Do You Want Your Video Games As Downloads Or Discs?

[wraggster]

With the news that Microsoft is offering full retail games on demand and Sony's PSP Go breaking away from the UMD, it seems that the disc's days are numbered. In your opinion, is that a good thing or a bad thing?

http://gizmodo.com/5275886/do-you-want-your-video-games-as-downloads-or-discs

[wraggster]

Personally id rather have the disc but also the ability to download a digitial copy using my serial number (like blizzard do) should my game get scratches on and make it unplayable

[apex05]

As long as there's no ridiculous DRM restrictions and the price is cheap enough compared to hard copies then it has to be downloads.

[jamotto]

disk only.

[HI-Saturn]

I'd always want the hard copy. I don't want to be at the whim of any company when it comes to a game. meaning that if your system red rings (360)or HD glitches (Ps3) etc I want to put a disc in and go not either wait to re-dl the game or at the whim of the company they no longer support it ala phantasy star online. I have a fairly substantial game collection and don't mind storing them for the piece of mind and the ability of not letting a company know what I play and when I play it. It's also good because they can't do all that marketing shit and flame you with ads etc. Plus with the hard copy you have the ability to buy a game cheaper either used, ebay, amazon etc as obosed to digital download when your subject to retail price of the company doing the digital distrobution. ($2-5 Xbox 1 game vs $10-12 download from live)

[ndstal]

I'd always want the hard copy. I don't want to be at the whim of any company when it comes to a game. meaning that if your system red rings (360)or HD glitches (Ps3) etc I want to put a disc in and go not either wait to re-dl the game or at the whim of the company they no longer support it ala phantasy star online. I have a fairly substantial game collection and don't mind storing them for the piece of mind and the ability of not letting a company know what I play and when I play it. It's also good because they can't do all that marketing shit and flame you with ads etc. Plus with the hard copy you have the ability to buy a game cheaper either used, ebay, amazon etc as obosed to digital download when your subject to retail price of the company doing the digital distrobution. ($2-5 Xbox 1 game vs $10-12 download from live)
although you may have a point, the people who buy the games originally (not used) will probably be saving money because they don't have to pay for a useless cd. also you can actually burn multiple psp games or whatever to a cd or keep it on your hard drive for later. anyway i do think this is bad for the companies because it will just make pirates start pirating more.

[osgeld]

I hate direct download, and after yesterday atleast my wife understands why

She had pre-ordered the Sims 3 for direct download

EA's servers were hammered, the download kept stopping every 10 seconds for a 7 second break

finally 22 hours later she had the game, but heres the deal

For the same price we could have just gone 5 min down the road and gotten it from walmart, in a box on a nice disc and had an instruction manual

What little gas we would have used and the state sales tax would have been alot less than 22 hours of aggravation watching a 5.8 GIG download start and stop constantly, and even dipping down to dialup speeds + if we ever wipe that machine, you cant use the old installer, so, well we have to do it allllll over again

screw that

[wraggster]

i always worry that youll pay and theres a screw up and you get nothing or end up paying twice, companies are notorious for acting the twat at refunds

[Shrygue]

Choice is good (like small games and downloadable con tent) but for big games, box+disk+manual hands down.

[365]

discs because they can be found in bargin bins and I like knowing I have baught something that exists in the physical world

[ian h]

if we're talking about the psp here, then i think its ridiculas releasing the go with no umd slot, because sony are going to still have to make umd games for people with psp's released prior to the go (1000,2000 and 3000) plus not everyone in this world has access to the internet

[ruyor]

I wouldn't mind digital downloads if I had high-speed internet, but the only affordable thing available in my area is dial-up. The only high-speed services in my area are satellite or cell, both about $60 a month:mad:
So for people in my situation, all digital downloads with no physical media means no games:eek:

[JDvorak]

I have too many games that are scratched and won't play that the digital download is a great way to go. Besides you are talking about not being able to reinstall the game if you hard drive crashes and you lose the download. That is a valid point but people will hack the installers so you can put them back on without having to pay again. They will also create backup programs that will let you backup your entire game to a DVD/CD or several with all the registry keys, serial #'s etc. so you can install it later. In other words you will be able to create a physical disc of the digital download and not lose it. But if you are fearful of your hard drive crashing then why aren't you doing mirrors of your drive. I always do and have never lost anything unless I tell it to delete and use a program to wipe the sectors the program was on so you can't recover it.

[osgeld]

kinda ironic that you take good care of your hard disc data, and yet dont take care of your cd's

[oooooomonkeys]

Disc only i buy arcade games as downloads but would NEVER buy full retail games as a download i love having the box and instructions, downloads would mean no more special editions like my gta and fallout. downloads:mad: disc:thumbup:

[masterchief929]

I would definitely say discs. Not only would downloads kill the retailers and make people that work for places like EB Games and GameStop go unemployed, it would aggravate people. And what happens for people who don't have fast speeds? I wouldn't mind the ability to download games as backup with a serial number, but i will always want a disc.

[Pilot_51]

When I was deciding on whether to buy UT3 on Steam for $12 or eBay for cheaper, I made a list of the pros of each vs. the other.

Steam:
Instant download
Achievements
Can easily download/install anywhere with broadband internet
Key guaranteed to work
Environmentally friendly (no materials/shipping)
Supposedly less likely to be lost (depending on Steam)
Doesn't wear out by using it a lot

CD:
Box for collection
Cheaper on eBay
Better Xfire support (UT3)
Able to use one copy for LAN multiplayer (many games)
Internet connection not needed to install
Can be registered in Steam (UT3)
Ownership doesn't rely on a third-party

So, it took a lot of thinking to decide, but when I found out that the CD version of UT3 can be registered on Steam for the best of both worlds (except for instant download immediately after purchase and the environment bit), it was an easy decision. I managed to get it for a total of $4.04 in very good condition.

In summary I think disk is the way to go as long as there isn't any insanely stupid copy protection as with Spore or Bioshock, although typically in those cases they also do it on digital distribution in which case I can only boycott the game. If I wasn't so anti-pirate and I really wanted one of those games, I'd probably just pirate it for a clean version and find a way to pay the developer, bypassing the overpaid publisher which to my understanding is where the copy protection comes from. Anyway I think I've drifted far enough off-topic...

[kaferenza]

Disc, cartridge, tape, anything physical. The choice to be able to direct download is a nifty one, but what happens in an event where you loose your downloaded copy of the software and the company you downloaded it from goes bye-bye? I'll take physical media any day over direct download.

[vopinhimer.dodon]

I'd have to agree with everyone. A digital copy is really swell because it is uber portable. A cd copy is also uber swell because if the game company or online hosting server stops supporting that specific game then you still have a copy that can be played anytime anywhere. Overall I would like to be able to have both a digital and a cd copy. It's the only acceptable way.