Would you feel content with the idea of games going exclusively digital one day?

I would.

I feel it’s going to be happening sooner than we think imo. That or discs’ll be replaced with similar cartridges like with what the Switch is doing.

Steam is a great example of digital gaming. I fell in love with Steam since the moment I made a purchase on there back in 2013. But, in saying that. It’s Valve and from what I know they’re pretty successful at what they do. You’d have your doubts if Nintendo were doing what they do.

The only thing I’d worry about regarding other companies...e.g. Sony, Microsoft etc is how reliable the servers would be. If they’d shut down, how would you download your games? and so on. I guess the only factor that concerns me overall with buying games digital only is that: “Do you really own the game?”

Let me know your thoughts.

Because I don’t buy physical games anymore. For me it is convenient. But, it means that I have to spend more in most cases.

Nope but in some cases it has whether I like it or not. I Backed War for the Overworld, invested Tier 2 to get a physical copy. You know what that physical copy was? A box with a download code in it. . . That's when I knew it wasn't a choice what I preferred_

Not to mention some games just simply are download only regardless. And that's only growing with time. For Business Men this is a way to make more profit for selling games, than customers owning physical copies. While someone will tell you it's more convenient, it's actually far more restrictive and controlled.

Given the choice I will always pick physical, I have a habit of lending and borrowing games. It's apart of our local community. Plus I have a love for some steelbox editions.

For sites like GoG you bought those files on your drive/ cloud, can even back it up on a HDD without an issue. though some consider that theft for some reason. Eitherway it's why it's my go to site, plus GoG are nice enough to add fix mods to any game that doesn't work without Nexus searching. Which Steam doesn't support. They'll happily sell you a game that can't run on W10 unmodded.

Web distributors like Steam, PSN, Nintendo Game Store and XLive. You pay for DRM and other annoyances, they control how you handle purchased content. They don't trust you with the product you bought, and for that reason I hope physical gaming continues.

Most don't want more games like P.T. and Scott Pilgrim: Versus the World that simply can't be played anymore because they're digital only and removed from those stores. But for the most part we don't have a choice.

*Also just a jolly shout-out Speeny. You make some great threads. Thanks for keeping GD active in a positive manner.

@RSM-HQ: Thank-you very much for the shout-out man.

I see there’s some negativity in the forums from time to try so I try to keep the peace as much as I can. :)

I think we're still two steps away - better online infrastructure and the ability to reliably transfer digital rights. Barring either one there's still going to be a strong demand for physical copies. I know I would not be content trading away ownership for convenience.

I buy a lot of things digitally now largely because PC doesn't give me much of a choice, but I like to get the physical copy when I can for resale purposes or if there's a an apocalypse or something, I can still fire up the genny and play it while the zombies are beating against the window.

I would quit playing new games if that happened.

Reason I quit PC scene was Steam, and the fact that Steam basically made PC gaming digital, even when you bought the physical game.

That was so annoying crap that I just quit buying new PC games and started gaming on consoles.

Absolutely.

I don’t buy CDs, I don’t buy movies, and I don’t buy magazines. Why do I need to buy games when physical anything is obsolete? All of the above can take up a ridiculous amount of space.

That being said, I do love my game collections. I own an Atari 7800, Vectrex, Ngage, Virtual Boy, Intellivision, Sega Saturn, GameCube, Xbox, PS2/3, Gameboy, Gameboy Colour, DS, Wii, WiiU, 360, PC, Xbox One, and an Xbox One X, I have hundreds and hundreds of games - probably a thousand (I’ve never taken inventory), and a plethora of peripherals (racing wheel, gun zappers, bongos, additional controllers). I’ve never made an official ‘man cave’ as I pack mostly everything away to avoid sun damage and exposure. I have probably just as many CDs, VHS tapes, DVDs. I never revisit these collections. I just find online alternatives if I want to watch/hear something catalogue. But it’s not as easy to do this with gaming so I revisit my consoles often. I tend to add a console to my entertainment centre (presently I’ve added my Xbox and packed away the WiiU and ps3).

Going forward I fully expect Xbox to launch a Netflix type service next gen. But, BUT - they will need to have a really good backlog from every prior console in order to get me on board. And it needs to add obscure titles and not just the top tens. My fear is that like now with BC, licensing will be an issue and hold the service back. But I’m willing to give it a chance. I have a feeling that MS is looking into a workaround for this,

But yes, going forward I don’t want to buy physical. I would’ve been fine with this at the beginning of this generation, but oddly physical can be cheaper than digital which I think is totally unacceptable. Prices must come down. God knows digital distribution is much, much cheaper.

Yes. It's inevitable. The only thing I disagree with is the price. Since digital copies save the costs of physical distribution, middlemen profits as well as the cost of the disc, printed leaflets and covers, there is no way digital copies should cost the same.

Digital means you download a game before it's released and watch a countdown to start playing the second it's available. There's also the environmental impact to think of, and there's less chance of losing your game due to scratches....or just plain losing the disc. Day one downloads from physical discs are getting huge now, and that's another reason to buy games digitally...

The only advantage I see to physical, is that you can resell your copy....if console makers offered a way for you to sell your license, that would be a huge step.

Someone mentioned that they didn't buy CDs, DVDs or other media on discs anymore. The argument against that is there is no difference in quality between physical and digital games, while quality is still best on a physical UHD disc.

It suits me fine if games become all digital, I only game digital. I also only buy music digitally as well.

I don´t like it would be.

I usually buy my game son digital but I really love Limited Run, U&I and Special reserve retail indie copies.

No, I would not really like that myself. I prefer to buy my games on physical formats myself. I still purchase my movies and music on physical formats as well. I don’t sell or trade them in though, I just very much prefer having a physical collection plus it makes me feel more comfortable having my games available to me whenever I want.

I actually am a collector more than a gamer so yes it would really annoy me, at least there are lots of games to collect for older generations. I'm ramping up my Xbox 360 and Playstation 2 collection at the moment. I was playing Street Fighter 2 Hyper Fighting last night on the Capcom's Collection on Playstation 2 and there was FPS drops below 30. It was brutal, was this normal on the arcade game as well, I can't remember any more.

My thoughts exactly. I just prefer physical. I just prefer physical and I take extremely good care of my games and movies so lost or damaged won't apply to me. When I spend my money I want something tangible that I can see and hold and know that I have access to it whenever I want lol

I will always prefer to have a physical copy of my games.

Hasn't it been happening for a while now? The only disadvantages (which are huge BTW) are collectability and the lack of resale.

I like having both PS4 for physical and PC is Steam I always want options I never want physical to go away.

@Sevenizz: Yeah I fully expect Microsoft to be the ones that put their foot in the door first regarding a Netflix type of service exclusively to gaming too.

It’s just something they’d do.

Plus, with how bland physical copies have gotten from this generation especially from Xbox...that’s proof right there.

I know it's inevitable, but no not really...

Fine by me, I've been all-digital (with a couple exceptions way back) since 2004, basically since Half-Life 2 and Steam came out.

As far as consoles go, well I'm new to PS4 but there hasn't been a game I could play right out of the box, always requires a multi-gig patch or update; I'd rather just go digital at that point, save myself some time and gas money.

My only fear is if they go the "service" route, i.e. streaming or subscription-based. MMO's have had subscriptions for decades and they can barely do it right; I don't trust the rest of the gaming world any more than your average MMO developer to provide an actual service for their customers. Just let me buy the rights to play your game and call it good there.

Most indies is digitals anyway. We are getting used to getting games digitally, by the time we get a console with digital only features we will definitely get used to it.

I am just scared about we no longer owning a game but only buying the license. If that game gets banned or license revoked we are screwed.

All my games are digital downloads right now, so that would be fine by me.

On PC yes, on consoles? Ehh. I can access all of my Steam/GOG purchases on any computer I use, not so with consoles: if I wanted to play, say, When Vikings Attack, a digital PS3/Vita exclusive, and I wanted to do so in 2028, my only recourse would be hooking up a PS3 or Vita and hope it still works and that the store is still up and running to download the game, whereas with a physical disc i would at least only need the console.

As for me, I've given up on collecting games since they started shipping with day-one patches of several gigabytes, making me regard the disc version as incomplete. I'm mostly at peace with digital distribution now.

@Black_Knight_00: Good point.

I am still able to download games I had bought from the PSP’s PSN and they closed the servers down only recently If I’m remembering correctly.

Well one thing for sure the PS3 and PS4 won't be collectible or retro gaming ... so many games needs internet or can only played online or if you can only buy digital and your consol break during the PS6 area then forget about redownloading the game you had ...

I think of games like Mortal Kombat XL ( and I'm sure there is many more exemple ) where 90% of the game need online ... even if you don't play online shit like the towers change according to the day or if it is a special holyday ... or the whole shit of the clan and who will win ... yeah **** that

The only game that I bought that wasn't a Indi was South Park Fractured But Whole and while it was a fun ride it was very forgettable game and so easy to plat, I didn't even try so now I don't have any reason to replay that game and so I'm stuck with it.

PSP Go was a 2010 venture, it's much too recent to tell what the procedure will be in the very long run. I guess we'll see. The EULA for these services is clear: they reserve every right and you are entitled to nothing. Then again these agreements are esentially hot farts, since each country can overturn them and hold the companies liable under local law, if they so choose, but would they?

It's a hot mess.

I have been using Steam as my only place to buy games with only two exceptions for 5 years now...so yeah not a problem

@tryit: Yep. Steam has been a very comfortable experience for me period.

yes, there's a limit to my storage space.

It's something that will happen really soon. Physical games have no sense right now, due to the fact that buying digital games is easier.