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Forums - Gaming Discussion - Why i buy Physical games.

Conina on 06 August 2015
Mbolibombo said:
Most things have been brought up here so I wont repeat what others have said but something I dont think I have seen yet that is in my mind a big plus to physical games - memories! I have a lot of memories with friends over a certain game some 10-15-20 or even 25 years back linked to a game. If I take a look at my shelf I see a game I may have forgotten but seeing it on my shelf instantly brings back fond memories. Also brings a lot of friends of mine together for good laughs as well.

That's a great point! When I see the physical boxes of my older games, i remember the times I played them first. I got nostalgic today when i packed my BigBox of Monkey Island 2 with its code-wheel and 11 floppy disks today (if I'm lucky, I get Ron Gilbert to sign it tomorrow in Cologne).

I don't have such nostalgic feelings for the retail or digital games I bought in the last decade, only for the older games.



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Mbolibombo on 06 August 2015
Conina said:
Mbolibombo said:
Most things have been brought up here so I wont repeat what others have said but something I dont think I have seen yet that is in my mind a big plus to physical games - memories! I have a lot of memories with friends over a certain game some 10-15-20 or even 25 years back linked to a game. If I take a look at my shelf I see a game I may have forgotten but seeing it on my shelf instantly brings back fond memories. Also brings a lot of friends of mine together for good laughs as well.

That's a great point! When I see the physical boxes of my older games, i remember the times I played them first. I got nostalgic today when i packed my BigBox of Monkey Island 2 with its code-wheel and 11 floppy disks today (if I'm lucky, I get Ron Gilbert to sign it tomorrow in Cologne).

I don't have such nostalgic feelings for the retail or digital games I bought in the last decade, only for the older games.


Oh hope you get it signed! =) MI franchise is one of my favorites.

Yeah I dont really feel that nostalgic towards games the last decade either (obviously there are some that do), but it was the same with the NES and SNES, didnt feel the nostalgia until 10+ years after they were relevant so to speak. Nostalgia will come ;)



Conina on 06 August 2015
Mbolibombo said:

It was the same with the NES and SNES, didnt feel the nostalgia until 10+ years after they were relevant so to speak. Nostalgia will come ;)

Maybe, but I can also get nostalgic looking at my virtual GOG-shelf... physical is only a bonus. ;)

Perhaps Project Morpheus will offer virtual game boxes of the PSN games in your account someday.



xl-klaudkil on 06 August 2015
Conina said:
Eddie_Raja said:
I love my digital games on Steam/Origin/Uplay, but that is because they are better than Physical on PC:
-Saves sync across my laptop and desktop
-Games cost less
-It is super easy to download them fast and mod them

On console there are NO pluses to Digital. As such, there is no point besides convenience - kinda since you can go down to the store and get the game. Only on Vita is digital cheaper and easier, and so it makes some sense.

There are LESS pluses to digital on console than on PC, but there are a few:

- not having to change the disc/module: it may be a minor inconvenience for you and me and many others to stand up and change the disc/module on a home console. But it's a much bigger hassle for someone who is immobile (bound to bed, wheelchair...) or if you stream the game to another room (WiiU off-TV, PS4 RemotePlay to Vita/PSTV/Smartphone, XBO to PC/tablet) within your WLAN or even globally (PS4 RemotePlay to Vita/Smartphone). On handhelds digital versions are also very convenient because you don't have to carry around a bunch of modules additional to the device... and perhaps even lose some of them.

- it allows SharePlay to more than one game (the client has access to the whole digital library, but only to the 1 retail game that is inserted); the same goes for Steam Family Sharing and I'm sure Microsoft and Nintendo are working on similar sharing options, preferentially for their digital games.

- it allows cross-buy: many games you buy on PSN are cross-buy while the retail versions of the same games aren't cross-buy. Because cross-buy retail titles without account binding would only work if they include several discs/modules in the retail version... a PS3/PS4/Vita-game would at least need the Vita-module and a hybrid-disc with the PS3 + PS4 version (or two separate discs).

- the retail version of a PS1 game can be played only on PlayStation home consoles, the digital version of a PS1 game can be played only on PlayStation home consoles. The retail version of a PSP game can be played only on PSP, the digital version of a PSP game can be played on PSP, Vita and PSTV. Some digital versions of (smaller) XBO games will also be playable on Windows10-PCs and tablets, some even on WindowsPhone 10... Microsoft just announced it.

- it allows gaming subscriptions like PS+ and Games with Gold and EA Access, which are a great deal for gamers and for participating indie developers (their game is a whole month in the spotlight and can build a fanbase, which will help their following releases a lot)... can you imagine a similar subscription model in retail? Sony or Microsoft sending you 2 - 6 retail games every month and you don't have to send them back until you cancel that subscription... all for $3 - $5 per month?

- most small indie games would have failed horribly without digital distribution, no matter how fun and perfect they are. Good luck finding a publisher for a small game which shall be sold around $10, ... it would go under in retail, most retailers wouldn't give it much shelve space and the shipping/packaging costs would be out of all proportion. Sure, some indie games were released at retail for collectors, but only additional to the digital distribution and only after they have proven themself as success.


I agree on these points.

digital does have its up and dows and so does physical format.

 

Its just if i buy something i want to OWN it i want to see it, digital games are just buying a license.

 

Also i  agree with indie games most of them like shovel knights are a huge succes digital and its awesome they wil release a physical version.

 

You do see that even indie developers see a  market for physical releases.



 

My youtube gaming page.

http://www.youtube.com/user/klaudkil

Nymeria on 06 August 2015

I still listen to albums on vinyl records so think I am a lost cause for the digital age.



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Sixteenvolt420 on 06 August 2015

I too will always buy physical over digital. I'm the same way with music. Yes, some of us still do like to support the artists we love and not steal their shit.



paulrage2 on 06 August 2015

I will always support physical games. I don't wanna lose my entire game library when the PSN and Xbox Live servers get shut down at the end of the generation of the console.



bowserthedog on 06 August 2015
johnsobas said:
bowserthedog said:

So what you're telling me is you won't buy Destinty because large portions of it are online only. But you bought eve online which is completely online only and charges you a monthly fee for the right to continue playing the game you purchased?

who said that?  The second situation is like 10x worse.

The guy in the video said that.



https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0JquK6FGR6O-0O-6L-VAuw

DevilRising on 06 August 2015

I don't NOT support digital games. Unless you mean digital copies of retail games. Then yeah, I tend to buy physical for retail, because I like having "games on my shelves". I also don't like downloading multi-gig games, taking up my hard drive space.

But for INDIE, digital only titles? I'm all about it.



SvennoJ on 07 August 2015
Mbolibombo said:
Will take a look at your video later OP. But this is a topic warm to my heart.

I play video games, I also collect video games. I will always buy the physical copy over the digital copy if I have the option to do so. I do understand the people who buys digital though, it's convenient, easy, and you dont need room to store your games (looking at myself, I have an entire room in my house dedicated to Nintendo for instance).

Most things have been brought up here so I wont repeat what others have said but something I dont think I have seen yet that is in my mind a big plus to physical games - memories! I have a lot of memories with friends over a certain game some 10-15-20 or even 25 years back linked to a game. If I take a look at my shelf I see a game I may have forgotten but seeing it on my shelf instantly brings back fond memories. Also brings a lot of friends of mine together for good laughs as well.

I hang on to likely broken floppies (don't have a disc drive to read them anyway) just for the memories. My older pc game collection is all in moving boxes, yet I have been digging through there regularly to figure out what a certain game was called.

Maybe you can do that with your Steam library as well, I dunno. I have a bunch of screenshots saved for the memories, especially from the years I spend playing mmorpgs.

What I dislike most about digital on PC is the fragmentation when you go beyond Steam. I also have games through Origin, GOG, Humble bundles, Kickstarter, and a bunch direct from independent publishers all with different accounts and passwords. So much easier to have them together in one place physical. I doubt I'll go through the trouble downloading them all again when I buy a new pc. Meanwhile my physical games are always there.

It's better on console but there too I now have digital games on 360 XBLA, PS3, PS4, Wii, WiiU. You still need that console to play it, but it's far easier to browse through a physical collection than to first hook the console back up, turn it on and check what's installed or check the purchase history. And that gets polluted with all the 'free' games and demos downloaded over the years. While my physical game collection are all great games that I want to hang on to, since I trade in the lesser games. My physcial game collection sits proud on the shelves, while my digital collection is fragmented, diluted with crappy games, all hiding in ugly menus.