64% prefer game discs to download...Do You ?

"A survey has found that 64 per cent of people prefer physical copies of console games to digital ones - a higher figure than for newspapers, films or music.

The Ipsos MediaCT research, reported byMCV, discovered that 63 per cent preferred hard copies of newspapers, 51 per cent physical copies of films, and only 45 per cent wanted their music in a form they could touch.

A combination of a collector's mindset and the brisk trade in second-hand games was propping up boxed game sales, said Ian Bramley, director of the pollsters.

"I believe the preference for physical discs amongst next gen gamers reflects the potential value they derive from the pre-owned market, which is holding up the preference for physical - this is unlike the music and film markets," he said.

Further analysis of the report published byThinqpoints out that the survey included console games only. Polling gamers on the PC platform - where digital distribution platforms such as Steam have taken hold, and where the trade in pre-owned games is largely curbed by anti-piracy measures - might have returned a different result.

55 per cent of those polled said that a lower price would be a key factor in their interest in downloading a game, while just 27 per cent thought that earlier availability would swing them towards a digital copy.

17 per cent of respondents said their console wasn't connected to the internet. Interest levels varied according to platform, too. 82 per cent of Xbox 360 owners were "interested" in downloading games versus 76 per cent of PS3 owners and 62 per cent of Wii owners.

23 per cent of 360 owners, 17 per cent of PS3 owners and just 8 per cent of Wii owners said they had downloaded a game for their console in the last 12 months."

http://uk.gamespot.com/pages/forums/post_msg.php?board_id=314159282

Yes. I don't like DD all that much.

I prefer disk either on consoles or computer. atleast until i get a better ISP

Depends. On consoles, I'm always going to want discs. On PC, downloading my games is very convenient...especially when I travel, I can carry my Steam account on my laptop :D. DethSkematik

Depends. On consoles, I'm always going to want discs. On PC, downloading my games is very convenient...especially when I travel, I can carry my Steam account on my laptop :D. DethSkematik

Same here.

I prefer physical and my download speeds aren't very good due to the area I live in, but I can't really say anything negative against pc DD since I have picked up about 10 games so far from steam in the last week or so :oops:. If the xbox live servers ran this well I could warrant that monthly fee, sorry did I say servers I forget its p2p... :?.

Depends on the price. Retail is far cheaper for me so...

In a perfect world, I would like to be able to buy a game, and download to your console. I like to have the cases, disks etc... However, it seem nice that you could just have all you games in a Download area, instead of doing the usual.

I much prefer hard copies of games. I like to consider myself a collector, so if I can't see the game it doesn't feel like it's a part of my collection.

Depends on price. If same price, disc.

I prefer DD on PC since it's easier to move em around and steam sales are unmatchable.. for consoles hard copies all the way

having the real thing in a case with a manual is better

but steam is great and most of the time its cheaper then retail

Yes. For me personally, concepts such as DD and online manuals take all romanticism out of gaming. I just like having a shelf full of gaming boxes, and I love reading well-written manuals containing interesting background information. Unfortunately, the especially the latter is becoming evermore rare.

It's the same as downloading music. Online music just turns it into some disposable consumerist product.It feels likewatching paintings on Google instead of in a museum. The sleeve of the CD or LP (or even cassette) is part of the package, and I view games in the same way.

I think we should always be given a choice between Download's and hard copies, keep everyone happy.

On PC I prefer downloads, but I console's I much prefer disks.

That survey was rigged by the gaming industry to promote the takeover of Digital Download.

I cant picture anyone this generation who would prefer a digital copy of a game that they could one day lose ownership of over a hard copy of a game that they can sell or keep forever. Rigged survey. Or done in some city in the middle of nowhere with tumbleweed rolling around and frequent sand storms.

Yes. For me personally, concepts such as DD and online manuals take all romanticism out of gaming. I just like having a shelf full of gaming boxes, and I love reading well-written manuals containing interesting background information. Unfortunately, the especially the latter is becoming evermore rare.

It's the same as downloading music. Online music just turns it into some disposable consumerist product.It feels likewatching paintings on Google instead of in a museum. The sleeve of the CD or LP (or even cassette) is part of the package, and I view games in the same way.

DraugenCP

EXACTLY. If I can't see the game in physical being, then I don't feel like I own it or its part of my collection. I would never Download a console game purely for convenience, if I wanted a particular game, I'd go out and buy the damn thing in its actual form, not a bunch of code over the Internet.

You asked one question in your topic title and the opposite question in your poll. :|

On PC I definatly prefer DD, can just take my dozens of steam games and download them from any computer, no limits, other than one location at a time of course.

People with the nostalgic notion of needing game boxes will eventually need to learn to live in the presant.

I would never Download a console game purely for convenience, if I wanted a particular game, I'd go out and buy the damn thing in its actual form, not a bunch of code over the Internet.

balfe1990

thats nonsensical. all you do in that case is buy the same bunch of code on a dvd from a middleman for an inflated price.

You asked one question in your topic title and the opposite question in your poll. :|

On PC I definatly prefer DD, can just take my dozens of steam games and download them from any computer, no limits, other than one location at a time of course.

People with the nostalgic notion of needing game boxes will eventually need to learn to live in the presant.

[QUOTE="balfe1990"]

I would never Download a console game purely for convenience, if I wanted a particular game, I'd go out and buy the damn thing in its actual form, not a bunch of code over the Internet.

CaptainHarley

thats nonsensical. all you do in that case is buy the same bunch of code on a dvd from a middleman for an inflated price.

Ive gotten bored of Fat Princess. Ill sell it to you at a discount. Just gotta find a way first.

You asked one question in your topic title and the opposite question in your poll. :|

On PC I definatly prefer DD, can just take my dozens of steam games and download them from any computer, no limits, other than one location at a time of course.

People with the nostalgic notion of needing game boxes will eventually need to learn to live in the presant.

That survey was rigged by the gaming industry to promote the takeover of Digital Download.

I cant picture anyone this generation who would prefer a digital copy of a game that they could one day lose ownership of over a hard copy of a game that they can sell or keep forever. Rigged survey. Or done in some city in the middle of nowhere with tumbleweed rolling around and frequent sand storms.

erglesmergle

I like both.Juggernaut140

You asked one question in your topic title and the opposite question in your poll. :|

On PC I definatly prefer DD, can just take my dozens of steam games and download them from any computer, no limits, other than one location at a time of course.

People with the nostalgic notion of needing game boxes will eventually need to learn to live in the presant.

[QUOTE="erglesmergle"]

That survey was rigged by the gaming industry to promote the takeover of Digital Download.

I cant picture anyone this generation who would prefer a digital copy of a game that they could one day lose ownership of over a hard copy of a game that they can sell or keep forever. Rigged survey. Or done in some city in the middle of nowhere with tumbleweed rolling around and frequent sand storms.

GhoX

I understand that, but I feel I have more ownership of my physical copies than I do my digital copies. My 10 year old PS1 games run fine. Can I trust Sony/MS that in 10 years my PSN/XBL games will still work? What if I accidentally delete them from my HDD? Or have to reformat?

[QUOTE="erglesmergle"]

That survey was rigged by the gaming industry to promote the takeover of Digital Download.

I cant picture anyone this generation who would prefer a digital copy of a game that they could one day lose ownership of over a hard copy of a game that they can sell or keep forever. Rigged survey. Or done in some city in the middle of nowhere with tumbleweed rolling around and frequent sand storms.

GhoX

[QUOTE="GhoX"][QUOTE="erglesmergle"]

That survey was rigged by the gaming industry to promote the takeover of Digital Download.

I cant picture anyone this generation who would prefer a digital copy of a game that they could one day lose ownership of over a hard copy of a game that they can sell or keep forever. Rigged survey. Or done in some city in the middle of nowhere with tumbleweed rolling around and frequent sand storms.

erglesmergle

I understand that, but I feel I have more ownership of my physical copies than I do my digital copies. My 10 year old PS1 games run fine. Can I trust Sony/MS that in 10 years my PSN/XBL games will still work? What if I accidentally delete them from my HDD? Or have to reformat?

PSN/XBLA DD might end up not being re-accessible, but PC is the head of the DD movement, and its doing it right. The rest of the issues aren't DD, but how Sony and MS handle them.

[QUOTE="erglesmergle"]

[QUOTE="GhoX"] You don't own the game, ever. Even if you have a physical copy, you are merely leasing the license to use it.110million

I understand that, but I feel I have more ownership of my physical copies than I do my digital copies. My 10 year old PS1 games run fine. Can I trust Sony/MS that in 10 years my PSN/XBL games will still work? What if I accidentally delete them from my HDD? Or have to reformat?

PSN/XBLA DD might end up not being re-accessible, but PC is the head of the DD movement, and its doing it right. The rest of the issues aren't DD, but how Sony and MS handle them.

[QUOTE="erglesmergle"]

[QUOTE="GhoX"] You don't own the game, ever. Even if you have a physical copy, you are merely leasing the license to use it.110million

I understand that, but I feel I have more ownership of my physical copies than I do my digital copies. My 10 year old PS1 games run fine. Can I trust Sony/MS that in 10 years my PSN/XBL games will still work? What if I accidentally delete them from my HDD? Or have to reformat?

PSN/XBLA DD might end up not being re-accessible, but PC is the head of the DD movement, and its doing it right. The rest of the issues aren't DD, but how Sony and MS handle them.

I prefer to be able to take my games anywhere and not be limited to the system I downloaded it on. And I also prefer no to redownload games just so I can play it on the system that doesnt have the game installed.

Do you know what happens if your Steam account gets banned? YOU LOSE ALL YOUR GAMES. Do you know what happens if your PSN / XBL account gets banned? YOU LOSE ALL YOUR GAMES. You know what doesnt happen? Your hard copy games stop working.

I think DD-supporters are too willing to give up their rights. Or they dont really take the time to think about the downsides. If DD does take over, then gone are the days of letting your friends borrow your games. Gone are the days of selling your games. Gone are the days of knowing that in 20 years, your game will still work provided that you have the working system and that the disc is readable. Gone are the days of having a DVD/Game collection shelf. Welcome to the age of Digital Downlods, where you can lose everything at one press of a button. Literally.

I'll take a physical copy over digital. I like having the actual product in hand when I purchase something.

It's why I don't 'get' OnLive whatsoever.

I like owning physical copies of my games, it doesn't feel like i really own it otherwise.

If it is Steam DD, I'll take it any day over a disc (considering I can make an infinite amount of legal physical and digital backups of my games). I do like having games in my collection, but they take up so much room. A single portable HDD, or even a built-in SATA HDD containing all my games would be so much better... it would be nice to have a universal launcher for them all, with game covers and data available on screen.

PC has made the move to DD... I don't doubt consoles won't be too far behind (consoles seem to take about 10 years to adapt a PC feature, so in about 2015, consoles will become like PC's are now when it comes to DD, quote me on it).

anyone who lives in australia would be severely f'd in the a if they made DD the only way to play. . .

we get crap speeds and download limits like you wouldn't believe (ffs i get a max upload of 20kb/s) my limit is 50gb a month that would meen if a game like GT5 was released only on DD i would probably use up my whole limit downloading it and it would probably take a full week (non-stop) to download it

i'm dead against Digital Distribution for this reason alone

I like both and I don't find either method of obtaining a game wrong, but DD usually wins with its cheap prices and sales.

I love digital download. It seems people have some sort of incomprehensible, subconscious thought that goes on in their head on the subject of hard copy vs. download. I mean my whole life I bought hard copy. Always looked at the manuals, the game boxes, etc etc, but maybe a year or two ago I downloaded my first game from Steam. I was hesitant at first, but eventually my Steam collection grew and grew to the 77 games it is today (not including a few downloadable titles from Direct2Drive, or the Humble Indie Bundle). I mean most every downloadable title comes with digital manual, so I'm set there, and there is game art all over the internet. I get games without having to leave my house (meaning no wasted time, no money spent on gas in my car), and I get the convenience of having all 77 games just a click away. Not to mention I can download them on any computer I want to. Now I almost hate the idea of hard copies. I mean why do I want a shelf of game boxes that I'll open once, and never look in again? Just to waste space? How much nicer would it be to have a handheld device that has your collection of 30 games on it, and you don't have to carry around a single cart or umd? Or to be able to go to a friends house with your hard drive of downloaded games, plug it into their Xbox or PS3, and have them all ready to go? I can't wait to see the day when everything is downloadable. I think people against digital downloads are just holding onto an idea without merit. I'm sure 99% of you are in the same boat as me. You'd open your case once, flip through the manual and never do it again, and that's it. The game box holds no value especially when there's game art, and manuals on the internet. I also despise the used game market. Nothing hurts the industry more than that. I'd just love to see it go away. Just thinking of all the console devs who've gone out of business, and then thinking of the billions in profit Gamestop brings in each year.....Ugh... Whereas on the PC you have hundreds of devs that praise digital download, and services like Steam as being some sort of savior. They make way WAY more money on digital downloads, and there's no potential loss of sales from the used game market.Raymundo_Manuel

This

Personally, I really dislike buying hard-copy. I could have bought BFBC2 for around 30€ from a few UK web sites. I preferred to wait until the Steam version went down in price and bought it for 33.5€. It's not that I simply prefer DD, if possible I ONLY buy DD. I'll only take the hard-copy route if I can't get the game from Steam or if it's too expensive. If the Steam version is just a couple of Euros more I'll buy it, just for the added convenience.

[QUOTE="110million"]

[QUOTE="erglesmergle"]

I understand that, but I feel I have more ownership of my physical copies than I do my digital copies. My 10 year old PS1 games run fine. Can I trust Sony/MS that in 10 years my PSN/XBL games will still work? What if I accidentally delete them from my HDD? Or have to reformat?

erglesmergle

PSN/XBLA DD might end up not being re-accessible, but PC is the head of the DD movement, and its doing it right. The rest of the issues aren't DD, but how Sony and MS handle them.

I prefer to be able to take my games anywhere and not be limited to the system I downloaded it on. And I also prefer no to redownload games just so I can play it on the system that doesnt have the game installed.

Do you know what happens if your Steam account gets banned? YOU LOSE ALL YOUR GAMES. Do you know what happens if your PSN / XBL account gets banned? YOU LOSE ALL YOUR GAMES. You know what doesnt happen? Your hard copy games stop working.

I think DD-supporters are too willing to give up their rights. Or they dont really take the time to think about the downsides. If DD does take over, then gone are the days of letting your friends borrow your games. Gone are the days of selling your games. Gone are the days of knowing that in 20 years, your game will still work provided that you have the working system and that the disc is readable. Gone are the days of having a DVD/Game collection shelf. Welcome to the age of Digital Downlods, where you can lose everything at one press of a button. Literally.

Why would my account be banned unless I did something illegal? Valve wants my money, I'm sure they would only ban me if I did a really bad thing. After all, it's in their interest that I continue to use the service. Also, you're not limited to play a game on the system you downloaded into. You can download a game on any number of PCs and you can play on all of them (1 at once of course).

Also, there are plenty of games that even if you buy the physical version they'll be tied to some account and you need to have that account active in order to play. Valve games for example, but there's more.

The issue most people have about not being able to resell used games is a moot point, for the PC at least. Games are so much cheaper that there's no point in reselling them (or buying used). Steam is constantly doing huge promotions where you can buy games really cheap. Take L4D2, a game that came out just a few months ago, you could have bought it 2 weeks ago for 7.65€! I bought STALKER in December for 2€! With these prices, who cares about buying used games?

I really don't know anymore. I like having my disk, but I am also getting tired of all the space my games are starting to take up. That's why the next PC I build will have a 2TB HDD in it. So I can download a lot more games and have the space for it. I have to admit, I really like Steam and see myself using it a whole lot more in the future. I like how I can download and install my Steam games as many times as I wish. So I guess anymore I would have to vote for downloadable games.

P.S. I see you were refering to console games. With those I prefer a disk.

I don't mind DD since its great for game add-ons, beats the hell out of having to collect a ton of expansion packs, but for the actual full game itself I will always prefer hard copy over DD.