Topic: Digital or Disc which side of the fence do you sit on?

So prior to the PS4 I would've never bought a game digital. For me it was an indicator of quality. If a publisher doesn't believe in their game enough to put it on store shelves, why should I buy it?

I'm also certain that PS5 will be backwards compatible with digital titles at the very least. This is why you are seeing so many remasters and re-releases. I believe these developers/publishers know something we don't know and that's why this radical trend of re-releases is happening. Sony aren't going to make you buy your digital titles again, they would not be able to get away with that now. I also believe that it's only a matter of time before the disc drive get's removed and we head to an all digital and streaming age of video gaming. So based on this digital is the smart option.

However, i'm not smart. I buy the majority of my console games retail. Especially AAA games. Not only is there a sentimental value involved (UC4, R&C and soon to be FFXV & TLG), if I want to I can return a game or trade it in. I also like just looking at my collection every now and then and start reminiscing haha. Also in terms of new releases you can most likely find them 10-15 % cheaper retail (Eve: Valkyrie £55 digital, £50 at GAME).
For my Vita I buy exclusively digital due to the great sales, which allows me to eat up the cost of the memory cards (0 retail games). With my PSVR I'm also going all digital because it's nice to swap between games without taking the headset off.

Digital is the future, I'm just not ready to embrace it yet for console gaming. Now if Sony started offering more memory in their consoles and the PS Store started being more competitive with retail distributors I might be more inclined to make the switch (no pun intended haha).

Digital, in theory. I'd buy every game digital if it made sense, but some games are absurdly expensive in comparison to the physical version and if it's something I want right away I'll usually pick up a copy at the store and save myself £15. Once Sony and Microsoft flip the switch and drop the prices though, I'll never buy physical again. I can't wait to get to that point, to be honest.

@BAMozzy:

All this talk about inevitability of a Digital only future is ridiculous.

Really? Ridiculous? Seems completely inevitable to me that not only will all gaming become digital but it will also all be streamed via services like PS Now, and then it'll continue to evolve beyond this. Of course physical media isn't going anywhere soon, but its days are numbered, no doubt. Especially when half of us are living on Mars and it's just not cost effective to ship a load of discs out there

I always buy the retail version when possible because I like to own what I pay for. Digital feels like something rent indefinitely since one can only "use" the game, with no chance of sharing or selling it.

@kyleforrester87: That depends on the time factor you are putting on this. I can't see it happening in the next few generations and at 44, I do wonder whether its likely to happen in my life-time - like living on Mars! Even if that does occur, you would need very impressive internet and servers to reach across planets!

@BAMozzy: It'll be 80-100 years at least, but hey! lol

It won't be digital only for quite a while, but for all intents and purposes physical will be over in a generation or two.

I agree. Music CD's are still hanging around like a bad smell

@BAMozzy:
Agreed. My first 'console' was a Commodore 64 with games on cassette tape that could take upwards of half an hour to load. Taking ten seconds to change a disc is no issue for me either.
If the prices on PS Store were more in line with those on Steam then id be inclined to go digital. Also I know the staff at my local game shop now & chatting to them about the new releases as im making my purchase has become part of my little ritual. Just clicking 'download'.. 'confirm & pay' just isnt the same..!

@FaultyDroid: that screeching/loading sound still haunts me.

110% Disk for me, it's cheaper than buying off the store, you don't have to download the game (only the patches and they're pretty big) and you get something physical that if you don't like you can trade in.

99% digital, but only because a: I don't need to swap discs, b: remote play is much better in this scenario (more variety) and c: it would cost me the difference in price to go into town for each game as while I have a licence, I don't drive at the mo.

I buy digital games when they are on sale. But generally I still buy disc based games from new and keep them. I do believe the future is fully digital once the internet speeds are more constant across the world.

@Thesnipergecko:
Aye.. Not to mention the seizure-inducing multicoloured flashing barcodes bordering the screen..

@FaultyDroid: and they say.. /twitch video games /twitch affected us as /twitch kids eh

if it's on disc, then i buy it on disc (unless it's basically free on psn. ). yes, it's generally cheaper to buy on disc, but i'm pretty much like BAMozzy, even if it were a bit more expensive, i'd probably still get it on disc. i like having the physical product, and for me i find it more convenient - if i've deleted a game from my hdd, i don't need to download a large number of GBs again if i want to play it. i have a data cap as well (admittedly it's 500gb/mth), or if it becomes unavailable on the store, i don't need to worry about it. a few minutes install from disc, and it's good to go. i don't buy digital music (mp3 sounds like crap), nor digital movies (there is still artefacting present on typical compressed video files that does not exist on the blu-ray version) either. i own 1500+ CDs (though admittedly the vast majority of that is more than 10 years old), about 200 blu-rays (movies/tv boxsets), and about 120 or so boxed games.

@BAMozzy @kyleforrester87: from what i remember, ~75% of all console revenue is from physical sales - if you factor in that 100% of the revenue from digital only games and DLC/season passes/micro-transactions is digital, then for games with a physical factor, especially the AAAs, purchases are still massively skewed towards discs. FIFA17 sold almost 5m physical copies on PS4 alone in its first week.

I buy physical whenever I can. It's often cheaper and although I'm by no means a "collector", I do like seeing games boxed on my shelf. Although with the lack of manuals, I don't know how much I still care about that. At least the box art's nice sometimes..

Correct me if Im wrong here guys but to all the ppl saying retail is for them still. As a digital only gamer this gen. When you buy these games retail, can you play them without the updates/patches? Day one or otherwise. It was my opinion that you can't unless you get the latest patch etc. When I seen all the day one updates this gen, I thought what is the point in retail anymore? If in 10-15 years I want to go back and play these games again with my son and the servers aren't supported by Sony anymore then surely my hard copy from the retailer is as little use as a coaster because the games won't play without the day one patches which aren't available anymore. It's not really ensuring your property anymore than the digital version is. For resale value yes I suppose but for replay value your as stuck as the digital guys are to Sony and if and when the remove support for the game etc
I hope that made sense. It did in my head lol

You can play any game without updates - in fact some, like No Man's Sky, are preferred by many - if it's physical. You just don't connect to the Internet and you're golden. Digital games you don't get a choice at first. The game downloads any updates that are currently available automatically when you download the game, but then future updates you can opt out of by not connecting to the Internet or cancelling the downloads once they start. If the game has online though, you need an update to run it.