ElementZ

So, I have been cooped up in the house and recently finished up Batman:AA. Checked out my shelf of games and nothing interested me at the time so I started viewing XBL games on demand. Ended up purchasing and downloading Fallout 3 which is totally addicting btw.

I love the fact that I can just boot up my 360 and play the game right from a menu but there is a certain part of my collectors mentality that is feeling neglected since I don't have a physical copy of the game on my shelf.

Just wondering what others do on here out of curiosity.

Liver&Onions

I actually tend to forget about the downloaded games. I have a bunch of stuff to play from the PSN and XBLA that I never get to because I look at my shelf before turning the system on and choose what to play then.

DJ_Longfellow

I like physical so I can trade in when I am done with a game.

Noonan

I like the on-demand aspect of downloading games but I feel they should be at a lower price than physical media. Charging $50 for a game that would sell for $60 in stores would be incentive enough for me.

That being said, there are certain games/series that I would want to buy in-store for the collecting aspect. That would be fairly limited though.

Drexl

I am gradually accepting the inevitable: this is the future whether we like it or not. Well, I still buy CDs, but that's more because they're lossless and I can avoid poor remasters, not as much for the physical copy aspect of it (although that's still nice). And when it comes to movies, I don't use streaming much because discs generally still have better quality (and some of that may be due to my relatively slow connection of about 3Mbps).

But with games, they can't cut down the quality to save bandwidth like they can with music and movies; it's the same as if you had the disc and box. I'm more accepting of game downloads. Perhaps making smaller games download-only has helped. I figure, well, I already download these games, so it's not as if I have a disc of everything anymore.

JasonF

I prefer the physical media because I don't trust those bastards to keep stuff in print, or not to try to charge me for it a second time if my hard drive crashes. I do have games I've bought through XBLA/PSN/Virtual console, but if you gave me a choice between an 800 point download or a $12 disc in the store, I'd pick the disc.

cruzness

ElementZ

Good replies....if by for some chance I purchased a physical copy of a game I downloaded, I assume I would still be able to use the same save files? Yes, No?

orangecrush

I agree. Though I must admit I do like the idea of browsing my game collection on the console and pulling up any game instantly like I can now do with my music collection or video collection on my computer.

Kedrix

I will always prefer physical media. I do download XBLA/VC games here and there but always wish in the back of my head that i had the physical media instead. This is why I bought the disc versions of Sam & Max on Wii and the same way with almost any XBLA title like Watchmen or some of the compilation packs that wind up on disc. I don't trust game companies to keep the servers up or trust the hard drive replacement policies. If I do buy something on a downloadable service, it is only because I am under the impression that I'm doing the equivalent of "renting" it. DLC and Digital copies have their place and I appreciate it, however I will never buy an actual console that supports download only. And if it ever comes to pass that all major system are like that, I will simply stop buying new systems and focus solely on older games.

tonyc3742

I like to be able to trade, buy, give games I'm done with.

I like to know my playing of that game in the future is not dependent on my remembering my account password, or on some company's server still being active in five years, or being online.

I like having a "thing" on the shelf, a manual to read. And I too forget about the DD games stored on the server.

What if you've gone full DD, and your console/PC gets stolen? Not only have you lost your console, your saves, but you've lost your entire game library as well.

Other DD content is limited to certain playback devices, or at least is very difficult to do otherwise.

That said, like Drexl says, we're moving toward full DD (however, I'm not sure who will win - content providers who want to push DD sales, or bandwidth providers who want to charge heavy users). I will do my part to continue supporting physical content and consumer's rights, but there are occasions when I have bought digitally.

I have been buying XBLA games and digital content - the sales help, and finding points cards on sale helps. I do wish they allowed you to 'resell' the game - there are games that I played and am done with, that I would gladly yield my playing rights for to recoup 50% of the points I paid. It's easier paying 4-10 $ for a piece of DD than 50-60$. I do not envision a scenario where I will pay "full price" for a DD game. Prices need to go down drastically for that to occur. (I've never even looked - how much do the Games On Demand cost?)

I don't pay to download movie/tv content, but I do stream (legally - Hulu, networks, Netflix). The pricing on XBox for movies and tv eps seems ridiculously high to me. When I can buy a movie DVD for 5-10 bucks, or a TV season for <20, why would I pay about the same, if not more, for a much more limited use and non resellable version?

I do pay to download music, occasionally. Primarily Emusic, but that's because I can get something like 75 tracks for 12.00. My last music purchase, though, was a physical CD - which was on sale cheaper than the mp3 version, and had a nice booklet with the lyrics and pics in it.

Long story short (too late), I'm warily resistant to jumping full into DD for fullprice content; I like portability, resellability, and additional content of physical media, but I do acknowledge that in some examples, DD is roughly equivalent, and in others, DD is clearly superior (Rock Band DLC for instance).

Groucho

Pretty much every complaint in this thread is addressed by Steam on PC/Mac. I would love to see a similar service on the consoles.

dx23

This.

Draven

I've gotten so used to downloading music that I don't even think about owning CDs anymore. Netflix Streaming has gotten me used to not owning movies (though I still buy WAY too many Blu-rays). And my limited experience with Steam has been great.

As long as it's painless to redownload things in the event of a hard drive failure (like Steam does) then I'm all for downloadable games. But they need to be half the price of the store version for me to be interested, considering that a decent part of the $60 cost goes to packaging/shipping/pressing/etc..

RichC2

I prefer downloading for cheaper games, physical media for more expensive ones (I like having something that is physically worth value).

Couldn't care less about having a box/manual, but know it's a requirement for re-sale. Damn things take up too much space.

tonyc3742

Everything I've heard about Steam, and my limited experience with it, echoes this. It seems like Steam is doing DD right so far, for both content owners and consumers.

JasonF

I don't know very much about Steam, so let me ask -- what happens if tomorrow, Steam decides to de-list Portal as an available game for download and then next week my hard drive gets un-recoverably corrupted. Do I have a way to install Portal on my new hard drive?

Groucho

Occasionally games have been taken down for sale for one reason or another, but when that happens the game is still available to somebody who had purchased it prior.

Drexl

Actually, I believe that Steam has kept de-listed games still available to re-download. I know one example was The Movies, and on their forums people were saying you could re-download it if you had bought it before it was pulled.

Edit: as Groucho said.

RichC2

You can also backup the game when you install it. The option is there.

Say you just uninstalled Portal due to a space issue. So what happens if, tomorrow, your accidentally sit on your Portal disk and snap it in half? Do you have a way to re-install Portal? What if your house burns down?

Groucho

Good point, never even thought of that. I just re-download when I switch PCs.

Ghym

I started backing up everything to an external USB drive. It's quicker than downloading again.

I haven't bought physical media for my PC in like two years. Just about everything I own is through Steam.

Kedrix

I can safely say I have never sat on a disc (though I would gladly sit on a Portal disc for free). And sure, if my house burns down, I would be most likely screwed. However, I would have no regrets, I still much rather have the physical media. It's a matter of personal preference. Companies like Steam are a great concept and I'm glad to see it doing well, but it's not for me. *shrug*

fujishig

Didn't the Midway games disappear from Xbox Live when they went under? And when Activision lost the Marvel license, the DLC for Ultimate Alliance 2 also disappeared... I'm not sure if Steam just has it written into the contract that they will allow people to download the games if they bought them prior to the developing company losing the rights to distribute.

I love Steam too. If you install the game on your system, and you lose internet connectivity and can't log into Steam, what happens? I've never tried.

Groucho

Yes, but if you have already purchased it you can still re-download.You can still play, unless it happens to be the first time you've ever tried to play that game on that system (one-time activation).