jawa asks... Do you get physical or do digital?

Do you get physical or do digital?

So... maybe you like getting a box and a disc and putting it in your shelf. Perhaps you just love hitting that download button.

Of course, there is a general shift towards downloading and PC gamers have been on that path for many years now. On console, perhaps things are a little different, though, with physical versions remaining popular - particularly on Switch and PS5; perhaps due to pricing.

Please select the voting options that reflect your situation and then align letters to form communication!

Basically physical unless it's a digital only game or it's stupidly cheap digital or a stupidly expensive physical game.

Last edited by kerr9000 on Sat Jul 02, 2022 6:41 pm, edited 1 time in total.

No idea why but it double posted....

I gradually moved to digital during the Xbox One era, only buying discs if they were significantly cheaper than downloading. Now I’m entirely digital, except for some Switch games that I know can be sold after completion for not much less than I paid for them. It’s a relief to no longer be adding to the mountain of boxes.

I've generally reverted to discs with PS5 after years of digital purchases on PS4. I like the convenience and quietness of digital gaming but I'm not gonna pay PS5-style prices to continue that; I'd rather get a cheaper disc version. I kinda like going back to having game boxes on the shelf, too!

Generally, I'll now get a physical version for most games unless it's an online-focused title or if the digital version is a bit cheaper.

I tend to buy games digitally if they are on sale or cheaper than £20 to start with but like I can trade stuff in to buy physical games.

It's interesting that, on the Xbox, digital seems to be the clear front runner. I'm thinking that this may be due to a combination of Game Pass being so popular and folk buying fewer physical titles; plus the popularity of the Series S model.

I wonder if the updated PlayStation Plus could have a similar effect for the PS formats?

Yep, digital for Series X (I have 2 Xbox in the house and cloud save transfer is frictionless), physical on ps5, but digital if cheaper or VR, physical only if at all possible on Switch because I like putting “cartridges” in consoles.

Physical, particularly with Nintendo with Nintendo games they usually hold value.

I brought a PS5 disc edition because the prices are insane on the store and a new release is always cheaper in physical or 1-2 weeks later on physical.

I have however brought a truck load of digital PS4 games that I never had as they have gone very cheap since the PS5 released.

The issue I have with the PSN store is it’s the same games usually on sale every time

I previously had a fondness for physical but now I don't really mind, particularly as many great games are only available (at least initially) as downloads. Generally speaking I'll buy whichever is cheapest.

I was previously mostly physical. Now I'm mostly digital, with a mix of convenience and possibility driving that. I'll still buy physical where I can though, especially for the big games. Buying/receiving a physical game feels like more of an event than getting a digital one.

F**k codes in boxes though.

PS5/XsX I tend to buy physical only as I don’t really buy a lot of games for those systems. Switch is different, I buy all my indies on Switch so those tend to be digital whilst for the big games I try to go physical if I can.

Switch is different as well as I treat it as a handheld so having games installed is great for travelling around with it

if i can, i get physical, i like being able to look across my shelf and pick out a game.

jawa_ wrote:It's interesting that, on the Xbox, digital seems to be the clear front runner. I'm thinking that this may be due to a combination of Game Pass being so popular and folk buying fewer physical titles; plus the popularity of the Series S model.

I wonder if the updated PlayStation Plus could have a similar effect for the PS formats?

I think a big part of the Xbox move to digital was when even physical Xbox One games were entirely stored on and run from the hard drive, like on PC. With nothing running from the game disc itself, it just became a nuisance. Add in day-one patches, and the disc becomes even more pointless. Reselling is their only real benefit.

I was pretty die hard physical up until the start of this gen. It was a combination of things, but mainly it was that the price of new games digitally was always a bit more than physical, and there was always a worry in the back of my mind about it all becoming obsolete (as we saw when we moved from PS3/360 to PS4/XB1).

I got a Series X at launch, mainly to play the XB1 games I'd missed, while also future proofing myself. I then tried Game Pass, and very, very quickly, having to swap discs felt like a chore where it never had before. Perhaps more importantly though, I saw all the Xbox Live Arcade games I'd bought, all the Games with Gold 'freebies' I'd picked up, and I realised these were now probably far less likely to become unplayable than my huge collection of discs. If I want to play Forza Horizon 1 or 2 now, I can still put my disc in, but will the console under my TV in 10 years have the option to put a disc in? But I own 3 digitally and I'm confident I'll be playing that on the next Xbox, the one after that etc.

So now I'm slowly rebuying stuff digitally when it gets a big, big discount.

100% digital nowadays. Made the jump to fully digital during the PS4 gen.

Buying a physical game is very much an exception for me these days, if there’s a particularly great deal on something for PS5 or Switch. The only other times I go physical are when it’s a gift for the kids, having something real for them to unwrap is quite a bit more rewarding than just seeing a new icon appear on the home screen!

Depends how available a physical copy is, otherwise I'll just buy digital.

My mate though will go out of his way to try and get physical each time. Especially rarer games and limited editions. He's currently doing up his house. He said he'll have as much as possible on display so I have already aptly named his home "the museum of modern gaming" :lol:

Games are 100% digital for me these days, music is roughlly 70/30 split between physical and digital and films are almost entirely physical.

Switch I get physical releases. Not sure why. I think it's because I rarely buy Nintendo and so I don't flit and don't get inconvenienced by swapping media. Nintendo games are generally a little more prestigious for me and, given their history, they're not too bothered about forwards /.backwards compatible. Everything else digital unless they're games that are important to me.

jawa asks... Do you get physical or do digital?

Do you get physical or do digital?

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