Obsolete Digital downloads or physical copies?

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InfiniteBakuphoon

InfiniteBakuphoon

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Whenever you decide to buy a game, or even a movie or piece of music, which do you prefer: digital downloads or physical copies?

I prefer physical copies myself... there's something about having an item actually in your hand or on a shelf as opposed to it simply being a computer file on a drive somewhere. It feels like you actually "own" it, so to speak. Not to mention you can sell it later and play it on any device that you want for as long as you want, whereas that's not necessarily the case with a digital download if it has DRM or is tied to a specific device or account. I also like the collectables that come with physical copies like liner notes and manuals (which are unfortunately becoming rarer to find with newer games). So yeah... I go for physical copies whenever I can, and I only go digital when it's the only option available or if it's significantly less expensive than physical.
 
Definitely physical copies. I like collecting them and hate having to wait on a download to finish. I only do downloads if it's the absolute only way for me to get a game in English.
 
I prefer physical copies, but I don't have a problem with digitals necessarily. The DL times are annoying I guess, so I definitely appreciate letting DLs happen in the background if the option is available.
 
Like others already stated, I prefer the physical copies over digital. The reason why is because I want to hold what I own, also to collect the cases of the games, movies, and music. I only go digital if it's absolutely necessary, especially for games; if I can't get a physical copy for a game then I'll download it.
 
There's a place for both in my life. I live in New York City so my apartment is kinda small so I don't have that much room to store my stuff. So a lot of my games are digital now, which is fine since all the consoles (and steam) have backups on the cloud so I feel secure in that way.

At the same time, I'm also a collector who has splurged on physical collectors editions (recently Fire Emblem Fates special edition, Bravely Second collectors edition). Which now that I think about it somewhat explains my space issues.

So I like both.
 
I'd rather have physical copies. but I find digital downloads of certain game systems (ie: 3DS) appealing due to not losing the game while you're walking in a crowded area.
 
I generally favor physical copies for a variety of reasons. Though I will admit that a huge advantage of digital copies is you don't have to swap discs....
 
Physical, of course. (I only have virtual console games as digital.)
 
It depends on the system I play it on. On PC I prefer digital games, for the following reasons:
  • You can mostly get them cheaper than physical versions (especially with Steam and GOG sales and Humble Bundles and the like).
  • The risk of losing the game is lessened (Steam and GOG always have a backup of the game).
  • The risk of the game not working is lessened (with every new computer and Windows version there's always something that stops physical games from working).
With 3DS games however, I prefer the physical versions. Because:
  • I'd need a bigger memory card to be able to download multiple games.
  • If you lose your 3DS/it gets stolen, you've lost all the games.
  • Games are rarely cheaper on the eShop.
  • System transfers *shudder*
If the eShop starts having huge sales like Steam/GOG does, then I might consider actually downloading games instead. But for now it has more cons than pros for me.
 
Generally physical copies if I can help it. I've already have a physical copy of FE Fates Conquest, and I probably get a physical copy of Birthright too. Revealations, I guess I have no choice other than a digital, but I am certainly no fan losing all my digital copies together with my 3DS. Ditto with Pokémon Y, Black 1 and 2.
 
It's really hard to say. There is a lot of excitement associated with both, like hacking the Wii and installing Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance (I don't have the cash to splurge $300 on a copy from online). Then again, owning Pokemon OmegaRuby and other games like that is a lot more satisfying. My sis had a DS2 but it broke when it came in contact with static, so all of our data went down the drain. But I guess, all in all, I like them the same. :p
 
Soki said:
If you lose your 3DS/it gets stolen, you've lost all the games.
Click to expand...

Perhaps an off-topic question, but when you say this, are you saying that you can only register a 3DS with one Nintendo Network account? Like, when I booted up my 3DS for the first time, I had to create a Nintendo Network account, and you're making it sound like if my 3DS gets stolen, I can't get the account back, thus meaning all of my digital games are confined to this one 3DS instead of being transferable. That concerns me, but is that what you're saying?
 
Cap'n Jack said:
Perhaps an off-topic question, but when you say this, are you saying that you can only register a 3DS with one Nintendo Network account? Like, when I booted up my 3DS for the first time, I had to create a Nintendo Network account, and you're making it sound like if my 3DS gets stolen, I can't get the account back, thus meaning all of my digital games are confined to this one 3DS instead of being transferable. That concerns me, but is that what you're saying?
Click to expand...

Yep, there's a reason you have to do a System Transfer if you get a new 3DS system. Your Nintendo ID is tied to your system, you can't just buy a new system and log in with your Nintendo ID, it doesn't work. However, I"ve heard that if you've got your 3DS's serial number, you can call Nintendo Support and they can fix it, but I'd rather just not risk it. Also, if your 3DS gets stolen, your SD-card with all the save files gets stolen too. So even if you get your games back, you'll have lost all your saves. (Though I've heard Nintendo can fix that too, but not sure). At least this is how I understood it all, anyone's welcome to correct me.

As long as Nintendo ID doesn't work like an actual account which you can log into on any system and you'll have your games and saves, I rather buy physical copies.
 
Definitely prefer a physical copy that I can actually hold and look at on the shelf. Digital copies make me nervous with the way Nintendo has their account setup, but I don't mind downloading old Virtual Console games since a) I usually have a physical copy of those already and just want another digitally for convenience and b) they're cheap so it's not as bad if something happens and I lose it. Some games do work nicely as digital though, like Animal Crossing games since I play them in short bursts and don't want to use up the cartridge slot with it when I'm out of the house, but the fear of losing everything makes me continue to mainly buy new games in physical form.
 
Generally, physical copies for console/handheld games and digital copies for PC games.

Steam & GOG have basically made most physical copies of PC games obsolete, except for maybe if you're interested in special edition collections that contain bonus content (i.e.: a bonus disc that contains a Making Of documentary and map for the 5th anniversary edition of TES: Oblivion).
 
Physical. And I'd prefer all the save data is stored on the game card, not separately on the SD card like Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS or Fantasy Life.
 
I prefer physical because I like to be able to hold what I'm buying. Unfortunately not living in a high priority country means getting physical copies of most games, especially the older ones, is obscenely expensive since they will have to be imported. If it's a newer game that I can definitely get then I'll go for physical but if my only option for a game is the Internet then I'll buy it on the eshop.

Also my Internet is depressingly unstable so digital is kind of a last resort too
 
I prefer physical copies, I mean I've always loved having a shelf dedicated to just my games in my room. That aside, I do like the security of knowing I still have my games in case something happened to my system.

I opt for digital copies when that's the only way to get the game, or it's an impulse buy cause I'm impatient.
 
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