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Conina on 01 April 2015
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Ka-pi96 said:
Conina said:

Again: they are similar products but not the same!

Some people prefer digital versions: they don't have to change discs (which will become an even bigger advantage when remote play gets more popular), the discs can't scratch (or become unreadable), the optical drive won't degrade, no noisy installations (spinning discs)...

With a fast internet connection you can play the game a few minutes after you bought it... you can download a 40GB-game within an hour with 100 MBit/s. If you order the retail version from Amazon, you will have to wait at least a day... imports can take weeks to arrive. If you buy the retail game in a store you have to invest time and money (driving to the store, waiting in line...)

Other people prefer retail versions: the game ain't bound to an account, you get a pretty box and a disc, perhaps even a manual or map. And not everyone has a fast internet connection at home.

Even if the pricing of the digital version is initially higher... publishers are much more flexible on pricing digital versions. They can slash the prices for a few days and raise them again after the sale... the controlable time frame allows higher discounts (f.e.: Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition for €12, less than €10 with reduced PSN-cards) and additional discounts for PS+ members. That doesn't really work as smooth for retail versions.

Yeah, except the issue is they aren't. They start higher and stay that way. Even when Sony or Microsoft have their sales you can often find a brand new copy of the game cheaper at retail. That's the regular price being cheaper than the sale price.

I haven't seen a new retail copy of "Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition" for less than €20/£16 yet, got the PSN version for less than €10.

When I bought the XBL-version of Forza Horizon (360) for €11 in summer 2013 the cheapest retail version was around €25.

The eShop-version of Metroid Prime Trilogy (Wii) costed €9.99 earlier this year, even used retail versions were over €50 then.

I bought the PSN-version of LittleBigPlanet 3 (PS4) for €21 this February, the cheapest retail version was over €30 then.

Knack was available for less than €10 in PSN, haven't seen the retail version for less than €20.