Digital Copy Vs. Physical Copy

[kiwi-strawberry]

Which do you think is better when it comes to video games and why? I have both kinds of copies and like them both for their own reasons. For me, it goes like this:

Digital copy:
the good:
-you don't have to carry a cartridge around in a bag
-save data back-ups are available
-you can't misplace it
the bad:
-i worry about digital copies because i'm always afraid they'll get corrupted
-you can't sell them if you decide you don't like the game after a while
-you can't play them on any other system except the one you bought it for (basically, you can't play it on a friend's console if yours breaks)

Physical copy:
the good:
-you can sell them
-that satisfying clicking sound when you put the cartridge in a DS/DSi/3DS
-you can play it on someone else's system if your console breaks
the bad:
-if part of the cartridge breaks, then you lose your game and it's data (happened to me with a mario game for the DS, the gold-ish metal on the back rubbed off and rendered it useless)
-you have to carry it around with you (gets very difficult to do if you have a lot of games)
-physical copies, especially DS games, are very easy to lose

 

[TheCrystalClods]

I feel that the physical copies are 10 times better. The digital copies always and I mean ALWAYS corrupt. It?s happened with everybody that I know. The physical copies also are very nice to collect and look beautiful on glass shelfs while you can?t really display a digital copy.

- - - Post Merge - - -

Another thing is if you get a new console, you can’t tranfer the game over unless you do a system tranfer and come on, uneless you have spent a ton of money on your old console, you don’t really do that.

 

[idiotdoomspiral]

physical is better, but i have a habit of misplacing everything

 

[Aleigh]

I personally like the physical copies because I like the material possession aspect of it. However, they can break, and it devastated me when my Neveland acnl broke.

 

[LambdaDelta]

physical copies will always be infinitely superior so long as companies don't make any effort to properly publicly archive their **** across platforms

 

[Shayden]

ok but on my physical copies of animal crossing i can write the town names on the back in cute lettering and it makes me happy

 

[Huseyin]

My sd card is too small for new games but I already purchaced some old games on my old sd and am afraid of losing them so I'm pretty much forced to go physical lol.

 

[KnoxUK]

As much as I love physical copies. Having digital can be super useful dependent on the device/system. Though I think digital games on Nintendo products aren't any good.

 

[Kalle]

Personally, I see no point in purchasing a digital copy. Most of the time, a digital copy is more expensive than the physical one, even by just a few cents. Not only that, but the whole point of digital copies was originally to bring down the cost of games due to the removal of the cost for physical packaging. That didn't happen, so I'd rather not support the console/handheld digital game trend. PC is another story; I love Steam.

 

[~Unicorn~]

i love physical copies. i don’t know why but i really prefer them.

 

[Halloqueen]

I prefer physical for a few reasons. I grew up with cartridges and discs, so it just feels like I might as well continue the trend. Additionally, I like that you have the option of resale with physical copies of video games, should the need arise. The ability to play whatever the game is on any appropriate console is great too. Digital has some nice aspects, but yeah, I find physical generally superior.

 

[Alienfish]

Physical for 3ds and stuff, you can always trade or sell them back or to someone else. I do get digital though cause I mainly got stuff on Steam and yeah it'd be too crammed if I hunted down all those physical lol.

 

[mitfy]

when my dog was a puppy she ate all of my DS games ): that was devastating

but i still much prefer physical copies! it's kind of like how you might prefer a physical book rather than an ebook, it feels better to have your own copy that you can hold and touch.

 

[dedenne]

i prefer physical copies cos if i break my ds (which is bound to happen) i still have my data

but if I lose my games (which has happened too many times) then im screwed lol :/

 

[TamaMushroom]

Physical Copies all the way, I have feared that it would corrupt, and reading some of the comments, my suspicion was confirmed, plus I'd rather be able to pop the game in another system if I wanted to, sometimes I want to have it on a smaller 3DS, or if I want to see the screen, my XL, it just depends on my mood.

 

[Loriii]

Physical copies for me. I collect stuff so I prefer something tangible, something that I feel like I really own. But I still buy digital copies for convenience, usually if it has online. I don't want to keep swapping carts/discs whenever I want to play Mario Kart or Splatoon.

 

[BambieTheMayor]

-you can't sell them if you decide you don't like the game after a while
-you can't play them on any other system except the one you bought it for (basically, you can't play it on a friend's console if yours breaks)

Well, as a player of PC games, you can always sell games back on Steam for whatever reason, even if you've finished the game with no issues (I bought Outlast but decided I didn't want it anymore, so I returned it. I gave them an honest reason -- I decided against and regret my purchase. Steam gave me every penny of my money back!) But, assuming you meant consoles like Switch and the 3DS, I can definitely see the issue.

And for the issue regarding breaking your console, if you buy a new console, you can always switch the SD cards.

I have tons of PC games that I downloaded and I have Mario Kart 7 on the DS and Splatoon 2 on the Switch, Atari Remastered, SNES remastered, and SEGA Genesis remastered games, all of which are digital copies (Saying SNES/Atari/Genesis are "digital" in a sense that you don't need a cartridge to play them; it's already on the console). I do, however, have plenty of PS4 games, 3DS/DS, and Gameboy games that are physical.

In the end, I really have no preference, so I clicked "I like both." I could go either way.

- - - Post Merge - - -

when my dog was a puppy she ate all of my DS games ): that was devastating

but i still much prefer physical copies! it's kind of like how you might prefer a physical book rather than an ebook, it feels better to have your own copy that you can hold and touch.

Oh my... Was she okay?

 

[Tao]

These days I only really buy physical copies of my favourite games (because it's nice to have) or those exclusive to a console platform (since for whatever reason the digital prices on consoles don't reflect the costs saved on physical distribution).

Otherwise I buy digital. Saves space, it's convenient, prices (on PC) are typically cheaper.

Another reason I opt for digital these days being that physical versions are becoming more and more pointless. Special editions aside, you're usually just getting a box with a disc in it. With content updates, patches, DLC etc, that disc often isn't even the full version of the game either, at least a partial amount being downloaded.

Digital copy:
the bad:
-i worry about digital copies because i'm always afraid they'll get corrupted
-you can't play them on any other system except the one you bought it for (basically, you can't play it on a friend's console if yours breaks)

1) That's essentially the equivalent of a disc getting scratched though. If anything, I would rather have a corrupt file since I can just delete it and re download.

2) That really only applies to Nintendo systems. PC, Playstation and more than likely Xbox as well will allow you to download/play copies on whatever system you want as long as you have your username and password to log in.

 

[pinkbunny]

I don't mind either, I really like having pyschical copies and being able to hold it in my hands but sometimes digital copies can be more convenient.

 

[Soigne]

I always buy digital copies. I don't like buying or storing all of that plastic in my home & I can buy a game digitally without having to leave my home to get a copy. But I do have physical copies of some of my favorite games.