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Forums - Gaming Discussion - A major part of the digital/physical debate that people forget

A lot of people say that the best reason to go physical is that you actually own the game. That's not true. You own the disc itself, but the game is licensed to you, just like digital games. Under the law, there is almost no difference in ownership.

That being said, no one is coming to take away your rights to play your discs. At the same time, however, that generally doesn't happen with digital games either unless you seriously fuck up.

I'm not saying that everyone should up and quit physical and buy digital only, just saying that the concept of "ownership" is really not that different between the two, as far as the law is concerned. 



                                                                                                               You're Gonna Carry That Weight.

Xbox One - PS4 - Wii U - PC

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I buy physical because I re-sell most of my games. Can't do that with Digital. Also I'm very sentimental about cases and of course those beautiful steelbooks *drools*




Get Your Portable ID!Lord of Ratchet and Clank

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I agree 100% I still like physical more than digital but I'm slowly coming around to  the idea of an all digital future.



There is a huge difference. I can sell that licence on.

I'm pretty sure most people know they don't actually own the game, like all computer programs, you buy a licence to use it. In the case of games on discs you are buying the licence which is tied to the disc and when selling it you can get some of that money back in exchange for your right to play it, while digital you cannot do this. That is the part of 'ownership' people mean. I mean I just borrowed 2 games off friends, if they were digital, attached to a console I would not have been able to do this.



Hmm, pie.

It's just not convenient going digital in Australia - with our shit internet speeds and all. I can't imagine that a streaming service will be viable OZ when next gen dawns as well (government is incredibly slow with the infrastructure improvements). I hope Sony and Microsoft takes this into consideration next-gen



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The Fury said:

There is a huge difference. I can sell that licence on.

I'm pretty sure most people know they don't actually own the game, like all computer programs, you buy a licence to use it. In the case of games on discs you are buying the licence which is tied to the disc and when selling it you can get some of that money back in exchange for your right to play it, while digital you cannot do this. That is the part of 'ownership' people mean. I mean I just borrowed 2 games off friends, if they were digital, attached to a console I would not have been able to do this.

Yes, that is true. Like I said though, you own the disc. The license is connected to that, but in no ways do you actually own the game. It is easier to lend/trade physical games, but digital games have their own advantage, by being accessible all at once on a console and being tied to an account and thus unbreakable by physical means.

In terms of legal ownership though (the topic of this thread), no one owns any of the games they buy. It is licenced, period. One format has some advantages of trading/lending while the other does in convinence, but that is a different story. 



                                                                                                               You're Gonna Carry That Weight.

Xbox One - PS4 - Wii U - PC

That is true, legally it's the same exact thing.



i was part digital part physical, 100% physical for handhelds and everything older than and including the ps3.

but with the internet service we now have here, digital is not only a viable option but its significantly faster and more convenient than physical.

i just preloaded both metro redux releases on steam, ready to play, around 12gb of data and it literally took 3 minutes.



platformmaster918 said:
I buy physical because I re-sell most of my games. Can't do that with Digital. Also I'm very sentimental about cases and of course those beautiful steelbooks *drools*

I only buy digital games for my PS4, and have no problem reselling them once I'm done. Not only that, but I usually get more than when reselling physical discs, while also saving on shipping costs and time.

Digital is far superior to discs, and see no reason to ever buy a disc again, as I am notv a collector at all.



VanceIX said:

Yes, that is true. Like I said though, you own the disc. The license is connected to that, but in no ways do you actually own the game. It is easier to lend/trade physical games, but digital games have their own advantage, by being accessible all at once on a console and being tied to an account and thus unbreakable by physical means.

In terms of ownership though (the topic of this thread), no one owns any of the games they buy. It is liscenced, period. One format has some advantages of trading/lending while the other does in convinence, but that is a different story. 

Yes but that is what people don't like. They own the licence and physical disc it is attached to. They can sell it, give it to people, whatever they want. If they want to take the disc and do a ritual burning of it, they can. Digital? Nope, it's on your $400 console, at the same cost at the moment as well. To me, a physical disc is far more convenient than a digital copy.



Hmm, pie.