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I’ve got a confession to make: most of my PS5 and PS4 library is digital these days. I understand why the industry is increasingly transitioning away from physical media, and I’d be a hypocrite if I didn’t address that right from the off. However, I still purchase plenty of cartridges and discs, and I believe boxed games still have an important place in the industry. With increased speculation that Microsoft is looking to transform Xbox into an entirely digital ecosystem, I figured it was an appropriate moment to consider the pros of a market that’s increasingly under threat.
First and foremost, I love shopping for physical games. One of the first things I do whenever I go travelling is mark some local game shops on my Google Map alongside the typical tourist spots and trendy coffee shops. While shopping for video games isn’t anywhere near as exciting these days as it was in the 90s, I still deeply appreciate digging through the stock of independent stores, and few things are more rewarding than discovering a gem you didn’t know existed.
When I was growing up, before UK chain CEX turned into a mobile phone shop, I distinctly remember perusing the limited selection of Japanese imports my local store had. This, in the late 90s, was a truly mind-blowing experience; the Internet was relatively new in those days and the industry hadn’t been globalised, so you’d discover titles you didn’t know existed. Looking at the box art alone was breathtaking, and helped shape my passion for the industry today.
As I’ve gotten older, I’ve come to appreciate the independent retailers – especially those stocking retro games. One of the stores I grew up reading about in old British gaming magazines was Akihabara’s Super Potato, and I would finally visit it for myself last year. It’s true that a lot of the store’s best stock has been plundered over the past 20 years and exported out of the country, but it was still lovely to see rows and rows and rows of old games.
And this is an experience that’s not just reserved for Asia. When I was in Berlin, I happened upon a wild store on the outskirts of the German capital, which was absolutely stacked to the ceiling with old games. To be honest, this place felt like a personal collection, and despite my best efforts I couldn’t actually find anything I wanted to buy – but I still appreciated its existence all the same. I think stores like this, and the people that own them, are important.
I understand that consumers are increasingly transitioning towards digital purchases; the data is frankly undeniable. But I think boxed media is important: no amount of convenience can replace the feeling of physically holding something you love in your hands. There are also the issues of ownership to explore; while I’ve personally invested a degree of trust in Sony to honour and retain my PS Store purchases for the foreseeable future, I’d be remiss not to acknowledge these legitimate concerns.
Retro stores will probably exist as long as there’s a market, but it’d be sad to see their stock end with the PS5, if there is to be an all-digital future. I don’t think Sony is likely to do away with physical media to be honest; it seems content continuing to ship boxed games and letting nature take its course. I feel sad for Xbox consumers, though, who won’t even be able to buy a physical copy of Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 later this year. I understand the market may be small, but it doesn’t sit right with me.
I will never sell my original copies of Shenmue; I own both games digitally now on the PS4, but those launch day Dreamcast copies mean so much to me. They are memories: the smell of the paper manuals, the touch of the printed discs. While I myself am part of the problem, someone who’s increasingly purchasing more and more disposable digital games these days, I think it’ll be sad if future generations never have the opportunity to develop a physical connection with the software they love.
What’s your relationship with physical games these days? Do you still buy boxed releases, or are you all-digital now? Do you enjoy visiting real video game shops, or can you find everything you need in the PS Store? Let us know in the comments section below.
Do you still buy physical video games? (931 votes)
- Yes, I only buy physical video games
- Sometimes, but only if it's cheaper or a game I love
- No, I'm basically all-digital these days
Comments 88
Physical games are an inconvenience for me these days. In fact, I had accumulated so many that I’d never play again that I took them all to CEX a couple of years ago and got a few hundred in credit. Why not?
I still get physical simply because I’m so far behind on the games I want to play that it is far cheaper. A second hand game that I can then trade back? £10. Digital version £50+ no contest.
I do understand collectors though, I’ve had a fair few collections of various things in my life. But I’d need to buy two copies of every game to keep one unopened if I was to do it properly, and that would be far too costly.
For memories I have, well, memories. Also my trophy lists for PS3 onwards, which remind me not only of the games, but specific challenges I’ve completed, often now with screenshot and video accompaniment
Got the PS5 slim last Christmas with the main focus of buying physical games only. I like the idea of being a collector. I have the Switch OLED with only 2 physical games and the rest being digital (around 20 games). The latter is more convenient but the former is more being a fan of gaming IMO. After finishing a digital game, you just delete it and it disappears completely. You can of course redownload it at some point if you want, but in your mind it’s not there. Not the case with physical.
@guardianoftime It's interesting with the Switch. I actually think the platform suits the convenience of digital even more than a console, but Nintendo's games are so expensive it's genuinely cheaper to buy the cartridges.
I bought both physical and digital versions for games I love,. (For example, I have both versions of 16 mainline FF games except 11,13,14).
I also prefer to buy physical switch games and digital PS games.
Choice is good. I buy both physical & digital. Typically brand new or full priced games physically and digitally in a sale.
I know I won’t replay most games, so usually sell them to fund new games, but keep a few and sometimes I’ll rebuy a game digitally I bought and sold on disc previously.
I might not even still be a gamer if cheaper second hand games or game lending/sharing weren’t available when I was a kid as it was the only way I could afford this hobby.
Lastly I just don’t see this publicised often enough, but physical is doing MUCH stronger than many believe, especially on PlayStation. Sony’s own financial reports showed a THIRD of all full games bought on PlayStation were physical last financial year. (67% digital)
But many games ONLY release digitally and it doesn't account for the second the second hand / lending market either. In fact the proportion of physical would be much higher than 33% if things were even. The Insomniac leak even showed Spider-Man 1 was 67% physical (14.6 million) vs 33% digital (7 million)
TLDR Physical is still going strong. The only way it disappears is if we let it. Don’t.
I've made several comments about this recently on this site, I think I just prefer physical media now. I have plenty of games that are digital as I just tend to buy whatever is cheaper.
But I love that fact that I have all Metal Gear Solid games (included a boxed copy of MGS1 on PC and Twin Snakes) lined up in a row on my book shelf and one day I'll introduce the kids to the joy of opening the box, popping a disc in, reading the manual and playing the game.
Digital can't replicate that feeling.
@themightyant That's a good point! And even though digital is taking over, 33% is still a respectable number. Certainly enough to retain that part of the business at the very least!
I mean, I've been a gamer since the early 1980s and I think, if we're all being honest with ourselves, we can all see where games media is heading. All media, in fact, seems to be being pushed towards an all-digital, subscription-only format.
We may not like it, I definitely don't, but it is where we will be in a generation or two. And it has been gradually shifting that way for the last 20 years.
I have over 300 digital games that I have purchased and only a few physical games, 2 weeks ago something went wrong with my ps5 and I was locked out of every digital game I own, I tried everything, restoring licences, rebuilding databases. All the usually troubleshooting, I got in touch with Sony customer support who were useless and escalated it to the tech team, over a week without being able to play any of my digital games, the only games I could play were my physical games, I called sony every day and they had no update. From now on I will only get digital games if they are only available to buy digital or super cheap. I managed to get my games working again myself (no help from sony) I found somebody on reddit who had the same problem and it was a licence bug, In the end strangely the thing that fixed it was to download amazon prime video, then netflix then log out and back in and restore licences, very strange but it worked, sony customer services are useless.
I understand all the concerns about ownership, but I can't help it, digital is just so damn convenient. I'm pretty much the opposite of a collector, I don't like having a bunch of stuff around and the idea of a physical game collection taking up space doesn't appeal to me.
With year round digital sales and a patient mindset, it also doesn't really feel like I'd need to turn to physical to save money. I know some people would argue that we can't let physical media disappear, but at the end of the day I'm not going to go out of my way to make purchases that I consider less convenient to me personally.
We need vastly stronger consumer protections if physical is to be phased out. There needs to be permanent access to redownload your games, if a company is closing down their store they should be legally obliged to provide customers a way to download and store these games onto external drives.
And having your account banned should not stop you being able to access your purchases, yes ban people from communicating online using your services if they are being abusive, but things that have been bought shouldn't become unavailable.
@get2sammyb If we were to take out the thousands of games that ONLY release digitally to make the statistics fair, an apples to apples comparison, then that 33% / 67% split would be MUCH higher for physical than it currently is. Even Sony's own figures don't account for how big a deal Physical still is.
Plus the second hand and lending market. As I said I might not even be a gamer if digital games were the only choice when I was a kid. We shared games as friends and the few I did buy were from bargain basement second hand stores. They might have gained a few pounds in the short term, but now I spend thousands a year on gaming and have done for decades. Short term vs long term profit.
@LN78 hate to break it to you but you don’t even have equity over your game saves and psn account . if your account gets banned for whatever reason , there’s no way to sign in offline on another playstation or transfer your saves to another system . All DLC purchases and account purchases are gone too , & if sony wanted to - they could stop your system from reading physical games too .
Look how cool those shops are compared to Game and CEX. Makes me sad.
That said I love these articles, I'd even love to see just what your daily commute is around these places @get2sammyb
Physical all the way for me, or at least until it is phased out totally.
I am a collector which frustrates me with VR as so many title are digital only! It's also a bummer having to wait for games like BG3 and (hopefully) Alan Wake 2 but there are so many games that it's no biggie!
Great article @get2sammyb
Fully agree with the sentiments in the article.
It's a nice read, Sammy.
Just the other day I fired up my old physical copy of The Adventures of Alundra on PS1.
Part of the joy was in opening the case, unfolding the map inside and skimming through the manual.
If one of my favourite games goes on sale on PSN for 5 - 10 euro I'll buy it for the undeniable convenience, but otherwise it's physical only for me.
@Anke There are definitely shops like this in the UK. @Damo might have some recommendations of ones you could visit!
@Shepherd_Tallon Those physical copies that go the extra mile are always appreciated. I loved getting the big paper maps in the GTA games, too!
I’m going to stay adorably all physical as long as I’m given the option.
Great article @get2sammyb, I've always been a huge fan of physical games, more so physical games of the past where we had manuals and things like that for a complete package. For some time now I've bought mainly digital and play a lot on PC but even on Playstation my library is almost entirely digital.
Though recently and for no real reason I've started buying physical games again with the likes of Tekken 8, GT7, Horizon Forbidden West and even FFVII remake despite already owning it digitally but I at least did get the dlc.
Back to my first point and the lack of manuals etc, I did pickup the Red Dead Redemption PS4 remaster amd was disappointed it had none, so went to CEX to buy the PS3 version and now my PS4 game has a manual and the map 😅
I think that if Xbox are intending to go digital only then they will find the EU will start sniffing around their walled garden Xbox store. Being forced to allow 3rd party app stores would be a potential huge loss for Microsoft, having physical media available keeps the regulators away!
@Anke They do look cool, but sometimes they are completely impractical, often quite organised piles, and trying to find something is like panning for gold. It's a thrill in and of itself, almost a separate hobby like Digging in the Crates for vinyl, but tiresome if all you want to do is find something quickly.
The sanitised A-Z of CEX, backed up with a digital record of the stores contents (just ask), may not have the romance of these but you can usually get what you want and get out quickly. Pros and cons to each.
Many CEX stores used to have consoles, and things you could play. I certainly used to spend many hours in the Rathbone Place (just off Oxford St) CEX trying games and chatting to the staff about this hobby we love. But over time I noticed it used to attract larger and larger groups, often loud unruly schoolkids that interfered with the shop and even scared some customers away and these slowly reduced. They also took up a lot of space away from their ever growing collections
I've got a mixture of both.
Mainly physical discs where possible, but digital if its cheap - I just bought the Batman Arkham collection for a little over £6 the other day on PSN.
I own 2 switch games (physical),
and 20 digital xbox games which my kid uses
@themightyant if you look at it year on year the physical percentage has actually increased recently and as you pointed out, many major releases tend to sell far more physically than digital. With digital only really catching up years down the line with sales etc, Xbox is an outlier in all of this but understandable given their console lineup and business focus
@Coversnail That point about account bans is crucial. Under no circumstances, no matter how severe the infraction, should an account ban ever lead to losing access to your paid content. That is plain theft. I know you technically only pay for a licence and blah blah, it still amounts to theft.
There needs to be a legal framework for this sort of stuff.
I primarily play on PC these days so physical is not there. However I still buy and collect physical games, especially on Switch. My favourite retro and new game independent shop closed over a year ago now because they just couldn't make it work. I'm gutted that there are so few shops now doing physical games and that there is little presence on the high street for window shopping and discovering games or bargains. With retro collecting also hitting astronomical prices, there is just no where to shop.
My reason for physical is simply so I have the option to resell…
When you buy digital you sacrifice 100% of the value. Physical you retain it, partially at least. Also the fact digital is often the same price bugs me when they don’t have the costs involved with physical games.
I can see why publishers want to push digital as they don’t want to lose sales via the second hand market, yet for the user (once again) they lose out.
Also I don’t like the idea of servers being cut off leaving obsolete games in the future.
@carlos82 Xbox has Game Pass which makes statistics much harder to compare. I know personally that I buy very few games physically on Xbox compared to other platforms.
Loved the maps post. In fact I have a stash of maps for games I keep even if I sell the game. Not least that they often have secrets and easter eggs hidden in them.
Ever since PS4 Pro I've crossed over to the digital side.
The long (and noisy) game copy times, and the fact that I could have at home a very good priced and stable 1000Mbps internet connection, drove me in that direction.
Not to mention the gained storage in the house, no longer occupied with DVD / blue ray cases.
It was nice to have physical copies when I was a teen and a student, but then my own family came along and priorities changed.
On the other hand, I don't like where the digital games are starting to go towards... meaning that more and more examples of how companies can revoke your access to your own digital games at any time, even though you've payed full retail price for them, are starting to show up.
Problem that exists due to a lack of proper legislation in this area... they can do whatever the hell they want, can change and adjust the EULA as they see fit whenever they want, with no legal repercussions whatsoever, all for their gain and in the detriment of us, the end users.
Just look at Ubisoft and the carefree remark that gamers should get used to not owning their games... I know this was related to their Ubisoft+ service, but their current mentality towards ownership of digital games is becoming painfully clear. And they're not the only company tending to go this way....
Too many advantages for me still with physical games. I always get them 3 to 5 days early, they are a few euros cheaper than digital and if the game isn't for me, it gets sold right away with a marginal loss. Due to that, I'm also willing to give more games a chance. I can't imagine dropping 70 or 80 euros for a game digitally, because they could potentially be totally wasted if you don't happen to like the game as much as you thought you would.
@dschons Where do you go to get them 3-5 days early???
I own all 3 platforms, but my Playstation and Xbox are digital only consoles. I will buy some Nintendo games physical but that's it. For the most part I'm probably gone about 90% digital.
I prefer physical, even if the game is more expensive, but go digital when I have to, e.g. because there is no physical release. (Sometimes I go digital when I'd be stupid not to, like the cheap upgrade to TLoU2 vrs buying a new PS5 disc.) The lack of a physical release will stop me buying a game that I'm on the fence about. I tapped the "I only buy digital" option for now, but more because it was the least inaccurate option.
Digital has too many downsides for me, especially in the way Sony implements it, where your right of return ends once you begin the download, and you have no oversight on the item's listing as to the licensing terms Sony has agreed with the publisher. Will the game be available for download forevermore, or is there an expiry date on that? Maybe I'm old fashioned, but the games I love are more than ephemeral to me, and I like that ownership, the ability to lend them to friends who want to try something else out.
The banner image for this article says it all about the state of xbox given all the physical titles in that section are switch games.
Personally i exclusively buy games that have both a physical and digital edition physically - and i'll often wait on smaller digital titles where you know a physical will come later (have copies of things like Hades, Sifu, Tunic, Cuphead, and will soon have Sea of Stars on my bookshelf). The exception is if games are exclusively released through limited run games. Can't be bothered with all that, so if its not available at general retail, i'll pick up the digital version.
I have a few reasons for this:
Habit: I've been playing and buying games since Mega Drive 2. I have always liked seeing my library grow - and also where my money has been spent. I've found it difficult to move away from physical media - and whilst i did go heavily digital on PS Vita for convenience, i bought most of the games i wanted physically too.
Resale: This is a big one for me. I have aold on alot of my games - and probably missed out on a lot of money by selling to CEX etc - but having the option to sell on games i no longer want to play is important to me.
Cost- in the UK, physical gaming is much cheaper than buying titles digitally and its often not even close. You can easily save £20 on the PSN price if you shop around.
Ownership: This one is more contentious as i know many games these days are a licence on a disc and don't include the game but i feel more confident - rightly or wrongly - in having the game on my shelf that i can pull out and demonstrate that i own it. With a digital title, i dont have that option.
Deals and rare finds - Going into a game store is a rare treat these days, but when you do and manage to snag a bargin you do get a sense of elation that you don't get from buying a title on the store. I've managed to grab some decent bargins recently (on switch titles) that wouldnt have been possible otherwise
Other: I still feel the magic of opening the shrink wrap and enjoying the artwork on game cases - even if they often dont include an instruction book anymore. Some releases are very special. Just take the contents of the Tunic physical release as an example - its fab.
While I get the convenience of having all games digitally, the obvious choice is get physical as long as it's available.
Wait a month or two and the disc version is at least a tenner less than the (frankly sometimes rip off) PS Store prices. Makes no sense, with all the packaging, inlays, disc mastering, distribution, etc. but it's been the case since the PS3 days.
Weird thing is, people say what's the point as all games are patched via online anyway? But the thing is, even after a game has been digitally de-listed, quite often those game patches are still available. If you're digital only, you won't see the game. If you have the disc, the patches will still download.
@get2sammyb @Damo absolutely, get recommending!
Great article, Sammy. I enjoy reading about and seeing photos of your escapades.
As for the subject, I feel similarly — I’m increasingly going digital, but not necessarily by choice. The industry is pushing us that way and so despite my efforts to stay physical, most of my library is digital now. Nevertheless, I try to buy discs when possible. So for my most recent purchases, I had to buy Baldur’s Gate 3 digitally because the industry only gave me that option, but I got Spider-Man 2, Jedi Survivor, and Final Fantasy XVI on disc.
There are many times that I go to stores searching for specific games and I can’t find specific games that I want. It used to be a given that one could find major releases on disc at the local GameStop or Best Buy, and often find multiple second-hand copies of major releases. But nowadays, even finding a game like God of War Ragnarok on disc is a needle in a haystack.
One of the main things that has promoted the digital ecosystem is the subscription services. Probably half of what I play now is from PS+, so those games are obviously going to be digital.
The reason why physical copies are important is that they are way cheaper because you sell them after completing the game. The end.
I'm pretty much physical only if it's a AAA game with digital for smaller indie stuff without a physical release. That's across all 3 console platforms. It's not about preservation or collection (though I think both are important) but as I rarely replay games, about selling the physical game on and that often, you get a better deal with physical. I often use hit.co.uk and its consistently cheaper than digital at release and has come a few times a day or two early. Clearly the manufacturers would love to get rid of that but I think the first one that makes a whole gen digital only will get punished by gamers.
I like the concept of physical but I hate how licensing makes them worse to use because the disc has to be in and the noise from disc spinning. My PS5 is loud enough.
For Switch we do physical if at all possible.
Nice read.
I've been going increasingly digital for the past few years, vastly accelerated when I could only get the Ps5 digital model.
Some of the benefits to me are: it is so much easier on the spur of the moment to buy and download a game you want, the console runs super quiet, the prices with either sales or vouchers for new games are not actually that different, and I've got great value from digital at times. I was never a big reseller, and if I buy a game I always aim to get the value out of it in the time I spend playing it, and if I do, then I am happy with my purchase regardless of if I ever play it again.
But there are of course negatives for people, and having the option hopefully continues for a good while. Most people, me included, would never even become interested in games if there weren't hand-me-downs, second hand stores, gifting etc, so in the interest of protecting the future this needs to still be an option. It's not like kids are walking around with wallets stuffed with cash (or I suppose that'd be digital wallets figuratively stuffed with binary representations of cash)
I will say that I am an advocate for digital stores being under more scrutiny and regulation though. And I do not see subscription models as the future because of the many pitfalls that surround them (start strong, peak, have to keep profits going up because of capitalism being a sh** show. And the solution for profitability is always to reduce quality, increase price, and repeat forever until it implodes)
I don't really miss physical games myself, but that is mostly because the effort in them has dropped off massively anyway. I used to love reading manuals as the game installed, pawing over the detailed maps and extras. But most games just ship with a single piece of paper with a brief suggestion that the right trigger is the shoot button, and some terms and conditions, which just isn't very exciting to own, and that definitely helped cool me on the whole physical experience.
Everything I love I buy physical (or when it's cheap). I do that with music, movies and games. It's the main reason I haven't bought Alan Wake 2 as I want it on disk.
Digital is worthless to me and I treat it like that.
Both my music and gaming collection has gone predominantly digital over the last few years.
For both, it’s partly a storage issue but also a bit of a feeling of unnecessary waste; buying CDs just got pointless as I’d import it to my laptop and then never use it and in both cases it’s more plastic etc that just isn’t needed.
I do buy some of my favourite albums on vinyl but have never done the same with games as the price difference between the two media is so great.
The nostalgia of reading through Mega Drive manuals and things like the RDR maps people have posted are strong (Witcher 3 even came with some stickers I seem to remember) but the only reason I bough a couple of PS5 games on disc were because there were no sales on games when the console was new. Almost all of my purchases are through PSN sales now.
@get2sammyb
Hi Sammy,
I'm going to Taipei this weekend (yay!).
Itinerary includes the mall under Taipei Main Train station and the area around Ximen, but I was wondering if you had any other tips of shops or areas that are pretty cool game related that you've discovered please?
I was an extra option on your poll, predominately I buy physical, whilst grabbing the odd digital deal on the PS Store (the latter maybe 20 -30% of my purchases).
I strongly agree, we should never let physical media die, but we should also demand that the game is playable from disc, even if its an upatched version. Games we purchase shouldn't contain the bulk of the game in a downloadable patch, it should be on the disc! Then we can truly protect ownership and preservation of those titles.
@themightyant European online stores mostly. Most of them, aside from the bigger chains, do not care about street dates at all and ship the games as soon as they get them.
I still buy my physical disc.some digital games are cool.but i do prefer physical disc boxed games.i miss the manuals in video games a lot.the smell of a new game.you know its yours.i miss the 1990s.i had a good times.word up son
I voted 'sometimes but only when it's cheaper', but for me it's more like I only buy digital if it's much cheaper than disc. I like owning discs for several reasons, one of them being the resell value that a digital product simply doesnt have.
The argument that it saves time changing discs doesnt fly with me. I mean, how lazy can you be. Only for pick up and play indie games I can understand this a bit if you just have 10 minutes to play a game.
I still buy physical and always will as long as they exist but I'm going to cut down more on how many i buy. I can't see myself buying digital anymore but I wouldn't rule it out entirely.
When I look at my collection I think to myself that is a LOT of games I won't go back to. Most of them will just sit there unplayed again. And if I spent that much on those games brand new, imagine being stuck with them in digital while paying more.
Since the price went up this gen, I've already been cutting down on how many games I've been buying and now I only see myself buying the best of the best while I wait for others to go on sale. But some games like Avatar have opened my eyes to say I'm making the same mistake and need to cut back on more. That is a game I should be waiting to enter PS+ instead.
Should a digital only future happen then I see myself just waiting for the games to go onto PS+ as I'd rather play it on that service than to buy digital. Sometimes I think about trading in a lot of my games that I won't go back to, like that Avatar. One thing that stops me is that I did that with every PS3 game when the PS4 came out and then regretted it so I rebought the games i want to replay. My PS4 collection is too big and I don't want to grow the PS5 library in the same way.
I am at about the 75% mark on digital to physical in games. Mostly if I buy physical, it's about sales, because I am cheap. I Marie Kondoed all of my movies and music into oblivion years ago. Once in a while though, I play a game so good, that I start evangelizing it to my friends. It's a hard sell if they have to buy it, but if I can just hand them the disc, the barrier to entry goes down so much. I miss that when I realize it's a game I bought digitally.
I myself am a gaming cave-man dating back to pre-ZXSpectrum days, sadly, I must admit, all-digital is here to stay. All passion-related papermanualsmelling fetish goes aside when you walk into a gameshop and see pricetags inflated by tens of EUR compared to discounted digital offers. Even then, you bite the bullet and pop that disc/cartridge in your system just to realize there is a need for a download anyway...be it day1 patch or additional game data. Makes the sole existence of the physical version obsolete. The future is confusing to say the least...until there comes a visionary of the likes of Steve Jobs & Apple who can set the global trend firmly for decades to follow.
@NinjaNicky Yeah, same here — I very rarely buy PS5 games digitally, and most indie titles I usually get on Switch, as long as they run okay.
I went for a digital PS5 to stop myself hoarding physical games. A hard stop to an, on reflection , unhealthy habit. Now I only buy a digital game when I need something to play which is getting rarer these days. The decision was easier when you consider that all discs seem to need updating, many games require online connections, internet is blazing fast now (sympathy for those without!), and many games aren't made physical anymore.
Have now whittled down to just a moderate sized collection of stuff I really loved or want to keep for the memories. Anything disc based for PS4 onwards I don't even have a way to play them at home.
I do get the archival argument and I'm happy physical is still going, but it occured to me a while back that I don't personally need to be the one building an extensive archive. Unless the apocalypse hits we'll be able to find stuff if we really want it one day.
The older I get and the more unaffordable the housing market becomes, the less interested in amassing a horde of stuff I become. When your housing situation is temporary (even if you stay for a few years) you have to be ready to move and that has a cost. Movers, maintaining an apartment deposit (as you usually want to have your next apartment lined up before you move out) storage unit rental and just the time sink of re-setting up a place every time you move is exhausting.
Plus depending on where you can afford to live, it is anxiety inducing having tons of high value items. At this rate i will be in my 50’s before I can afford a house and I will be heading towards declutter/prep for retirement phase. Plus if you play a lot of games finding that sweet spot between a great discount and before it becomes hard/expensive to procure means that digital is usually available longer with a price cap. How many second hand games sell for hundreds? Not worth it anymore.
I just wanna play games. You can’t take it with you in the end and age means you have a time limit before you have to exit the hobby anyway. Digital gives me just as much access. I have easy access to hundreds of games on my Nintendo Switch and I don’t have to change cartridges. PC has done just fine all digital.
I've been mostly a digital consumer since 2009. I've always disliked the space taking clutter of cases and the worry over disc scratch, crack, and loss. Ppl have always said the same thing, "...but you don't own the games..." but I still have access. I don't care about trade in either bc for the last 10 years most games are purchased on sale and rarely at launch.
I like physical but it’s obviously going away and there’s no stopping it. 🤷🏻♂️
One thing I’d like to add, for all the people saying “physical is great, you can always play your games”, well what if your N64 breaks, or your PS2, where are you playing those games? Or you’re robbed, or your house burns down? Life happens.
I had a shelf full of VHS tapes I’d never watch again, no one ever will, b/c no one is spending money on a tape player, that I bagged up and tossed into the garage. Akira now stands alone b/c I like the box, but it’s really just a box, not a movie. As I’m guessing are most of our games. Steam, Apple, mobile, PC, and in a generation or two consoles. Game over man, game over.
The problem I have with digital games is that they’re not sold like other digital media. I’m thinking music via iTunes.
When I buy music from iTunes (what’s this streaming nonsense?) I receive a file that sits on my computer and I can play it via various media players, various hardware, and I have it on my hard drive for as long as my hard drive survives. I can also back it up. If iTunes stops selling the music file, the music file I have already purchased is unaffected.
Digital games should be more like this.
Removed - trolling/baiting
I buy physical for all 3. I'm about to be SOL on the xbox side i think
@Futureshark Digital Plaza. It’s at Zhongxiao Xinsheng.
I was a hard core PC gamer, I quit PC because it went all Digital. I will not buy a all digital console or new digital games. I will not quit gaming I will just stick with the 100's of games I already own on Disc.
Needed another option. I choose sometimes, but it's most of the time. If it's only available digitally then I have no choice.
@Barryburton97 I play my PS5 more than my Series X, but by no means would consider the latter a “minor” or fringe platform.
I gave up on physical when ps4pro came out.
Now at...
PS5 129, PS4 362 on my PS5.
So far I own 1117 digital games I can run on PS5.
I have lots of good feelings towards physical copies of games and movies. But I don't actually like the clutter, hassle, and cost. All the years of failed disc drives and easily scratched discs didn't help either.
@sd7232 I'm just messing don't worry
@TooManyBrownies except they won't be stored forever will they? I don't think there's been a case of a big online storefront making older games unavailable to redownload yet, but it's on the way.
There have been many examples of games being unable to purchase any more. Imagine if the 3ds was a digital only machine. It would be a useless brick to anyone who didn't already have an account and games from the time. Interested newcomers wouldn't be able to buy second hand games for it.
And that's not even considering streaming. If that ever does take off, preservation goes out of the window. Single player games will be removed from rotation, if not enough people are playing them.
Great article, interesting read and love the pictures .
I prefer physical over digital whenever possible.
It's interesting. There are digital only games that will eventually be lost to time and unplayable. But there are also physical only games that will never be ported to modern consoles, requiring either a console or emulator.
Biggest concern for me is control. I want to decide what I want to do with my collection before I die, not have it attached to me forever. Sure, my collection could suddenly disappear from a natural cause, but that’s what insurance is for.
@TooManyBrownies what are you talking about? Millions of people play older games, myself included. And while I don't know about your 'archovd' hard drive, I do know most people's general hard drives are far more susceptible to the passage of time than a cd or cartridge.
I always buy games in physical format. The day gaming goes full-digital is the day I quit buying new releases to focus only on playing through my backlog of discs/cartridges.
I'm all digital now. In an alternate timeline where my apartment didn't get broken into and all my physical media stolen I'd probably be 50/50. I've long sinced moved from that apartment but that has scarred me. So unfortunately I'm all digital now. I'd probably I'd love to go back to the days where I could trade in my sports titles or games I ended up absolutely disliking.
I have way more games from the PSN than on blu-ray, but that is because of free ps+ games and the fact that so many games come out only on the store.
I am currently playing Roguebook (addicted to it) and it only released on the store. I have no other option.
But any and every thing I can buy in stores I try to do so.
It's physical all day long for me,the other gamers on here have listed all the reasons why physical is so important are the same reasons why I think physical is so gd ,but all good to gamers who prefer digital for convenience ,options is what it's about as well
I will forever cherish childhood memories of looking at my 6 NES cartridges and feeling like the richest kid in the world in 1988, and I recognize and respect that physical games mean a lot to some people. But I'm all digital these days baby, between PS4 and PS5 I probably own no joke 300 games and they're all digital, every single one.
@get2sammyb
Awesome, thanks for the tip!
@Futureshark You’re very welcome, have a great trip!
I'm pretty much all digital at this point, but I really don't want to see physical media (not just games btw)go away. It's just one less choice for the consumer which can't really be good for gaming overall.
Plus physical games has a special place in my heart tbh.
Physical games allowed me to buy sell and trade to afford newer games when I was younger and couldn't afford to outright buy new games. I used to rent my games as well. Although that's basically nonexistent anymore.
Digital has made buying games more convenient for sure. I just hope the publishers don't give up on physical anytime soon.
buy physical as if account gets banned or hacked can still play my games and dont loose everything.
physical games still have monetary value digital do not
hoping the industry supports physical games while being mainly digital seems a bit of an oxymoron to me
Many advantages to digital. Actually now my entire PS4/PS5 library (as well as XSX) is such. (Nintendo-published Switch titles still primarily physical as don’t take up much console / card storage, while tend to keep higher resale value than PS or Xbox discs.)
May seem dorky / corny, but to keep some sentiment publishers should offer paper manuals via postal mail for little or no fee. Ship sealed and perhaps even serial number for added collectibility.
For whatever worth (opinion), this coming from someone whose first console was ColecoVision.
I think the survey needs a fourth option which I would have "inked":
4. I only buy physical games to play then I sell when I am done.
If it’s new releases, it depends, as it’s often cheaper to buy physical. I picked up TLOU Part 1 for £35 just after release - it’s not going to hit that price point digitally for a while. Sometimes it just makes more sense to pick up physical copies.
There is also the investment aspect - some new games, particularly Nintendo (and particularly sealed copies) are going to hold their value over time.
Also, collecting older titles can become a passion/obsession. My PS3 collection is 320 titles and growing. Some platforms are fairly cheap to collect for and there are some titles that aren’t even available digitally, so are worth trying to obtain and hold onto.
Funnily enough, I dug out my old Dreamcast from the loft of Christmas, with my copies of Shenmue 1 (both UK and Japanese versions) and 2, and there was something so special about flicking through the manuals. Unfortunately, most modern physical games don't come with a manual anymore (do any?)
Having said that, I have mostly gone the digital route over the last few years, mostly down to it being more convenient and not taking up any space. I do feel like digital games are massively overpriced however, and I only purchase them during sales.
So I have a handful of digital games on the PS3 and PS4 apart from that I buy everything physical, whether it's games, films or music. I like to be able to hold what I've bought.
A great article. A lot of cool places shown too and good points made. I'll add on a few.
I mean having less just for it to be more behind 1 physical screen of a phone or a console or a TV or an implant into our brains isn't fun.
The control future will be boring and people going I want to go back, well us physical wanters will say we told you so because we actually think before we do like with anything that has ended.
What games can I play from old that were left behind and never coming to modern platforms. How much would they be 'modernised' and loose their fresh ideas too. Hmm very likely there right.
How much of Another Code Recollection could I say that 'the motion was validated in the beginning' and the rest may be recontextualised puzzles. I don't know yet being took early in of late Chapter 2 and 1 motion control puzzle that wasn't well designed as much as the Wii original probably or other Wii/VR games. But we can't have DS/Wii budget looking games we need generic walking and talking then menus or cool loading screen transitions or pre-rendered backgrounds sometimes limits offered a lot.
It didn't take much for racing game rewind systems to be dumbed down when the original has more depth today. Milestone made a great system, Grid 2008/Forza Motorsport 3 dumbed it down and it's been that way since. Talk about hilarious no one puts point systems for it to scale it when skill trees and RPG points. Like logic there.
Can't wait to see Spare Parts on modern platforms EA the studio that doesn't exist anymore that made it. Sure Tomb Raider isometric games on modern platforms but are digital codes physical. I am glad I own Balan physical.
Or any Red Steel games on Ubisoft's service oh they only offer PS4/Xbox One games ah I see. Or in some cases just 360 games due to back compat..... So for anything else nah no thanks to their services and whatever they say of their old PS4/Xbox One games.
How many on mobile can you get besides the PSP Minis/PS3/360/Wii U/PS4/Xbox One/Switch version? Some not all.
I know the Wii U/3DS had the mobile definitive ports of some PSP Minis. Now that's behind versions on Vita to access.
Unless people are sideloading Android APKs or using Bluestacks/other emulators good luck. Or jailbreaking an iPhone or having an old iPhone that can't update and can access old apps somehow.
I'm not getting any Wii, Switch or otherwise from Ubisoft on their service am I they stay on Nintendo platforms not PS/Xbox/PC unless emulation and getting the control schemes working.
Even then sometimes yes your internet is faster than the disk drive reading but for 1.0 PS4 games I bet the PS5 does it just as quick even if not on my Base PS4 it may take as long as an update and I know when checking some few MBs to some GB (not just the 50GB+ ones I mean the 20GB AA games that are a few 10s or 100s of MBs/or 1-2 GBs). For Japanese games especially many AA ones are tiny of updates to none at all with their remasters or ports. It's awesome.
Some tutorials can suck in modern games that I'd rather the online manual if they even offer it and I can find it either. I like just having a controls or ads in the box let alone the artwork on the inside.
Enjoying our second hand market whatever quality, our collector's and day one editions and whatever else while the digital games we have will be more selected strictly on if we can use it in the future and not be removed or physical so even if an online game goes down we can rebuild it from our updates downloaded or the 1.0 on the disk.
Revival projects exist out there for Warhawk and PS Home whats to say Battleborn or Babylon's Fall don't. Oh right popular games that's right I forgot.
So that's why we don't have a Gizmondo emulator yet. Besides that yes it takes time, few that have the device to begin with but still. Priorities for the most part on that.
At least I can make multiple copies if need be. I'm happy I own a handful of 1.0 versions on disk or cartridge of Vita, Switch, PS4, Wii U and Xbox One games. Some AA, some AAA.
I had to play the 1.0 PS3 version of Dark Void as the 1.1 version crashes, so 1.0 off the disk it is then. Some forced installs on PS3 is annoying but I mean 360 it was optional for most games, only 2 disk games late gen needed an install that was forced data disks.
I'm wondering how the GT Sport services will go at 4pm my time today on 31st of January. It's going to be fun to be there and compare to the system firmware of the PS4 telling me ah you want the dealership no can do. The end of server lifecycle announcement doesn't mention it which as the campaign and especially some side content and others need cars the player has access to (not just ones assigned to the events like usual) do play some.
So who knows. Online multiplayer sure but singleplayer as it's online singleplayer required it's interested to see how the offline experience IS versus what my PS4 firmware stopped my PSN/online access on the console (as it's supposed to designed on purpose by Sony to do that when updates appear).
Hard to tell till 4pm when the servers are offline and when 2 hours or so later I boot the game up again and see and compare the footage and my firmware offline research experience.
Funny how I do research like that and can put it on the Gran Turismo wikis but no one else does this stuff it's just under people's noses what Sony does with encryption of GT PSP and save file deletion, let alone GT5 & 6 on PS3 moving a save file, nope can't be accessed oops. Yet most people don't notice. I'm not even hex editing either it's just easy to access player stuff no one tests when they put a memory card in another PSP if they bought a new one or same thing with PS3s, same accounts local or PSN.
I mean we aren't all going to go and get a IBM 1500 for encrypting things (Steins;gate reference and IRL by CERN them having their secrets encrypted) which I mean makes sense.
If like with Cobalt a programming language very few know can keep things safe and usable very few, you have great security or things to be lost easily too if the devices die or no programmers that understand it can access it.
I've grown to appreciate physical media as I've gotten older. I love owning something tangible to remind me of the memories playing the game.
While it's undeniable that digital is taking over its also undeniable that the prospect of media vanishing - due to expired licenses or the developer just pulls it off digital markets - is scary.
Unlike other entertainment gaming preservation is not in a great place right now (it has gotten better). That and the unwillingness for companies to make games backwards compatible and available to play on future consoles is negligence of the art form.
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