Do you prefer physical games, or digital?

[Devicho]

As the title says, when buying games, do you prefer having a physical cartridge or CD, or do you prefer digital downloads?

Personally, while I do enjoy the convenience of digital downloads, and I have bought some games digitally, I tend to strongly prefer physical games. It's a bit less convenient to have to get up and swap out carts or discs when I want to play something else, but I like just outright owning the game I've bought. Digital leaves you rather at the mercy of providers to continue allowing access to the game you've paid for, and I don't very much enjoy the thought that something I may have paid a decent chunk of money to play could be revoked from me if a service goes down later down the road. Meanwhile, when it comes to physical media, so long as there's no damage to the cart or CD, and I have a compatible (and working) console that accepts it, I can still play that game no matter how long it's been since release.

Both have their own pros and cons, and I'm curious about what everyone here prefers.

 

[Seastar]

I prefer physical, though with recent games the concerns about services going down are still there because of most games receiving updates or even DLC that isn't on the physical copy. I wish I didn't have to worry about this...

 

[Rosch]

I am pretty much indifferent. I go with whichever costs less.

 

[Croconaw]

I do prefer digital because it saves me a trip to the store. The only downside is that XBOX requires you to be connected to WiFi to download whatever game. I believe it’s the same with Nintendo?

Digital copies are just easier for me. I know I’m in the minority.

 

[Rainy.Nights]

Mostly digital, for the convenience of loading them more quickly, but I have a bunch of physical games too. The games I chose to go with physical copies fall into one of a few categories: I found a good deal at the time, or it's a game I'm a fan of and got it as a collectible and also wanted to play as soon as I got it rather than wait for a download, or because I only really plan to play through the game once and didn't want to waste the storage space and have to think about going in and deleting later.

 

[Mairmalade]

I'm more indifferent about it now. I used to be more of a game collector and enjoyed displaying them. Now, I prioritize having less around.

For Switch, I'll grab a physical copy if I can because I like having the option to sell it later. I've had my Switch since launch and still have the stock micro SD card in there, lol.

For PC, digital has been the default for a while. I didn't even put a disk drive in my last two computer builds.

 

[Captain Jigglypuff]

It depends on the size of the game and the price. If a game is on sale for a pretty good price, I’ll usually get it. I do like digital games as I can always keep them but physical games are good for trades at GameStop.

 

[nightglow]

I prefer physical games on cartridges, but I feel like that is pointless anymore with companies not putting the whole BASE game on the cartridge anyway and not giving the option to rebuy the game after DLC is created as like a collector's version of the physical game.
So... I guess I prefer digital downloads because they are slightly cheaper?? :/ Sadly I can't say digital copies are less likely to be console locked.
I am not big on CDs because of scratching is easy to happen vs something happening to the cartridge.

 

[Iris_T]

I mostly prefer physical, a bit for nostalgia and collecting, also even if I rarely do I like having the option of selling the games if I need to, which cannot be done with digital at all.
That said since some games no longer have any physical edition at all I've been buying more digital games lately and I can see the appeal, like not having to wonder were I put the box to find a game and just go from one to another different game without a hassle.

 

[corlee1289]

I have always preferred physical games over digital ones. However, I will always buy the digital games of Indie developers first and IF they happen to release a physical version, I will buy that.

I did that with Stardew Valley where I bought the digital game and then bought the physical one when I happened to come across it.

 

[daringred_]

when it comes to console games, i prefer physical if it's available. i think maybe only one of my bigger games is a download. (and i'm 60% sure it's MK8 lmao.) just feels more convenient and if something happens to the console, my games are fine, though since i think saves are attached to the console rather than the cartridges for the switch, maybe that's less relevant than, say, 3DS games lol.

 

[LoyalDragonfly]

I much prefer physical games. I bought a digital copy of New Leaf on my 3DS when it came out because I was impatient, but I wish that I had just waited to get the game on cartridge. I like being able to simply look over at my game collection; it just feels right to have a physical copy of a game that I love!

 

[BTCircley]

Physical games all the way! I have a bunch of games from various (mainly Nintendo) systems that are physical

 

[Aerith]

It depends, but I chose physical as this is what I default to.

I will go with digital when the sale is good, or it's a game I see myself wanting to play often or every day, like Animal Crossing.

 

[michealsmells]

I've always preferred physical games. I feel like I actually own it when I've got a physical cartridge, and if I've got something like it's game case it makes a good display. It's a whole ritual grabbing the cart or disk and putting it into the system.

Digital is more convenient for sure, especially with Animal Crossing and the Switch in general. If im playing my Switch I'm usually playing multiple games at a time. That said, I hate this switch to pushing digital and ownership of games, even digital, being licenses over actual ownership. If im gonna shell out that much money over a game I had better own it.

PC games are a whole different thing. Steam always has been licenses and they only just made that clearer in their TOS. We should be able to own our games maybe, hot take. That's why like GOG is so good, but I haven't used it because learning a new system isn't as important currently because I trust Steam, at least mostly.

 

[Giddy]

I love physical games, I love the cases they come in, some of the artwork is just lovely. Some of mine come with artwork books, music cds etc. And it's just nice to physically hold them.
I do have quite a bit of digital games from eshop though. I still need to share my account with my nephew so he can try my digital games, which is a good side of digital.

 

[Snap Crackle Pop]

It's hard in the sense that I know that at any time a digital game can be revoked if a license is lost or whatever because technically you don't own the game compared to a physical game where you physically own it so it can't be taken away. However I still prefer digital games because I do not have endless amount of space in my room or house so having a digital game means I don't have to look for a place to put the game. So I voted digital.

 

[matt]

Prefer physical that way if the service ends like eshop you still have the game.

 

[Bulbadragon]

Physical for sure. I actually went with all digital games for my Switch, which I regret. I have a huge SD card in my Switch, so I'll keep buying digital until I get Switch 2. Recently, I've come to realize the value of physical media because I've been getting into collecting more DS and 3DS games. I don't want to depend on a company to keep their online store live and the games downloadable and hope my device will never need to be reset. For example, my copy of Sims 2 Ultimate Collection no longer shows up in my library now that EA switched their launcher. Luckily I've got physical versions, or else if I need to download it I can buy it from EA

 

[Hyoon]

i used to buy physical games when i was little and i would used to go to malls/stores. but nowadays, it's much more convenient to buy digital. i would buy physical only if there were some sort of incentive.