Physically owning a game vs downloading it?

[22_22]

What do you prefer when it comes to obtaining a game? Are you content with downloading it or do you prefer to go to the shop or order it online as a physical copy?

Personally I prefer the latter as nothing beats the feeling of flicking through the game manual and popping the disk into the console for the first time. Perhaps the former is more of a modern concept and more environmentally friendly though? I am all for downloading the game on steam for example, if it is considerably cheaper, as I think this is only fair if all you are getting is online access to the game.

 

[Megan]

I like both. Though I used to just buy physical copies, especially for certain games that I REALLY liked or assumed I would. But have recently been downloading some and I see the appeal. Nice to have instant access to the games.

 

[Kyng]

I'm generally OK with downloading. My laptop doesn't even have a CD drive, so that's not really an option for me any more (unless I invest in an external one, which I haven't yet had any reason to )

 

[JoyFreak]

I like the combination of both tbh. It really just depends what's most convenient at the time. Sometimes I like buying my games digitally because I don't have access to a store and other times I like to physically have the copy.

 

[zoldos]

I haven't bought a game on actual media in years. I do everything via download.

 

[JoyFreak]

I haven't bought a game on actual media in years. I do everything via download.

Yeah, I prefer to digitally download things, that way they don't break or scratched or get lost. The only issue is, space gets taken up quickly with some 100GB games!

 

[Esmee]

I think based on the PS 5 digital edition, you can see that the days of the owning game are no more. And people will be moving towards the cloud gaming. And so physically ownership is not going to be there any more in near future.

 

[Smokey]

I'll always prefer physical media compared to digital. I feel with digital media, you don't actually own the game you're purchasing, you own the rights to a license to use said game, which can be revoked/taken from you at any point in time, in addition various other things can cause you to lose access to said purchases such as: a network outage, having your account compromised/hacked/taken over by someone else, or the publisher simply pulling the game you purchased from the storefront and you no longer being able to download or purchase it (I'm looking at you, P.T.)

 

[Ash]

I've always loved having a physical copy of a game as well. You can do whatever you want with it afterwards as well. There have been times where I haven't enjoyed a game I thought I would and just returned it/sold it. You can't do that with digital.

 

[zoldos]

Yeah, I prefer to digitally download things, that way they don't break or scratched or get lost. The only issue is, space gets taken up quickly with some 100GB games!

Yes, but a game on actual media still has to install and will typically use the same amount of space as a downloaded game.