Article | Physical Vs Digital Media

Physical Vs Digital Media
Published August 19, 2017

In the current console generation, we've seen the beginning of phasing out physical media. Back on the previous console generations and all the way up to the PS3/360/Wii, the only option you had to obtain a video game was to actually buy a physical copy of that game. Once Microsoft really got the Live service up and running during the 360 era we started seeing titles that could only be obtained via digital download via the Xbox Live Arcade. Sony and Nintendo quickly followed suit and had downloadable titles on their consoles as well. While physical copies of games were still released throughout this console generation, there were just as many if not more games that were only available via download.

There is quite a large number of gamers, particularly those afflicted with the "collector bug," that are very much against digital-only games. The first and foremost issue most gamers have with downloadable games is that the game will only be available for a limited time, or that the distributer could potentially pull the game from the store. While this is definitely an issue with modern games, particularly games of the "online-only" variety or titles with more multiplayer than single-player content. These types of games typically have a shelf life and are only going to be playable as long as the servers are kept running. I guess my point here is that just because you have a game on a physical disc does not mean it's still going to work. For instance, my disc copy of Battlefield 2: Modern Combat is half unplayable thanks to the multiplayer function being online only (not having the foresight to put bots in these games is a big letdown!). On the other hand, I have several Live Arcade titles that have been pulled from the marketplace (all due to licensing issues) that I can still play just fine. Even if they are wiped from my hard drive, you can still re-download the titles from your download history. These games are safe as long as the Live servers remain active, at which point you'll just need to make sure to keep them backed up.

I believe that many folks who are against digital media really just want that object that they can hold, look at and line their shelves with. While there's nothing wrong with having the desire to display all of your games, you really shouldn't pass on digital-only games just because they can't rest on your shelf. My gaming hobby has always been simply about having fun and just playing the games first and foremost, building/keeping a collection just kind of came with the territory. As the years have passed I've become less enthusiastic about having physical copies of everything, mostly just because space becomes an issue very quickly. I'd much rather have to just worry about making more space on my hard drive than continuously having to add new shelves to line with games I likely won't get around to for months or even years.

I tend to only buy digital games when they're on sale for a reasonable price, which brings me to my final point I'd like to make regarding digital media. I've never understood why digital and retail releases go for the same price. I really wish that the video game industry would adopt the same thing that Blu-Ray releases are doing these days. When you purchase a Blu-Ray, it will cost a little more but you'll typically get your Blu-Ray disc, a download code for a digital version and sometimes even the DVD version. So with this in mind, they could retail the digital versions maybe $10-15 under the physical copy, but if you purchase the physical copy you also get a download code so you're not always having to swap discs out (it's lazy, I know but another advantage to digital media).  I suppose this would never happen as you could just use the download code and sell the physical copy but it would add some kind of benefit to purchasing the physical copy, especially since you rarely get any bells & whistles anymore (games typically don't even include manuals anymore).

One advantage with physical media is that some titles have second run releases where the game will include all of the DLC, making for a nice definitive version of that title. When this happens there are instances you can get a bargain over buying the digital version. Overall, I was skeptical about digital media initially but over the last decade I've really warmed up to it. I have nothing against physical media really and I love how in the present you can buy many titles whichever way you prefer, but it seems that in the future we will inevitably buy all of our games digital-only. If you happen to be one of the types who will only play physical media releases, just be aware that you're missing out on some of the best titles of this and the previous console generation when you skip over all the download-only titles!