Thread: Physical vs Digital—Why Physical Video Games Are Better

I have to be clear, I don’t hate the digital downloading of videogames—a Steam library full of thousands of games I’ll probably never be able to reasonably touch in my lifetime can attest to that. I love the convenience of buying a game from the comfort of my home, ready to play anywhere from a...
The post Physical vs Digital—Why Physical Video Games Are Better appeared first on Exclusively Games.

Watch out Gilliam. You'll probably give Zemekis a hard-on with an article like this.

Not even gonna nibble this time.

Considering I mainly play on my computer, my collection is much smaller than it once was. If I do get back into console gaming enough, I would choose physical over digital all day just because I love feeling like I paid for something. I know that sounds weird but anytime I downloaded a game on my 360 back in the day, I would feel like I wasn't really paying for anything. I like being able to open the game and smell the case when it is new. lol

Originally Posted by KorinKitty

I like being able to open the game and smell the case when it is new. lol

I knew a guy that would huff each of his Amiibos. He'd cut a little slit in the packaging before fully opening them and really suck on that plastic air for a good minute or so. As a side note, I have almost no sense of smell whatsoever as a result of getting a surgery I needed a little bit too late in life. I may have mentioned this but I couldn't really breathe through my nose until I was 11 so my sense of smell didn't develop very far. I do love the smell of gasoline though and I'd use it as salad dressing if it wouldn't kill me. It's like EXTRA strong balsamic.

Back to the topic at hand though, I totally agree and I know everyone is sick of hearing it by now but buying an actual case/disc/manual is just so much more valuable to me in a subjective way...and it's slightly more valuable objectively as well, which is nice. Pain in the ass to store/move though, so depending on living arrangements or people's propensity to collect, I can see the situation from both sides.

I got a couple of physical video games today in a crate from my favourite YouTuber.


(Full size so you can actually read something.)

Figured since I already took a photo anyway I may as well just show that. I'm going to veer slightly off-topic, but I was thinking about making a thread on crates (or "loot boxes") the other day and there isn't much to say. Most of the time crates are crap. They're usually packed with absolute tat, many of which Poundland-grade, and usually have way too much Marvel merch in them, not to mention the hellspawn known as Pop Vinyl. But this crate is more personal; not mass-produced, and Slope puts a lot of thought into what to include. Usually I receive at least one physical game. This time I received two.

He gives each crate a theme that's based on one of his video uploads. This time it was crazy gaming crossovers. Merch in general is one of the reasons I like "physical" gaming. Collectables. And at the end of the day, that's what most physical games are when there's an option to play games far cheaper digitally. The two games I got in this crate are examples of physical game collecting I would enjoy. If you've ever played Jump Ultimate Stars for the DS, Famicom Jump is a similar crossover game which was also Japan-only. To me it's a bit of an oddity. It's the same general idea as Smash Bros., but with cool characters. (Sorry R.O.B., you're not so bad.)

I find some novelty value in more unusual games. The Streets of Rage 3 Sonic Hack repro I also received has got me interested in collecting repro carts with ROM hacks again. Some of them are really dorky. It amuses me. But buying each and every retro game that's ever come out? Ain't nobody got time for that! Or the space! Not me anyway. I mean, shit, if I owned a mansion and an IRL Konami Code I'd turn it into a fucking arcade. The fact remains, not that many of us have the room for serious game collecting. Much of the room I do have is... occupied by Outlaw Star goodies. Most retro gamers turn to emulation one way or another, whether it's on a computer, a Raspberry Pi, or a multi-system console that runs emulators. And those who say those who emulate aren't real retro gamers? That's hogwash!

Collecting physical modern games? What's the point? I do see value in physical retro games. Not only are a lot of games digital-only nowadays, but a damn lot of physical games require some kind of patch before you can play them. Did you get a new console and with games but you're without an internet connection? In many cases, no dice. More power to those who collect retro games and have the storage to store them all, but let's just say that by the time the past couple generations might be considered retro, all console gaming will have moved to the cloud long before. And oh yeah, game manuals are mostly a thing of the past, so that part of the fun is gone.

tl;dr:
Digital = yay
Retro physical = yay if feasible
Modern physical = why

Nice Amiibo, Nintendo fanboy.

You got me.

>That Aliens vs. Predator arcade flyer



You lucky son of a btich. I grew up with that game in the arcades and I would love to have any memorabilia associated with that. Such an underrated fucking game. That Robocop figure looks boss too.

Originally Posted by Starwind55

>That Aliens vs. Predator arcade flyer



You lucky son of a btich. I grew up with that game in the arcades and I would love to have any memorabilia associated with that. Such an underrated fucking game. That Robocop figure looks boss too.

It's actually a beer mat! Quite random and a bit large but it works well! That Robocop figure is doubly awesome once you realise it is based on sprites from that 16-bit game! Makes a nice change from most figure designs.