Pros and Cons of going to an all-digital game library

[87Birdman]

Re: Pros and Cons of going to an all-digital game library

Unless you're consistently using the disc drive for every DVD, Blu Ray, music CD, etc., the drive should last for the entire time you have the console. Granted, it's a pain in the *** to replace (and why I prefer disc based consoles to be flip tops) but still far cheaper than buying a bigger hard drive and going digital.

Disc wise, you really have to do some bad stuff to a Blu Ray for it not to read. Even light to moderate scratches simply come off with a cloth. Before Blu Ray, I agree but not anymore. And even though I buy movies on DVD, for them to get scratched up, I would have to be careless with them.

I've had the disc drive go bad on me early and got it replaced on warranty and it didn't cost me anything.

The 360 after years of use the drive went bad on me.

I also have a young daughter who I will rock at night to get to sleep and with a young son who is already playing games has his game in I sometimes already have my daughter. So I would be stuck either waking her up to switch out play nothing.

I don't sell my games either because I like to go back and play them when I'm in a down period of no new games I like.

Plus my son has a habit of just seeing the game down and not putting it back on the case.

All these reasons are why I went digital. Pretty much the only pro for disc tend to come in the reselling aspect which I don't. So reselling not being needed there isn't much for cons for me going digital.

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[ODogg]

Re: Pros and Cons of going to an all-digital game library

Yeah I don't resell much either, frankly because I got quite angry at what was usually offered for games I felt were worth much more. I am not trading in a good next-gen game for less than the price of a Big Mac. I'd rather let it collect dust than be raped like that tbh.


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[mestevo]

Re: Pros and Cons of going to an all-digital game library

Yeah I don't resell much either,

Most don't.

[woodjer]

Re: Pros and Cons of going to an all-digital game library

Most don't.

But enough do that it's one of the loudest arguments against going all-digital.

[87Birdman]

Re: Pros and Cons of going to an all-digital game library

But enough do that it's one of the loudest arguments against going all-digital.

I agree and I think that is great there are choices.

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[mestevo]

Re: Pros and Cons of going to an all-digital game library

But enough do that it's one of the loudest arguments against going all-digital.

It's the definition of a vocal minority, not that it isn't an absolutely valid reason for certain use cases and they're less of a minority (if one at all) among gamers who participate in forums like we do.

Gamestop is a $2b business in a $100b industry.

[daniel77733]

Re: Pros and Cons of going to an all-digital game library

For collectors, it makes a lot more sense to to buy the disc and have the case, insert, etc. because you have an actual physical item. You can't actually collect a digital download. When I was a collector before Xbox 360/PS3, I would want games to be in GEM MINT/PRISTINE condition and had to be complete. For those who do this or have done this with SNES, PSone, GEN, etc. it can become a very expensive and time consuming hobby.

I remember buying Chrono Trigger complete. Manual and Cartridge were perfect. Box, not as much. So I bought another one that looked and described to be better. Box was perfect but the manual wasn't. Now, obviously the solution would be to put the better box with the better manual and cartridge but one small problem...I had already sold it. Granted, that's on me and my mistake but trying to collect old school games in the condition that I want them to be in was pretty much, just okay, enough is enough, im done.

I had a backlog of over 20 games between PS3, Wii and Xbox 360 but the majority were those XBLA/PSN games and a few disc based games that I got super cheap digitally. RDR, RE 5 and GTA IV were all under $8. Couldn't pass that up especially for games that I didn't play. That is a steal and worth buying digitally. At $60, hell no.

Point is that since im no longer a collector, I just don't see the point in buying games digitally unless it's a PSN/Indie game. At this point in time, even launch titles like Black Flag are still $30 for Xbox One and PS4. Disc wise, you can get the game sealed for as little as $10. Granted, you'll see some sales but rarely do you see sales for digital games on XBLA/PSN that go that low. Very rare. A perfect example for me would be Wolfenstein: The Old Blood. Solid 7/10 game but the second part wasn't as good as the first part. It's $20 digitally and on disc. With GCU, bought it for $16. Traded it in to GameStop for $11 in credit. Game cost me $5 and it was a one time play through as once I finished it, I had no interest in ever playing it again. If I would have bought it digitally, I would have spent $20 on it for a one time play through and hell, I'll admit that I was tempted but nah, no way. I'll wait for the disc release. Happy I did just that.

If you're someone who can keep playing the same games over and over (like I was back as a kid as I played Tetris 2, Tecmo Super Bowl and Final Fight CD over and over again), I can understand buying games digitally.

For those who have kids and a family, I still don't agree with it but I do understand it. As for selling games just for a few dollars, then yeah, it's not worth it but that depends on how old the game is. I just finished Batman Arkham Knight two days ago and I just looked it up...it's trade in value is $30 at Best Buy. With GCU, I'll get back $33. Game cost me $38 after my 20% off and $10 reward cert. That's a game I owned for two months, played and completed 96% (not finishing that Riddler crap) and only spent $5 on it. More importantly, it's a game that I have no interest in ever playing again whatsoever. Once was more than enough.

Even if I rebuy a game like I did with AC Unity, with my 20% off, im still paying less than I would have paid if I purchased the game digitally. That's an extra incentive for me to buy games on disc. I can buy it again if I want to and lose nothing. can't do that with digital games. Once you buy it, it's yours. You're stuck with it. Sports games and online multi-player games that you play against others, I can fully understand because you can end up playing them for months or even years.

For a single player gamer like myself, digital just isn't a valid or good option. I just remembered something and people may not be aware of this but disc based versions and digital versions are actually different if/when it requires an update/patch to fix problems. I bought Zombie Army Trilogy on disc, downloaded the patch and couldn't pass a certain area early on in the game. I deleted it all, re-installed the game and played it without the patch. Finished the game in a week with no bugs or glitches. I read that the patch was for the digital version but I don't know why nor do I care.

Also, unlike a brand new disc, digital can have problems at launch. I read numerous complaints from people who purchase Batman Arkham Knight on Xbox One digitally and it just wouldn't work for whatever reason. One guy bought the game digitally for PS4 and posted a topic about the game on neogaf and two months later, I still don't think that he's been able to play the game.

Granted, most of these issues are isolated problems that affect a very small minority but what happens when you buy that game digitally, download and install it, have the controller in your hand and ready to play but oops, an error screen pops up or some other issue happens? Then, you're part of that minority. Me personally, when I buy a game and im pumped to play it like I am with MAD MAX, I'll install it, download the day one patch for it because you know there will be one and will be all ready to play it. Imagine if I was to buy this game which is my most anticipated game for the rest of 2015 and what im hoping will be my second best game of the year after The Witcher III digitally and when I go to play the game, some kind of error or problem occurs???

I would be the most pissed off human being you've ever met especially after spending $60 on a game that I can't play. While all those patches and monthly updates are great for a lot of stuff, they also cause problems. Same thing with digital games.

So while those who have lost discs, had them stolen or whatever the case may be, that's one of my main issues with digital. My time is valuable as im sure everyone's is to themselves and I don't want to spend that time trying to figure out what the problem is when I could be playing the game. And granted, this is a very small percentage and minimal issue but only until it happens to you then it's a problem.

As for the cost of digital games, sorry but I don't care what Ubisoft or any publisher says. The games could and should be cheaper than disc and it's not. And I love Ubisoft but sorry, im not believing your bullcrap. The funny part is that gamers think digital only would make the games cheaper. HAHAHA. Good luck with that. If the games digitally are the same price as disc now with there being that other option, why anyone in the world thinks that games would be cheaper WITHOUT that other option is beyond me.

All digital will just end up costing gamers more money, not less but it's all meaningless right now since we're not at that period yet and I for one, hope we never will be.

[Trevelyan]

Re: Pros and Cons of going to an all-digital game library

Are you talking like setting one system as "Home" and the other one having to be logged in type of thing?

Yes thats what I'm referring to for the XB1. I think theres a similar system in place on the PS4 but I don't have any knowledge of it.

[headzapp]

Re: Pros and Cons of going to an all-digital game library

I like to have the box in my hand and have my collection. I don't mind it for ps+. I do have a lot of games on steam and if feels weird scrolling the library to play games.

[kenn5373]

Re: Pros and Cons of going to an all-digital game library

Not sure if it has been mentioned yet but a big pro for going digital would be the ability to share games with a friend or relative. Being able to split the cost of a game has been huge to me.

[AUChase]

Re: Pros and Cons of going to an all-digital game library

Daniel, you and BLZR need to get together and write a ****ing book.

[joet6683]

Re: Pros and Cons of going to an all-digital game library

Not sure if it has been mentioned yet but a big pro for going digital would be the ability to share games with a friend or relative. Being able to split the cost of a game has been huge to me.

Yep, I kinda do that for playing online together at home on multiple consoles. Destiny, dying light, borderlands, forza horizon 2...buy a single digital copy, GF plays on my home xbox, I play on one of the others.


That and streaming to vita/win 10 are another reason I like digital.


Though if it isn't a game I'm playing online with someone at home, I'll go with where I can get the better price. New games is usually with GCU, but others like FH2 I got digitally with the Storm Island pack for only $30 I think. I used to love the physical media. But it seemed to lack some appeal after going from cartridge to disk. And even more when losing the large instruction books. There was nothing like getting a new sports game when I was a kid (mid 90s) and going through the book on the way home. That was almost as much fun as playing!


I used to trade in back in college and before, save every dollar I could. But I love going into a used game store near me and buying old N64, SNES, Xbox, PS2, etc games. Then most of the ones I buy I happen to have already owned in the past. So I don't trade in anymore. I'm at a point in my life and career where I am not going to be worried about saving every dollar I can for a hobby I love. So down the line when I want to spend 20 min to play an old game for some nostalgia, I'll already have the game. If it happens to be a game I bought digitally that for whatever reason couldn't be played anymore...I won't be upset about missing out on 20 min. And if I was, there is always that used game store down the road and ebay

[bigeastbumrush]

Re: Pros and Cons of going to an all-digital game library

I've been all digital since the PS4 came out and there's no way I'd go to physical.

It is just super convenient.

Even when I was buying physical games for the PS3, I was never one to trade them into GameStop for credit. I kept them. So that really doesn't appeal to me.

The only downside that bugs me is not being able to get price drops on digital games. That's it.

But I'm in my 30s and the days of going all over town looking for games pre-release is over. Don't have the desire nor the time for it.

But the ease of flipping back and forth between games is absolutely priceless.

Plus it takes up no storage in the house. Try moving packing up vide games and not losing/misplacing any.

[Jrocc23]

Pros and Cons of going to an all-digital game library

I think everyone is missing the biggest benefit of going digital. If you game share with someone else who plays the same games as you everything is half price. Thats the biggest positive by far.

Easily the main reason I buy my games digital. Every game that I buy digital is basically half price. Can't really beat that.

But even if game sharing wasn't a option, sports games, I would buy digital because I know Madden and definitely 2K, I will be playing yearly. Story mode games like Batman and maybe some Call of Duty like games, I'll buy the disc because after I beat the story or get tired of it, I could sell it for a good $20-30.

[ODogg]

Re: Pros and Cons of going to an all-digital game library

I have decided that here is my strategy going forward:

1. Every game like Diablo with endless content that you never really "beat" is going to be bought digital.

2. Every sports game will be bought digital because the trade-in value is nil and I play sports games the most. The only exception is Madden which has been getting $30 for trade in the past couple of years but I still play it too much to want to mess with a physical copy.

3. Every game that one "beats" such as Batman or The Last of Us, etc will be bought on disc with my new Best Buy Gamer Club unlocked I just bought yesterday.

So I guess that means I will be about 75% digital and 25% physical going forward.