Digital Download vs Disk

[Ogretron]

Download. Disks can get damaged or you can loose them, but the data on the internet is there forever. Steam, as said before, is excellent because you can just jump on another computer and install everything, no disk needed.

edit - I would also like to add I have many many ISO on backup so that helps a lot to those who think you have to continue downloading them.

[hellgrazer]

Well depends really. I voted digital download but I'm not really sure.
I mean , digital download has the advantage that u can download the game whenever u want without having to carry a disk with ( or u go somewhere and u forgot it) , but what happens when you can't connect to the internet? :P

[noahjam326]

I always prefer to have a boxed copy on hand. Not just because it's faster, but also because I like collecting.

[Redgoon23]

Disks. If my internet was faster I might prefer download. It's just that if you uninstall something you have to redownload it again. It can be very annoying.

[Deleted]

Disk, but only if the game has no online activation/Steam. If it has, I skip the game altogether. I want my games to be perfectly playable in 10 years, not dead because some publisher decided to kill it to promote the sequel or something.

[Deleted]

download every time. if it's not available for download, i won't buy it. my computer doesn't even have an optical drive because they're so bloody ugly and frankly pointless nowadays.

[Mister K]

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 ?

£39.99 for people here in UK ... Its not that expensive but Black Socks is biggest RIP off ever. MW3 suppose to be £39.99

Love Steam, they have great deals but sometimes overpriced as well, but you fast download, your friends on it and so forth. Customer support is great as well...

---------- Post added 2011-09-18 at 11:50 AM ----------

download every time. if it's not available for download, i won't buy it. my computer doesn't even have an optical drive because they're so bloody ugly and frankly pointless nowadays.

Same. Il need to get one though for Windows 7 :3

[Deleted]

Digital Download

Simply because there is a huge different in prices!!

Google dlcompare.com to see for yourself

[funkyveejay]

digital for convenience and price. here in australia we pay ridiculously large amounts of money for games, for example a brand new ps3/360 game has an RRP of 109.95 AUD ( = to 113.94 US) PC games are marginally cheaper by about $10 or so, but if i buy a game off steam i pay the same amount they would in the US, just at the conversion rate which is pretty awesome right now.

Deus Ex for example is sitting on the shelf of EB Games for $88 atm, and i payed $44 on steam, you cant tell me thats not a huge saving.

[Deleted]

£39.99 for people here in UK ... Its not that expensive but Black Socks is biggest RIP off ever. MW3 suppose to be £39.99

Love Steam, they have great deals but sometimes overpriced as well, but you fast download, your friends on it and so forth. Customer support is great as well...

---------- Post added 2011-09-18 at 11:50 AM ----------



Same. Il need to get one though for Windows 7 :3

not really (if you're on about optical drives) just buy the disk and download an iso and use your valid CD key. it's not illegal if i'm not mistaken.

[Uwibami]

Disk. I like being able to hold the game in my hands.

[sam86]

If I really love that game: disk, but in general digital is easier

[PizzaSHARK]

Digital download, definitely. I despise having to keep track of physical media, and especially hate the DRM that usually comes with them (lost the jewel case with the CD-Key on it? LOL BUY ANOTHER COPY!)

I buy nearly all of my games from Steam, GOG.com, or through Blizzard directly, and I've associated as many of my old physical-media games with those services as possible so I don't have to keep track of the discs anymore.

Also, you're probably looking for the spelling "disc" rather than "disk," unless we're talking about floppies

[Trapt]

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 ?

It's not expensive for everyone though. (US for instance)

But yes I do understand where you're coming from.

OT--------
I've been PC gaming since the mid 90's(Doom1).
I've have hundreds of hard copies, and even more demo disks from old PC Gamer mags(used to LOVE those). And I have to say, without a doubt in hell, digital is better.

I don't have to worry about losing keys and cd's and I save a lot of space. I have over 300 games on Steam alone, imagine 300 games in boxes...yea eff that.

Anyone out there that says disks are better is insane, there are no advantages. We live in the digital age, get with the times. Anyone that says they're an old school PC gamer and they like hard copies is just stubborn, I'm proof that old school PC gamers can change to something easier and love it.

That's usually the argument I run into when people say they like hard copies "I'm an old school gamer, I like hard copies blah blah" stop being idiots.

[Larath]

without steam and digital copies I wouldn't even be close to the same amount of games I have now, summer/winter sales ftw.

[Raphtheone]

When you surpass a certain amount of disks (varying from person to person), you learn that you can't keep them all indefinitely. You learn this by finding discs that are damaged beyond repair somewhere you never would have expected to find them. This is an issue you never have with digital downloads. I would probably prefer discs if I had slow internet (anything below 2Mb/s), but with a fast internet there's no real reason for not downloading instead. Whatever you want on disc can be burned (I presume, haven't felt the need to even try myself).

Another upside is, with the risk of having someone point and laugh, is the benefit of a digital download to the planet. There are no trees that are cut down for a box/manual, there is no oil processed for the plastics, no emissions from the physical transport of the copy, etc etc. I know, one copy makes a minuscule difference, but in my opinion that's the wrong way to look at it. If everyone thinks like that, the planet will end up dead. If I don't waste water, I imagine everyone else not wasting water (if I can do it, anyone can). Start to think like a collective, and not as an individual. Take your collective responsibility. Make sure your children inherits a planet worth inheriting. If both a digital download and a physical copy of a game nets the same result to the individual (getting to play the game), why not opt for the "cheaper" solution? Go digital. Buy an electric car, take the bus. Don't let the water flush for a minute so you can get a cold drink. And don't buy a 800W computer monster if you can manage with a 400W (my computer draws ~220W under heavy load, my next computer will draw <300W). Opt for chicken over beef, potatoes over pasta. Recycle your shit.

If *everyone* cuts down on their emissions, it shows that people care. If people care, we will have no problems surviving as a species. Scrap physical copies of games, choose a digital version if you can.

[Thunderstruck05]

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.

You can do that with a disc...and you can just pop it in and go. With steam you have to download it on everything. I use steam too but I prefer a hard copy. And to the people that complain about having "too many discs or boxes", well maybe you should do something other than buy and play games. Hmm?

And look at Captain Planet above me. lol...

[Vraizan]

I prefer disk just because I like to have a hard copy. A lot games have a digital download you can use once you buy the disk form so if I ever sratched the disk or my reader broke I'd just use that. I mean WoW is the only online game I play really and they have this feature so I'm set.

[Slipper]

SECOND HAND disks from big name stores is the only way to go. 3 for £30 on games that are only a couple months old just because someone got bored after one completion.... yes please. People say 2nd hand = risk but if you buy them rfom major stores there is no risk. I only buy second hand and have only had a faulty game 2-3 times and they've always accepted them back.

[Mothhive]

Only use digital downolad (Steam). It's much cheaper and more convenient than buying physical copies.