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

@TomKongPhooey: Day 1 patches maybe becoming an almost every game occurrence but they are not necessary for a game to play. Most of them are bug fixes and performance improvements that Journos and others picked up on after the game went gold. If you are not connected to the internet, you could still 'play' the game although maybe not in the optimum way if you don't re-install those patches. Maybe in the future you could find those 'patches' online, download to a USB and install that way - of course that could happen with Digital games too but the difference between a 'patch' and a whole game may come down to licensing and cost - Patches are 'free' and also don't need a licence.
I guess it could come down to developers/publishers and whether or not they are still around and/or willing to supply 'patches' this way. DLC and other digital add-ons maybe difficult to reacquire too although a game like Destiny which is now predominantly digital content also requires servers to play so no doubt will become obsolete anyway.

@TomKongPhooey: The day one patches are mainly bug fixes. In between the time a game goes Gold (off to the disc burning factory) and the time of release they often have time to create and fix a few minor bugs.

You will still be able to use your disc version in 10 years time. You may just not be able to get the patches and bug fixes. So you will have to play it in whatever broken state the game is in when its gone gold.

So while you can play any game without its updates in release form, a lot of day-one updates will patch potentially game breaking bugs & whatnot so your only really playing a sub standard product. Not to mention companies like CDPR who listened to player feedback & tweaked things like controls & options etc. Or survival mode in Fallout 4, which is the only way I can enjoy that game.

Unfortunately we are at a time where developers have very little say over when a product is released. Publishers seem happy today to release a broken game to hit deadlines and patch it afterwards.

Not sure when this became acceptable. Probably around the time Preorders/Bonuses started to rise.

@Thesnipergecko: Developers do get some say as we know a LOT of games have been 'delayed' for a whole list of reasons. Its almost rare now for a game to meet the initial deadlines - unless of course the announced date is relatively soon after.

Well that me schooled. lol Thanks for correcting me guys. Still don't like the idea that if i don't have internet which many don't that the game I pay full price for in the shops won't play as I would expect and how the company want it too. Seems like Im paying for a full package and am reliant on having internet to ever receive the full package. That in itself is more disgraceful in my opinion that the extra £15 Sony put onto all/most their digital releases.

@TomKongPhooey: Well with Physical you are paying up to £15 less that may get an update on day 1 or soon after but that 'download' is less in size than the whole game and better than NOT having any access if you don't have the internet - how can you download the game without access? Digital games still have day 1 patches too although sometimes can change the file before its downloaded on day 1. Other times though it automatically updates when you download and sometimes it tells you an update is available after downloading so its not exempt from day 1 patches. A lot of games also get patched a few weeks after release as more bugs are found once in the public domain. Old games weren't exempt from glitches and bugs either and sometimes these were seen more as funny or quirky rather than game breaking or failure on the part of developers.

So I think with Sony finally adding external HDD I am going to make the switch to digital. As someone who was against it at first I just don't see the point in getting physical copies anymore. You still have to install them regardless and it means having to get up to switch games. The only appeal physical has to me anymore at least is the ability to trade a game in if it's a stinker or you are just done playing it.

That said I am thinking that most games I will purchase digitally the ones I know I will keep. Ones that I know I am only going to play once or twice or just not sure about, I am probably going to get physically so that way I can trade them in.

Anyone else feel this way?

@Tasuki I often finish my games before I play anything else, so swapping discs doesn't happen more than once a week, more like once a month in my situation, so I don't really mind it. At least, it would be the last reason for me to go digital only.

@Tasuki The addition of an External HDD makes no difference to my preference. Whether Disks have to be installed or not, its no worse than having to download and install. I have no interest in trading and will still buy Physical (where available) by choice. I like having the physical disk, the box and any paraphernalia that may also come with it. I like seeing my collection grow on the shelf. I also know that if a company decides to remove a game from the digital store (like the Marvel games for example), I will still be able to play my copies. Since games have moved to disc, I have not had one fail, not had one get lost or scratched etc. In that time I have had a few HDD failures inc 1 External HDD and a console failure (my original PS3 ended up with YLOD) and I would much prefer to reinstall my games from Disc than redownload everything IF I had too.

I find my discs also provide more inspiration than my digital games. Seeing them on the shelf can inspire me to play certain games.

Given that the only advantage to a 'digital' game is not having to swap discs - something that takes less than a minute - and its not like I change games every 5mins, I would much prefer to keep with the cheaper Physical collection...

The more you lot keep going digital, the more my game collection could be more valuable in the future - especially collectors/limited edition steelbooks...

Digital is without a doubt the future. Their sales have increased year after year. There will always be a market for Physical but Digital is going to become the more popular choice in time.

I go Digital pretty much 85% of the time. I really don't care about showing off a collection and I never trade games in.

Digital, specifically because there is no tax which is a 13% instant discount. Also, bonus, I don't have to store nor display my collection or go find a disc to switch games.

@Octane I can understand that, but for me with several multiplayer games going on like CoD and Overwatch for example I am switching discs alot plus single player games too.

@BAMozzy Fair point as I do like having a collection as well however companies don't include paraphernalia anymore at all. I cant even remember the last game (a current game game anyway) that came with an instruction booklet like back in the NES days. If anything the come with a stupid piece of paper with legal stuff and health warnings on it and who wants that? Maybe if games came with instruction booklets or maps like they use to I would be more inclined to buy physical.

I currently buy most of my games digitally. I don't think the return you get for trading games in these days is worth it, imo, so I'd rather grab the games off the PSN when at a decent price.

_{Sorry but discussion of topics against Sony's user agreement is not allowed here, thanks for understanding. -Tasuki-}

It's definitely a mix of both for me. For smaller titles I will just download the digital version but if it's a long standing title that I have all the previous physical copies for I'll usually pick up a disc version just to add to the collection.

Much like @Tasuki, external HDD support convinced me to go digital, but only digital in my case, hehe. All my PC games are digital, so I'm already used to the idea. What's been holding me on consoles is the idea of losing all games each generation, but well, Sony has been supporting PS3 thus far, so I guess they don't shut their servers too fast, hehe. I hope PS5 is backward compatible with PS4, though, so we can download PS4 titles on PS5, that'd be great.

@renankj I wouldn't put much faith in Sony and backwards compatibility. The only system that really was was the PS2.

All the this. You get 5-10$ at most, often they offer you 1$ for trade-ins. then they sell it for 5 bucks less than a new copy and call it a deal.

@Splat Whilst Digital maybe growing, Its still a long way from becoming the primary method of game sales. It currently accounts for less than third where physical sales can be purchased and Physical accounts for over 70%. Of course there is more hype around digital as that's what these companies want you to buy to maximise their profits.

@Tasuki I don't miss some of those old booklets/manuals. Most of them were just introductions and illustrations of the characters because the graphics and game-play couldn't do that, a synopsis of the 'plot' because games didn't tell a story of their own (not like today) and a 'instruction' on the gamepad lay-out press A to Jump, B to shoot etc. Nowadays, the back of the Case has enough info. The characters look as good as (if not better) than illustrations and the games come with built in instruction manuals and game-pad layouts - more than 1 in a lot of cases so that you don't need all of that. Games have either a cut scene or some way of introducing the 'plot' and setting at the start of the game - far better than reading it. They also have a 'introduction' to the control scheme and/or on-screen reminders of the buttons to press and often some story driven way of setting the game to use inverted controls built into the opening of the game.

Back in the NES days, the games were very simplistic - both from a game-play standpoint and story line too. The manuals served to outline the plot, give some concept of setting - why the bunch of sprites were platforming, shooting other sprites, etc. The characters were often not that well defined, not given any 'character' or dialogue etc so the manual served to fill in these areas that the games and technology of the time couldn't. Games didn't really have much in the way of cut-scenes or plot building, character development etc. As soon as you pressed 'start' you were at the opening level. They didn't have room for wasting on a 5minute or so introduction cut-scene that set up the plot of the story, the setting etc. Nowadays, everything in those manuals are now built into the game.

I know that most games these days come with a few bits of paper at most. I still prefer to see the box art and have it in my hands. I still prefer breaking that seal and seeing the disc and any artwork on that disc. I still prefer putting that case in its 'place' on my shelf and seeing my collection grow. I still prefer to look at the shelf to inspire me on days I am undecided on what to play. I still prefer CD's too and not all of these come with a booklet with lyrics etc. I do miss 'Vinyl' for the artwork. IF I were to buy movies - not that I do these days, I would much prefer to buy a Bluray than a digital version too. I certainly prefer 'books' to eReaders as well. You can't beat that feeling of opening these for the first time, holding something for your money etc and the smell of new books too...

As for Maps, I do like them but rarely look at them more than once and often only when the game arrives. The Witcher 3 came with a Map as well as other paraphernalia. My version of Rise of the Tomb Raider came with an Art Book and my Horizon: Zero Dawn will have an Art book too. I have about 10+ Steel Book versions this generation - most of those also came with additional items - like postcards, artbooks, maps, Statues, comics, soundtracks, wrist straps/badges/wearables, posters etc - Something Physical and things that cannot be given with digital copies. Not only do I get everything digital owners get, I often get these 'extras' too for often less money.

Disc and it always will be until digital releases become cheaper than physical, LIKE THEY SHOULD BE, really why should a digital game that cuts out the cost of disc and package production and distribution be MORE expensive than a physical one, it's insane!