 bucks for 13 episodes! Fuck you Funimation for giving me all these good shows I'd never be able to see in english otherwise!) That being said I do buy comics and anime when I have some extra money to throw around (or if I just see something I'm worried might not be their later)

 

[Headdrivehardscrew]

Hm. I don't like digital only. I like physical copies. I very much dislike optical media, but I'm happy with it as long as we're not going back to stupid things like the Neo Geo CD - that one did not work for me, at all. An average 50% of the time spent on the loading screen is not what I consider to be 'fun'.

I like physical, boxed copies. It's become quite a hassle to get what I want these days, but ever since stuff bought from both Valve/Steam and PSN/Sony has become a random lottery of me maybe getting what I want (the unadulterated, original, English/French/Japanese game title without localization, censored content or other BS shenanigans, I think it's worth it. I've severely cut back on pre-ordering due to the random and volatile nature of a lot of the final products we get these days.

After I finished Ni No Kuni, I fought with myself for more than a week. But then I sold the Wizard's Edition for twice what I paid for it, Marcus Beer Drippy included. I actually miss Drippy a bit. But it's very unlikely that I'll ever play Ni No Kuni again. If it was a digitally bought license, I'd just uninstall it and that would be that. No emotional value, no feelies, no 'real' manifestation in the physical world. I'll have enough of that once I'm dead. No reason to start early, methinks.