Support NeoGAF

[CeeJay]

The last physical game I got was Forza 5 when I got my Xbox One and only because it was bundled. I'd been all digital on pc for years before that. The last physical game I actually bought would have been for the Wii. I fully understand people's reasoning for wanting to collect physical games or trade in old games to save money though. Digital works well for me, it enables me to have the flexibility and convenience of having access to my library on a range of screens without worrying about sticking a disc in. I am not interested in collecting and I rarely go anywhere near a physical game shop, I just want to have the option to pick a game I want to play, buy it, download it and start playing straight away. I don't pay full price and usually feel like I get good value out of the games i buy, for me the digital future started at least 3 gens ago (I've had my Steam account for 17 years). Back then you could convert your physical copies to digital and I did so with a lot of old games such as og Half Life. I still have the game in my library whereas after a few house moves and plenty of water under the bridge I have no idea where those physical disks are now. There may be downsides for some with digital but an upside we all benefit from is that you cannot scratch, damage or lose a digital copy. That's got to be a massive benefit.

 

[octiny]

I haven't bought a physical game in years so I'm already there

 

[IFireflyl]

Why anyone would give up gaming entirely just because the game is digital is beyond my ability to comprehend. It's fine to prefer physical over digital, but if digital is the only option you're just going to throw in the towel and never play a video game again? Major first world problems right there.

 

[Miles708]

Aren’t all PC players 100% digital?

On PC is easier because, even if worse comes to worst (meaning, you lose access to your accounts for any reason at all), there's always the blessing specific to PC gaming.
That blessing is called piracy.

"But MuH dIScS wiLL oUtLasT yOUr DigiTal GaAmes!!"

NO. the day that i can't access my digital games is the day you will lose access to patches/dlcs. so i guess i hope your console doesn't break down and you don't need to buy a new drive/reinstall all your games.

That is true.
That's why it makes sense to wait for GOTY editions everywhere possible, and to check if a game is playable on day one. That seems difficult but i have 70 physical games on PS4 that all adhere to this conditions: no patches at all.

It also means you probably can't and shouldn't play on newer Microsoft consoles, since they force the game update once they find it, if i understand correctly (and they need online connection for initial setup).

 

[Mr Reasonable]

It wouldn't surprise me if most people were already mostly digital and that a reasonable percentage of people have been all digital for years.

I genuinely don't know if pc games get physical releases now.

 

[Artistic]

Why anyone would give up gaming entirely just because the game is digital is beyond my ability to comprehend. It's fine to prefer physical over digital, but if digital is the only option you're just going to throw in the towel and never play a video game again? Major first world problems right there.

Video games is already a huge money pit, so that's a huge reason/benefit of physical copies. I guess waiting for games to hit sales is a good option, but depending the game, waiting months on end on one could make a game either a bad or wasted purchase(thinking most MP games here).

 

[CeeJay]

Video games is already a huge money pit, so that's a huge reason/benefit of physical copies. I guess waiting for games to hit sales is a good option, but depending the game, waiting months on end on one could make a game either a bad or wasted purchase(thinking most MP games here).

I used to think that until I had kids, cars, mortgages, holidays etc to pay for. Gaming in the grand scheme of things is really quite cheap. Say you pay full price for a game and only play it for 30 hours in total. That game is only costing you around £2 per hour. It's cheaper than parking my car!

 

[SpokkX]

No but i would give up if the future was 100% physical

yes f**k those boxes and plastic discs

 

[sankt-Antonio]

Shitty games , DLC, gaas is what’s going to stop me from enjoying this hobby. Couldn’t care less about digital/ physical , preserving gaming culture (lol) or any of that stuff.

 

[Ic3man]

Already all digital, so no.

 

[hemo memo]

It pretty much the case here. Amazon and physical games prices are laughable and they don’t have all the games on release date or at all. Only the big games available and the used game scene is dead. Pretty much it forces you to buy from the PS Store. The reason why I am dropping console gaming going forward as if I would go the digital only route, I would go with Steam.

 

[Darlingcognito]

Zero chance of that happening.

 

[mansoor1980]

Zero chance of that happening.

zero chance?

 

[The_Mike]

Already all digital in all my platforms except switch.

Probably because I do t trust Nintendo enough to keep track on my games.

 

[Nickolaidas]

I'm all digital already, so no.

I *am* going to quit gaming if all games become online-only and PvP though. Fuck that shit.

 

[Rocco Schiavone]

No. But It would really piss me off.

Tearing open the packaging feels like christmas every time.

For games and CD's(I'm a Rock/Metal fan and I still buy CD's)

 

[PaintTinJr]

I would probably move back to PC temporarily - which I left on getting home with HL2's disc dongle back in the day and installing from disc, but being unable to play without steam/patches -- because assurances on the PC side from Valve - with things Gabe has said and the steam app letting you play offline seem more trustworthy after a decade of evidence to show trustworthiness.

long term I would be contacting my Local MP to say that consumers need a "right to rip" - like the status quo with CD - and platform holders need an independent third party - paid by government taxing all platform holders - to control the physical storage and activation keys of the ability to redownload bought software - because it is semantically no different to a damage deposit situation, where if Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo, Valve or EpicGames went out of business the consumer losing access is collateral damage.

Sadly, going all digital isn't the biggest threat here, and the persistent online check-in is - which sounds like the same question as going-all-digital.

For the go-all-digital with persistent check-in question, I would definitely be out of buying games at buying prices. If it is semantically a leasing/rental service, then I would only pay throw away prices.

 

[realcool]

"you will own nothing and be happy"

i would gladly give up the hobby.

 

[existensmaximum]

I would never pay more than maybe €20 for a downloadable title with no physical attachment, unless they figure out a way for you to sell used games from your library when you're finished or if you don't like them.

But regardless, I'm a collector. Downloadable games have very little value to me, so I'd lose all interest in gaming in an all-digital future.

 

[Woodchipper]

If there are still good games, why would I?

 

[cireza]

No. The main reason being that they can't take all the consoles and games I already own anyway.

I would still play digital games, but probably less. This is already slowly happening.

 

[Nezzeroth]

going digital doesn't hurt

Except you have to pay way more for the digital version (on consoles), despite being way easier to distribute. And you also lose many conveniences like the ability to resell your games. It's not about "but mah plastic boxes!!".

 

[MrS]

Yes. I like the cycle of buy, beat, trade in, use the cash to buy something else.

 

[Rhazer Fusion]

I would probably end up quitting modern gaming and just go retro. I hate being at the mercy of the digital store prices, got to wait for sales, can’t sell, borrow, trade(even though I rarely, if ever get rid of games) and not owning anything especially on consoles. Admittedly, to my knowledge PC’s seem a little better in the digital front.

Even if it’s inevitable, people who are embracing and all digital era don’t know what they are really asking for. Sure, it’s convenient, but what’s stopping greedy companies from raising prices, delisting games and keeping 5 year old games at full retail price for example? I would probably be more open to all digital if the prices were at least more reasonable, but I doubt that’s ever going to happen.

 

[Boglin]

If I have to go all digital then I'd only be willing to buy games at greatly reduced prices. Gamepass or a service like it would probably be where I spend the majority of my money

 

[Leyasu]

Lol I have been all digital since 2014. I will never buy another disc again

 

[DZ_b_EZ]

I want to say no, but I've slowly gotten use to digital on PC. I definitely would be very disappointed and probably wouldn't play as many games as I normally do.

 

[sublimit]

I would buy A LOT LESS games than i currently am and i would wait until the new consoles are at the end of their cycles.Maybe 1 game a year on day one?

Instead i would be mostly focused on backlog and retro gaming on my old consoles and on their appropriate set ups.I would also buy more old games from ebay.

 

[Mr Hyde]

No, but I reckon I would turn to retro games and niche releases instead. I also have large collection of physical games that I would dig into and play again. But I would not embrace an all digital or only streaming future. It's simply not for me.

 

[mrBandoza]

No. All digital today no need for physical media.

 

[sublimit]

I am genuinely shocked seeing the poll results. We need to clear the time frame also.

Physical copies are cheaper and feels good to own but stop gaming because of that is straight up over exaggeration.
I will just fume a bit and continue to play.

The poll choices are misleading. "No" has many grey zones and doesn't mean all who voted "no" are favourable to a digital-only future.

 

[lh032]

Physical disk collector here.

Honestly, I probably will if physical doesn't exist anymore, by that time my internet speed should be sufficient to download big games.

Video game is my number 1 hobby.

 

[RoadHazard]

No, I enjoy gaming too much to just give it up completely. MAYBE I would give up console gaming though, or buy fewer games at launch and wait for sales, because at least on the Sony side the digital prices have become ridiculous here in Sweden. A new digital 1st party PS5 release now costs 850 SEK, which is close to $100. Physically you can usually get the same game for 600-700 SEK ($70-80), which is a big reason why I'm NOT fully digital yet (but I also like owning a physical collection, being able to lend out or resell games, etc).

 

[Buggy Loop]

100% digital on PC since Steam

I only bother to buy physical on switch because well… Nintendo you know, games raise in value with them.

If they (any console manufacturers) ever drop physical though, they better have a nice storage solution. Oh wtf am I even babbling about, by that time it’ll all be streaming I would wager.

 

[Martinski43]

No.. it’s pretty much all digital already especially on PC.

 

[phil_t98]

I wouldn't give up gaming but I would seriously still consider a platform that still allows physical copies. From my experience physical copies tend to have the best prices on consoles. Digital is usually a lot more expensive I comparison. Steam doesn't bother me that much because they have some crazy good deals.

Dogital
Is slightly more xpensive because of game sharing and you getting 2 digital licences, so if you have a friend you game share with it can become much cheaper

 

[Laptop1991]

I've been a PC only gamer since 1995, and for the last 10 years, it has been digital only for me, so i'm use to it now, i haven't bought and had a physical disk since Skyrim i think, and even then i had to download some of the game.

 

[fran.fernandez]

all full digital from ps4…. I did had some games on disc but I didn’t even care to install it… lol.

 

[RoboFu]

Video games is already a huge money pit, so that's a huge reason/benefit of physical copies. I guess waiting for games to hit sales is a good option, but depending the game, waiting months on end on one could make a game either a bad or wasted purchase(thinking most MP games here).

Buy less games… you don’t need to play everything. In fact I’d say if you can’t ever find any games that last you a few months then you don’t really like those game anyway you are just addicted to buying something new.

 

[yamaci17]

its already all digital for me so i guess no

 

[KingXtreme81]

Absolutely not. Hell, I'm a digital gamer nowadays anyway. The benefits just far outweigh owning a disc as far as I'm concerned. Although I do still purchase the occasional hard copy if it's from a series I love/collect, but that is in addition to the digital copy.

 

[Kdad]

Unless I can play locally without having to have an online connection, i'll never play digital only...when the service goes down so does my access to games and thats a non starter.

 

[MrFunSocks]

I've been all digital on consoles for like 10 years now. I'd be more likely to give it up if they went all physical only.

 

[Zannegan]

No. I can handle all-digital, especially if there's more than one storefront to choose from a la PC.

An all-streaming future would be another discussion entirely. Even then though, there would probably be some free-to-play FPS garbage that I would occasionally dip into.

I just like gaming. Even though the people in charge are slowly turning it into a giant dystopic milking machine for the weak-willed and pushing through format changes that benefit no one but themselves, even though corporate cheerleaders keep shortening their skirts and bending over anything in a suit walks by, I still like it. As long as some corner of the gaming landscape is fun to play around in, I'll be there.

 

[ihavezippers]

pc gaming is effectively all digital now and as popular as ever

 

[farmerboy]

I'll resist as long as possible and then cave.

Shit, I feel bad just typing that.

 

[ZenTheShogun]

Other way around for me - if they forced physical media upon me I'd buy WAY less games and just keep my most played in the drive. Been digital (mostly) since CS 1.6 shifted to Steam so...

 

[Derktron]

No, I'm already used to it, 80% of my games are digital already I only buy in disc if the game I want to play is on sale. Other than that I'm already used to it.

 

[Bo_Hazem]

No. If so I would've quit since late 2014 when I went full digital.

 

[iHaunter]

No, I do 95% digital now anyway. Annoying to switch discs all the time.