Hypothetically speaking, if your fav console maker made only an all-digital console next gen, would you buy it?

And more specifically, say said console maker made a disc-less system, while the main competitor offered a traditional digital/disc console, would you buy the competitor's console instead, even if you usually don't? This only really applies to those that don't want an all-digital console, and may even refuse to buy one. But anyone is free to put in their two cents. Personally, being a Sony fan, if the PS5 was only digital I'd still buy it, but I wouldn't be overly happy about not being able to play discs on it. I don't think physical should die, though I know it will eventually.

Anyhoo, what say you on the matter, SW?

And in case you might need it today, here's a purple square.

They currently all digital for me already, so....

Really depends on the value of the box.

Would have to justify not having a disk with a huge HDD and at least 3 or 4 TB and a lesser price point than the base system.

Depends if the price was shitty or not and the selection of games, as well as very importantly, HD space.

Never!!!

Not a single disk went in my XOne when it launched so the next gen console will be no different. This obsession with physical media for games is something I don't understand.

Would need A LOT more info in order to make a decision. But all other things equal, no.

Definitely not. I like collecting games.

Nah, I've developed a taste for those cartridges now.

I prefer Xbox and I’m mostly digital anyway so it’s not game breaking to me.

But what about my BC titles?

Although I prefer physical, I would just have to accept it. My steam/GOG/Origin account is all digital obviously, so am kind of used to it. Either console being one or the other is irrelevant, I buy them if they have games I like.

The only thing better would be if they told me I don't own anything and then charge me $10/mo to play whatever games I want.

If you're into physical media - don't worry it'll be around for at least another 10 year.

I really don't have time for that shit though. If I feel the need to collect there are still a ton of PS1 and SNES RPGs that I don't have.

I wouldn't be buying it, and its sales would tank hard. MS tried this in 2013 and look how that ended for them. Physical media is here to stay, the fact that you can buy CDs and digital only games on disc from certain companies are pretty clear indicators of that. And digital only wouldn't mean cheaper, the cost saving from not having a disc drive would be off set by having to have a MUCH bigger hard drive.

All depends on what else it can offer that might make up for sacrificing physical games. I typically purchase all the major consoles in each gen so if there was enough games that I wanted to play on an all digital console then I would most likely end up buying it. However it would be highly unlikely that it would be my primary gaming system.

I have only bought one physical game this gen, so I guess that answer it...

Having no physical media is a deal breaker for me. I won't buy a console that doesn't offer physical media. Period. I would buy the competing console that does offer physical media instead.

I'm hopeful that all of the console makers understand that they would face a huge backlash if they went 100% digital with no physical media option and that their competitors could then take advantage of it and market that they still offer physical media to easily steal all of their pissed off customers. Hopefully, this fear will keep them all in check and prevent any one of them from trying to go 100% digital for a very long time.

They been doing this since last-gen and you can make the consoles all digital if you want to.

If they all went full digital, what backlash would they really face? Gamers wont have a choice.

No

No, I have garbage internet. I would switch to PC.

LOL. "they will receive a huge backlash if they did" this is ignoring the fact that digital sales have dominated this gen.

Whoever is stupid enough to attempt it first will lose a lot of customers, so the only way that they could survive the backlash would be if they all came to an agreement that they would all go 100% digital at the same time which seems unlikely.

And if Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo did all come to an agreement to go 100% digital at the same time then that would create an opportunity for a new competitor to come in with a physical media console to appeal to all of the disgruntled gamers that would be upset.

which is already all digital ?

No.

If consoles go all digital, that would eliminate the last real advantage they have over PC. I would become an exclusively PC gamer.

I prefer digital, so of course I would support all digital.

No.

The advantage of installing a game from disc?

@Pedro: Except they haven't. Most PS4 and XB1 sales are still physical copies.

i was thinking about this for a bit. Initially my reaction was "no i wouldnt buy it" but then i was thinking why? i get all my PC games digitally so why not a console?

im not a collector. i dont cherish discs or packaging so why the reluctance on consoles? even the locked to a store thing....i do have a choice of stores on the PC which is great but if, god forbid, steam went belly up then that would be it. my collection would be gone (or at least at big risk).

for me i think it boils down to confidence in the long term viability of the platform (by which i mean the whole stack: service, software and hardware).

nintendo are my fav console maker but i would be severely irked by an all digital nintendo console. this is a company that tied purchases to specific consoles. their history of BC is patchy. the wii store is now gone...anything i purchased on that....gone. if i bought a new wii i wouldnt be able to redownload them. i have that stuff on an SD card on my wiiu but if that fails (and the gamepad did fail and needed to be repaired) then all gone. if i got the wii store stuff on carts, if that was an option, then i could still play them. itll be the same with the wiiu store in due course: nintendo will shut that down.

its the same with the vita. my vita died earlier this year. anything i bought on PSN for it went with it. sony dont produce the vita anymore and their repair service is very limited now. they also dont have a current replacement that will play vita content. i bought mostly physical on it so i traded that game collection in but if it was all digital then i would no longer be able to access that content and i couldnt get anything back.

the PC, as a platform, is eternal. i can go out, buy a new PC today and play games dating back to the 90s if i wish. it may take a bit of elbow grease but there is a very good chance the game will work. i dont need to rely on a company to build 90s PC hardware to make PC games from the 90s work. its the endurance, strong BC and flexibility that gives me the confidence to buy games digitally on the PC.

I'd be curious to see what the physical to digital percentage of sales is now compared to the start of the gen. I also would be willing to bet that given the choice between full digital and giving up gaming altogether that most of even the biggest antidigital blowhards would be using a discless machine.

Nope.

I would stick to PC if the PS5 didnt had some sort of physical media support. I mean, if the biggest factor why I still prefer consoles over PC disappeared then I would have no reason to keep supporting them. Sure, I would miss playing the exclusives but if I couldnt have them physically then my interest severely faints

@Pedro said:

@thehig1 said:

@strategyfn said:

No, I have garbage internet. I would switch to PC.

which is already all digital ?

Not really a ownage. His reasoning is probably the same as mine i.e. if the reason why we prefer consoles (strong physical media support) disappeared one day then we would have no reason to keep supporting consoles when PC does everything else better (outside of AAA exclusives)

I would have a choice. My choice would be to not supporting them or leave gaming altogether. I would have no problem in doing so. The way gaming is heading I would probably find some other newer hobby and save some money in the meanwhile.

Yeah I wanted to do the same thing, but to get $100 off on my X1X I had to buy RDR2 with it.

I asked if I could just get a digital code and they looked at me like I was crazy. Then I asked again and they checked, but only had physical copies.

So now that disc lives in the console and will probably never come out.

@Steppy_76: I don't think I'd give up gaming but theres no reason not to keep it around.

I dont get it either.

Physical games are bad for the environment, taking into account the plastic thats produced, then the transport of the game copies being shipped all over the world by air, sea and road.

All this is taken out the equation with digital games.

No.

Nah

@subspecies:

Yup. Almost everything I have this gen on Ps4, Xbone and Switch are digital already.

What?

So the only reason you play games on consoles is because you can get a disc which you then install on the hard-drive?

Didn't think it was that difficult a concept...

If it were optional and saved money, maybe. I am fine with MS and how they handle digital purchases, rights, and have confidence in security of my info. I would decline though with both Nintendo and Sony in their current state.

A lot of PS4 top games are like 40GB plus. It would take me like a month to reasonably download that if not break my internet entirely. A lot of PC games, strategy games, which I enjoy most are under 10GB on PC. Examples of PC games I like which are relatively low GB, Hearts of Iron III, Stellaris, etc.

If a future console (PS5) was all digital with mainly 40GB or higher games, I would switch to all PC. I would save up and buy a new computer and not a console. I would enjoy my 10GB or under strategy games and splurge on the occasional 20GB games such as DCS World. With a new computer, in the future, I would also buy the disc for the newest Total War game which might interest me, such as Empire II or Rome III.

TLDR summary

PC has more and better quality under 10GB games.

Most top games of PS4 are around the 40GB mark.

Most Multiplats are around the 40gb mark though, most indie games are under the 10gb mark too. This really means nothing.

I would but it would need at least 1tb HDD, so if the internet does get disconnected for what ever reason (Moving, Storm etc). I still could play.

Only if they can bring my physical games to the digital realm so I can continue to play them on the new hardware.

If they had great exclusives, yes. Sony and Microsoft won't.

NO WAY !

Things I learned with digital games:

a) I can't resell

b) I can't lend

So, do I still purchase digital games ? oh yes, I do when they are on sale but I still prefer physical copies even though in modern systems ( PS4, X1 ) the game actually doesn't run from the disk.