How do you feel about physical vs digital games?

[DarthGohan1]

I've always been a fan of physical games. There's something nice to displaying games on my shelf, or being able to browse through my collection to decide what to play next. You can easily lend a game to friend for them to try out. Not really my thing, but if you get bored with a game after a while, you can sell a physical copy and get some of your money back to buy your next game. So it's been sad to see over the last few years how many stores are carrying fewer and fewer physical games, digital-exclusive sales, and some smaller studio titles even being digital-only, with either no or limited physical release.

Curious to hear how you all feel about this? Not trying to say one is better than the other, everyone values different things. But interested to know what everyone's preferences are.

 

[Midoriya]

Highly prefer digital, just because in order to get a physical game I'd have to order it from Amazon here. GameStop is highly unreliable and a shell of its former self, and I'd rather not walk into one again if I don't have to, lol. Plus transferring digital copies is easy and I'm not really worried about losing my save data or anything as I keep a close eye on it.

 

[DarthGohan1]

Highly prefer digital, just because in order to get a physical game I'd have to order it from Amazon here. GameStop is highly unreliable and a shell of its former self, and I'd rather not walk into one again if I don't have to, lol. Plus transferring digital copies is easy and I'm not really worried about losing my save data or anything as I keep a close eye on it.

I wish there was a better option than Gamestop to get physical games, they are the worst

 

[Midoriya]

I wish there was a better option than Gamestop to get physical games, they are the worst

Same to be honest. I do love having physical copies, don't get me wrong. I used to always go for the physical copy if I could years ago. But with how they've changed for the worse and how hard it is to even get to a place for me, it's just easier to get the digital copy, lol.

 

[DarthGohan1]

Same to be honest. I do love having physical copies, don't get me wrong. I used to always go for the physical copy if I could years ago. But with how they've changed for the worse and how hard it is to even get to a place for me, it's just easier to get the digital copy, lol.

The last 2 items I purchased from Gamestop:

A "new" game that was not factory sealed, questionable if it was actually new or not.

A special edition of a game (I ordered that version intentionally). Gamestop shipped it terribly, the whole special edition outer box of the game was destroyed, which also damaged the special artwork booklet inside. I contacted Gamestop, they refused to replace or refund me since the game cartridge itself didn't have damage.

Have not ordered anything from Gamestop for several years since that. Terrible company.

 

[stitchmaker]

For the 3DS I purchased Physical Copies because it was easy to switch to a different 3DS.
For the Switch Console I did purchase Physical Copies early on. Later I switched to buying more digital copies since the game saves to the console. For collecting I did purchase ACNH, some Mario Games and all the Pokemon Games from EbGames ( Now Gamestops).

I've had no problems picking up games from Gamestops. It's a small store, 5 minutes away and the same staff still work there. Everything was ready for pickup. Amazon failed to delivery Super Mario 3D All Stars and other games/guidebooks.

 

[Neb]

When I was younger I definitely preferred physical games because I liked the manuals they came with, the cool covers, and because I had slow internet growing up and hated having to wait hours to download a single game. Now that my physical collection is large and I've moved around a lot I lean more towards digital now. Over half of my games are in boxes somewhere in a storage facility and I can't play them now and it bums me out. If I wanted to access them I'd need to spend hours searching through boxes to get them out.

 

[ShadowLelouch97]

In my eyes there are pros and cons to both physical and digital games. I find myself having a solid mix of both.

Physical game pros:
Will have the game forever
Will be able to play a game without needing to spend a considerable amount of time to download it
Usually has some cool artbox designs
Fun to look at

Physical cons:
Can lose them
Can be damaged
Can be stolen
Could be eaten by an animal in the house

Digital cons:
Buy instantly, not having to drive home/wait a week for it to arrive
Will always be in your digital library, making a transition from one device to another easier
Not take up any physical space

Cons:
If you somehow lose your account, you lose that library
Needing extra hard drives for more storage. All of my main consoles (3DS, Switch, Xbox, PC) have some sort of external hard drive to accommodate my gaming collection and needs

 

[Xara]

I've always preferred physical over digital copies. I appreciate the convenience of digital games and how you don't have to worry about losing your game cartridge, but physical copies feel more special. I have more fun physically going to a store and buying a game (or even preordering it online) than I do buying it from the eShop and waiting for it to download. I also like getting to display the game cases in my room!

I never feel like I completely own a game unless I can hold it in my hands. Physical copies feel more secure and permanent to me than digital copies. I'd actually never bought a digital game before until the Switch. I've had no problems with my digital games and have no problems with digital games in general, but I'll always opt for physical copies when possible-- especially with games I'm not sure I'll like, since if I end up not liking them, I can return them and get a refund.

 

[DarthGohan1]

When I was younger I definitely preferred physical games because I liked the manuals they came with, the cool covers, and because I had slow internet growing up and hated having to wait hours to download a single game. Now that my physical collection is large and I've moved around a lot I lean more towards digital now. Over half of my games are in boxes somewhere in a storage facility and I can't play them now and it bums me out. If I wanted to access them I'd need to spend hours searching through boxes to get them out.

I wish games still came with manuals! It was nice seeing some original artwork for some games, and I felt it was an easier way to learn the control and how to play compared to some in game tutorials, which are either too long and boring or sometimes don't cover enough.

 

[MiniPocketWorld]

I personally dislike the digital version of games (yes I have bought them). I prefer the physical games with the whole game available on it, even if it doesn't have DLC (real DLC, not content that was suppose to be in there from the start but was added later and labeled DLC, i know, arguable). Unfortunately physical games are lacking and when they are there they have alot of missing content, call it DLC or patches but it was suppose to be in there from launch (refer back to the franchise's game history) and just wasn't. Also, not near as important but I do miss those paper art boxes handheld games came in.
The bright side with digital versions being a thing is that it allows more indie games to published, sold, and known and I absolutely love seeing things that other people make and indie games are often the games I enjoy most anymore. Two-edged sword for me.
I would say it allows lower cost to the consumer, but well... some companies have still been charging the same so....

 

[DarthGohan1]

I prefer the physical games with the whole game available on it, even if it doesn't have DLC (real DLC, not content that was suppose to be in there from the start but was added later and labeled DLC, i know, arguable). Unfortunately physical games are lacking and when they are there they have alot of missing content, call it DLC or patches but it was suppose to be in there from launch (refer back to the franchise's game history) and just wasn't. Also, not near as important but I do miss those paper art boxes handheld games came in.

Totally agree with this. Nintendo is usually pretty good about this with 1st party games, but for 3rd party titles it seems more and more common to buy a physical game, pop it in, then need to do a 5gb download of basically the whole game before you can even start playing... which sort of defeats a lot of the point of buying a physical cartridge.

The bright side with digital versions being a thing is that it allows more indie games to published, sold, and known and I absolutely love seeing things that other people make and indie games are often the games I enjoy most anymore.

This is true. Maybe it'll never happen, but I wish some popular indie titles got wider physical releases either at the same time as the digital launch, or after it's clear there's enough demand for the game. Some indie games with limited releases, the physical copy sells for $100+, which to me means it's clear there are people who would buy it. I've avoided buying a few of the more expensive indie games (in the $20-40 range) because I want a physical copy and only digital is available.

I would say it allows lower cost to the consumer, but well... some companies have still been charging the same

It definitely provides a lower cost to the publishers and retailers. No physical inventory they have to store, distribute, get damaged. They don't need to pay for the physical materials like cartridge and case, or the process of loading the game onto the cartridge. But you almost never see regularly-priced digital games cheaper than their physical copy, so the savings is never passed on to us. More reason to stick with physical imo