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General discussionDoes anyone miss physical game packages?(105 posts)(105 posts)
(105 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted May 04, 2021
No, not at all.

- I have moved several times, including to a different country. Trust me, the digital collection is much easier to move than the physical... I also do not have much room for storage, so having the games digital I have more room for other things in my shelf space (i.e. books or comics)
- I have broken several physical disks throughout the ages, I have never broken a digital game
- While people complain about the cost, going complete digital have brought the price down. I have never bought so many games so cheaply as I do digitally today. Making physical copies is more expensive (before trying to make a counter-point here, remember the prices back then and add inflation)
- Environment? Physical do get thrown out at some point, and the carbon footprint is higher in making physical copies (does not mean digital do not have one, but it is smaller)
- the art? I have plenty of artwork to look at. several games also now comes with extra art books you can buy (digitally) as well as game art from other places (such as the fantastic (IMO) pop are from Defense Grid (see attached))
- Much easier to buy? i can search whole catalogues of games and buy them with a point and a click. I do not need to travel anywhere, nor do I need to wait for the game to be delivered (download times not mentioned) I never risk a game to be sold out, nor that the game has been scratched in transit and I need to send it back.

So I do not find physical having any benefit over digital. The only difference is perhaps the figurines or whatnots that they may have? but if I wanted one, i think I would have prefered to buy the figurine seperatly, and then the game digitally.
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dg_popart.jpg (337 Kb)
Post edited May 04, 2021 by amok
Posted May 05, 2021
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amok: - Much easier to buy?
Can go with that from the point of view of payment methods. Physical media has the huge advantage of being readily buyable with cash, as otherwise, without cards and wanting to stay that way, and with GOG, not to mention other DRM-free stores, not selling their own prepaid cards or ways to charge Wallet or similar funds in stores, and with PSC also increasing conversion fees by 50% and halving the time until they drain remaining balance now, it's tricky.

And there's also the possibility of legally giving them away. Tended to do that after finishing one of the (few) games I purchased physical copies of, so someone else would enjoy it too. Of course, with DRM-free digital, technically you can do it even without finishing it first, and to unlimited people, but that's not legal.

But that'd be about it, and those aren't things I miss about physical games in themselves, but options I want added to digital stores. Otherwise no, not a collector, once I finish a game I move along, and have nothing to miss. My last physical purchase was Divinity Anthology, on Nov 26, 2012, and that does have some posters and stickers and a pretty sizable booklet and soundtracks, but can't say I cared.
Posted May 05, 2021
I really don't. I thought I did for a while, but I don't. I still buy movies on disc because they're DRM free in the online sense, but I wish I didn't have to. Simple files I can backup with zero DRM on them is the ideal for me, hence my GOG patronage.

It was nice to read booklets in the bathroom though, not gonna lie.
Posted May 05, 2021
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amok: So I do not find physical having any benefit over digital. The only difference is perhaps the figurines or whatnots that they may have? but if I wanted one, i think I would have prefered to buy the figurine seperatly, and then the game digitally.
I agree with all of your points. I just sold the last of my physical games via craigslist yesterday. I have 2 more arcade cabs that I have to sell. I was able to sell the rest and turn a good penny from them.

I liked having the collection over the years since it was a good feeling to pass them down to my kids but as time moved on everyone was digital. The games my kids really want they stopped by and took most of those games were the ones in TINS which I do miss versus the cardboard boxes.

I'm OK with the digital stuff even more so now than before since the pandemic really killed the weekly gatherings and LAN events at home and in my area. They are coming back but I'm just gonna stick to digital from here on out just for the maintenance factor alone.

I'm already getting ready to sell many of the figures (have about 43) as I'm going to only keep 7 that were given to me by my kids and wife as gifts over the years for sentimental value.
Posted May 05, 2021
If it's a game i love from modern times, I'll try to track a physical version down. As for older titles, I collect them. Be it old computer stuff on C64, amiga etc or consoles, I try my best to get what I can. My big box collection is the one I focus more on these days, I feel like there's a generation that really doesn't have any clue, or any appreciation, for older titles. Preservation is an element the industry fundamentally fails at, with some companies barely even caring about it even though they did/do take part in it. So for topic sake, I prefer physical!


Plus, I like the way they look on the ol shelf
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cutbox.jpg (231 Kb)
Posted May 05, 2021
I always dreamed of having a room where I could have my shelves full of physical games. Unfortunately I never had the means for it to become true.

Digital is how I've been buying games for a long time. So with this in mind I gotta answer no.
Posted May 05, 2021
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amok: - Much easier to buy?
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Cavalary: Can go with that from the point of view of payment methods. Physical media has the huge advantage of being readily buyable with cash,[...]
I have not really used cash for at least 4-5 years now, so I do not see this as important point to me either
Posted May 05, 2021
No, I am interested only into the games themselves. Many years ago I got rid of most of my PC game boxes (at least the bigger cardboard box ones, not the smaller DVD-size plastic boxes that don't take much of any space), keeping only the manuals and the game CDs. The space requirement of my vast retail game collection went down to like 10% of the original.

In fact I am just happy to have the games on DRM-free digital form that can be easily transferred to newer medias also in the future. Then I can have all my games on one portable hard drive, instead of reserving a cupboard or even a complete room for my physical game boxes.
Posted May 05, 2021
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amok: - I have broken several physical disks throughout the ages, I have never broken a digital game
Really? I've cracked quite a few of them.

Er.. I've known a person that did that. Butterfingers.
Posted May 05, 2021
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LordTalbot: I know that CDPR got us covered.
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teceem: Is that a joke? Any physical release of CP2077 is a code-in-a-box.
The consoles got a physical disc though. Thx PC master race.
Posted May 05, 2021
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teceem: Is that a joke? Any physical release of CP2077 is a code-in-a-box.
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§pectre: The consoles got a physical disc though. Thx PC master race.
pc is indeed the bestest
Posted May 05, 2021
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StingingVelvet: I really don't. I thought I did for a while, but I don't. I still buy movies on disc because they're DRM free in the online sense, but I wish I didn't have to. Simple files I can backup with zero DRM on them is the ideal for me, hence my GOG patronage.

It was nice to read booklets in the bathroom though, not gonna lie.
I kind of miss that opening of the retail box and checking out the manual, while I was being driven all the way home...before I had a car and back when I was real young. Those car rides home were always cool.

When I got my car and license - eh, I don't think I cared as much on the above stuff, as I was driving home and certainly wasn't gonna stop to hit the side of the road or park somewhere, just to check it out. I'd pretty much check to make sure all the discs, manual, game-key pamphlets, or anything I needed was in the box...before leaving the store or mall, before driving home.
Post edited May 06, 2021 by MysterD
Posted May 06, 2021
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MysterD: I kind of miss that opening of the retail box and checking out the manual, while I was being driven all the way home...before I had a car and back when I was real young. Those car rides home were always cool.
I definitely have nostalgia for stuff like that. Flipping through CDs at the mall was one of my friends and I's biggest after school pastimes! Renting from Blockbuster, reading game manuals during lunch, etc. etc... lots of nostalgic memories. Do I actually want to do any of that stuff again though? Not really.
Posted May 06, 2021
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MysterD: I kind of miss that opening of the retail box and checking out the manual, while I was being driven all the way home...before I had a car and back when I was real young. Those car rides home were always cool.
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StingingVelvet: I definitely have nostalgia for stuff like that. Flipping through CDs at the mall was one of my friends and I's biggest after school pastimes! Renting from Blockbuster, reading game manuals during lunch, etc. etc... lots of nostalgic memories. Do I actually want to do any of that stuff again though? Not really.
More than anything ,that stuff even more so...gets the hype machine going. You got the game, you're on the way home, and you're even more amped to play it....but you ain't home yet, even though you're so close to be.

Nothing like sticking a game in the disc drive and being all ready to play.

Of course, these days - straight-up downloading installer files from GOG via a web browser; or downloading games from clients like Galaxy, Uplay / UbiSoft Connect, Steam, etc etc is so much more convenient. Don't have to get out the house and don't have to go to the store - just click a few buttons on the game-page on web browser or on the client; feed it your Credit Card or Paypal, and get downloading.

Wait for the download to end, as I'm likely watching another TV show while waiting; or playing a game on one of my other PC's I got lingering around.
Posted May 06, 2021
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MysterD: Nothing like sticking a game in the disc drive and being all ready to play.

Of course, these days - straight-up downloading installer files from GOG via a web browser; or downloading games from clients like Galaxy, Uplay / UbiSoft Connect, Steam, etc etc is so much more convenient. Don't have to get out the house and don't have to go to the store - just click a few buttons on the game-page on web browser or on the client; feed it your Credit Card or Paypal, and get downloading.

Wait for the download to end, as I'm likely watching another TV show while waiting; or playing a game on one of my other PC's I got lingering around.
or just use a streamer service and you only need to log in
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This is my favourite topic
Community
General discussionDoes anyone miss physical game packages?(105 posts)(105 posts)
(105 posts)