By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close

Forums - Gaming Discussion - Physical or digital?

 

How do you buy your games?

Physical 26 36.11%
 
Digital 17 23.61%
 
Both 29 40.28%
 
Total:72

100% digital.

I used to be 100% physical and very anti-digital when I lived in England since digital games were about 50% more expensive than physical. WTF was up with that? You're paying more for a product that's significantly cheaper to produce and sell to you and can't be resold/traded in.

Now I live in Japan though and the physical/digital prices are the same so I just buy digital since it's easier. To be perfectly honest I'm not even sure where the place to put physical games is on my Switch. I'm sure I could figure it out, but I don't own any physical games so there's no need to know where it is.



Around the Network

Thanks for the replies!

Very interesting, so far. The way things look, it appears as if people (at least the people who post here) are more idealistic about physical games than digital, since there were a lot of physical-only votes. Digital-only still appears to be in the minority, though not nearly as small a minority as it use to be. Still, I'm surprised by these numbers. I'd have thought digital would have had more gains than this, especially considering how, outside of the books, digital-everything has seemingly taken over the world. Cool stuff!

Last edited by JackHandy - on 08 July 2023

I do not consider myself a console gamer anymore, but when I did play on console, it would depend on the price. If it were marked down far enough, I'd get the digital. If I was getting a game day one, it's physical. Not gonna spend full price for a game and not be able to physically hold it. Nowadays, I just get all my stuff exclusively on PC and digital.



I have been full digital since my Ps4 disc drive started acting up.



I'm split based on system. 

For the PS5, I don't care if it's physical or digital since we only have one in the house. 

For the Switch though, nearly 100% physical. I have 3 kids and 4 switches in the house and physical just saves me money and time. I know it is technically possible to share games between switches but it's a convoluted mess. Just easier to pop in the cartridge. 



Around the Network

While I occasionally try out games on Game Pass, every game I actually want I buy physically. There's even been a couple of games I played on Game Pass and later bought the physical copy.



Visit http://shadowofthevoid.wordpress.com

In accordance to the VGC forum rules, §8.5, I hereby exercise my right to demand to be left alone regarding the subject of the effects of the pandemic on video game sales (i.e., "COVID bump").

Digital almost exclusively.



I hate digital. I will buy some smaller games digitally, but I will never buy digital as long as a physical alternative exists. I may stop buying altogether if physical goes away completely, especially if companies start locking everything behind subscriptions (I won't buy a bunch of subscriptions, either)



Physical almost exclusively.

I do read books and watch movies almost exclusively digital but not games.

I don’t care much for getting day one and second hand can be very cheap + I have the possibility to resell the game later for often around the same price (- shipping) sometimes more. I can share games with friends and family, I also just prefer the feel.

But most importantly I only buy games I’m actually playing. On steam I have bought many discounted games and have more backlog than games I’ve played. Physical games gives me a bigger reason to play them and acts both as a reminder and memory.



On PC I buy only physical since over a decade back, but on consoles I still mostly buy physical. This is due to a number of reasons, the foremost being small storage drives and woeful digital prices. But very slow download speeds is another. Plus, when it comes to console games, I actually enjoy having my covers on a shelf next to the TV, it's simply an important a part of my decoration. It's different on the PC, it's in its own room, and there's limited space, and people rarely see it, whereas the consoles and their games are in the living room, out in the open and being part of a whole scene.