Digital Download vs Physical Copies (POLL)

PC gamers please keep in mind that consoles also have Digital Downloads and that this thread was created from more of a console gamer perspective. If this were a PC only thread, then things would be completely different since Digital Downloads naturally work best with PCs.

Heres why I do not like Digital Downloads

1. Requires signing in to account to access games.

2. Digital download companies can cancel your account if they want. Nothing you can do. Its in their TOS.

3. If your account gets banned for whatever reason, you lose ALL your games. Nothing you can do.

4. No resale value or purchased games.

5. Redownloading games to play on different system.

6. Cant let friends borrow games.

7. No game collections /memorabilia.

8. Everything is linked to one account. Must repurchase game if you create a new account.

9. No promise that games will still be accessible to download in the future. Company may go bankrupt. Servers go down.

10. Limited by hard drive size.

11. Limited by internet download speed / cap.

Heres why I do like Digital Downloads

1. No disc swapping

2. A LITTLE bit cheaper.

Hard copys all the way. I love building up a collection of games. then selling the ones i dont like on cragslist or at game stores.

With digital you cant even share games with friends thats pretty lame.

If i had to go digital it would be with onlive . steaming games works right away no long downloads or installs .

Hard copies, it feels like I own the game.

hard copies all the way, digital download is only done right by steam.

Hard copys all the way. I love building up a collection of games. then selling the ones i dont like on cragslist or at game stores.

With digital you cant even share games with friends thats pretty lame.

If i had to go digital it would be with onlive . steaming games works right away no long downloads or installs .

dontshackzmii

PC - download

Consoles - hard copy

Hard copies, it feels like I own the game.

Yangire

inb4 "You only own the license"

Physical copies, but if downloads are the only current format they are on then that's fine.

[QUOTE="Yangire"]

Hard copies, it feels like I own the game.

erglesmergle

inb4 "You only own the license"

[QUOTE="erglesmergle"]

[QUOTE="Yangire"]

Hard copies, it feels like I own the game.

SaltyMeatballs

inb4 "You only own the license"

Oops. I missed that part.

Edit: Actually, he edited his sentence.

[QUOTE="SaltyMeatballs"][QUOTE="erglesmergle"]

inb4 "You only own the license"

erglesmergle

Oops. I missed that part.

Edit: Actually, he edited his sentence.

Yeah, I didn't think through the post the first go around.

Physical. I love having a box just for the sake of stashing it on my shelf with my other games.

[QUOTE="erglesmergle"]

[QUOTE="SaltyMeatballs"] He said "it feels like", not that he does. So he was already implying that... It's the truth though. Not a big deal.Yangire

Oops. I missed that part.

Edit: Actually, he edited his sentence.

Yeah, I didn't think through the post the first go around.

2. A LITTLE bit cheaper.

erglesmergle

I think we have some phantom voters. Thread seems one sided. Poll goes both ways.

other then some decent steam sales dd is the same price as a hard copy with is really lame

[QUOTE="erglesmergle"]

2. A LITTLE bit cheaper.

jshaas

I can only think of Steam sales like TF2 and other Valve games. But in a lot of cases, you can find physical copies of PC games for much cheaper than Steam games. Modern Warfare 2 and Assassins Creed 2 still sell for $59.99 I believe. And GT5 is $30 at Gamestop and $30 in the PSN Store.

But youre right. I just added that pro for the sake of not seeming too biased. And its kind of what the PC gamers have been using as a plus for Digital Downloads.

Downloads for my PC like in last weeks super mega ****ing awesome Steam sale.

Otherwise I prefer hard copies.

Heres why I do not like Digital Downloads

1. Requires signing in to account to access games.

2. Digital download companies can cancel your account if they want. Nothing you can do. Its in their TOS.

3. If your account gets banned for whatever reason, you lose ALL your games. Nothing you can do.

4. No resale value or purchased games.

5. Redownloading games to play on different system.

6. Cant let friends borrow games.

7. No game collections /memorabilia.

8. Everything is linked to one account. Must repurchase game if you create a new account.

9. No promise that games will still be accessible to download in the future. Company may go bankrupt. Servers go down.

10. Limited by hard drive size.

11. Limited by internet download speed / cap.

Heres why I do like Digital Downloads

1. No disc swapping

2. A LITTLE bit cheaper.

erglesmergle

1. Steam can work without internet after you download the game, and I'm glad my games are behind a password.

2. Only time Steam bans accounts is for credit card fraud, horray for them. If you cheat you just get banned from VAC servers, not from Steam.

3. See above.

4. Sorry, I don't trade games. No use in spending $50 on something and then getting $5 for it at trade. Useless.

5. You could always burn it off to DVD. That's why that 'Make backup copy' button is there.

6. My friends don't borrow games. I learned that lesson long ago.

7. Except for collectors editions there's nothing in a typical game box I'd want taking up space anyway.

8. Why would they link a single game purchase to multiple accounts? Ridiculous.

9. Vavle have said if Steam ever closes shop they'll release a patch so you can burn your games to DVD and not have to authenticate with Steam when you install them. No problems here.

10. 1,000 GB hard drives can be had for $80.

11. Change ISPs. I have a 250GB monthly cap but I've never had issues with hitting it, even downloading several games a month.

Hard copies, it feels like I own the game.

Yangire

Well you do own the cartridge/disc which the game comes on.

4. Sorry, I don't trade games. No use in spending $50 on something and then getting $5 for it at trade. Useless.

br0kenrabbit

Then don't trade at GameStop.

9. Vavle have said if Steam ever closes shop they'll release a patch so you can burn your games to DVD and not have to authenticate with Steam when you install them. No problems here.

Valve may do that for their own games, but I don't think they can make that guarantee for what other publishers put on Steam. And I really doubt every other services would (especially the console based ones).

Then don't trade at GameStop.

ThePlothole

I was actually referring to GameCrazy. It's an industry-wide practice.

Valve may do that for their own games, but I don't think they can make that guarantee for what other publishers put on Steam. And I really doubt every other services would (especially the console based ones).

ThePlothole

It would be for all Steam games, they've talked about this quite a bit back in 04 or so. And sure I don't know the policies of Gamers Gate and so on but that's why you read the fine print. Heck, it's not even like you can play Halo 2 online anymore, at least with PC games you know as long as someone owns the game there's the option to open and run a server.

And also back to the point the other poster was making about "All games tied to one account"...isn't that the same thing they list as a BONUS for console gaming against PC gaming all the time (Xbox live vs online PC gaming). Hypocrisy! Treason!

Hard copies. I like to actually see I have a game with its case and manual.

[QUOTE="erglesmergle"]

Heres why I do not like Digital Downloads

1. Requires signing in to account to access games.

2. Digital download companies can cancel your account if they want. Nothing you can do. Its in their TOS.

3. If your account gets banned for whatever reason, you lose ALL your games. Nothing you can do.

4. No resale value or purchased games.

5. Redownloading games to play on different system.

6. Cant let friends borrow games.

7. No game collections /memorabilia.

8. Everything is linked to one account. Must repurchase game if you create a new account.

9. No promise that games will still be accessible to download in the future. Company may go bankrupt. Servers go down.

10. Limited by hard drive size.

11. Limited by internet download speed / cap.

Heres why I do like Digital Downloads

1. No disc swapping

2. A LITTLE bit cheaper.

br0kenrabbit

1. Steam can work without internet after you download the game, and I'm glad my games are behind a password.

2. Only time Steam bans accounts is for credit card fraud, horray for them. If you cheat you just get banned from VAC servers, not from Steam.

3. See above.

4. Sorry, I don't trade games. No use in spending $50 on something and then getting $5 for it at trade. Useless.

5. You could always burn it off to DVD. That's why that 'Make backup copy' button is there.

6. My friends don't borrow games. I learned that lesson long ago.

7. Except for collectors editions there's nothing in a typical game box I'd want taking up space anyway.

8. Why would they link a single game purchase to multiple accounts? Ridiculous.

9. Vavle have said if Steam ever closes shop they'll release a patch so you can burn your games to DVD and not have to authenticate with Steam when you install them. No problems here.

10. 1,000 GB hard drives can be had for $80.

11. Change ISPs. I have a 250GB monthly cap but I've never had issues with hitting it, even downloading several games a month.

1. And Ubisofts looking to change that. Also, this is a very PC way of looking at things. Console gamers dont have that benefit. If they want to play their Digital Download at a friends house without internet, then no chance.

2.It shouldnt matter what you do. When you buy a game, it should be yours. No one should be able to take it away. Yes I know youre only buying the license.

3. See above.

4. Smarter people sell on Craigslist for the used game value, not to Gamestop for $5 credit toward another game.

5. Why do that when you can already buy it on a DVD with a nice disc art. What about Blu-Ray games / discs? Blu-Ray discs and burners arent cheap.

6. Most other people do.

7. Lots of people keep their games for memories / game collection. Its nice to keep your games to remember the things you had when you were younger.

8. There are many reasons why one would want to create multiple accounts.

9. So what if they said that. Is it in legal writing? Sony said PS3s have backward compatibility and Linux support.

10. MGS4 takes up ~50 GB I remember. Games are only going to get larger. Take into account movies, music and photos people want to store on their HDDs.

11. Im not capped in the US. But some people overseas are capped. And high speed internet isnt affordable for everyone.

[QUOTE="ThePlothole"]

Then don't trade at GameStop.

br0kenrabbit

I was actually referring to GameCrazy. It's an industry-wide practice.

Don't trade in to any game store. Or pawn shop. You'll usually get a much greater return if you sell directly. There are plenty of places online for this. (eg. I don't just mean eBay)

11. Im not capped in the US. But some people overseas are capped. And high speed internet isnt affordable for everyone.

erglesmergle

Let me just add that there are places even in the US where you don't have many options. If you're area is too rural then the cable and DSL providers simply won't see it as worth the expenses to set up a broadband infrastructure. I live in one of those areas. My choices are limited to dial-up and satellite internet. Satellite is much faster, but is expensive and has very strict bandwidth caps. For example I pay $80 a month for a 1.5Mbit connection with a 400MB daily limit.

Where's the option for both.

DD whenever possible.

1. I like not having to hunt down disks or worry about losing the stupid code to validate my games.

2. It's far more convenient. I don't have to leave home to get new games.

3. Incredible sales. I freely admit that this is the #1 reason I love DD. I've bought so many games in the past year at a fraction of the original price. Without these sales I wouldn't have been able to afford a quarter of all the games I bought.

People can complain about not having access to their games if the company goes under all they want, but in all honesty that is ridiculous considering that the DD market has been growing steadily for the past few years and all signs point to it only getting bigger.

Both have pro's and con's. If I wanna get a game that's for PC that I can just let everybody borrow, I'll go that route, but if it's linked to an online account, I'd rather have a digital copy.

Same story with consoles. So long as the game I downloaded is on my console forever, I don't care either way.

Digital Downloads are usually far cheaper and more convenient, but they tend to make it tethered to an account.

I think about it this way: Left 4 Dead 2 was 10 dollars on steam a few days ago. I could have gone out and bought it for $30 new and just loaned it to 2 other people (sans online features, which makes it kinda pointless), or I could have just downloaded it and had them do it too and we could all play together.

Practicality is going to eventually be the way of the future and this includes digital downloads. Companies save a ton of money by doing so and they also cut down (albeit a small cut) piracy.

1. And Ubisofts looking to change that. Also, this is a very PC way of looking at things. Console gamers dont have that benefit. If they want to play their Digital Download at a friends house without internet, then no chance.

2.It shouldnt matter what you do. When you buy a game, it should be yours. No one should be able to take it away. Yes I know youre only buying the license.

3. See above.

4. Smarter people sell on Craigslist for the used game value, not to Gamestop for $5 credit toward another game.

5. Why do that when you can already buy it on a DVD with a nice disc art. What about Blu-Ray games / discs? Blu-Ray discs and burners arent cheap.

6. Most other people do.

7. Lots of people keep their games for memories / game collection. Its nice to keep your games to remember the things you had when you were younger.

8. There are many reasons why one would want to create multiple accounts.

9. So what if they said that. Is it in legal writing? Sony said PS3s have backward compatibility and Linux support.

10. MGS4 takes up ~50 GB I remember. Games are only going to get larger. Take into account movies, music and photos people want to store on their HDDs.

11. Im not capped in the US. But some people overseas are capped. And high speed internet isnt affordable for everyone.

erglesmergle

1. Screw Ubi.

2. If you had to use fradulant credit card information to buy a game, then you didn't really buy it in the first place, so it isn't yours.

4. I've had a few friends get ripped off on Craigslist for motorcycle parts. I'm sure games are just as vulnerable.

5. With a Lightscribe you can make your own DVD art.

7. I've got all my Steam games forever. I don't see what the issue is. Hell, I still have an NES Zelda gold cart, but guess where the book/box are? I have no idea, either.

8. In this case the account is an OWNERSHIP account. A single purchase goes to a single account. At least Steam lets you buy the game once and you get copies for both Windows and OS X with a single purchase. Try buying a game with dual PS3/360 liscence...ain't gonna happen.

9. Actually they're kinda legally obliged to. Read the fine print, as I said.

10. 50GB is nothing. Maybe if you're struggling along with a 120GB Xbox 360 HDD, but for people like me with multiple terrabyte drives, 50GB is barely noticeable. Storage is cheap, like I said 1TB = $80.

11. I'm capped, and I still don't have issues.

[QUOTE="erglesmergle"]

11. Im not capped in the US. But some people overseas are capped. And high speed internet isnt affordable for everyone.

ThePlothole

Let me just add that there are places even in the US where you don't have many options. If you're area is too rural then the cable and DSL providers simply won't see it as worth the expenses to set up a broadband infrastructure. I live in one of those areas. My choices are limited to dial-up and satellite internet. Satellite is much faster, but is expensive and has very strict bandwidth caps. For example I pay $80 a month for a 1.5Mbit connection with a 400MB daily limit.

I started my business in such circumstances. Find some investors and drop some DSLAMs about. Lease a trunk from the local Telco, even resell their broadband service if you don't want to fool with setting up the back end. Drop about 24-40 DSLAMs around the state and then sell your business for far more than you invested. Worked for me! :D

11. I'm capped, and I still don't have issues.

br0kenrabbit

Comcast's 250GB cap is nothing. Consider that my 400MB a day translates to roughly 12GB a month. And I'm pretty sure there are worse connections that even that.

hard copies all the way, digital download is only done right by steam.

ProjectNatalFan

I wish more devs did that

[QUOTE="erglesmergle"]

1. And Ubisofts looking to change that. Also, this is a very PC way of looking at things. Console gamers dont have that benefit. If they want to play their Digital Download at a friends house without internet, then no chance.

2.It shouldnt matter what you do. When you buy a game, it should be yours. No one should be able to take it away. Yes I know youre only buying the license.

3. See above.

4. Smarter people sell on Craigslist for the used game value, not to Gamestop for $5 credit toward another game.

5. Why do that when you can already buy it on a DVD with a nice disc art. What about Blu-Ray games / discs? Blu-Ray discs and burners arent cheap.

6. Most other people do.

7. Lots of people keep their games for memories / game collection. Its nice to keep your games to remember the things you had when you were younger.

8. There are many reasons why one would want to create multiple accounts.

9. So what if they said that. Is it in legal writing? Sony said PS3s have backward compatibility and Linux support.

10. MGS4 takes up ~50 GB I remember. Games are only going to get larger. Take into account movies, music and photos people want to store on their HDDs.

11. Im not capped in the US. But some people overseas are capped. And high speed internet isnt affordable for everyone.

br0kenrabbit

1. Screw Ubi.

2. If you had to use fradulant credit card information to buy a game, then you didn't really buy it in the first place, so it isn't yours.

4. I've had a few friends get ripped off on Craigslist for motorcycle parts. I'm sure games are just as vulnerable.

5. With a Lightscribe you can make your own DVD art.

7. I've got all my Steam games forever. I don't see what the issue is. Hell, I still have an NES Zelda gold cart, but guess where the book/box are? I have no idea, either.

8. In this case the account is an OWNERSHIP account. A single purchase goes to a single account. At least Steam lets you buy the game once and you get copies for both Windows and OS X with a single purchase. Try buying a game with dual PS3/360 liscence...ain't gonna happen.

9. Actually they're kinda legally obliged to. Read the fine print, as I said.

10. 50GB is nothing. Maybe if you're struggling along with a 120GB Xbox 360 HDD, but for people like me with multiple terrabyte drives, 50GB is barely noticeable. Storage is cheap, like I said 1TB = $80.

11. I'm capped, and I still don't have issues.

1. Agreed.

2. The point is, you bought the game so no matter what you do, that specific game should be yours to keep and no one should be able to take it away from you, regardless of how evil you are or what other criminal activities you participate in outside.

4. The Nigerian scam. If youre smart, you wont get ripped off. If youre not so smart, youd be trading your games in at Gamstop for $5 anyway.

5. I think I want the REAL disc art. Its what makes your game special.

7. Learn from your mistakes and your current gen games might be worth numbers in the future. PC games probably not.

8. For example. If I get VAC banned, Ill have to create a new Steam account to play CS on VAC servers. All my other games on the VAC banned account are stuck on that account. In a situation like that its very inconvenient.

9. Didnt Valve say after Steam had a large install base? Ill read the legal stuff later but I think this was just a verbal thing.

10. For PCs I guess this wouldnt matter. I have 1 TB and Im half full. But for console gamers, theyre limited to like 500 GB 2.5" HDDs.

11. Ive seen some sad sob stories here about bandwidth caps. No cap for me. Just sayin.

This whole going back and forth thing is because youre looking at this from a PC gamer perspective and Im looking at this from more of a console gamer perspective. I game a lot more on the PC but I kinda started this thread from a console gamer perspective. I prefer Steam for PC. I still went out to buy physical copies of TF2 and CSS just to keep the box.

Digital Download is the obvious answer for the PC and I dont think anyone is confused about that. But for consoles, where everyone is on the same closed platform, Digital Downloads does not make sense, especially if you lose the right to share games.

PC and PSP - Digital distribution(easy and efficient for PC, and UMDs are too large and loud for a portable IMO)

Consoles and DS - Physical(DD is really bad for consoles and the DS doesn't need it since cartridges are small and quiet)

[QUOTE="ThePlothole"][QUOTE="erglesmergle"]

11. Im not capped in the US. But some people overseas are capped. And high speed internet isnt affordable for everyone.

br0kenrabbit

Let me just add that there are places even in the US where you don't have many options. If you're area is too rural then the cable and DSL providers simply won't see it as worth the expenses to set up a broadband infrastructure. I live in one of those areas. My choices are limited to dial-up and satellite internet. Satellite is much faster, but is expensive and has very strict bandwidth caps. For example I pay $80 a month for a 1.5Mbit connection with a 400MB daily limit.

I started my business in such circumstances. Find some investors and drop some DSLAMs about. Lease a trunk from the local Telco, even resell their broadband service if you don't want to fool with setting up the back end. Drop about 24-40 DSLAMs around the state and then sell your business for far more than you invested. Worked for me! :D

[QUOTE="br0kenrabbit"]

[QUOTE="ThePlothole"]

Let me just add that there are places even in the US where you don't have many options. If you're area is too rural then the cable and DSL providers simply won't see it as worth the expenses to set up a broadband infrastructure. I live in one of those areas. My choices are limited to dial-up and satellite internet. Satellite is much faster, but is expensive and has very strict bandwidth caps. For example I pay $80 a month for a 1.5Mbit connection with a 400MB daily limit.

Sandvichman

I started my business in such circumstances. Find some investors and drop some DSLAMs about. Lease a trunk from the local Telco, even resell their broadband service if you don't want to fool with setting up the back end. Drop about 24-40 DSLAMs around the state and then sell your business for far more than you invested. Worked for me! :D

It was just a suggestion. And besides, when I started talking to investors, I had no money of my own as I had just immigrated into Canada. That's why I needed investors. It actually started as a way to get MYSELF broadband and grew from there.

There's plenty of business opportunity out there and I was just pointing one I was familiar with out.

[QUOTE="Sandvichman"][QUOTE="br0kenrabbit"]

I started my business in such circumstances. Find some investors and drop some DSLAMs about. Lease a trunk from the local Telco, even resell their broadband service if you don't want to fool with setting up the back end. Drop about 24-40 DSLAMs around the state and then sell your business for far more than you invested. Worked for me! :D

br0kenrabbit

It was just a suggestion. And besides, when I started talking to investors, I had no money of my own as I had just immigrated into Canada. That's why I needed investors. It actually started as a way to get MYSELF broadband and grew from there.

There's plenty of business opportunity out there and I was just pointing one I was familiar with out.

[QUOTE="br0kenrabbit"]

[QUOTE="Sandvichman"] You might want to understand that not everyone here has the resources that to do something like that?Cmon, stop with the ''my situation''' attitude. Sandvichman

It was just a suggestion. And besides, when I started talking to investors, I had no money of my own as I had just immigrated into Canada. That's why I needed investors. It actually started as a way to get MYSELF broadband and grew from there.

There's plenty of business opportunity out there and I was just pointing one I was familiar with out.

You're making the assumption that I don't know how old Plothole is.

I'm one of those dirty sub-humans who trades his games in so I'll stick to physical disks. But if I could get the option to rent from a DD service I'd be fine giving up disks. I just don't see the point in keeping anything that doesn't have long multiplayer legs to stand on.

[QUOTE="Sandvichman"][QUOTE="br0kenrabbit"]

It was just a suggestion. And besides, when I started talking to investors, I had no money of my own as I had just immigrated into Canada. That's why I needed investors. It actually started as a way to get MYSELF broadband and grew from there.

There's plenty of business opportunity out there and I was just pointing one I was familiar with out.

br0kenrabbit

You're making the assumption that I don't know how old Plothole is.

You're making the assumption that I don't know how old Plothole is.

br0kenrabbit

Wait... do you?

[QUOTE="br0kenrabbit"]

You're making the assumption that I don't know how old Plothole is.

ThePlothole

Wait... do you?

You were born in 85, yes? That would make you late 24 - early 25.

[QUOTE="br0kenrabbit"]

[QUOTE="Sandvichman"] Maybe so, just little odd to be talking about this when most people are likely high school and college students. Sandvichman

You're making the assumption that I don't know how old Plothole is.

No, it doesn't. I was addressing him directly at that point, that's why I quoted him.

[QUOTE="ThePlothole"][QUOTE="br0kenrabbit"]

You're making the assumption that I don't know how old Plothole is.

br0kenrabbit

Wait... do you?

You were born in 85, yes? That would make you late 24 - early 25.

Correct. I'll turn 25 in November.

But now why do you assume that I'm a "him"? :P

I prefer physical copies.

[QUOTE="br0kenrabbit"]

[QUOTE="ThePlothole"]

Wait... do you?

ThePlothole

You were born in 85, yes? That would make you late 24 - early 25.

Correct. I'll turn 25 in November.

But now why do you assume that I'm a "him"? :P

The only people I know who like Gadget Hackwrench are guys. :P