Roundtable Talk #17: Physical Vs. Digital Games

The debate of physical media versus digital media has come more to the forefront with the launch of the latest consoles. Both Xbox and Microsoft have multiple SKU’s on store shelves that cater to both categories of consumers, and it will be interesting to see where the sales numbers of each version of console end up in a few years. The Controller Crusade staff have assembled once again to discuss whether they are Team Physical or Team Digital in this week’s Roundtable.

Allison:

While physical games will always hold a special place in my heart due to their inherent nostalgia, but the convenience and variety of digital games has resulted in me prioritizing physical copies less.
Don’t get me wrong. I’ll always hold on to the game disks and cards that I currently own, especially from older-gen systems. However, I’m a big fan of services like Xbox’s Game Pass, which allows you to download various games for free and try them out before committing to a purchase. As an impulsive game-buyer, it’s nice to take a game out for a “test ride” before signing over both your time and the necessary storage space to download it. However, if you don’t like a free game you got on Game Pass, simply delete it from your library! No harm, no foul. It reminds me of the early rental days of Blockbuster, but with even more ease of use.

Additionally, the accessibility of digital games makes it an excellent option for those that have poorly-stocked GameStops or other video game stores, or even none at all. Long gone are the insane Black Friday lines out the storefront for a new game or console. Instead, companies see the advantages of digital releases so that everyone can have access to their product simultaneously.
While I understand the sentimental hype over physical game copies, I frankly feel their time has passed. Instead, digital downloads are a quick and easy way to allow players the ability to test out various games before settling on the best one for them.

George:

When I first started writing this, I realised I’d just end up creating a list of pros and cons. So, I’ll give my own opinion on digital vs physical games and explain why. Recently, I have been interested in physical games. Perhaps not for the right reasons. I was buying physical games, that I did want to play, almost as an investment. I was concerned about resale value, even though I don’t typically sell my games. This mentality is quite ridiculous and hurts all of us when it comes to playing older games that aren’t printed anymore. I would love to play Dragon Quest VIII, but preowned copies are selling for the price of brand-new games where I live.

So, to answer, digital vs physical? Play the games that you want to play at a price you’re comfortable paying. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter if you insert a disc or launch the game from the home menu; all that matters is you’re having fun. If you don’t typically sell your games, go with whatever is cheapest. A collection of physical games is nice and is arguably more future proofed than digital games. However, I believe that we will see manufactures respond to this. So long as we have robust ways to back our games up after stores cease to function, what difference does it make? I bought Fire Emblem: Three Houses from the eshop, and I wished for a long time that I had bought a physical copy because I loved the game so much. However, I was never going to sell that hypothetical physical copy, so the only thing I didn’t have was a box on my shelf.

Justin:

I’ll choose physical every time. Obviously I’m not fanatical to the point where I’ll never buy or play a digital-only game, but if I have the choose between a physical or digital copy I’ll go physical every time. Even if I have to import a physical copy from Japan for double the price, that’s the way I’m gonna go.

Without getting too into the weeds, my main problem with digital games is how fleeting they are. I don’t view games as disposable entertainment. They’re art. Individual pieces created by a combined hundred thousand passionate, talented people working countless hours across the world. Individual works with their own history – a history that’s so easily lost. Digital games can, and often are, delisted. Once they’re taken off of a digital storefront, these games become completely inaccessible for anyone who doesn’t own it. And in some cases even for people who do.

Not to mention that entire storefronts can disappear. WiiWare is gone, along with all the games that existed only on it. We very nearly lost the storefronts for the Playstation 3 and Vita, which would have doomed hundreds of games to the void. Any game that exists in physical form will never truly be gone – if you want to play them they will always be available.

There are plenty of arguments refuting this, and they are all wrong.

• Why don’t you buy the game before it’s delisted?
  • There’s so many reasons you might not buy a game before it’s removed for good. Maybe you can’t afford it at the time. Maybe you’re not interested in that style of game until something else turned you onto it. Maybe you’ve never even heard of the game before it’s gone. No matter how much you keep up with the industry, there are so many games releasing that some are bound to slip past you. You might not even discover it exists until years after it’s gone.
• Your physical games are only a license anyway
  • Technically this is true, but what does it matter? The only way they can stop you from playing it is to send goons to your house to take your disc away. That’s not gonna happen.
• You need patches to make these games playable anyway
  • This is true only in very limited cases. Most games that ship physically are entirely playable without patches. There are Twitter accounts that exist to document what games can be played without patches and without internet connections. As it turns, the vast majority of games can be played without any patches or downloads at all. Some might argue that they’d rather not play a game in an unpatched, less than perfect state. That may be good decision for you, but I’d argue it’s better than an flawed game than no game at all. The only real exception to this is live service games or games that require an internet connection to play. They will absolutely need patches, but they also need server infrastructure and so will eventually go offline anyway.
• Physical games be damaged and become unplayable
  • This is also true, but if a game I own is damaged it’s my own fault. It’s unplayable due to my own negligence and not because someone else decided to take it away. Besides, I can always buy another one. If someone takes a digital game away, it’s gone no matter how careful I am.

All that said, I’m so happy digital games exist. I’m happy that the people who choose to go that route can do so, and there’s a lot to be said about accessibility, convenience, and price. I’m happy for all the advantages of digital, but physical games are the way to go for me.

Josh:

For me the argument against physical media has always come down to convenience. The ability to purchase a game with a single button press, pre-install before launch, and then be able to play the game once the clock strikes 12:01am on launch day. There’s also plenty of convenience to be had when it comes to switching games on the fly and not having to go to a shelf and physically insert a disc. With all the being said, I’m a physical media guy all the way.

Maybe it’s because I’m a product of the 80’s and it’s all I’ve ever known, or maybe it’s just the dopamine rush I get from seeing my physical collection and all of the nostalgic memories that come to mind as I peruse my shelves. The benefits of physical media are just as plenty as the ones for digital, for example the fact that I can take a game I really love and give it to a friend so they can share the same experiences I had, which I often do with my copy of The Messenger (seriously, play The Messenger!). I can also trade a game in if I no longer have any desire to have it in the collection and put that money towards the latest and greatest release.

While I am fully in on physical media, I do have my limits. If a game is $10 or less on the Nintendo eShop I’m likely going to buy it digitally as opposed to waiting for a company like Limited Run Games or Super Rare Games to release a physical version for triple or quadruple the cost. This generation of consoles will be a telling sign of where the market trends for the next generation in 8-10 years, as the sales numbers for the Xbox Series S and disc-less version of the PlayStation 5 will likely tell console manufacturers which way to lean going forward.

Physical or digital. Which side are you on? Let us know what you prefer in the comments section below!