Digital downloads Vs hardcopies

chanste

So what do people think on the issue of digital downloads (Steam etc) vs hardcopies?

I have been using a PC for games since the mid 90s (The 7th guest anyone?) and it had occurred to me what a good idea steam was when I considered how many of my games I could still find after all those years.... I'm sure I bought 40 or 50 games over the years, and can find the disks for about 5 or 6 (Now maybe its me, but over the years it does happen). So if Steam give me an account which keeps all my games in one place that I just have to sign on to, while managing to connect me to friends who play some of the same online games, have decent sales every now and then, and keep everything up to date while in some cases even allowing play on a mac should I ever decide I want one I find the convenience outweighs the slight premium.

Some of the better offers I've had on steam include, GTA 4 for €7.50, Portal for Free, Half life for €1.99, Codemasters racing pack including both dirt games and grid for €12, Crysis for €17.50 and many more.

rizzla

Poll and thread title don't really match up. Digital downloads are great, but if I had a choice and both were the same price I'd still rather a physical copy.

Retr0gamer

Physical copies all the way. If the company you bought the digital copy of the game from ever goes tits up you'll never get that game back. There's something to be said for having a physical copy of a game and actually owning it. I also like boxes.

JohnK

I'd always go for the physical copy too if they were even remotly simlar in price. If the digital copy was significantly cheaper (~50%) then yeah I might consider it.

johnmcdnl

I prefer discs because your always going to have it unless you cock up... if it's digitally saved somewhere and the company cocks up you've lost your stuff...

Also it's grand downloading games if you've got 100mb broadband but over here in rural Cavan we're still lounging round with out 3mb broadband packages that rarely ever get about 1mb in speed if ever... so downloading a 4GB game literally takes days...

Then you have the problem sometimes that your only allowed download it X times which is crap especially if you have to get a new computer or if you just restore the computer etc etc

then digital downloads don't allow for you to trade in games.. I know trading PC games doesn't happen much today but for my PS3 games it's gonna get very expensive when I have to buy every game at E50 a game... I know you've mentioned a few nice bargains you've gotten but if digital takes over it's gonna cost me a lot more to play games

Discs all the way

PirateShampoo

I cant fault Steam. Think it great. GFWL on the other hand is a masive pile of steaming ****.

Overheal

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Physical copies all the way. If the company you bought the digital copy of the game from ever goes tits up you'll never get that game back. There's something to be said for having a physical copy of a game and actually owning it. I also like boxes.

True, but the likelihood of the platform's demise is highly unlikely. If its something of a concern for you you can also of course backup the files of a game to a CD and crack it after its all gone tits up. I doubt anybody will cry copyright violation on you: rather I am sure if it were Valve they would issue your CD keys to everything before they finally kicked it in and turned off the lights.

More companies are going for the Model. Especially the Cloud model used by MMOs, TF2, Torchlight, and a few others. All of your Starcraft 2 replays and saves are stored on battle.net; handy for me because I'll be away from my new PC for a couple days this week. Trusty old lappapotamus.

The double entendre to that being I bought the collector box so I have both the physical disk and flash drive plus battle.net's downloadable client.

RolandIRL

physical copies for me. shíte internet means a 4GB download would take me over a week to get downloading it non-stop unless ireland gets faster broadband, i'd say most people will still go for physical copies
although discs can get scratched, i just create an iso on the computer for backup.

Atavan-Halen

Physical copies for me. Just love actually having the disc/box in my hand and knowing it'll always be there.

samhail

Im up to 54 games in steam... most i never have played. i probably wouldnt have the book case space for all of them !

(reason i have so many is as chanste said about those damn steam deals every now and again ! )

the_syco

Retr0gamer wrote: »

If the company you bought the digital copy of the game from ever goes tits up you'll never get that game back.

Agreed. If Steam was to ever go tits up, I'd have to use another application to run the games.

In saying that, I have gotten a few games via Steam for either the extras you get from getting it from Steam (free extra guns), or because I can pre-load it, and have it when I come home from work, and not have to go queue and hope they have my pre-order. The auto-patch thing is also very handy if you and your mates all get it off Steam, as you'll all be playing the same version.

Gummy Panda

in regards to PC, digital copy.

Sure that way things are even if you have a hard copy, you need the servers to be online to activate it.

Fnz

rizzla wrote: »

Poll and thread title don't really match up. Digital downloads are great, but if I had a choice and both were the same price I'd still rather a physical copy.

Agreed, poll is confused by OP's provisos and thread title.

I'd prefer to have all my media served via download/streaming services - being asked to pay the same or more for a digital copy sticks in my craw.

Heard the Revolution Software boss, Charles Cecil, give the following example:

On a title that sells, at retail, for £20 (before tax); the developer would get the same amount of money, per copy sold, if they sell directly to the consumer, via download, at 10% of the pre-tax retail price.

[Link to Eurogamer podcast featuring Charles Cecil]

Sephiroth_dude

Physical copy all the way

landsleaving

I never play digital downloads for some reason, I just forget I have them. Notable exceptions being Flower and Chrono Trigger. But other than that I never get into them in the same way. I'd never buy a psp go for example, though I love my psp.

Having the box, manual and all there just feels right. I could care less with movies and music, but with games having the actual game in my hand to put in the actual hardware is a different story. Its part of the enjoyment of gaming for me.

Overheal

landsleaving wrote: »

I never play digital downloads for some reason, I just forget I have them.

thats only an issue when you use multiple services. Right now I have digital games on Impulse, Steam, and Battle.net. If I could do it all again I'd have dropped Impulse. I know why Stardock is trying to compete, but still.

Mr. K

I think most people of our generation prefer having physical copies, it's what we've always had. I really don't like the trend towards special editions in recent years though, I feel like I always have to get the special edition. Curse my materialism...

JonB

Retro and Fizzla summed it up perfectly for me.

johnny_ultimate

I prefer to have a physical copy too, just nice to add to the collection. I have no objection to downloadable games though - my Steam, Xbox Live and PSN collections are full of download only games, which doesn't concern me. If a developer doesn't feel it's worthwhile putting out the hard copy (especially for smaller games and more niche PC games), download is fine IMO.

It does kind of mean I might feel more short changed from a short physical game though, if you know what I mean - I half expect downloadable games to be shorter, although of course this is not always the case. Still a surprise when something like DeathSpank or Torchlight reveal themselves to have tonnes of playability! It's nice to have a reassurance that your downloads are safe though - Steam does this well (Steam Cloud, for example), although I'm a curious how Microsoft and Sony will handle a next-gen leap. If I want to replay Flower on my PS5 PSN account, will that be possible?

also, y'know, downloads are greener and stuff, but I still like the packaging :cool:

Stephen

I don't have room in my life for boxes of crap, so Steam is perfect for me - everything can live on my hard drive.

PogMoThoin

Disks and cases are bulky things and don't interest me, last years tech, soon to be outdated


............................... Probably not true as there's 1TB Bluray around the corner

SeantheMan

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Physical copies all the way. If the company you bought the digital copy of the game from ever goes tits up you'll never get that game back. There's something to be said for having a physical copy of a game and actually owning it. I also like boxes.

Maybe you'll get a "Dick in a box" for xmas off one of your mates :P

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Usc_9izbJBU

GTR63

They both have values I find Discs being overly sensitive a teeny scratch on my Fight Night Round 4 had to get repaired whereas i've COD3 Scratched to hell & it works grand.With Download there is a risk of the PC/Hard Drive breaking & you may not get it back.

reunion

I prefer digital copies, so handy when you have to travel and taking a library full of games just isn't worth it. Having said that having a shelf full of games is just impressive.

I would go digital from steam no where else, physical otherwise.

Also if steam were to go under they have stated they would release a patch making previous games released playable.

Link

Besides if my digital copy was to no longer work, if i wanted the game again i would either buy another copy or in an extreme case pirate it

Fnz

reunion wrote: »

I would go digital from steam no where else, physical otherwise.

Steam does it for you, eh?

I would probably "go digital" for Steve Jobs... RAWR!

Monotype

Hardcopies for me, as much as possible. I like being able to flick through the manual when my eyes are tired after the day and see how I was actually supposed to play it.

I've gotten a few extra digital games DRM-free over the time, but these are generally older or indie games. I can't complain here, as they were cheaper than disc form (if it was available).

My lowest preference is steam. The games have to be extremely cheap to convince me to get them, for example, €1.98 for the first stalker or €2.50 for mass effect there at Christmas. To me, games on steam is like games in the library. I'll buy the ones I want most in physical form, but I'll get other games I'd like to try but which not a priority with steam. I can get it any time, but it stays in their control.
Some people say they're worried steam might go under. I'm more concerned about them changing policies. Gabe Newell might seem like a nice guy and all (and he's excellent at marketing), but he won't be there forever and they're there to make money.

Agricola

Physical copies for me. Simply because my internet is so shít, digital downloads doesnt make much sense. I have a hard enough time just getting patches and DLC for boxed copies that I buy.

Even if I did have the connection, I think my policy would be that for big releases or special editions, I would prefer to have the box. I bought the collectors edition of Oblivion for PC in '06 and its just a nice thing to have which I will never sell. For run of the mill games, stuff that'd id pick up on amazon for less than a tenner, then Id be quite happy to just get them digitally.

Polar101

Digital downloads definitely. I hate the dvd boxes (or older cardboard boxes) that take up space, I hate trying to find the game disk when I want to play something, and I don't like the fact that I've got games that I can't play because they are in another country at the moment. None of these would be a problem with digital downloads.

kearneybobs

Retr0gamer wrote: »

I also like boxes.

Retr0gamer

Ur ma's box!

Fanny Cradock

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Physical copies all the way. If the company you bought the digital copy of the game from ever goes tits up you'll never get that game back.

There is a risk, of course. Just like there is a risk that a knacker will break into your house and steal everything but the kitchen sink.