Digital or Physical?

[ajpri]

I am trying to convince my mom to cancel my physical order on amazon and get a digital copy via the eshop. So what are some pros and cons of goin' digital?

A few notes:
- Amazon has estimated delivery on Wednesday the 12th. I could pay an extra 3.99 and get it Tuesday.
- I have a class 4 speed SD card (16 gb) with 108, 967 blocks free as of now.
- I paid 34.99 for the amazon order, not inc sales tax.

 

[KarlaKGB]

Pros:
-you get it when it comes out (after waiting to download it ofc)
-it goes whereever your 3DS goes, no need to remember to bring the card

Cons:
-it's tied to your console, so if you lose your console or it breaks, no more game.
-it's been claimed that reading and writing from the SD card is slower than from a retail cart, so the game may load a bit slower. I've yet to actually see this proven though.
-digital tends to be more expensive/same price as a physical copy.

 

[Kaijudomage]

Cons:
-it's tied to your console, so if you lose your console or it breaks, no more game.
-it's been claimed that reading and writing from the SD card is slower than from a retail cart, so the game may load a bit slower. I've yet to actually see this proven though.
-digital tends to be more expensive/same price as a physical copy.

Honestly what you put as Cons are debatable.....
- If you lose the 3DS, if you had a physical cartridge in it you lose it as well, no difference.
As for a broken system (I can't say for sure as this thankfully hasn't happened to me) You can send it to Nintendo for repairs, Nintendo can also possibly transfer a eShop account to a new 3DS system. (I've seen posts about this, and people getting their digital game copies back)

- I don't know what kind of SD card LinandKo use but I'm pretty sure Kohei's copy is digital, I personally haven't seen any issues with loading speeds.
If your concerned about it, SD cards are pretty cheap, this one (<-- Link) is highly recommend if your looking to upgrade from the 2GB card the 3DS comes with.

- As for price, at launch I can understand a digital copy being the same price as a physical one.
True, afterwards a digital copy should start to drop in price.
Nintendo has started doing small sales on the eShop, unfortunately none on games that are at retail, and its nowhere near as significant as Steam's sales....

 

[Prof Gallows]

The only difference is how soon you'll be able to play the game.


Any cons listed can be said the same for both the physical and digital.

 

[KarlaKGB]

Honestly what you put as Cons are debatable.....
- If you lose the 3DS, if you had a physical cartridge in it you lose it as well, no difference.
As for a broken system (I can't say for sure as this thankfully hasn't happened to me) You can send it to Nintendo for repairs, Nintendo can also possibly transfer a eShop account to a new 3DS system. (I've seen posts about this, and people getting their digital game copies back)

- I don't know what kind of SD card LinandKo use but I'm pretty sure Kohei's copy is digital, I personally haven't seen any issues with loading speeds.
If your concerned about it, SD cards are pretty cheap, this one (<-- Link) is highly recommend if your looking to upgrade from the 2GB card the 3DS comes with.

- As for price, at launch I can understand a digital copy being the same price as a physical one.
True, afterwards a digital copy should start to drop in price.
Nintendo has started doing small sales on the eShop, unfortunately none on games that are at retail, and its nowhere near as significant as Steam's sales....

What if you have multiple digital games? You lose them all. I made it very clear that my second point was very sketchy. I've always thought digital should cost less than physical, because you lose a lot of the overheads. The OP wanted a list of pros and cons, so I felt it appropriate to put anything that could go wrong. I suppose you think there are no cons, seeing as you've not offered any? Ease off the aggression please.

 

[Sora]

What if you have multiple digital games? You lose them all. I made it very clear that my second point was very sketchy. I've always thought digital should cost less than physical, because you lose a lot of the overheads.

I hope Nintendo will make a sort of playstation+ in the sense of cloud saving. That would be very nice to be able to know if I lose my SD that I'll be okay.

 

[KarlaKGB]

I think the main problem stopping Nintendo from going with an account-based approach is piracy. You would need to connect to the Nintendo servers each time to verify that the games on your system are linked to your account, and that's not really feasible. Not sure how they can work around this.

 

[JasonBurrows]

I would probably go for a physical copy of Animal Crossing New Leaf for a couple of reasons.

1. I like to get box and manuals when I purchase a game.
2. It is not tied to the Nintendo 3DS, so if my console breaks, I can just save for a new Nintendo 3DS and continue playing.
2a. The data is not tied to the console either.
3. I get 10% discount off the game in my local video game retailer which puts it down to ?31.49 to pay after my ?5.00 deposit

 

[Kaijudomage]

What if you have multiple digital games? You lose them all. I made it very clear that my second point was very sketchy. I've always thought digital should cost less than physical, because you lose a lot of the overheads. The OP wanted a list of pros and cons, so I felt it appropriate to put anything that could go wrong. I suppose you think there are no cons, seeing as you've not offered any? Ease off the aggression please.

True, both have their issues, sorry for coming off like that.

 

[MDofDarkheart]

Digital and Psychical have the below pros and cons.

Pros
1. You have the game!
2. You paid the same price either way!
3. You can get a game guide for it either way!

Cons
1. Bugs
2. glitches

Rumored Cons
1. Lagging over Multi-player.

Digital has these pros and cons.
Pros
1. No worrying if you left the cartridge at home or not.
2. Re-download for free is erased from system memory.

Cons
1. No boxart!
2. No manual!

Rumored cons
1. Sometimes can be glitchy if you have multiple games Downloaded.
2. You may/may not lose your town if you delete the information for your system!

Psychical has these pros and cons.

Pros
1. BoxArt
2. Manual
3. Town stays on copy unless you delete it.

Cons
1. Lose the cartridge, you the game you worked so hard on.

 

[ajpri]

Thanks for the replies. Both me and my mom have read each post individually. Keep the posts coming since I dont think she has changed her mind. I believe she says that because she is used to a physical format. Also something to know, ill be broke after this so I wont be able to afford a new 3ds, so if anything happens ill be without a 3ds.

 

[KarlaKGB]

Well summarised. Though, with the ability to release updates for games, hopefully there won't be any problems with bugs or glitches

 

[MDofDarkheart]

I try to try simplifying everything that I find possible with games in general into pros, cons, and rumors.

Yes hopefully we won't have the bugs, lags, and glitches but most games have one of them.
If anything I pray for lags and now bug or glitches. Lags are just small little annoy-ances compared to bugs and glitches.

 

[JCnator]

If the localized game doesn't have the "Update Software" line on the Title Menu Screen, and let you clip through the walls while you're inside your house, then you know the game is basically a localized version of JPN Animal Crossing version 1.0. Then, I'd expect people lamenting about their game crashing and potential saved data corruption if the patch isn't around the corner by the time the game gets released. That applies to both physical and digital.

 

[KarlaKGB]

I can't see them not fixing such a big glitch for English release, especially seeing as they've already released a patch for it.

 

[ajpri]

If the localized game doesn't have the "Update Software" line on the Title Menu Screen, and let you clip through the walls while you're inside your house, then you know the game is basically a localized version of JPN Animal Crossing version 1.0. Then, I'd expect people lamenting about their game crashing and potential saved data corruption if the patch isn't around the corner by the time the game gets released. That applies to both physical and digital.

Nintendo wouldn't let a game ship with errors that have been fixed in other regions. The worst case is if Nintendo requires an update on the 1st run. And that wouldn't be bad itself.

 

[PapaNer]

If your console breaks, Nintendo will replace it (under warranty), and the fee to fix after the warranty is pretty minor.

If you have purchased a game from the e-shop, and you prove your console has broken/data wiped (which can be done by calling Nintendo if anything happens, so it's no big hassle) then they will provide you a download ticket. You don't have to worry about it.

However, if you want it sooner and you cannot get it digital, why not use a physical shop? Then you don't have to wait.

Also also, it really falls down to preference and patience. The only actual difference is whether or not you have a physical cartridge/case or a digital file.

 

[RoosterInURbutt]

How large is this animal crossing?
Like I would have to upgrade my SD card, ok...
And when I play other games the saves go on that card?
I don't really get it. Other then the game downloaded, does anything else go on that card? Besides like other games.
And would the other games bogg it down?
I been trying to figure out if I buy the digital or the cartridge too.

 

[Gandalf]

I honestly like the Idea of a digital copy and being able to take it with me everywhere I go. Still going to get the Physical copy though, need to have the case on the shelf with the rest of the collection.

In my book the pros and cons are pretty much equal. Getting the game a few hours early is really handy for some people but isn't going to change much for me. Really its just stability vs accessibility. All personal preference I guess but nintendo do seem to be pushing for people to go for digital over physical

 

[Jake]

I've never really understood the 'being able to take it everywhere i go' point - I mean; even with a Physical copy you can still take it everywhere you go...
Like yeah I get that it's on the SD card but if you need to switch SD cards then its the exact same as switching a game cart;

Anyway I have the Digital version of Monster Hunter; it lags a little but not very often.

I still think physical copy is better; but I really don't like digital things..