Digital Download vs Disk

[Pony Soldier]

How would you rather buy a game? By downloading or buying a physical copy? Why?

For me i MUCH MUCH rather buy a game that's on disk than download. One reason is that downloaded games, to me at least, are not very reliable you have to worry about so much that could happen to whatever you downloaded it to, like one thing could be is the hard drive getting corrupted and you lose all your files along with the games you bought and downloaded then you would have to go through the hassle of possibly buying it all over again or getting it for free but you still have to go through downloading it again. Another reason is that most of these download only games will be so hard to get in the future if not you won't be able to get them at all they could be gone forever. Look at the Xbox live games, whats going to happen to all those games when Live is no more? You'll have to scavenge around on the internet for ROM's and they're not always so reliable either. But if they just put all these games on disk you wouldn't have any of these problems because you have it in your hand all you have to do is put it in the console and play. Now i know some people are like "Well it's more of a convenience for people" Yeah sure it is but seriously how hard is it to just get up and put the disk in takes like literally 10 seconds for you to get the game case, take it out and put the disk in the tray.

So what would you rather have a digital copy of a game or an actual physical copy? This is not to start some sort of flame war this is just purely out of curiosity.

I guess another question could be: how would you go about buying games in the future when they all could possibly be ALL digital download games? Would you still buy them or just stick to the consoles that had disks? For me i dont know because i always have that feeling that whatever its downloaded on could be easily corrupted or something happen to it that i wouldnt be able to play it again, so for now my answer is no i would just stick to the consoles that had disks.
And sorry if there has been a thread like this already.

[Stixxz]

By downloading. Especially through Steam, that way all my games will last a life time on one account and can install on whatever pc I want.

[Deleted]

By downloading. Especially through Steam, that way all my games will last a life time on one account and can install on whatever pc I want.

problem is tho, steam is EXTREMLY expensive. i aint payin 60 euros for example for mw3 when i can order it from a swedish site for 30 euros its just viable, they transfer the prices direcly from dollars to euro so if its 50 dollars its 50 euros its properly done for pounds why isnt for euros ?

[Deleted]

i prefer Disks , because i have in my hand what i bought then , xD for some reason ^^

[Purrfunctory]

I prefer the option to download and install on multiple computers with the service maintaining a record of which applications I have purchased and allowing me to download again at will.

[Deleted]

For PC I usually just get whats cheaper some times its a digital copy sometimes hard copies are depends really. As for consoles, it almost always a hard copy unless its something like a demo or something and 9/10 will buy my ps3 games from somewhere like play.com as they prices are usually cheaper by about a £5 for new games.

[DaGhostDS]

Disk, i can install it on any computer and can sell it or lend it to someone else. I dont trust Steam, i never did and i never will, so having the choice i prefer having a disc version.

[Joathen]

Digital. Usually cheaper, where a hard copy may cost $59.99 (You pay for manufactoring, distribution, and markup; ) the digital copy would be $49.99 (You pay for the digital rights and the distributers markup which is far less then retail markup who needs to pay for their overhead and staff.)

[Deleted]

By downloading. Especially through Steam, that way all my games will last a life time on one account and can install on whatever pc I want.

Pretty much this. It may be a little bit more expensive, then again you're also paying for a service. It's very well set up, organized, updated. I like to call it the iTunes-phenomenon - it's very much an incredible quality-of-life tool and extremely convenient. And if there happens to be a nice buy on amazon.com or some local retailers, heck, nobody's stopping you from dipping your feet into those waters as well

[Deleted]

Digital. Usually cheaper, where a hard copy may cost $59.99 (You pay for manufactoring, distribution, and markup; ) the digital copy would be $49.99 (You pay for the digital rights and the distributers markup which is far less then retail markup who needs to pay for their overhead and staff.)

Erm, other way arround. thats the problem with it. lol see my last post.

[Fostus]

Erm, other way arround. thats the problem with it. lol see my last post.

Depends on where you live. I buy both but most of my games are from steam because of convenience and price. Steams sales can hardly be beat by any stores around me that's for sure. If it's a game I'm really excited for I'll generally by the Collectors edition.

[hakujinbakasama]

Erm, other way arround. thats the problem with it. lol see my last post.

Which is the only "problem" i have currently. But that being said, digital is on sale way more than disk. The perk being that if something happens to your digital you just re-download it. If something happens to your disk, you're pretty boned.

Frankly, they both have their perks, but I honestly hope in the future there is more of a competitive pricing structure for digital where you're not paying for packaging and retailers taking their cut.

[Specops]

Digital. A lot cheaper buying through Steam then from a brick and mortar store, that's just me though. I'd rather not waste gas for something that will take up space in my room.

[Autofollow]

I voted Digital because everything is going that way anyway. And honestly, I can't recall the last time I installed a game (even on my @!#$!!$# PS3) that didn't still need updates from the manufacturer anyway. Downloading the initial installer at least gives me a place to put it that I always know it'll be instead of losing my install disks like I always do.

[Deleted]

i prefer disk because i like having the case and such, just a wierd thing of mine :P

but i find digital download more practical, with steam i can install the game on as many machines as i like without needing to keep hold of discs / keys. i did order BF3 disc <3

[Frozenbeef]

For preorder when i want to play the game as soon as possible then download however i really like having the cd as i have a slow download so if i need to install the game on a new harddrive it's easier to do it via the disc.

[Kavoo]

Digital; because I have so many discs of so many shit already, shows, sound tracks, pc, ps1, ps2 games, I barely can store what I have, so I dont mind having all my games in some account like steam or battle.net.

[Nebthet]

I trashed my dvd player about 3 years ago.

[jonte912]

usually digital but gonna get a disk for Skyrim, usually have to do ome extra stuff to be able to mod som games when bought from steam etc

[LegendsnDreamz]

Voted/Prefer Disk, mostly cause I like knowing I have something physical to own. However I do both and love Steam as well, you really can't beat some of those crazy low deals. Not to mention Steam and other sites like it, are a great way to support Indie devs/games. Been playing a lot of Indie games that are far better then the AAA titles lately, Bastion would be a great example.