which do you prefer, a good old game packaged in a case, or a game released through Digital means (PSN, XBLA, Steam, Origin, or whatever the WiiU uses..)


while I always enjoy a packaged game (as i love reading instruction manuels, and they just look good on my bookcase), I have lately noticed when purchasing a game digitally I am not Compelled to make "Impulse buys" as I often am when I enter an actual store...
another Benefit of Digital releases is you don't have to break your back trying to find a previous game in a series because it was "released in limited quantities".. that reminds me.. have to call to see if that order arrived yet...

So, which do you prefer?

Packaged. If I don't like a game, I could sell it back or trade it for another game. Digital purchases are convenient, but I only do those if I know a game is good.

Package mostly, digital (like PSN or Xbox Live Arcade) sometimes if the game is really hard to find then it's a good choice as a last resort.

Depends really.

Games I really like, I tend to have a physical copy, if for no other reason it gives me a library to browse through on the shelf. However, I like digital releases as I hate, hate, hate having to put in a disk to run a game I have installed. It's the grinding of the optical drive that irks more than anything else. Problem with Digital Releases is, since I have gone SSD, I am finding myself limited by storage capacity for installing games. So much so, that I had to order a new SSD drive (Crucial M500 240GB are $109 at Amazon woot!!) so I could install Wolfenstein. My main drive does not have enough room, and I have already uninstalled all the games I can from it. So, if I did not have a local back up mechanism to my Data drive, I would have to download those games again as the two I deleted are digital copies.

Digital. I have no data cap, and my internet is fast, so I can download as much as I want really quickly. Ontop of that, theres no risk of someone who will remain nameless in my life selling my games so they can afford a carton of cigarettes Plus I feel its easier to keep track of say, a steam account than a bunch of discs that can break and scratch.

Packaged. There are pros and cons to longevity to both. But if I don't like a physical copy I can trade it away. I've been mostly buying digital on steam because it's easy and super cheap. I almost never pay more than $20 for a game

This.

Packaged. I just enjoy rubbing my hands all over the case. That said, I rarely care enough to go out and buy a physical copy so I mostly just settle for digital anyway.

I don't buy games I know will be a bad investment.. I like Digital games for they are convenient and appear a safer option.

Packaged, since I prefer having a physical copy on hand vs my fear of some unlikely digital internet wipeout then I'll have my games still.

#Perksofparanoia

I prefer digital, but there are specific series of games that I want physical copies.

Digital. I really can't remember the last time I had to use a disc to install something. I don't miss those days.

Physical.

Tried taking a couple of photos of the stack of doom. There's around 200 - 250 of them and around 30 "big box" titles as well including Falcon 4.0, Blade Runner, System Shock 2 and the lovely embossed box for Battle Isle: Andosia War. For some reason the photos didn't go onto the sd card and I've no idea where the cable to transfer from the onboard flash memory is.

So, just a tiny selection. Some collectors editions and occasionally tricky to track down titles - PC version of Silent Hill 2 and Zero: Tsukihami no Kamen I'm looking at you . http://i.imgur.com/9estKvM.jpg

Digital just feels like a throwaway, disposable bargain bin. I really need to get hold of a physical version of Hatsune Miku Project Diva F. There's a part of me that just isn't comfortable relying on PSN.

Also. Here's Tilly the chicken: http://i.imgur.com/5D4rMTr.jpg

Physical.

I'm buying more digital these days due to the crazy sale prices, but.... given the same price between a physical purchase & a digital one? Physical every time. Not a fan of huge downloads (which, to me, is anything over 1-2GB)

Packaged for non-PC, Digital for PC. For a few reasons. Packaged console games can be easily traded, resold, barrowed, etc. Sony is also far behind Steam or any other PC digital distributor when it comes to price drops and sales for digital games.(except for the free games with PS+, that's nice)

I prefer digital on PC because of the simplicity of Steam. Being able to access any game on my HDD instantly is very convenient. I can understand why some dislike Steam and other DRMs, though.

Depends really but in most cases I prefer digital over physical. It's just far more pratical option. Also I don't sell my games anyway so why should I bother with physical? Also I don't have to worry about discs breaking, the games are always available whenever and where ever I need.

I prefered physical when I still had slow and a bit unstable Internet connection but now I have 10/10 Mbps which, while not the fastest available, is enough for downloading even big games.

Using discs is so 1990's, time to move on. That's right, I'm looking at you, consoles.

A bit of a toss up for me, but I guess over all I've come to prefer digital. It's just so much more convenient to buy a new game, and the stores around here have squat as far as selection is concerned. And being able to boot from my hard drive is a definite bonus.

I like physical. But digital has its merits, specially in the convenience department. Also, digital download is actually helping small time independent developers distribute their works which otherwise would have been unthinkable.

I prefer purchasing packaged physical boxed versions of the PC versions of video games and they have to be 100% Digital Rights Management (DRM) free.