Why Are Console Gamers So Adverse To Digital Games?

Alex Gibson from WGTC writes "Console owners are being offered the gaming equivalent of the iPod; an all in one device. But we’re not biting. Indeed, rather than embracing a switch to digital media with open arms – as was the case with the music industry – the video gaming digital revolution has largely been an unwelcome one among console gamers."

[MrsNesbitt]

I enjoy seeing a physical library, like my books. I'm not completely against digital downloads, they have their place but there's nothing like a physical copy imo

[ThatGuyDart]

Exactly same reason for me. All the big AAA games I buy physical. Smaller games or games that are still cross gen I buy digital. Most JRPG's and Japanese games I also buy digital except the most popular like Final Fantasy or Persona, those I will be getting physical.

[robtion]

I agree, especially when it comes to books.

I think the biggest issue with digital on consoles is lack of storage space with consoles generally having a measly storage capacity.

[MatrixxGT]

Wether you install from disc or digital storefront the storage space gets used up at same rate. The biggest benefit for psychical copy though is if you have crappy Internet or low caps and you want to play a deleted game you can pop disc in and install it again without waiting to DL. Worst case you have to re download a few patches and not the entire game.

[nitus10]

Depends, what you mean by measly storage capacity. If you are talking about AAA games that take about 40 to 50GB then you are looking at about 8 games for the 500GB disk and 18 games for the 1TB disk. If you do get games that are on average say 7GB then you can probably have about 60 games on a 500GB disk and around 130 games per 1TB disk and that is quite a large gaming library.

If you start filling up your disk with videos and other stuff then all bets are off.

Of course, if you could always install a 2TB disk in the PS4 since it's pretty easy and the price has come down considerably although if you really have money to burn you could install a 15TB SSD, but there is a saying in the IT industry. "No matter how much storage you allocate for a user, he/she will fill it and windge for more". 😉

[_-EDMIX-_]

Completely agreed many times the only time I'm purchasing a digital game is if it's only available in that format or if the game is on sale with an extremely huge discount.

Retail disk FOR LIFE! I even buy my PC games this way..

[Raoh90]

besides, if some year in the future we're locked out of playing our digital games or PSN shuts down forever, we'll still be able to enjoy our physical games offline

[Xavior_Reigns]

This!!

[Moe-Gunz]

I personally use both formats. Sometimes I go digital and others (especially major releases) I go physical. I even use custom cover art .

[rainslacker]

Same here. I'm a collector. I like having a collection. If I wanted a digital collection, I'd just have kept pirating games like I used to.

Don't mind digital. I partake in some games that aren't available physically, or theres a really good sale for a game I might want to play, but it won't ever be my primary means of purchase, and if it's the only means one day, I'll probably just stick to retro collecting.

[CorndogBurglar]

I like to smell the inside of the box when you first open a new game, like a complete weirdo.

[MrsNesbitt]

I feel you!

[gamerpop]

Digital games are so much better. I honestly replay so many more games because I can just access them quickly. Also, multiplayer games, or games that I just pop into for a quick 20 minutes like Battlefront or Overwatch are SO much better digital.. no mucking around changing the CD. The price really isnt that much of an issue if you wait for sales as well.. If you're going to buy day 1 then theres no difference anyway.

[yomfweeee]

No difference in price for Day 1? Completely untrue. Prime and GCU are guaranteed 20% savings. Other stores have sales on release as well.

[jholden3249]

Exactly. GCU + BestBuy CC 5% back + Elite Plus bonus 1% back + double reward points (another 2% back) = 28% discount day one, not counting the games that qualify for $10 bonus rewards for preorder.

And it's game ownership in many cases, and can be shared, and can be displayed, and doesn't eat up the valuable HDD space (at least for Wii U, 3DS and Vita, although memory expansion is infinite and cheap for Nintendo platforms). I hate that my games mandatory install on PS4/X1. It's just more coercion towards digital by stripping the benefits of physical.

However, I modded my spare New 3DS XL, slapped a 200gb microSD in it and loaded my entire physical game library on it digitally, along with a comprehensive Virtual Console collection of SNES and GBA, TG16, etc and that is now become my main 3DS. I absolutely love digital knowing that I still have my physical copies and own them and can then enjoy having all my games on one device, especially for on the go.

But never in a million years would I invest all that money buying them digitally knowing that when the handheld dies I'm not going to be able to recover any of those games. It's a joke.

And that is what modding is good for- dumping your entire collection digitally so that you can enjoy the benefits without most of the downsides. Did the same with Wii U and loaded my entire GameCube and Wii collection on a 256gb SD.

Digital is great. But only as an enhanced way to enjoy your physical games, never as a primary medium.

[Nitrowolf2]

is it really that time consuming to swap discs? It literally takes less than a minute. Also, what about deleting games for hard drive space? So, if i want to play a game i deleted a long time ago, I have to wait for it to download, while disc base games will install it right as soon as its put in.

Also, pricing wise, yes there is a HUUUUGE difference

Like Yom mentioned, many services provide 15 to 20 dollars off at launch, and then lets not forget we see discounts for those games happening way before the digital counterpart, and even so they aren't that great of a discount for digital.

[kaizokuspy]

My entire ps4 library is digital. Back in the day when I was younger I'd trade 2 games in, maybe buy 1. For those of us who do that, we inevitably find that our other friends go back to that same game after a while, thus having to rebuy it. I learned my lesson last gen and this gen I have a nice collection of over 100 games. As for discs. I did buy bf4 when I first bought my ps4, guess what? Disc won't read for some unknown reason but I picked up the digital version for $20 and never looked back.

[uth11]

When you want to remote play your games, changing discs is not an option

[nitus10]

In the case of the PS4 you can backup to an external hard drive and recover reasonably quickly as needed. The problem you have is how big an external hard drive do you need although the same could be said for internal storage.

[SonyWarrior]

time consuming changing disks? haha what about the time it takes to make room on a filled HDD for a game in your libary that you want to play then sit for hours re downloading it since if you play a few games you run out of space

[WiiU-Dude]

I made this point somewhere else and they almost thought I was crazy that I might want to play an older game again. Like, once I got board just delete it. If you want to play again reinstall. WHAT?!?!?! Yeah reinstall the game, then the DLC, ugh! Digital can be nice - IF there is enough hard drive space! I FREQUENTLY go back and forth through games. Microsofts seemless external hard drive is so much better than Sony's, but it could be a problem for MS too one day.
I buy a LOT of software!! Tons!! Digital only is nearly not possible.

[_-EDMIX-_]

How many years did it take you to open the disc tray and put a disc inside? Lol

So you're running the risk of the company never supporting the game in the future in regards to redownload options so you don't have to open up a disc tray? That seems like a stupid trade off to me.

I own physical copies of Mass Effect series for PC so that way if something ever happens to the companies digital servers, I can care less at the end of the day they still have to honor my original purchase agreement that my game needs to work when I put it inside of my PC on digital you actually have no such agreement you're technically renting their game.

Also why should I be content to wait for sales when the physical copy is always going to be at a discount due to actually being a tangible object?

I'm sorry but I do not believe that not having a game to play simply so I don't have to open up the disk tray makes sense as a gamer, to have to wait for a sale to play a game is simply stupid.

When a game is box retail on a disk it's price fluctuates based on its Demand on the market , not based on the company's set price go look at how much mass effect cost on the disc, now look at how much steam is selling it for so I should wait to play this game as digital versus buy it cheaper in playing it today?

So you're telling me you love digital because you don't have to spend time changing the disc, but at the end of the day you're waiting months for the game to be on sale just to purchase it at a fair price? O_O...

That is extremely conflicting, like a lot.

You're only able to purchase some digital games at a fair price during a specific time of the year

You're able to purchase the disc version cheaper ALL times during the year.

Yet you are waiting months for a sale to save you seconds on the disc tray? Ummmm maybe you better evaluate your real priorities as a gamer cuz that seems sort of counterintuitive.

[_-EDMIX-_]

Also how could you complain about the time it takes to change a disc when your alternative is to download the whole damn game? LMFAO!

Do you have Parkinsons? Is there a reason why you're unable to change the disc properly? How long is it really taking you to change the disc? In the lifetime that you own and play such a game does it really equal the hours it would spend for you to download it?

Doesn't add up.

Hates the time and function of changing the disk

is okay waiting for hours for the game to be downloaded

Is okay waiting months for sale just to purchase it at a fair price.

Your alternative technically has you waiting to play a game much longer than any other gamers lol

[yomfweeee]

@thunder

Only in major cities in the US even have > 50mpbs right now, so nice try there.

[BlaqMagiq1]

If it's trouble trying to change a disc, then you're lazy.

[Yetter]

clearly we are in the minority on this thread, but I'm with you

[spicelicka]

I can understand that notion because it's convenient to finish playing your main game and just hop into a game for 15 minutes before you finish playing for the day. This is a convenience but not exactly an advantage, and in no way does that make digital games better.

The thing is that you have that option. I buy all my main games on disc but I still have a big digital library from all the free Xbox monthly games and some indie games. What rattles me is people wanting to remove that option and forcing digital only just because they're fine with it.

Well f*** that. Firstly digital discounted sales are never that great. You can ALWAYS get all those games cheaper in retail or used. Secondly, the biggest problem for me is variety, you get 2-3 "special" picks for the month on sale, and most of the time they're bundles for popular games like Destiny/CoD. If I want Just Cause 3 for example, it's $70 on the Xbox store digitally, so wtf a 9 month old game is being sold for $70? Either I wait for digital sale, which could be like next year for JC3, or I pay full price?? Well f*** that. Digital only means we'd be at the mercy of MS/Sony at all times, whatever they decide to charge. I can buy Just cause 3 for $50 from bestbuy, or $40 on holiday sales, or $25-$30 used, I have many outlets to choose from. This is the reason I rarely ever buy indie games because they're not on disc.

I also understand that some of these issues are because publishers have to distribute to retailers and removing all that would lead to the digital market being cheaper and more varied like steam. But I have a hard time believing that would actually make a big difference, MS/Sony aren't as generous as Valve, hard drive space would still be an issue, and trading/selling games is still another big advantage which convinces me to keep it the way it is.

[Clown_Syndr0me]

No difference? Alot of games day one are £50 on the store. I can usually get physical pre orders/day ones for under £40. Then with my employer discount and a certain supermarket i pay around £32 for most new releases.

[SaveFerris]

Maybe if the price wasn't the same or sometimes more than a physical copy. Especially on consoles. But I don't mind owning some of the smaller, indie titles digitally.

[XtraTrstrL]

Sometimes? The digital copies seem to ALWAYS be more than the physical copies. Plus they take forever to go down in price. Many times you'll find the digital copy of an AAA game still be full priced at $60 long after release, while the physical copy is under $15.

[Razzer]

Yeah....but here is the thing. As long as there are physical copies of games in existence then the digital version is going to be more expensive. The reason for this is that physical copies have money tied up in them. If the physical copy doesn't sell then the retailer will return the unsold copies back to the publisher for a credit. The digital has no inventory. It is just bits. But the fact is publishers have to move their physical stores off the shelves as quick as they can. That is why you will see a physical copy go on sale a lot sooner than you will see a discounted digital price.

[ziggurcat]

I think the main thing is the inability to trade them in once you're done with the game. I've gone completely digital because it's a pain to get to stores sometimes, and the fact that there are no sales taxes when you purchase a game digitally in the PSN store (so that ends up costing me less money in the end). What I would like to start seeing is digital copies sell for less money than physical copies - that's my only gripe about the digital market on console.

[MatrixxGT]

Sales tax must be extremely high where you live? I own a little of both. Some games I don't mind digital if I know they will have replay value for years to come.

I even have digital copies of some disc games when they pop up in flash sale for ten bucks. It's worth the convienance to me. I like having my physical collection and tangible ownership though.

[Aenea]

I do the same with buying a digital copy after a while once the prices drop even tho I already own the physical version...

[ziggurcat]

@matrixx:

sales tax is low where i live (it amounts to 5%), but paying less is still paying less. plus games are $79.99 where i live...

[Aenea]

Wow, digital is cheaper for you than physical?

Totally opposite from my experience! Granted prices in Europe need to have VAT/sales tax in the pricing so the MSRP of new AAA games is €69.99 and physically they are cheaper and use a website with which I can compare prices and usually can get it for between €45 and €55 for new games. Also almost all of the webshops do next day delivery so going to a physical shop is not needed!

[ziggurcat]

"Wow, digital is cheaper for you than physical?"

technically yes in the PSN store because of the taxes that aren't applied. the xbox store does actually charge sales tax, so it's the same price for me whether i buy physical or digital on xbox. either way, it's the convenience of not having to leave the house to buy a video game, plus i get to play the game at 10pm the night before because all digital titles are available at midnight EST on the release date.

[uth11]

I prefer digital for when I remote play. No worry about not having the right disk in.

[crazychris4124]

Cheaper to buy and you can sell your copy. I have a Steam account with 115 games, I have only 40 installed. Stuck with 75 games I most likely will never touch again. Thats why I try to buy physical when its possible for consoles. Just sold my Xbox to my friend and there were some games he didnt want. Can get at least $50 for the remaining games at Gamestop which I'll use towards the Gears 4 controller that I put $5 down and have $25 rewards coupon. Controller is $75 so I most likely wont have to pay anything at all. Dont you just love it when stuff just works out?

[_-EDMIX-_]

Exactly!

[madhouse02]

Digital is clearly the future. It's so much better when your games are ready to go.. OK, there's no box art to get excited over.. but honestly once the hype is over or once you've moved onto a new console then that matters so much less.

[_-EDMIX-_]

No.

it's not, the future is determined by the consumers, consumers will 100% determine what the inevitable outcome will be and based on the Xbox One's original launch most consumers do not want this it's why every major publisher and gaming still makes a boxed PC version because there is an install base of Gamers that actually still only buy retail even on PC.

[iistuii]

Just asking when was the last time you bought a physical PC game ? Because I think you'll find now that lots of games don't even come with a disk, you just get a code in the box & once you put that code in, that's it, your game is either on steam Ubisoft or origin & the disk, if you have one is only good for reinstalling.

[_-EDMIX-_]

@iistuii- the last PC game I purchase retail was actually Fallout New Vegas and Mass Effect 3.

I'm not sure what you mean by lots of games just come with a code that's actually not true most games on PC release with disc.

The Witcher 3 ,Shadow of Mordor ,OverWatch, Titanfall, Rainbow Six Siege, the division ,Watch Dogs, Assassin's Creed, Far Cry Primal, Homefront 2 ,Call of Duty ,Dying Light and many more All released boxed retail with a disk PC.

Sooooo "lots" or some? The absolute overwhelming majority released as disc box to PC... in fact I can't even name you a major publisher that is not releasing their games as discs on PC

[iistuii]

Yes there are retail releases of all games, but you just said FONV & ME3 were your last purchases, they are a long time ago & I am saying you get the box & book nowadays, but inside a lot of the time is just a code. Just google what i said about the latest Doom for eg, it comes with a disk which literally loads on a small part & you need to download the rest 45 gig i think, also MGS5 was just a code in the box. So yes retail versions are for sale, but what I'm saying is they are pretty pointless if all your getting is a code or a disk which installs only part of the game, so you may as well go digital on PC.

[_-EDMIX-_]

@iistuii- ???

"Yes there are retail releases of all games"

Ummmmm yet you just stated

" lots of games don't even come with a disk" Maybe you better rethink your whole point as you are merely confirming my whole point.

"FONV & ME3 were your last purchases, they are a long time ago" No, I bought Fallout New Vegas in 2013, I bought Mass Effect 3 in 2014.

I'm not buying much PC games right now as I own a PS4 and my PC uses a HD 5770. That is irrelevant to the point. The point is , games on PC still release as disk.

Doom and MGSV? OH you mean the few cases that games come as a code?

https://www.amazon.com/Midd...

https://www.amazon.com/Witc...

https://www.amazon.com/Drag...

https://www.amazon.com/Call...

https://www.amazon.com/Tom-...

Sooooooo thats nice.

There are some games that come digital only too.

Soooo how is that relevant to games coming on disk bud? LMFAO!

"so you may as well go digital on PC" No.

Buying the retail disk bud as I do for MOST of my PC titles and will continue to do so when I make a new build. Don't buy into that fan fiction, take a good look at those links bud, that is what some PC gamers indeed buy, A DISK!

[iistuii]

Thanks for the Amazon links, you really shouldnt get all carried away, you cannot prove with those links there's a disk in the box, I've already told you a friend bought Doom where he thought it would be a disk & it was a code, you don't get a disk, your games you bought are old & may have had a disk back then, but nowadays it's different. Good luck buying the new Battlefield 1 with a disk,.PC games nowadays, being so huge like their console counterparts don't give you blu rays, so they'd have to give you either 10 DVDs or a CODE, which is what they are doing it so it's like DIGITAL, but hey, you carry on collecting empty cases bud.

[_-EDMIX-_]

"you cannot prove with those links there's a disk in the box"

https://www.amazon.com/Call...

Even with the box telling you its a DVD-Rom ie....a disk in the box?

Their is a reason why Doom and MGSV don't state that. It is false advertising

https://www.amazon.com/Doom...

https://www.amazon.com/META...

Mind you ,Doom actually has a disk soooooo. They merely didn't add DVD-Rom in the box as the game needs to be downloaded, the disk is part of the DRM sorta like how Skyrim was.

Not sure why you are seriously fighting facts. MOST major publishers release games on disk on PC bud, get over it. You've shown nothing to really combat that concept besides 2 games lol 1 of which does have a disk...

" but nowadays it's different" Nope.

The games I listed released last year, What is "nowadays" Where are your links? What major publisher? Why is it your whole argument is based on merely your word and assurance vs facts? Yet you think someone would believe you? LMFAO! Come back with real proof bud, what we are talking about is not a matter of subjective opinion, its a matter of objective fact. Either MOST are releasing titles ONLY digital or not. You have 2 games you stated.....of the 2, 1 of them actually has a disk included......

Soooo "nowadays" or merely a few games? I can't say "nowadays games on PS4 come as mostly digital" because of Everybody Gone To The Rapture being a digital title.

That is 1 game vs Sony's entire library that MOSTLY comes with both, not merely 1, in fact, MOST games DON'T go digital only in regards to major publishers.

https://www.amazon.com/XCOM...

https://www.amazon.com/Tom-...

https://www.amazon.com/Home...

https://www.amazon.com/Over...

https://www.amazon.com/gp/p...

Soooo the games listed all released this year......all on DVD-Rom...where are your links to support your claim?

[iistuii]

I'm getting bored now, zzzzzzzzzz

https://www.amazon.com/Batt...

https://www.vg247.com/2016/...

I quite like this bit...
PC gaming has moved almost exclusively to a digital-only model more than a few years ago. Save for very few major titles, PC players rarely ever consider disc versions. With many of today’s games requiring day one patches and the like, the copy on disc is almost always outdated.

[_-EDMIX-_]

"PC gaming has moved almost exclusively to a digital-only "

Yet

"Yes there are retail releases of all games"

Lol

Buddy, you have very few examples to back up you weak point. You're even back peddling and even contradicting your own previous post. Battlefield 1 is merely one example the vast overwhelming majority of titles are releasing as retail on PC with a disk.

I'll have even more examples by the fall to very much I show you how incorrect you are, there's a crapload of titles that already released this year with disk versions to disprove your entire stupid theory.

[MatrixxGT]

You seem like the prime candidate for a digital library.

You don't care about box art or game cases. Once the next best thing comes you jump ship and don't look back.

nothing wrong with that but it's nice to have options so the people that want the digital library's are happy and the people who want physical tangible ownership of the product they bought can be happy too.

[FITgamer]

Price is main factor for me. I have no problem with digital on my PC, but i'm also paying half price or less for the same games.

[GNCFLYER]

Im physical all the way.

Except for amazing sales that are happening on PSN all the time now.

Those deals are the only reason i buy digital. Bloodborne is 15 dollars right now.

[FITgamer]

I prefer physical on PS4, I only have a handful of digital retail games. Though I just pre-ordered Deus Ex: Mankind Divided for $35 a few days ago. Being able to get deals like that on new PC games, makes me not mind digital.

$15 is steal for Bloodborne, I have no regrets paying $60 for it. It's still my favorite game this gen.

[SonyWarrior]

those deals are hardly amazing since i've sen bloodborne for 15 all the time on amazon..... way more frequent on sale in physical form then digital and that can be said about all the games

[Yukes]

It's twofold for me. Digital prices in mainstream console stores are often silly so put me off. Current gen console games also take up so much space that I'd quickly clog up my hard drive. I'm not against digital games but don't see huge benefit to them at present.

[BrianOBlivion]

Because i don't want to have to download 2 terabytes of games every time the harddrive inevitably dies.

[uth11]

I don't want to have to rebuy a game everytime a disc gets lost or scratched

[nitus10]

To be fair I have only purchased one BluRay game that did not work and that was because the top printed surface was chipped. Fortunately, the store replaced the game.

Bluray disks are pretty difficult to scratch and that is why you should always lay them down on the shiny surface not the printed surface. Of course, it is better to put the Bluray disk back in its box. As for getting lost or stolen that is always a possibility if you have kids and their friends.

[ShaunCameron]

Or having to spend X amount of time traveling to the nearest store just to see if it has the game at all.

[BrianOBlivion]

@ uth11
My games go from the case on the shelf to the console and back as pristine as the day I purchased them.
I don't know if perhaps you've got kids or not but there's no opportunity for scratches or lost discs in my household.

[BrianOBlivion]

@ ShaunCameron
That's not a very bright comment. They do have phones where you're from right?

[thepatientgamer]

To anyone that knows, For all my psn ps1 digitals for my ps3, will those ever go away? Or will psn always be available for ps3 users.

[XtraTrstrL]

Also the fact that digital games seem to stay full priced forever, while physical copies can go down to 1/4 the price in no time.

[ShaunCameron]

That's if the physical copy isn't selling and the retailer is just trying to get rid of stock to make room for the newest releases.

[solid_snake3656]

A digital only future is bad for the economy. Look what Netflix and the other streaming services did to physical rental places like blockbuster and Hollywood video. Of we go digital only, you can forget about those deals you find on amazon, best buy, game stop. Plus some digital games are outrageously priced, that you can find cheaper elsewhere.

[InTheZoneAC]

my entire ps4 library is digital and my ps3 has a couple hundred games on it's hdd as well. And this allows me to put all the same games on my other ps3 and ps4 so anyone else can play them too.

My problem with physical is that it was taking up way too much space. That's also why my 3ds, vita, and wii u library's are all digital. The ease of picking a game and not having to insert it every time, best thing ever.

only thing I prefer physical are blu-ray movies so I can watch them anywhere anytime. I couldn't tell you the last physical game I've bought, but it's definitely been several years....actually I got kingdom hearts 1.5 and 2.5 for ps3 for birthday gifts each year they came out

[InTheZoneAC]

yeah because disagreeing with factual statements isn't trolling?

[nitus10]

I hope you backup and on occasion test those backups with a recovery since disk drives (even SSD's) can and do fail. How long before failure that is the question I can't answer although it will happen eventually.

[InTheZoneAC]

you think I have a 2TB SSD? are you crazy?

hard drives can last for several years continuous use, even over a decade. I don't use my consoles 24/7

[franwex]

I agree with what you said in terms of space. Like ACTUAL shelf-real life space. HDD is easily upgradeable, not so much my walls.

[Elda]

I prefer games on disc,when I'm done I can trade it in.

[OldGuyStillGaming]

Digital all the way
I was totally against it when I had ps4 and ps3 only but when I got my X1 with the 2Tb external.. Oh man it's fantastic
50 digital games installed with 55% of space taken up.
Within seconds I can go from a shooter to fighter to a racing game.

It's the way to go

I wish my Wii U had more internal memory

My ps4 has been full for 3 years

[barb_wire]

Well, we can't get games as cheap, like on Steam and GOG for another thing too.

[ShaunCameron]

That's because Steam and GOG will allow just anything on their platforms, quality be damned.

[stalepie]

I don't see why there can't be both. There are still music CDs, books and DVDs made. I think a lot of these download-only games may be hard to find after their servers and licenses expire.

[JCW2005]

Physical for life, once gaming becomes digital only im out.

[InTheZoneAC]

later...

[Chaos_Order]

If gaming goes digital-only I'll finally have a chance to complete my backlog, plus I'd probably buy some of the systems that I never got around to playing, like the 3DS and Wii U. That should easily keep me going for several years. :)

[Vegamyster]

It's pretty simple, Sony/MS don't offer the same big incentive that PC does because it's not a open market, cheaper prices. I can go on CDkeys and get Deus Ex MD for $37 US, even Infinite Warfare with the CoD 4 remake is $51, you don't get deals like this on consoles.

[XXanderXX]

Some lame reason about collecting or creating clutter , personally I hate clutter and hate collecting unnecessary items .

[MasterCornholio]

I only buy digital if there is no other option.

I purchase physical copies for various reasons.

1. It's faster to install a game from a disk than to download it (in my case).
2. Can trade it in if I want to.
3. Can lend it to a friend easily if I want to.
4. I like disks.
5. Usually cheaper than digital copies
6. Allows me to buy used games
7. Makes changing ecosystems very easy. By this I mean since I don't have anything invested in digital copies it's easy to abandon the ecosystem they I'm in.

[InTheZoneAC]

1. my downloads are done faster than the time it takes to go out and buy the game and come home because it's already preloaded
2. If I want to get rid of games I'd simply use gamefly, I buy and keep my collection
3. you can gameshare with 1 other
4. I like less clutter since I have hundreds of games
5. you're right, that's why I play the games I like and wait for the ones I want to go on sale
6. see above
7. it's easier to abandon something if it's on one device, however why would I abandon it? what reason do I have?

[MasterCornholio]

1. Not here
2. Nothing like gamefly here.
3. I lend my games to several friends.
4. I don't buy hundreds of games therefore space isn't an issue.
5.Unless it's steam the average price of a game that's on sale tends to be higher than the game from Amazon.
6. You can't buy second hand games digitally.
7. Like Sony adopting draconic DRM policies into the PS4? That would make me abandon Sony's ecosystem for Microsoft.

Anyways are you talking about Console or PC gaming?

I'm sorry that I'm not you.

It's not my fault that I was born this way.

Also I can't change my country to suit people with your needs.

[gangsta_red]

Gamefly! I get 98% of my games through gamefly.

If I didn't have gamefly I wouldn't be able to try more than half of the games I played already. And a lot of them were complete shit, I would have been extremely mad paying 60 bux for them and then having to get 10 bux back on trade in.

There are some perks to digital and it's mainly convenience but other than that, I like my physical media.

[OC_MurphysLaw]

I game share and am 100% digital. We split the costs of AAA games we both agee on 50/50.... So paying $30 for a new game makes the ability to not sell it 2nd had a good trade off for me.

[paddy95]

Can't sell them. Low the price to £15 and UI may. I buy a game and finish it in 1 week. Then sell it for £15 less the I purchased it for.

[Manubiggs]

I buy a lot digitally (especially when they got awesome sales) but the small amount of storage is somewhat discouraging

[LamerTamer]

DRM sucks.

[Dirtnapstor]

I have come to love the digital format. It's so convenient. Love the fact that my PS4 will travel without having to pack up a slew of discs.

[TheHip14]

Much prefer to buy physical copies because you can trade them in once you're done playing for credit. Helps save money

[InTheZoneAC]

gamefly saves money, buying and selling games is wasting money

[Hoffmann]

Less consumer rights.

[InsertCoins]

My biggest gripe is that developers don't bother compressing game files and end up taking unreasonable amounts of disk space.

[USMC_POLICE]

I like both but with physical I can still play the game decades later like PS1/PS2. I don't want to emulate on PC and almost all the games I want are not on PS store.

[Scatpants]

I have a ton of digital games. I don't really need to resell them.

[Lennoxb63]

Call me lazy, but I'm done with having to change discs every time I want to play something different. When I can say what I want to play and be loaded up within the second, its just far too convenient.

[Relientk77]

I want to see my video game collection. Physical copies for life

[greenlantern2814]

I think price has a lot to do with it. Most people believe that digital version should be cheaper. It's a great way for small developers to release there product. And I do own several digital games but I either couldn't get them another way or they where on sale, or free from PS plus or XB live

[_LarZen_]

I've been more or less forced to go digital on PC. And I miss the old big boxes that PC games came in. It had so much more soul and joy to own then adding a name on a list.

So I'm buying digital on PC but buy discs on consoles. I even ignore some of the great sales Sony has had on the PS4. I just dont want digital if the game is available on disc. And I'm really looking forward to the Nintendo NX that is rumored to have cartridges instead of discs.

When I walk in to my mancave with my games I feel like a little kid again. I'm not giving that up for a list of games on a screen anytime soon.

[x_RadicalAura_x]

Because we're not stupid. lol When you go digital (I don't care the platform), there's almost always some form of DRM involved and you're doing nothing more than merely renting a non-perpetual license. Gamer's Club Unlocked/Amazon Prime alone make physical still far superior for the people who are on the fence and don't really care either way.

[kevnb]

I think digital sales are getting more and more popular on console, are they not?

[Kokyu]

You people act like EA and Actvision are going to magically make games cheaper. Are digital games now any cheaper? No they arent in fact often many games years, after release, are still full price digitally on xbox live.

The market is supporting both right now just fine. We dont need all digital games and I dont want all digital games. I like to collect and own what I pay for I dont want games as a damn service I want a finished product.

[kingdom18]

The price of digital games vs physical copies is the main one. Also DRM, you never actually own the games, PT being the biggest example. At least on pc games you can purchase SOME (hopefully more in the future) games on GOG which provide them DRM-free, and in the case of a companies servers ever going down you can apply cracks to the games so they still function to some degree.

[FPS_D3TH]

One big reason is second hand market. Not everyone is as interested in investing heavily into gaming as some PC gamers are. PC gaming libraries typically work across different Windows platforms or they are the easiest to work around and you can play your games for a much much longer time. Another reason I don't buy digital games on condones and why I don't think many others do for example is because with this generation there was next to no backwards compatibility up until recently. Even still, it's only Xbo that offers backwards compatibility games for free with a 360 copy. Ps4 has the paid PSNow or you can purchase ps2 (and maybe ps1, can't remember) games. Can't just plop your disc in and install/ own it. That's why we don't buy digitally. I learned with Watch Dogs and luckily buying physical saved me the pain of vanilla Destiny and Division. Why buy digital when there's no guarantee you'll be able to upgrade your library to the next platform at no extra cost? Xboxs announcement of securing Xbox one games with a 360 gold account was cool but will the next gen carry over my library as well? Sony hasn't offered anything incentivizing or have hinted towards it. I'll just keep it safe and physical, thanks.

[BlaqMagiq1]

Too many negatives compared to physical. Digital only games is an exception and I see why certain companies have to do it but if I had to choose between the two I will never pick that option over physical.

Physical>Digital now and forever.

[Skankinruby]

I must be in a huge minority but I'm going all digital this gen. Less discs is less stuff stacking around my tv, plus I'm able to access my entire library from my couch without getting up to swap discs. The only physical games I buy now are collectors editions. My only gripe is the prices don't lower nearly as fast.

[StockpileTom]

The digital games are priced too high for too long when you consider the DRM. It's simple... I'm willing to pay more for more rights, and less for less rights. I have no problem with PC digital games because they are often on sale even before release.

[zhadum]

Well for the me the reason is that my ISP (Frontier) is shit. It takes me close to 7 days 24 hrs a day just to download a game.

[jjb1981]

I love those flash sales on digital games from all platforms.

[TorpeAlex]

This doesn't need to be an entire article. Two words: (1) resale (2) value.

[franwex]

I'll add my 2 cents. I was gonna go all digital this gen. Mostly because I'm running out of shelf space due to my classic games and the convenience of not having to swap disc. Plus new games now just come with a plastic case and disc, not even a manual or posters anyway. I never sell games either. I keep everything, so resale doesn't apply. However, some awesome sales and collector editions forced me to get physical games. Fallout 4 for $20 when it's $60 digital? Yes please! There's also digital game sales too so I have a good mixture.
I think most people are mixed too.
Interestingly enough on music I'm mostly physical, and love CDs. I even get vynil too!

[nitus10]

Personally, I prefer physical disks if the game install is between 30 to 50GB, although I don't mind getting digital if the game is available cheaply (lately, PS+ members have been getting really good discounts) and the overall size is small (3 to 8GB).

Just recently I got the game Neverwinter for free (you can't get any better than that) via digital download (approx 8GB). If you like MMORPG's then it is not a bad game although they do try to suggest you make in game purchases which are wasted on me since I don't mind the grind especially since some of the quests are fairly interesting. You can even setup trades which do take time but I found that you could just set the really long ones (some over 18 hours) overnight, log out and have the task finished when you log back in again.

[r3f1cul]

i used to care, but honestly i dont have many friends around me that take gaming seriously enough to warrant trading or letting someone borrow a game nowadays so this gen minus a couple of really good used games on amazon im pretty much 90/10 digital to physical at this point... the only thing im salty about is the fact they are still charging so much for digital because they have to keep pace with physical to please retailers and game stores :/ i would look forward to a fully digital model or something on console as long as it offered cheaper prices and better sales like steam does, i would take that over using up more space on my giant bookshelf anyday now honestly

[ginsunuva]

Digital, cause I don't have to worry about losing discs.
And if I decide to use someone else's PS4 temporarily, I can download my games onto them instead of needing my discs on me.

[r3f1cul]

bought my 5tb external, and i havent really looked back to physical since honestly ... i hit a few amazon sells here and there but thats about it, no hassle with discs or storage space for game cases (my 12 foot tall bookshelf is spilling over at this point) can quit out of one game and switch to another in a matter of seconds, not a big difference but a nice one especially if you have a larger gaming room like i do its nice to just be a lazy bum and play games lol

[Vanfernal]

Personally, I don't mind digital for most games. But major releases I tend to get physical. Mostly because I don't feel like filling my hdd with 50gb games. Also, I buy games from Amazon Prime and physical copies have 20% off if you pre-order or by within the first 2 weeks. That's a huge incentive.

[Darkwatchman]

Maybe there's a crazy concept called people prefer a physical case with art work and sometimes extra physical "swag" that looks neat and beautiful and fulfilling displayed on shelves as opposed to a lifeless digital library

[plmkoh]

Is this actually a trend or a 'self-fulfilled prophecy'?

Take a look at every other platform: PC, Mobile etc

Now tell me, if not for digital, what options are there to purchases physically.

[Youngindy21]

I am not adverse to digital games. I personally buy which ever is the cheapest. So half of my games are digital and half are physical. I used to be completely against digital, but this current gen has changed my opinion. Because EVERY Xbox One game has to be installed anyway, I really don't see the difference between digital and physical at this point. Also a good thing about digital is that you don't have to get off the couch to switch game disc if you want to play another game other than the one you are already playing.

[Enigma_2099]

Simple. let's say 5-10 years pass... I'll still have my physical copy. I'll be lucky if the digital one is still available for download. Plus, I'm not a fan of the whole "games as service" crap.

[lastking95]

Many gamers have no problem with digital many even have gone all digital but some prefer physical. Ability to trade, used discounts and the freshness of opening a case of that new game they just got.

As someone that has gone mostly digital, i love to unwrap a game, open the case and pop it in for the first time. Idk but gives me that christmas feeling lol.

[byronr7]

Am I the only person who have had digital games unexpectedly not work for them? Is this not extremely frustrating? I feel like I have no control over my games digitally

[LamerTamer]

That is because you really don't.

[tulholdren]

I love my physical media.

[Fullmetalevolust]

I am a collector, I like to keep my games, I like to have them handy. I don't know that online services will last for the same time as my game cartridges or discs. I am an old school gamer so there's a lot of sentiment attached to buying a hard copy.

[JM-9]

Look at what Rockstar did to Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas in 2014. They had a ten-year license for may of the songs in the game. When that ran out they removed the game from the PS Store, XBOX Live and Steam, and put it back up it with the songs removed. This was fine on PS3 and XBOX 360. The problem is, that Steam, then and now, has a policy where you can't opt out of updates. So everyone was forced to update to the newest version with the songs removed, even if they had bought it before the license ran out.

Thankfully, with San Andreas you can just buy a physical copy and replace the music from there, but it shows how a developer can alter a game at any time without our consent. At least with physical you have some control (except for those games that contain a Steam key and nothing else).

[ShaunCameron]

LOL @ your consent. The songs never belonged to you. They belonged to the record label owners that licensed them to Rockstar.

The developer made and own the game. He's well within his rights to do whatever he wants at any time for any reason. In Rockstar's case, they removed the songs due to the license expiring.

[LamerTamer]

When you bought the game you bought it as it was songs and all, not missing and/or stripped of certain features. Did they give a partial refund after taking the songs away from you? No. It would be like buying a car with Bose speakers, then they lost the license for Bose and they come and rip them out of your car.

The songs and content did belong to you as you paid for them. Does that mean I don't own the songs on the CD I buy? If a record label loses rights to a band do they come and take my CD away? Pure bullshit. That is why digital sucks, you don't own the content, they own your money.

[Yetter]

I'm not really sure. I'm all digital this generation and was for the end of the 360 era. It's certainly nice when a game is confirmed to be backwards compatible and it just shows up in my 'ready to install' list. Plus I hate swapping discs when I wanna play something, on top of that, these games are installing to the hard drive even if you have the disc so it just seems redundant and pointless to hold onto.

I certainly understand the argument that people want to be able to sell their games but in my case its a matter of what my time is worth. I can't be bothered selling though ebay and going into gamestop is such a ripoff and such a shitty business practice I refuse to support them

[Aenea]

1) digital [download] games go for €69.99 and I can buy them physically new for €45-55
2) downloads aren't really yours, something happens to your account, etc. you lost them all
3) I can sell games if I don't like them
4) I can buy games second hand for even cheaper
5) and very important: I love having something physical, something I can put on a shelf in my home, also the unwrapping of a new game, the smells, everything is something I rather like!

I only buy [digital] download games when they are really, really cheap and when there's no physical copy available and sometimes I do so for a game I believe I might play often between other games...

Occasionally I even have done both, once I know I love a game and the [digital] download price is so darn low I will buy it again like with BF4 and BFH earlier this year...

[xtheblackparade]

"Console owners are being offered the gaming equivalent of the iPod"
That's why. I don't buy digital music either, i've got a nice cd collection. It's much more fun to me to spread out the thing you love on your wall with cd cases or game cases. It adds something to my house , a warm feeling of the things I love in my sight. Almost as important as furniture in a decorative way, to personalize your house.

And yes, books as well ofcourse. Haven't read a single e-book in my life, because to me it's like: "why would you buy it digitally if you can have it on paper?" lel.

[Gwiz]

The real irony is that on an open platform like PC they embraced to be locked down to a client.With a closed platform people prefer the other way around.(Hence why they said !!@#$%^you to the initial Xbox One)

[Petebloodyonion]

Console owners are being offered the gaming equivalent of the iPod
FALSE

If that would the case I would not have to REBUY my game on PS4 thus the reason why I will never buy again a digital game on a console.

[alfcrippinjr]

there a catch with digital downloads

and that is if your account get banned for any reason your going to loose your library of games
also digital are the same as if you buy them in the store
but digital should be cheaper as your not getting the disc or artwork or case
and they are not

i would rather have the physical disc and the artwork and cover

[CitizenFour]

I'm so lazy that I will buy a digital copy just so I won't have to get up off my ass and change a disc.... I'm also a terrible impulse buyer though haha...

[Ripco_Keller]

AVERSE.

[LamerTamer]

Simple:
1) DRM, you don't really own a digital game only a revocable license to use. If/when they pull the game from the server you no longer have access. When your unit breaks or you upgrade (Neo/Scorpio) you better hope the game is still online. A third party is the gatekeeper to "your" library, what they decide is law.

2) it is much faster to re-install a game from disc, less than 5 minutes on PS4, it can take HOURS to DL. Can you imagine upgrading to Neo etc and having to DL 2 TB of games? It would take forever.

3) no selling, lending, or buying used.

4) not everyone has fast internet, some have no internet, and most have data caps.

5) No retro-gaming possibilities, in the future the games will be taken down and you lose access. The games will be gone forever, unless they decide to re-sell them to you as "classics console collections" Nintendo virtual console anyone?

6) you can get deals on physical, they tightly control DD prices and they remain high. There is no competition on DD.

6) you actually have something tangible. With DD you pay full price just to get access to a file.

7) they control content even after you buy the game with DD. They can and do retroactively remove features (music license expiration etc) without you agreeing. If you have it on disc, you always have it.

It is NOT the gaming equivalent of the iPod. If it was I could back up my games to PC etc. and put on any console I choose WITHOUT an internet connection or asking permission through an "account". My MP3 music is completely portable, I don't even need the iPod, I could use it on PC, phone, etc too.

To me the only games that I would buy DD are online only MP games. When servers go down for them you lose the game anyway, a physical copy is just as useless as your Digital Download one in that one case.

[PersonMan]

1. You can let friends borrow games
2. Your games aren't locked to your system (meaning you can simply bring the disc over someone elses house)
3. Discs last longer. I don't have to check with a server to authenticate my copy of the game. Just put it in and start playing.
4. Picking up used copies are cheaper
5. Ability to re-sell the game if you're not super happy with it (or beat it and no longer have a use for it).

The only thing I like about digital is not having to insert the disc.

[Takwin]

I would never go back to physical for PC. Steam for everything except for PS4 and Nintendo exclusives. And for consoles the 20% off at Best Buy and Amazon, PLUS the ability to resell it, it's not even close.

They have to match physical sales AND give us the ability to lend out titles in our library. Then I'll go 100% digital.

[thelaughingwiseman]

I am of the kind that thinks once the network shuts down for a console (PSN, Xbox live), the games won't work anymore. I would rather have a hard copy and still be able to play the game on my console then if it was taken away from me. I don't want to buy games I have all over again. I'm cheap, like the budgey. I can lend friends games, I can sell them. Last I heard, you can't sell your digital copies. Too much control of my enjoyment is taken away if I keep digital.

[holdmyown83]

For me I only buy Online only games digital. Everything else is Physical

[iTechHeads]

I'm not.

[Darth_Apathicus]

I used to have all my games physical, mostly playstation and pc, because there always was backwards compatibility. I bought the original 60gb ps3 so i could still play my ps2 and ps1 games without having to re-buy them. Now that it has purposely gone (bc) i don't have the same motivation. I still buy physical copies as some people say, it's a collector thing. Now every f***ing game demands installation so i changed my hdd on my ps4 and my collection is divided half and half. That was the second most important reason to stay physical, storage space.

[isarai]

Selling games i don't like or have platinumed, sharing/handing down to friends and family, security (if something happens to my console or profile i still have those games), investment (A $60 JRPG today is likely a $100+ JRPG by the end of the generation ) And preservation, don't want a grim fandango situation where the only legal way to get it was to hunt down a $120 copy for about a decade till it got remastered

[masterfox]

Because I can't touch them.

[XStation4pio_Pro]

i prefer it honestly. less hassle. then again i don't really care about selling games either.

[MartinB105]

Digital games are usually more expensive, and there's a very real risk that the games you've bought could be pulled from underneath you at some point in the future (Sony already did this once with PlayStation Mobile).

[antikbaka]

steam has better digital deals than sony and microsoft, and double better deals than nintendo

[Gitgud]

digital games are shit, always said it. physical copies are the way.

EDIT: also the pricing in digital games are bloody ridiculous. i bought AC4 digitally on release for 53 quid, when i could have got it £10 or more less.

[spoonard]

No trading games with friends. No grey market. No eventual loss of the software. You can keep your discs forever, digital games will eventually stop working due to lack of support.

[TheDivine]

BC period. If every game I ever purchased carried over to the next I would be okay with it. As it is my ps3 games are locked to last gen and I don't trust Sony not to do the same thing and resell them as remasters at 4k next gen. I also like to collect games. I don't know anyone who actually sells their games. I buy to keep.

[1nsomniac]

Because we are getting screwed. Simple. Console digital comes at a cost of £60 while the same game on disc at retail cost £40 & the very same game on PC used to cost £25, Until Sony & Microsoft had talks with Valve about Steam. Which proves that it's not developers but the big companies that have control over the pricing structure.

If companies would stop continuously lying to us with "oh but digital means we save a massive percentage due to less production costs & we can therefore pass that saving on to you." Then once it's accepted crank the prices up even further.

We're not stupid. If we're getting a fair deal we'll happily accept it. It's very simple really & it'd be foolish to think they are not aware of that fact.

[2600Thunder]

They are legally allowed to remote wipe all your licenses even based on a suspicion of violating terms. Corporations are not bound by laws instructing otherwise and are always going to treat us as guilty until proven innocent - if they even bother to clear your name and return your property after you are found innocent. You can google around how innocent people (even proven as innocent by the investigators) have lost entire libraries of itunes, kindle, PS, Xbox, Steam, etc. and have engaged in long exhausting legal battles. I do have steam and yes I worry. If they had retail disk versions (not just keys on disk) then I would buy them like the old days.

This is why services like GOG are widely praised.

[formanbradley]

So I don't have to dedicate a day to downloads and updates every time I fill up my hard drive and have to delete a game to put a new one on it. Pop the disc in your PS4, and within 15 seconds you're good to go unless you wanna download the latest patch.

[NeonGeorg]

Physical games are much nicer; you can see them, hold them, sell them, lend them... Digital copies have their advantages, too, as you don't need to fumble around with a disc, and you can instatly jump into the game with minimal effort. I like physical games more since I can resell them and get money for new games, and if I were to eventually be banned, I could keep on playing them under another username. My digital copies would all disappear.

[Grown Folks Talk]

Games with high replay value, I buy digitally. If it's something I know i'll play once, I get disc, then trade it in. Just waiting for Microsoft to finally launch their digital trade program.

[SuperJay182]

I prefer digital, more because it appeals to my lazy side but also I used to trade games in then want them again later down the line so I may lose ability to trade in but never buy twice.

UK digital prices on PSN are a joke though, I tend to use the US PSN loop hole.... £60 or $60 (roughly £38) hmmmm.

[mark_parch]

more people buy digital than people realise look at titanfall it had sold around 4-5 million pysical copies but numbers have just been released and it sold over 7 million thats around 2 million digital sales. i have my console linked with a friend so we go halfs on all digital games as well save a small fortune

[Tross]

I'm pretty sure the author of this article is over-generalizing. Some console gamers prefer digital. I prefer physical myself, but that's because I like to own games and have a disc and a case I can hold. It harkens back to the old days of gaming. I l also like having a collection that I can see and touch. I'm not "adverse" to digital though. If the price is right on a PSN Flash Sale I might get the digital version of a full retail release. There are also plenty of digital only titles that I won't avoid simply because they aren't available physically. Both have their pros and cons and I'm pro choice, but I'm skewed in favour of physical.

[Malice-Flare]

we are? news to me...

i blame the shenanigans Mattrick tried to pull with the XB1...

[TheSaint]

It's the cost compared to physical for me, though there are very few real advantages to digital.

[ShockUltraslash]

Cant sell games.
Cant TOUCH my games.
Cant give games away.
All games are gone if console is lost.
All games are gone if account is lost.

[Maxor]

Can't touch your games is a problem? LMAO!! Whatever. The truth is that none of this actually matters. You're playing games on a system that exists in the DRM walled garden of MS or Sony. You own nothing. The fact that the nothing is physical or digital is completely irrelevant. All it takes is a firmware update from Sony or MS to make those games not work or it's features utterly crippled.

[TimelessDbz]

If you lost your account . You got some serious issues. Like saying you lost your social security number.
BTW you can easily go to a friends house and play the game on their console. Just login into your account and download it . That simple

[LamerTamer]

Yeah if you want to wait 8 hours. .

[TimelessDbz]

Last time i traded in a game was in 2000 and the only reason why prices are the same for physical and digital is because bricks and motor stores will not sell the game if its cheaper digitally . Last time i bought a physical game was in 2008. To hell with physical.

[Tdmd]

Hd limitation, bad prices and second hand market.

[Grown Folks Talk]

You have to install the games even with a disc.

[Tdmd]

But you don't have to download them again should you wish to delete them.

[Jivesh]

Digital sales are on the up, more and more console gamers are starting to move to it now. Only physical games I buy these days are Limited/Special/Collector' s Editions.

[Vitalogy]

Why is this question even raised? Every digital game that has a retail version is cheaper in retail and nobody understands why because in digital you don't have costs with a box, printed covers, distribution, etc. so why are games being sold at 50/60/70 Euros in the PS Store when you find them at 20/30/40 Euros in various retail stores?

Again, why is this even a question to ask these days?

[iistuii]

Greed, & they rely on people's ignorance & laziness. Why anyone would pay an extra £20 for a digital copy where no box,book, disk & re sale is beyond me.

[andibandit]

I dont find the digital price vs physical price, tempting enough

[iistuii]

Simple, they are being ripped off by the prices. A disk, box & postage is still cheaper than digital & you can re sell it. If the digital new releases were £25, then I'm sure that would change many people's minds.

[The_KELRaTH]

Overpriced due to lack of competition, product life often subject to psn subscription, no 2nd hand value, restricted to life of console, no offline backup.

[iNathan]

It's called having a choice, just because mobile and pc force you into digital, doesn't mean Consoles do the sam, thankfully they give us the best options so we can buy how we want, where we want and when we want, we can also give to a friend, sell it online or keep it forever.

[ITPython]

A song is only 4MB or so, a game is usually 15-50GB. That is a HUGE difference. Not all of us have 50-100Mb connection speeds that can download full-sized games in just a few hours (a song can take less than a minuet to download on even the slowest of DSL connections). Takes me a few days just to download a 17GB game on my PC, and that is if I use 100% of my household bandwidth for the entire time. Which is very inconvenient for not only me, but other members of my household.

With a physical copy, I just place the disk in my PS4, install, and can play in less than a few minuets (with the PS4 we can play games in a minuet or two while it continues to install in the background). Plus if my console ever decides to die, I don't need to re-download a terabyte or so of data to play all my games again. I just insert the disk, and spend a minuet installing before I can actually play.

Until all of us can have 100Mb+ connection speeds for dirt cheap and also obtained conveniently (without re-wiring the entire house), digital games will be the less popular choice. Sadly PC gaming has already forced this upon us, as physical copies of games are practically extinct these days. Far as I can tell, all new PC game releases are 100% digital and are held hostage by the publisher for how we can download and play (such as games only available on the M$ store, instead of also being on Steam as well). Which is one of several reasons I stick to multiplat gaming on my PS4, vs my $1500 beastly PC that I built for gaming and never actually use.

I'll buy physical for as long as I possibly can. Sadly with more and more people getting supremely fast net speeds, the gaming industry is quickly heading in the direction of all digital. Which also means more restrictions for how we play these games. Pretty soon once all games have gone digital, the publishers will be able to control every aspect on how we play our games. If they want to ban all offline gaming, they can. If they want to limit how long we can play those games in one day, they can. And there is nothing we can do about it. That is only the start... As all digital gaming opens the doors for ultimate control and regulation proposed by your state/country's politicians for any and all reasons.

Imagine one day in the near distant future following some horrible violent/extremist/terrorist event, where in the USA the President issues an executive order to prohibit playing games for more than 2 hours a day because they have "scientifically" proven that people that play games for more than 2 hours a day are less mentally stable and prone to violence. Well guess what, if all games are digital, all it takes is a simple change in the code to make every single game on every platform susceptible to this level of control... Especially if they are all required to be connected to the internet in order to function. Use your imagination in whatever way you want... but 100% digital gaming is not a good thing for us gamers. It may be convenient now for those with super-fast internet connections, but it won't be that way for long if we are all forced to download games digitally.

[lnfiniteLoop]

because you never own it... you cannot back it up... once the dev / publisher / console manufacturer closes down or deletes it off the severs its lost for good... if I am expected to part with £44 I expect a box and a physical disc to keep (or do what I want with)...

[wheresmymonkey]

I think its mostly down to the second hand market, and digital prices on consoles being 10-20% more expensive than they are in disc form unless there's a good sale on.

[gigoran]

could it be because once that generation of console is done and dusted, those game are gone. never to be downloadable again. and for a collector that is basically like renting a game for a few years. so for a majority of us serious gamers physical games are important.

[WickedLester]

For me it's because they're the same price as their physical counterparts (in some cases more expensive) and if I'm going to pay full price, I'd rather own something physical for my money.

[NohansenBoy]

Because even digital console games are far too expensive.

[Pro_TactX]

Between the PS4 and PC, every game I own is digital. I find it convenient being able to access my library anywhere, and I like that my library isn't cluttering up my home. I've started building a digital movie library too with Amazon Video.

[maxleresistant]

Why?
Because you don't have to buy your games again when a new generation of Ipod comes out...

That's why PC gaming has no problem with digital only, and that's why Microsoft's plan to end generations on console could be the answer.

[hiawa23]

I am fine with digital. Mostly all my PS4 X1 games are digital, ubless I buy from Gamefly.

I don't buy games to trade in or share with others, I did not know 40 year old plus gamers like myself even did that anymore, and digital removes the hassle of messing with discs.

I own every console since the Nes so I have hundreds of physical games over the years, so having my games in one central area in the digital form, I am fine with that, at this sTage in my gaming life whichbstarted back iN the late 70s 80s until now.

[salazarnaruto52]

Physical games are much cheaper than digital games

[TheTony316]

Digital games on consoles are way overpriced.

[feedthereaper]

I absolutely love the idea of Digital Download games, and to be fair most gamers love it too because they never complain about getting the free games PS/Xbox give away each month as a digital download. So the concept of Digital Downloads is actually welcomed, but there are 2 reasons valid reasons why Digital Downloads at retail is not working and it is down to these:

1 - The price of digital downloads are fixed (as they are in an App Store) by the provider. They rarely go down quickly in price and unless a sale is on then you are going to pay a premium even for a 6 month old game. Hard copies are sold not by one store, but multiple stores, all fighting for trade and all quick to undercut each other by a few pennies here and there. And as soon as the game has been out a few months and store space is limited, they push out the title at a big discount offer to make room for the next games coming out. With Digital downloads there is an unlimited storefront space so no need to get rid of "old stock" to make room for more. End result is that a hard copy will initially be 5-10% cheaper than a download from the start, and the price of a hard copy will drop by 40%-70% within 6 months compared to 0-10% of a Digital in the same time frame. Therefore, a gamer is always going to choose the cheaper option so they can get more bang for their buck!

2 - Storage space. There is simply too little of it to go Digital full time. Even with 2Tb drives now standard on Xbox One S, its not enough if you intend to purchase a lot of downloads, and having to delete/re-download games regularly if you have a large and ever-increasing library. And with downloads/installations taking hours to do with even a decent internet connection it makes it clumsy and awkward. In fact it is worse now than it was in 1990 when a Spectrum+2 with cassette tape loading would take up to 8 mins to load a game (and even then we all found it massively tedious and craved Disk loading) and now we are looking at multiple HOURS of loading before playing a game. The only way to overcome this and have a true iPod experience is bigger storage and 2Tb doesn't cut it, and expecting gamers to, on the one hand accept digital downloads, and the other hand expect them to fork out £80 a hard drive for 2 or 3 hard drives to increase their storage, seems unfair. If Consoles want you to go digital download route, they need to focus on giving the same ludicrous storage requirements that bring everything in your library just seconds away from being played.

I don't think pre-owned markets will make a huge difference in persuading gamers long term (its not had any effect on the music streaming/download market) as gamers will get used to not having games to "sell" or "buy" from places like eBay or local second hand markets. The digital market is strong enough to push people into accepting that the pre-owned market is over with but only if the prices for download are the same or better than retail stores offer.

Every time I get a free digital download with Games With Gold, I am happy..... but every time I have to delete a game I occasionally play to make room for this new download makes me incredibly frustrated, and the only games I have ever bought digitally are when they are heavily discounted in a 1 week sale. I have yet to purchase anything full price, when shops offer the same content for half the price that Microsoft is trying to charge me.

Digital Downloads CAN work and be popular, but Microsoft/Sony need to come up with much, MUCH bigger storage options for their consoles, and they need to make their Digital Stores as competitive as retailers are. Right now digital is a hassle and an expensive one at that. And until they destroy the retail market by undercutting them, they will never win the war.

[spunkee311]

I will always prefer physical games. Might be my old school mentality. IDK. But regardless, I love driving to the store, picking up a game, holding it with my hands, opening the package, and installing the game. I just enjoy the process and thrill of that. If I were to buy the game digitally, in my head, since I don't go through that process, I would feel the game is too expensive.

Another reason is with these small HDD, we have to install/uninstall/reinstall games and I just find it better/faster to have the games on a disc.

Ill always buy physical games till i'm forced not too. Its just a shame that physical games have stopped coming with instruction manuals.

[daynnight365]

For me it's 2 reason: the inability to resell them, and they cost the same as physical. There's a third reason also, I prefer physical

[gamertk421]

Lack of price breaks. When I can get 20% off physical at launch, hard to justify buying a game at 60 that I can't sell or trade if it sucks.

[gazgriff2k12]

they take to much space and are expensive

[WiiU-Dude]

You made most of the points I feel as well. The 2 huge ones for me is the game one day not being available online is HUGE because it could easily happen. And the Hard Dive issue. I made this point to another article and people thought it was almost weird I would want to play something even if I beat it. WHAT? I want to at any given moment play my game and on consoles there is a limit - thought XB1/360 are much more accommodating than Sony. Deleting and redownloading is a massive headache. I buy TONS of games and I keep almost all I buy.

[Lsbb]

Here in the UK digital games cost significantly more than retail.

[BrettAwesome]

I own a LOT of digital games, but mostly indies and generally titles that take up less than 20 gigs. I really really hate having to download 50+ gigs to get those heavy AAA's.

[Saijahn]

My library is digital heavy. Quick easy access vs waiting on shipping or wasting gas to go to the game store.

[Deeke]

That and long ass install times. Not all of us have awesome internet. Also console space is limited, so we often have to delete games. If we delete digital games, we'll have to spend hours downloading them again to play them.

Games aren't small any more.

[respekanize91]

I guess Im the minority...I have bought less then 10 physical games this generation across PS4 and XBOX ONE. Probably have over 50 digital games. I just got used to not having to change the disc and never looked back.

[OpenGL]

I exclusively buy physical for new releases but I've picked up tons of digital games over the last 2 years on PS4 and Xbox One during flash sales. I don't mind digital if they're substantially discounted but at release I get better deals on physical copies through Amazon Prime.

[s45gr32]

Console gamers do not want to let go of the past.

[WellyUK]

It's the prices that xbox and sony have on their stores sorry but its daylight robbery.

[AngryTypingGuy]

I have a slight preference for physical games, but show me a great digital deal and I won't hesitate to buy something. I always check out the deals each week on PSN and look forward to the flash sales. But at the same time, if you want to get the absolute best deal on a game, it is the secondhand market where you'll do that.

[Orionsangel]

I only buy digital games. I haven't bought a physical copy of a game since 2013. I have no room for a physical game collection anyway. The only downside is that it takes longer for digital games to go down in price than physical games. For example you can get Uncharted 4 for 27 bucks used on Ebay. For me it's still 59.99 digitally. I'm a budget gamer so It's gonna be a long wait for me to play UC4. I'll give you an example. I just recently bought Bloodborne and Until Dawn last month because they went 19.99 digitally.

[Ashby_JC]

For me on consoles it was the price didnt justify going digital. Also I cant sell a digital game or get a refund ala Steam.

I think a lower price on console digital games would make more people go that route. Lets asy digital is 5-10 cheaper then physical disc.

On steam I love that I can buy a game and get a refund if I dont like it.

[Mr_Writer85]

Price.

Not everyone is happy to pay £60 for a new digital game, and most are not willing to wait until it goes on sale.

[MilkMan]

Don't really know, and really I don't care.
I like buying digital. I'm over standing online for games and I don't trade or lend out.
I'm a MUCH better-informed consumer now than I ever was when I was a kid so what I buy I tend to want to keep.
Also half the collecting I have I bought on sale. I don't need to re-sell and I don't have space to hold a 40-year collection.
So, bring on the digital age. This couldn't have happened sooner.

[Chaos_Order]

*Averse, not adverse.

Examples:

Little Timmy is averse to digital games.
Little Timmy has an adverse response to digital games.

The more you know. ;)

[DafunkyRebel]

Digital should be cheaper than physical copies, that's why I refuse to buy digital cause its a scam

[TheMutator]

Because i'm a collector i'ts that hard to explain?

[LoveSpuds]

Cost, plain and simple. Digital copies cost on average 12 -15 pound more than a retail copy here in the UK. For example, Watchdogs 2 is £55 to preorder from PSN or I can buy it from my usual online retailer for £43, its a huge difference.

I also like my collection and the ability to let my buddies borrow games when I am done.

[gigakain]

they fuckin love Gamestop.

[shadowraiserx]

Expensive console digital prices and I can trade or sell physical.

[esmittystud101]

I like looking at my collection and showing it off sometimes. Can't do any of that with digital only. Not only that, the ownership is in my hand, literally. What ownership do you really have if its digital only? I'm not lazy, I can get up to change out discs. If your playing a great game anyways, that disc shouldn't leave the console a lot anyways. You'll probably play it till its finished, then you'll take it out and play something else.

Its so easy for my son to play all my old Xbox 360 games on disc. Could it be the same way if they were digital only and not only that, would he always have to have a Xbox Live Gold to do so or an internet connection?

The article is right though. We love digital music, well most of us. Some probably still buy music discs and I see why. We still like our Blu Rays on disc and we love our video games on disc.

[melonfarm3r]

*Averse

[GameCrateEd]

Yeah, seriously. Come on people.

[fitfox]

For what ever reason I frequently get corrupted data with downloadable games.

[Scatpants]

I believe the word you're looking for is AVERSE.

[Antnee534]

I myself buy digital on my consoles, handhelds, and my pc. It's a mixture of things why. On 3ds and vita I rather just download the games instead of haveing multiple little cartridges.
On consoles it's for when I digitaly pre order a game I can have said game pre downloaded before it comes out, and so I don't have to go to the store.
Then the pc is all because like someone else said pc physical media is all but dead in the us. Plus steam has the best deals, and you can return the games if you don't like them.

[Tzuno]

They cannot trade, simple as that.

[adaminoregon]

Because I actually like to own what I spend money on. That doesn't happen with digital.
Or maybe because your internet sucks and it takes days to download something, or you have limits on downloads.
Or maybe you like to return games when done for credit, and you can't with downloads. Or maybe you like to take your game to your buddies house, or let them borrow your game. And lets be honest, these companies are charging the same for a digital download as they are for a physical disc. That makes ZERO sense.There are lots of reasons.

[PiperMCFierceson]

Second hand market is so overrated. You get nothing for your games. I rather keep them for memories(good or bad). I actually prefer digital download. Plus I hate lending out games.

[Germaximus]

I dunno, I buy digitally all the time. But I tend to buy my games on sale. Have digital sales more often and maybe they'll sell more. And not that dumbass 10% off nonsense. That's just a joke and an insult.

[jc48573]

I think a lot of it has to do with growing up with console games. I personally didn't think I would end up collecting games. It's actually interesting to have them around as they carry some form of memory and the packaging that goes into the games seem to serve that purpose. I have noticed another trend where they sell CE with digital code, but I have no interest for those.

[Clown_Syndr0me]

Personally...
1. I collect.
2. Digital are more expensive.
2. I run a retro game store on ebay and make the majority of the family income from that. I also sell modern games, so I appreciate the used market.

[Duke19]

Having a physical collection of games is more satisfying than a digital library. Maybe nostalgia - not really sure

[thebudgetgamer]

Not too long ago my PS account was hacked and in order to get a refund (that was meant to pay my rent) I had to lose my account and the thousands of dollars in games that went with it.

[SojournUK]

Cost

[DeadManMMX]

...didn't they just release numbers saying that game sales were close to 60% digital. I know I buy everything digital these days. Especially on Xbox because of the 2 licenses Home and travel.

[georeo]

It's obvious you truly own the game when you buy physical, it's yours to do what ever with!

[Livecustoms]

Because in the UK the PSN store games cost £55 while in store they cost £40-£45

[hillsht]

Exactly, you can't trade digital games in...console gamers are used to trading their games back in. Pretty fucking easy to understand. I'm not even going to read the article because the question is poses is laughably dumb.

[The7Reaper]

Sharing, I have friends who have more money than me so they buy new games play them and then I borrow them it's simple.

[Kallisti]

Limited hard drive space, can't download digital games you own when the servers shut down, can't trade them in, usually sold at higher price on PSN than retail stores, don't come with game cases with cool artwork/manuals and other stuff. Still I've bought a a lot of them on PS3 and a few on PS4 as well.

[RedTfox]

Because i'm want a world where we gamers have options in how we can purchase our games. In a mandatory digital only reality we gamers will lose a lot of our rights and the liberty to just chose what is best for us.