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+--- Thread: Cheaper digital games v. more expensive physical releases (/showthread.php?tid=7065)
Cheaper digital games v. more expensive physical releases - A Black Falcon - 10th July 2017
This is something that I've thought and posted about before, certainly, but I wanted to make a thread about it again.
Which is the better choice? It's a tough question, really. While on the PC physical games are mostly dead, the occasional limited edition or Europe-region box excepted, on consoles most games that aren'[t indie titles have a physical release... but for some games, digital sales allow you to get a digital copy of a game for a lot less than it would cost if you bought it used. The current PSN sale, which ends soon, has reminded me of this question again, and I still don't really have a good answer. Usually on consoles I prefer to get digital-only games digitally and physically-released titles as a physical copy, unless it's "free" like the Games with Gold titles are or if it's a good deal for a game I definitely want to play, but it's tough.
On the one hand, a physical copy comes with at least the semblance of real ownership rights. You've actually got a disc copy of something, after all. You also can sell the game if you want (though I very rarely do this of course), something you currently can't do with digital titles, and have a box to display on the shelf, which I like. On the other hand, a digital game comes with a limited license which the platform holder could revoke at any time, say, if you (wrongfully or otherwise) get banned from their platform's online service for example. This has never happened to me, but while most online service bans are for good reason, I'm sure some aren't. And while on PC you have the ability to at least get your money back for purchases if you meet certain qualifications (that you have not owned the game for long or played it much, for Steam, or if it doesn't work, for Steam or GOG) for several of the biggest online stores, on consoles you have no recourse, money spent is gone. That's awful, and up to this point buying those physical copies seems a lot better.
On another Sony-related note though, the PSP has several unique issues to consider about this question. While I mostly have physical disc copies of games for the thing, more digital games might be nice because PSP disc drives can fail (I had one PSP die on me several years ago for instance...) and so can the discs; disc drives are not great for a portable system, as the PSP shows. Digital games on flash memory cards are much more durable. On the other hand PSP game discs are region-free, while digital games are region locked and switching regions on a PSP is not simple; you could solve this issue with custom firmware, but I've never used that actually. And while I only have a regular PSP, if I ever did want a PSP Go (I don't think I would) I'd need digital games for that... or custom firmware and backups. But anyway, the PSP is kind of a weird case, but even there the large majority of my collection is, again, disc-based.
But to get back to the main point, looking at the prices in this sale, here are a few examples of what you see: $3 for a digital copy of Twisted Metal for the PS3, or $10 or more for a physical copy (unless you get a deal on ebay)? $4 for Playstation Allstars Battle Royale digitally, or $9-plus for physical? All the PS3 Ratchet & Clank games are in this sale, among many more, all for less than physical prices. Etc, etc; lots of games are available for far below the prices I see them for in stores around here. You may be able to match those digital prices on ebay, for some games at least, but ebay has more risk, in if the game will actually show up, if it will work, etc. And some of these digital prices are just plain lower. But despite that, in sales like this I keep hesitating to buy the cheaper digital games... then I don't buy the physical copy either, because it costs 'too much'. Heh. Maybe I'll get a few now, but regardless of that, this is an interesting question: how much more is a physical copy of a game worth, versus a digital one? Which is the better choice, and how much more would you pay for it? Or do you just buy both, to cover all your bases...
Cheaper digital games v. more expensive physical releases - Sacred Jellybean - 12th July 2017
Digital games, though it'd be nice to never have to worry about hard drive space. Guess it's not a big deal, p sure most providers let you "keep" the game, even if you uninstall it, so you don't have to re-buy it. So much more convenient, and cheaper! Wait, is it cheaper? Does that only apply to PC games? I think I've seen PS4 games upwards of $60 bucks on the PSN.
Apart from that, I guess it's kinda cool to have a physical copy to put on your shelf. I like books for the same reason (though less that and more that I like looking at physical pages and turning them, etc). It's a pain in the ass to pack them all up and move them, though, that's for sure. So heavy and obnoxious. I try to purge the ones I don't care about, but I'm something of a packrat for them, telling myself I'll go back and re-read them one day. C'est la vie.