No Right Answer: Best Video Game Format - Physical vs. Digital
- Thread starter Firefilm
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Welcome to the modern world.
Also physical copy or not you don't own the game. You can still browse a digital store and see the box art. Digital games don't use codes anymore, but physical games still do sometimes. And if you buy your digital games from a good distributer they don't add drm so you don't have to worry about the server going down any more than if you have a psychical copy.
Also physical copy or not you don't own the game. You can still browse a digital store and see the box art. Digital games don't use codes anymore, but physical games still do sometimes. And if you buy your digital games from a good distributer they don't add drm so you don't have to worry about the server going down any more than if you have a psychical copy.
Thats an argument against services such as steam or origin not digital distribution. There are lots of digital distributors that sell DRM free games that are frequently easier to back up and reinstall than physical copies. There are also services like GamersGame that don't add any DRM to the games so any DRM on games they sell is there whether its digital or physical. Physical media ensures nothing especially since most physical copies of big budget games wont run without their DRM.Tanis said:
Thats piracy not digital distribution.vagabondwillsmile said:
This was a heated discussion in 2011-2012 when PC gaming was "dying" and people questioned whether it's worth giving away the convenience of physical copies for the digital format. I was in the later camp since I buying physical copies is a no no for me, especially when I can go to steam and buy 10 good games for my PC, rather than 1 of those games for the same price.
And the 7th console generation wasn't as big in my country due to how bloody expensive a PS3 was and it couldn't be hacked(srsly, want hardware sales Sony? make these things moddable, you'll be making much more profit from many many countries rather than only relying on Japan and the west to buy your premium products).
And the 7th console generation wasn't as big in my country due to how bloody expensive a PS3 was and it couldn't be hacked(srsly, want hardware sales Sony? make these things moddable, you'll be making much more profit from many many countries rather than only relying on Japan and the west to buy your premium products).
As a non-PC gamer...
*le gasp*
Why can't both physical and digital copies coexist? I mean, they're still the same ass price and, if the game came with both options and you loose one of those options somehow, you have the other option as backup... I mean, sure you can still have your "just digital" or "just physical" option, but can't we still have a "just both" option?
...What's that? I'm getting too old for this shit and should just accept the fact that digital will become the one true format of gaming and anything else, in terms of "quality" entertainment??
NEVER!!!!
*le gasp*
Why can't both physical and digital copies coexist? I mean, they're still the same ass price and, if the game came with both options and you loose one of those options somehow, you have the other option as backup... I mean, sure you can still have your "just digital" or "just physical" option, but can't we still have a "just both" option?
...What's that? I'm getting too old for this shit and should just accept the fact that digital will become the one true format of gaming and anything else, in terms of "quality" entertainment??
NEVER!!!!
I'm all in favour of digital if... it follows the GoG model. That is, you get the game and get to burn it on disk or save it on USB. If it's like Steam, PSN, XBLA (or iTunes with songs) I'm very much against it. So much against it, that I refuse to buy games on those services.
I've made this point before, and I'll make it again, on those services you're essentially not buying a game, but borrowing it indefinitely. If the service goes down you're pretty much S.O.L. unless you've anticipated it and ensured offline play. Unlike physical copies where you're guaranteed to continue playing it as long as you have a device that can read those games.
I've made this point before, and I'll make it again, on those services you're essentially not buying a game, but borrowing it indefinitely. If the service goes down you're pretty much S.O.L. unless you've anticipated it and ensured offline play. Unlike physical copies where you're guaranteed to continue playing it as long as you have a device that can read those games.
Unfortunately with digital while it does save the companies money a lot of them (like EA) still sell the digital copies for full retail price. Personally I do enjoy having a physical copy if just for that peace of mind knowing that come with having it. The biggest problem with going digital is that rather than owning a game we really are just paying to rent/get permission to play these games, and at any time the servers could go down or the company decides they don't want to pay for maintain them anymore...POOF...you can't play a game you paid good money for at all.
There are several things that Kyle could/should have mentioned, that are points in favor of physical game copies (or at least nullify some claimed advantages of digital ones)...
- Online digital game sites will eventually close. Whether it's GOG, Steam, Groupees, or some other site that you download your copy from, something will happen that will cause the site to close for good at some point. And when they do, the the ability to download the digital games you bought from them is gone. And this leads me to...
- You still have to make backups of your digital games. So unless you're the type of person who doesn't care about backing up your games, or you've got a really big external harddrive that can hold every digital game you've bought, you'll still have discs being stored somewhere. So saving space with digital games isn't quite as strong an argument as it initially seems.
- Game companies talked about how much cheaper it would be to sell digital games. Yes, cheaper for them, not so much for us consumers. The new digital games still cost anywhere from $50-$70 for the regular/collector's edition, so the consumer saves nothing once the game's released. There's no price difference between physical and digital. If anything, you actually get less with the digital version, because there's no box, box art, CD art, printed manual, etc. that usually come with the physical copy.
Sometimes you can get a break, like when an online retailer gives a pre-order discount. But once the game's out, it's $50-$70 for either version when it's a new release.
- Piracy is just as easy with digital games (perhaps easier in ways?). Even Steam's set up has been worked around these days, so digital really earned no points in that area.
- If a given site is having issues and can't be accessed, you can't download your digital games, or even sometimes play them if you already have them installed (I'm looking at you Blizzard and EA). You rarely run into that issue with physical copies if you go back about five or six years.
- Bandwidth caps are becoming an unfortunate thing these days with some ISPs, and downloading a pair of 30-plus GB games isn't always possible. That's not an issue when you're installing from physical discs (unless of course, the physical discs still use something like Steamworks, and need a big patch from Steam to be downloaded).
There are my thoughts on some points that weren't brought up in the video. I have Steam, a GOG account, and whatnot, and a fair number of digital games. So I'm not anti-digital or anything. But there are traits that favor physical game copies over digital ones, and thus still give the physical side a solid edge IMO.
- Online digital game sites will eventually close. Whether it's GOG, Steam, Groupees, or some other site that you download your copy from, something will happen that will cause the site to close for good at some point. And when they do, the the ability to download the digital games you bought from them is gone. And this leads me to...
- You still have to make backups of your digital games. So unless you're the type of person who doesn't care about backing up your games, or you've got a really big external harddrive that can hold every digital game you've bought, you'll still have discs being stored somewhere. So saving space with digital games isn't quite as strong an argument as it initially seems.
- Game companies talked about how much cheaper it would be to sell digital games. Yes, cheaper for them, not so much for us consumers. The new digital games still cost anywhere from $50-$70 for the regular/collector's edition, so the consumer saves nothing once the game's released. There's no price difference between physical and digital. If anything, you actually get less with the digital version, because there's no box, box art, CD art, printed manual, etc. that usually come with the physical copy.
Sometimes you can get a break, like when an online retailer gives a pre-order discount. But once the game's out, it's $50-$70 for either version when it's a new release.
- Piracy is just as easy with digital games (perhaps easier in ways?). Even Steam's set up has been worked around these days, so digital really earned no points in that area.
- If a given site is having issues and can't be accessed, you can't download your digital games, or even sometimes play them if you already have them installed (I'm looking at you Blizzard and EA). You rarely run into that issue with physical copies if you go back about five or six years.
- Bandwidth caps are becoming an unfortunate thing these days with some ISPs, and downloading a pair of 30-plus GB games isn't always possible. That's not an issue when you're installing from physical discs (unless of course, the physical discs still use something like Steamworks, and need a big patch from Steam to be downloaded).
There are my thoughts on some points that weren't brought up in the video. I have Steam, a GOG account, and whatnot, and a fair number of digital games. So I'm not anti-digital or anything. But there are traits that favor physical game copies over digital ones, and thus still give the physical side a solid edge IMO.
yeah physical might win on consoles but on PC digital reings supreme, cheap games, more games, better updated games, almost everything is better when it comes to digital
Physical won this one. Two arguments for digital are moot:
Argument: physical copies have to download updates.
Moot because: Digital downloads do the exact same thing AND have to download the game itself. If the patch download is 10 minutes, the digital version is normal download time + 10 minutes. The physical copy has no download time + 10 minutes.
Argument: Uploading the game is coming over to digital.
Moot because: It is not. You still own the physical copy of the game and have all the benefits of it like trading and collecting.
Thats a 3-5 in favor of physical if you ask me.
Argument: physical copies have to download updates.
Moot because: Digital downloads do the exact same thing AND have to download the game itself. If the patch download is 10 minutes, the digital version is normal download time + 10 minutes. The physical copy has no download time + 10 minutes.
Argument: Uploading the game is coming over to digital.
Moot because: It is not. You still own the physical copy of the game and have all the benefits of it like trading and collecting.
Thats a 3-5 in favor of physical if you ask me.
Oh man that was hard to watch without audibly groaning at some of the arguments being presented.
I thought about typing out some long winded post detailing why digital is just a better format. But really, I thought I'd take the easier, more poignant route.
You see, there are two devices that completely undermine roughly 90% of the argument for physical.
Say whatever you want about digital, but the notion that buying digital somehow precludes the ability to own a physical copy of the game is, and has always been, utter bullshit.
Doesn't help that many of the arguments in favor of physical often turn a very revisionist eye towards 'how things used to be back in the day'.
I thought about typing out some long winded post detailing why digital is just a better format. But really, I thought I'd take the easier, more poignant route.
You see, there are two devices that completely undermine roughly 90% of the argument for physical.
A DVD burner.
A spare internal or external backup hard-drive.
A spare internal or external backup hard-drive.
Say whatever you want about digital, but the notion that buying digital somehow precludes the ability to own a physical copy of the game is, and has always been, utter bullshit.
Doesn't help that many of the arguments in favor of physical often turn a very revisionist eye towards 'how things used to be back in the day'.
I think for most PC players it's a digital world all the way, but for those of us on the consoles there's still additional value in physical copies - trading, resale, heck even showing off your library of games on a shelf in your gaming area is a plus for physical copies for the console folks.
Then again - right now in this moment I'm wishing I was one of the hardcore digital folks, because my PS3 laser isn't working and so all my physical copies of games are just mocking me on their self singing a very crude "You can't play me!" sing-song? or that part might just be in my head >.>
Then again - right now in this moment I'm wishing I was one of the hardcore digital folks, because my PS3 laser isn't working and so all my physical copies of games are just mocking me on their self singing a very crude "You can't play me!" sing-song? or that part might just be in my head >.>
not really, for instance if you find a physical copy of the orange box and want to play TF2, you have to download 7 years of updates, on the other hand, you can download the game via steam and have your version up to date from the get goDollabillyall said:
My favorite thing about digital copies is that I don't have to move discs around. If I'm tired of playing a game but feel like playing another, I can just go back to my library and play another one without having to move anything besides my hands (and my view on the Wii U).
As nice as having a physical copy may appear to be, as someone mentioned earlier, it's partly psychological. You don't own the game, merely the physical media.
Servers dying: Not an issue, unless it's an online game. If you already have the game downloaded and installed, the server dying wont make a damn bit of difference unless it's Ubisofts old DRM bullshit. Then there's always making backups.
Sharing games: Though this is a viable argument now, it's not likely to stay that way. Given publishers general attitudes toward second hand games and Microsofts idiotic attempt to force single ownership of games with the Xbox one, it's only a matter of time that this becomes a non argument.
When it comes to games I really love, I will always try to get it physical. Like my collectors copies of pretty much every Blizzard game, they're meant for looks. Aside from that, I don't see any real point in owning physical copies of all my games since they'll just take up space.
Servers dying: Not an issue, unless it's an online game. If you already have the game downloaded and installed, the server dying wont make a damn bit of difference unless it's Ubisofts old DRM bullshit. Then there's always making backups.
Sharing games: Though this is a viable argument now, it's not likely to stay that way. Given publishers general attitudes toward second hand games and Microsofts idiotic attempt to force single ownership of games with the Xbox one, it's only a matter of time that this becomes a non argument.
When it comes to games I really love, I will always try to get it physical. Like my collectors copies of pretty much every Blizzard game, they're meant for looks. Aside from that, I don't see any real point in owning physical copies of all my games since they'll just take up space.
Every time I think about going digital something comes along to muck it up. A moth or so ago a game was removed from PSN, even from the lists of people that had paid for it, because it was found it had a piracy enabling exploit on the vita. It's since been patched and all is well with the world, but it is a staunch reminder that at some point, we will lose access to something we hold dear when they decide to pull the servers, or the company goes bankrupt, or just doesn't give a shit, while they physical media can't be taken away from me (at least legally).
Other than that, it's the usual stuff. Bandwidth caps aren't going away anytime soon, and anything over a gig or 2 take sme all day to download. Maintaining a collection off the cloud is more convenient, if memory is kept at a decent price (I'm looking at you Sony and your vita memory cards), but that can be countered by transference issues. In the name of piracy protection, transferring data always seems to be slow and more cumbersome than it should be. In those cases, it isn't really digital I mind, but game companies that think anyone touching their systems has ultra high speed, fibre optic wi-fi with no limits. Back to the other side, well, I could get into server outages and how PSN is down for maintenance at least once a month, but I prefer price issues. Some companies discount their prices for digital, some have charged more than physical even at launch. And that's not counting some PSP games they still want $40 for. Businesses are under no obligation to pass on savings (no matter what the Republicans tell you) so I doubt we'll ever see much on that front.
I mean, I love the idea, but it's got too many issues for me.
Other than that, it's the usual stuff. Bandwidth caps aren't going away anytime soon, and anything over a gig or 2 take sme all day to download. Maintaining a collection off the cloud is more convenient, if memory is kept at a decent price (I'm looking at you Sony and your vita memory cards), but that can be countered by transference issues. In the name of piracy protection, transferring data always seems to be slow and more cumbersome than it should be. In those cases, it isn't really digital I mind, but game companies that think anyone touching their systems has ultra high speed, fibre optic wi-fi with no limits. Back to the other side, well, I could get into server outages and how PSN is down for maintenance at least once a month, but I prefer price issues. Some companies discount their prices for digital, some have charged more than physical even at launch. And that's not counting some PSP games they still want $40 for. Businesses are under no obligation to pass on savings (no matter what the Republicans tell you) so I doubt we'll ever see much on that front.
I mean, I love the idea, but it's got too many issues for me.
But you were saying physical media ensures your rights and ownership when it so clearly does not because of those legal pissing contests.Tanis said:
That disc is no more safe than a download from being stripped of its playability through a patch. If that weren't the case, on-disc dlc couldn't exist.
Well I thought you were talking about consoles specifically. If you were trying to debate digital vs physical for BOTH PC and console the arguments get all confused, since some aspects apply only to consoles.Firefilm said:
Is there even a game out there for PC that you can buy and play without connecting to the internet? Maybe there is, I've been digital-only on PC for a long time, so I wouldn't know. But I would probably need to patch the damn thing anyway to really enjoy it. The only upside as far as PC's are concerned for physical discs are lower install times, and the shiny box and stuff.
I think we've been moving toward digital-only since the day day-one patches became the norm for pc, and we took another massive step that way when it became the norm for consoles too. It sucks, but at least with Steam they gave us a couple cookies to make up for what we were losing(discounts and no more disc-swapping for games we were required to install to our hard drives anyway), console players aren't even getting that nowadays, you pay launch-day price for like a year after launch for digital, even if the store price goes down in the meantime. Retailers are using your need for discs against the game companies, and the game companies are passing the gouging on to you. Thems the breaks. Sure the upside is you can sell your games at the moment, and buy used ones cheaper, but when things do go all-digital(and microsoft at least has made it clear they consider that inevitable), I really can't believe games will get cheaper. Look at gamers in Australia, they get royally screwed for AAA game prices, and game companies make excuses that are proven to be lies, but they keep on doing it.
Anyway, I like having physical copies too, it was the best part of console gaming, but with gaming companies screwing their customers by charging extra for something that costs them less to distribute with not even a shrug to acknowledge it just shows how messed up it is to be a console gamer these days.
So cling to your discs until they pry them from your cold dead hands, after that, we all might have to find another hobby.