Do you buy physical games?

Sometimes physical is cheaper. I leave you to ponder that, as I often do. But if it's a lower price at Amazon than at PSN I'm buying it from Amazon obviously.

I buy the odd game on a PSN sale, but in the UK at least, physical is almost always cheaper than digital, with the added bonus that they can be sold on once finished.

Of course I buy physical, how am I supposed to put a digital copy on the shelf??

Well, I only have a PC so 99% of the time, I only purchase games digitally via Steam and GOG

IF you live somewhere with internet that is such shit that a download takes literal days, then forgive me, I totally understand the gravitation towards physical, but even still those games aren't ready to play.

This. Even if there's a 5GB update, it's much less hassle than downloading a 50GB+ game in its entirety.

On the PC side, it's pretty hard to find physical games that actually have the whole game on disc. (Especially for games that don't fit on a single DVD, which is most of them these days.) But on the console side (where blu-rays are the norm), it's still expected that the disc has the whole game (pre-updates and DLC). I'm sure there are exceptions, but usually you don't have to re-download the whole game in a day 1 update.

Another thing to consider - some stores (Amazon, Best Buy) offer discounts on physical games (Prime preorders, Gamers Club Unlocked), but not digital. So you might be able to buy a physical copy - even if it's a code-in-a-box - for cheaper than buying it straight from Steam/Origin/PSN/Xbox Live, etc.

It depends; cost, portability, HD space.

Lately I've been going almost strictly digital. Especially on my switch. It's just nice not having to switch cartridges because I'm lazy... Actuslly same goes for Xbox and discs.

I only own a Nintendo Switch at this point, and use it for playing on Business Trips or some evenings (I guess what you call a casual...). I only buy digital games in order to not accidentally forget the games at home when I'm travelling.

But I also usually wait for 2-3 months until I buy a game, to save money and wait until the worst bugs are squashed.

Living in a place with great internet and using sites like isthereanydeal digital games are just so much cheaper than physicals. When it comes to consoles the psn store is usually cheaper or the same price as discs so I always prefer digital.

I buy physical because of many reasons:

• Around launch physical is cheaper.
• Installing 50 gigs from a disc and downloading 20 gigs for a patch, while still total bullshit, is still better than downloading 70 gigs.
• There is some resell value.
• Sometimes collectors editions are pretty cool.

I buy whatever is convenient. Which is usually digital.

Although net neutrality got repealed here. I might go back to physical if bandwidth caps become a thing.

- Physical games get cheaper quicker

- I can lend them out to friends or trade them in

- My internet speed/bandwidth cap isn't great

- Swapping discs is no big deal; I buy lots of blu-rays too

I went all digital late last gen and most of this gen until i moved to a place with a max of 3mbps and that was unberable.

Until the trend of pricing games higher for a digital version ends I will keep buying physical, except on PC where it's kinda impossible now.

PUBG for Xbox came in a cardboard box with a key and a sheet of stickers. Game is super fun and I love the stickers! Plus Amazon gave me 20% off. Best of both worlds.

I'm primarily a PC gamer nowadays, which means that nearly all games I purchase are digital. I prefer physical media for console games though, feels like part of the experience in some strange way.

I do when it's a special case or collectors edition, but if not, i'd rather just purchase digitally. Mostly due to the fact i can do it on the fly and i usually buy new games on a whim when my friends convince me. But it all also falls onto the fact I game on PC so i can't just go to Gamestop.

I actually started buying physical games for the first time this year since the ps3/360 days when I got my switch. It's mainly because of the discount amazon prime gives. I prefer digital but I also like saving so it's fine. The boxes are cute but I wish they included something inside like a map or poster. Oh well.

This gen I went all digital for the convenience. I get the argument for reselling your games. I used to have time to play a game when it came out and finish it fairly quickly, then sell it and get most of my money back. Now that I have kids, I don't finish games that fast and I'm usually not buying them day 1. By the time I usually get to buying a game it's down to $15-$30. Buying physical just so I can resell them when I'm getting them when they're at $15-$30 kills pretty much any resale value.

If it's cheaper on disc somehow than I will buy the disc and vice-versa.

Since I discovered Steam? No. I pretty much only buy digitally now rather than going to a shop to pick up a physical copy. Probably doesn't help I'm too lazy to go out. That requires putting on trousers. I suppose I could get it sent to my house... nah, I'll stick with digital copies. :P

Yep, prefer having a copy of my game in my room instead of renting from a third party source. I know that installation is mandatory on consoles now, but regardless, I still resort to physical, same with my movie and music collection. Plus it's cheaper too through the retailer I use, than the likes of the PSN store that charges the same prices as a local Gamestop.

And I don't care about having to download my games with a terrible internet speed I have, I don't feel the need in having to rely on that.

I'm starting to get away from physical games...

My collection was never like super duper huge because I always stuck to never buying games just for the sake of having them. Only buy games that meant something to me. Quality over quantity. However, after selling quite a few games last year and listening to the conversation on the Bombcast about Ben's house burning down and Jeff talking about his collection and how little he cares about most of it, I feel like I awoke suddenly to a similar realization. Even among the games I thought I cared about, those only a handful that would genuinely bum me out if I lost them. Like maybe 5-10 games off the top of my head.

Everything else I wouldn't mind seeing go. And like for real, the thought of - god forbid, a robbery, fire, or natural disaster and just not having to give a shit about all that stuff sounds appealing. There's also of course the more immediate effect of freeing up all that space or having to move and not have to worry about 10 boxes full of video game shit to pack and then unpack.

I do still plan to buy physical copies, moreso special editions than anything else, of games that I suspect I'll like a great deal, but for the most part...yeah, slowly gonna back away from physical copies I think.

Yes, only on Switch. I've gone digital for PC and PS4

I buy physical cause its usually cheaper than digital. Plus I like physically owning games to see in my collection.

I still buy physical copies the majority of the time. I try to go digital with multiplayer games. That way if I'm playing something solo and some friends want to play Overwatch I can fire it up without swapping discs.

Two things hold me back from going all digital all the time: hard drive space and sale prices (or the lack thereof).

I find after the initial month or three there are way better deals for buying physical than buying digital. Also, harddrive space is becoming a real issue for me on consoles.

On PC, Steam do all job for me. Discs are not necessary anymore.

No, because I am too lazy to swap discs.

Physical is usually cheaper and more often than not you get to play earlier than digital too. It basically only has upsides, except it's too much hassle for me. So I never buy physical.

I rarely buy digital on console just because I often end up getting games on sale from Amazon, etc., or because the physical copy has some appeal to me, i.e. Persona 5 Steelbook. On PC I haven't bought a physical game in I don't know how long.

Do they still sell them? I didn't know. The last disk I bought was in 2006

I prefer to buy discs, I order them online. That way I can sell them if I want to. I tend to play games that have already been around for a while so I can usually find great deals online, much cheaper than what I find on Microsoft Store or PSN.

I mostly buy physical. Sometimes I'll buy digital first and then the physical later for convenience and knowing that the physical copy will be cheaper later.

Discs are often cheaper, I can lend them to my friends (who reciprocate the favor), and if it's something I'm not planning on replaying I can sell it. I was all digital for a couple years which is great for space but now I wish I could do something with those games instead of having them just sitting on a hard drive.

Yes, but I don't think I still will be in 5 or 10 years time. I'm not attached to the idea of having games as physical copies, I don't like that they can break, get scratched etc. even though I take quite good care of the discs, it would be convenient to have that risk eliminated. Half the games I own now are digital copies.

The cap on my net makes me lean more towards physical with bigger games. I prefer digital though, so if that wasn't a thing I probably wouldn't buy physical unless it was a really deep discount.

Last physical game I bought was The Burning Crusade, 11 years ago. I remember taking a train to the city, It was quite exciting. Still have it on my shelf.

I bought a physical copy of Far Cry Primal when I purchased my PS4 two years ago. It cost me $20 CAD. I just noticed that the game still sells for full price on the PlayStation Store.

That's $20 for a physical copy(two years ago) VS. $80 for digital download(today).

Why would I want to buy digital when I can pay 75% less AND sell the game when I'm finished with it? I can literally sell my copy of Primal for $10, meaning I got to own the game for two years, play it multiple times all for the low low price of $10. I could have bought 4 copies for the price of one. I mean, just this reason alone is reason enough to buy physical over digital. I can't understand someone paying full price for a game when they can just search for a deal somewhere else and save a shit ton of money. Saving money means you have more money for more games. The math and logic don't lie. Good for you if you prefer digital but paying a premium for something that costs a fraction of the price at the local Wal-Mart because it's "convenient" is just silly nonsense.

I occasionally buy physical games but am happy to be almost exclusively digital. For one thing, games are very expensive here in Iceland so even new games are often cheaper on Psn. Steam and Psn have sales all the time. Collecting things no longer interests me. Digital only is what we will be stuck with eventually, I have already embraced the fact.

We've hit some harder times financially lately, and now even I have been shopping the sales, thanks to many of you that replied to my original post! I still forget I own games on disc though, Fighterz calls to me from the depths of the cabinet.

Games are usually cheaper on Amazon than the console's respective stores. I also collect Blizzard Collector's Editions.

I've been buying a lot of the smaller/shorter games digitally on PSN, Steam and GOG. I still buy the physical copies for the regular big releases though.

I do now since I bought a DS Lite and a 2DS XL last month. I wanna get some old GBA and DS games before they're gone.

I buy physical mainly because of my internet service being...less than ideal. I understand digital/streaming is the future, but it's just much easier to download a 4GB patch with a disc-install vs a 50GB+ game still for me. Also the fact that digital prices still tend to stay at $60 for months after release, when physical versions are typically $30-40 by then. I also understand the convenience thing of just having your library ready to go, I just am clinging onto a dying format until I'm forced to switch.

(Caveat to this is I buy everything digitally on the Switch so I don't have to carry around the game cards.)

I only buy physical copies of Switch games due to lack of storage space (and because those little cartridges are so adorable). All of my PS4 and Xbox One games are digital.

A lot of people say physical is cheaper, which is true. But if you have enough of a backlog like I do, it's pretty easy to just wait a couple months and get the game a bit cheaper on one of the many sales Sony and Microsoft put out.

I'm about 50/50. I like buying digital, but physical releases are usually much cheaper unless there's a sale on.

Yes, but because I have 2 PS4s, I regret it every time now

In the UK physical games are much cheaper. Since you can trade in and lend them as well, Of course I still buy them

I am still buying physical games because if I made a bad call and hate the game I can't do anything about it. If I buy a physical game and hate it OR I 100% the thing in a few days I can at least get something for it even if I do take it to somewhere like Gamestop. I bought Battlefield 6 digital because I knew I would play it quite a bit and being multiplayer I wanted it accessible instantly.

@matoya I feel like this is an argument I never hear anyone make but I understand it and I also do this though not often. I tend to keep most of my games unless I platinum it quickly and realize I will never want to go back to it.

I've gradually stopped. For a while I only purchased physical copies of games I really had a lot of faith in.. But now, nothing. I'm happy to pay a premium so that I don't have to change discs.

Obviously there isn't much choice but digital these days on PC.

For Switch, I almost always prefer physical because of the storage limitations.

For Xbox and PS4, it's a toss-up. If a game's on sale and it's something I just sort of want, then I usually get it through the digital store. If it's something I'm very excited for and am buying day one, then I usually go physical. I know this sounds dumb, but even at my age there's still something really fun and novel about opening up the case to a game you've been eagerly anticipating. It's something I never really grew out of I suppose. I like that chemical, factory smell of that crisp, new plastic. The slightly eerie feeling you get from bending the disc a bit more than you prefer because the case holder part was held together by Zeus' very own biceps. The purring noise the drive makes when you're putting that disc into the tray for the first time. All those small things add to the overall experience and pleasure I get when playing an anticipated game on launch day.