I know most of us here are big on physical collecting. I have taken to physical collecting for a lot of Switch games. In general, I think its almost easier for me to play the switch over the PS4, XBOX & PC (My poor 3DS has a huge back log and I keep adding more and more games to my never ending pile of shame).
I just love the fact that these games are on physical cards. I still buy a lot of digital games but if the indie game is done right like Cave Story or Wonder Boy in Monster World.
That said, I just can’t get myself to order LRG Switch (or PS4) games. I think in general, the only LRG game I was interested in was Cosmic Star Heroine and at this point, I am going to wait for it to come to Switch. Also, with a lot of indies I don’t view them as classics games that need to be preserved for all time in my collection. So as much as I enjoy playing Steam World games, they are one and done for me.
PS4 I buy most games physical. That isn’t hard because I usually only buy PS4 games that are exclusive to the platform.
Oddly, I buy most XBOX & PC games digitally. I really like the convenience of it but I also think I have more confidence in Valve & MS to not shut down their digital stores.
So what are your habits for modern gaming? Do you have an all physical rule? Some mix like physical and digital or are you all retro all the time and don’t bother with new stuff?
I buy physical mainly because I know I can get something back from the purchases if I ever hit hard times. Sure, that copy of MUSHA may not be worth $300 when I’m ready to sell it, but it’ll still be worth more than the $9.95 I paid for it years ago. That’s something.
I do appreciate the convenience of digital, but I also notice that digital libraries are lost to me unless I’m playing that machine. I forget what all is there for me to play.
That all said, I own more games today than I’ll ever be able to play in the rest of my lifetime. It is truly a collection now. The solution to that is to sell things of course, and if it was all digital, I couldn’t do that. That’s why I buy most games on physical discs/carts and only play the indie stuff digitally for the most part.
Humble Monthly is the extent of my PC gaming these days, and that includes many big third party games eventually. Saved me a lot.
PC: Digital
Consoles: All digital on Xbox One because I feel it’s a well thought out system and I don’t trust Sony and Nintendo as far as digital, and the latter especially has some shitty digital practices.
This is my main reason for physical. I keep a very select group of games. Things that are really special. Usually, its Nintendo stuff but I have a lot of PS1/2 & Genesis games that I feel almost the same about. I know I will never replay an Assassin’s creed game, but I know it will be worth a few bucks once I finish it in a month or so. I do this almost with every multiplatform release. Unless its super cheap on steam. I also notice that sometimes if I platinum a game, I have trouble selling it. Usually, it will be on PS+ and then I can just give it to my nephew or get a few bucks for it via trade/offer up.
I actually sold 2 switch games that i am regretting now. So I will probably buy them again at some point.
I definitely try and get physical as much as possible. Usually waiting on digital only games, this has worked out for me. Most recently was snipperclips. Got the physical version when it came out.
I tend to buy 100% digital now, I like not having to mess with disks, just play… also a few things like backward compatability with XBOX is amazing if you purchased it digital, games just keep popping up onto my XBOX One. So for me I didnt much care about boxes after XBOX sort of time… Just a box with a disk in, fun was gone by that point, so might as well take advantage of not having physcial media.
I mainly game on the Xbox One and PC for my modern gaming fix. I have a large XB and X360 physical collection, so I just kept going physical for the XB1, unless of course there isn’t a physical release. With PC, it is mainly digital, unless there is a cool physical version for a big AAA RPG , and it has a cool instruction booklet with artwork, a map, etc., like the old AAA CRPG releases from the 80’s, 90’s and early 2000’s.
I have a 3DS and a Vita, but those platforms are slowly dying out and I’ve only bought a few physical releases over the last couple of years. I do most of my portable gaming on a Windows ultrabook these days and that’s all digital.
For modern gaming, digital outnumbers physical for me partly because of so many smaller games are digital-only. For games available both ways, I prefer to buy a physical copy but often will buy digital if it saves money.
I haven’t bought a new PC in a while but I have been digital-only there for a decade. Once I get a new one, I will end up buying more games on PC again instead of PS4. For Nintendo, I always buy physical given the option given their shitty account systems and higher re-sell value.
I’m mostly digital for modern games. The convenience is too high.
Modern media is just not that attractive. Manuals are gone. You still need to download tons of patches (there’s nothing wrong with this but forget about having an archival copy. You’re still relying on servers). Packaging is cheap.
I go physical wherever possible. Lending and borrowing a good game means a lot to me and my friends. It is rewarding when someone says “yeah, that game that you were raving about is awesome/suck ass”.
For retro consoles, if I own them, I buy physical unless they are expensive, like neo geo. Modern consoles, I only buy Switch now. Xbox one I’m going digital from here on out. Unless I find a good deal on a physical copy.
Physical all-in with the exception of a super-amazing digital deal (Like under $5), digital-only titles and PS+. If I enjoy a digital title enough though, I will buy a physical copy of it if the price is right and when digital comes to physical via LRG, Play-Asia and the other dozens of companies, I try to scoop those up too.
I’ve been trying to be patient and wait to buy retail physical games when they drop sub-$20 though as it can get expensive compared to digital with all the regular sales.
That’s so true, with no manuals and the flimsy-ass cases they have these days, plus needing patches to have a decently running game, half of the physical appeal is gone anyway.
I think I mainly go physical so I can sell it if I get tired of it as far as modern games go. If I could get digital day 1 for the same price as best buy I probably would go digital
Digital on PC because of convenience, Pretty much all games are available digitally and physical editions often just have a Steam Key.
For modern consoles, I need at least one physical copy. I’ll get a digital copy if I need it for co-op with the wife, but if it’s not physical I don’t buy it on console.
Oddly almost all PC games have a digital key so sometimes if I’m buying it when it’s new I will buy the physical copy at Best buy because of my 20% discount.
That 20% off is a significant savings. That and the ability to re-sell are the main reasons I buy everything physical these days. There are tons of other things I buy that get used up. I like that videogames are one thing I know I can turn back into money later if it’s required.
Yeah, I like the idea if I don’t like a game its easily converted back to store credit or cash. The best part of the bby deal is the more I buy, the more rewards I get issued. I also take advantage of their pre-order bonuses. I basically shifted from Amazon to bby for everything bby sells. Which has gotten me to elite status which gives me 45 day return window. This isn’t as important as the fact that almost all games drop in price in 45 days so they will adjust that price.