A lot of people are steadfast against digital games, but I'm not quite sure why at times. From what I can see, digital games are much superior to their physical copies. I'll list some common arguments, and try to rebute them.
1. "I want the ability to sell my games when I'm done with them, or at least be able to play it on another console!"
From what I understand, a lot of people who make this argument don't actually sell a good portion of their games in the first place. Even if you do, I would think that the cheaper price of digital games would make up for that easily. For example, I got a $20 game (Ni no Kuni) for $5 on a PSN sale the other day. Dark Souls 2 was also available for $40, which is a bargain compared to the price of the physical edition. Microsoft also has talked about implementing a large variety of sales for their digital games. Just look at Steam: You can get a hundred games for less than $100 if you wait for sales or get humble bundles. You just can't save that kind of money with physical media.
Also, Sony, Microsoft, and Valve all let people have multiple devices that can have a game at once. Many people seem to believe that a game is tied to a console, and once you no longer have that console, you lose that game. What they don't realize is that, with the exception of Nintendo, everyone's digitally purchased games are tied to an account, meaning you can have multiple systems with the same game, as long as you log in to download it. Sony allows you to have two consoles with the same game, and you can activate or deactivate consoles as you go along. That means you can log into your friend's PS4 and download the game there, and then just log off when you leave.
2. "Digital games take up too much room on hard drives!"
Seeing as that almost all games on the PS4 and the Xbox One are now installed on the HDD, regardless of whether you have digital or physical, this point is pretty much moot. Loading from the HDD is faster than reading a disc, anyway.
Also, HDDs are getting cheaper and cheaper. You can get 1TB HDD and plug it into a PS4 for $70, or you can get a $3TB external HDD and plug it to the Xbox One for even cheaper. For the price of one game, you can more than double your storage.
3. "I like having a physical collection to show off!"
I actually understand this. I used to love collecting game boxes and displaying them, but then I realized that the convinence of having all your games available as soon as you start the console without having to look through your collection to find a game is just too awesome. And, you still have your collection, it's just digital. You can amass a huge digital library, and show that off if you please, as many people already do on Steam.
4. "Sony/Microsoft/Steam may not keep those games available forever!"
While a valid concern, I also thing this is an overexaggeration. All of those companies have promised that while they exist, they will keep purchases available. And I know some really peccimistic people are going to say Sony is isn't going to last, but even then, I doubt the digital downloads will ever go offline as long as the Playstation brand is alive (which it almost certainly will be). Companies like Valve have even said that they would consider removing digital DRM from games if they ever felt that they were about to die out.
Also, physical games will scratch and break as you use them over time. I'll take the small chance that my games will not be available for me to redownload many, many years from now rather than worry about a physical copy getting scratched up because my system's disc drive decided to fail.
Overall, I think digital is the best way to go, and I for one am glad that the industry is heading that way. How about you?
You're Gonna Carry That Weight.
Xbox One - PS4 - Wii U - PC
