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opa
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Re: Is physical media for modern consoles worth it?

by opa Wed Jun 02, 2021 8:48 am

So long as you can buy used games and get deals from stores it is worth it. I noticed the other day that walmart prices many of its Switch games under $50 (in the actual store; not online). Not bad considering Nintendo games don't really go on sale frequently or maintain a high price for used copies.

You can also resell a game if you don't like it. That's nice too. Even getting a single dollar back is better than having no option but to delete a digital download.
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PretentiousHipster
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Re: Is physical media for modern consoles worth it?

by PretentiousHipster Wed Jun 02, 2021 9:12 am

Yea I've seen youtube videos showing the sales in walmart can be insane sometimes. A video showed some 3DS games being sold for 3 cents!
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Re: Is physical media for modern consoles worth it?

by ElkinFencer10 Wed Jun 02, 2021 4:59 pm

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Forlorn Drifter
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Re: Is physical media for modern consoles worth it?

by Forlorn Drifter Thu Jun 03, 2021 7:22 pm

As someone who often plays modern games on systems without internet access- it’s totally worth it. At least, depending on the types of games you play. I’d say at least 90% of games are perfectly playable without the patches and such, and if worst comes to worst, you can always get at least a few bucks back from a physical copy.

I’d even go as far as to argue that the only true advantage digital has is convenience.
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ElkinFencer10
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Re: Is physical media for modern consoles worth it?

by ElkinFencer10 Thu Jun 03, 2021 10:23 pm

Forlorn Drifter wrote:I’d even go as far as to argue that the only true advantage digital has is convenience.

That's literally the only advantage. Well, that and the frequent sales, but there's eBay, so even that one is debatable and balanced by the threat of delisting (see my previous link). Team Physical Forever
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Re: Is physical media for modern consoles worth it?

by Gucci Sat Jun 05, 2021 2:25 pm

My forte are portables. I have a fairly big library of games for the PSP/Vita and the DS/3DS. Getting physical media for those platforms is great because I know that the entire game is on that physical media. Storing those game are a bit easier due to the physical foot print they take (not very much compared to optical disc media).

Now here's the kicker: when it comes to modern consoles like the Xbox One and Series, I'm digital all the way. The physical games, in my experience, rarely contain the full game. Just look at COD 2019. When that was first released, it was a hefty 126GB on a One X drive. How big are those dual density BD disc nowadays? 50GB? Also, with the mandatory install, the entire game is installed onto the internal drive. If I want to play a game, I still need to stick a disc into the slot in order to play the game that is already on the drive. Kind of pointless, though I totally understand why they did it this way. Going all digital, I can have an experience similar to Steam on PC: select a game to play and just go. Build a new PC (or get a new Xbox), and take my library with me. On the 360, I bought a bunch of 360 and Original games that were carried forward into the One (and Series when I eventually get one).

For older consoles, physical media made sense (barring any high cost associated with collecting some of a rarer or hard to get games - Pokémon HeartGold/SoulSilver sold a lot but a cart only is $50-$70, for example). For the newer, internet capable (actually they rely heavily on internet), digital isn't a bad way to go.

My 2 cents.
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Re: Is physical media for modern consoles worth it?

by Raging Justice Sat Jun 05, 2021 4:26 pm

Great responses so far

I actually have a collection of physical games across a variety of platforms. However, with the PS4/Switch/Xbox One generation I have found myself increasingly buying more and more game digital. Part of it is space concerns, but a large part of it is that so many modern games don't have the whole game on disc/cartridge so I've found myself often questioning if getting the physical game is even worth it.

It wasn't like this at first, I DO have a collection of physical games for PS4/Switch, and like a handful for Xbox One (I'm not big into the Xbox brand ESPECIALLY the Xbox One which has been Microsoft's worst console by far in my opinion). For the first few years of that console generation I was buying physical. However, at some point in like the past 3 or 4 years I guess, I've found myself buying more and more of these games digitally instead of physically.

The reason I created the thread is that I was debating if I wanted to started collecting physically for these consoles again so I wanted to see everyone's opinion

I honestly feel like companies are even incentivizing people to go digital now. The upcoming Ratchet and Clank game on PS5 has a Digital Deluxe edition with extra content that can't be found on any of the physical editions. Like, why would you do that to gamers?
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Re: Is physical media for modern consoles worth it?

by zcal Wed Jun 09, 2021 9:58 pm

So I recently got a Switch after not having kept up with console gaming for almost 20 years. (Last console I had prior was an original Xbox.) I was excited to pick up games on physical carts but was dismayed to find that, as many have already pointed out, a large portion of games don't actually include all of the game data on-cart. Additionally, I'm bummed that many of the physical releases come with nothing in the box other than the cart. It surprised me that this is the case even for Nintendo's games (at least the ones I have). I mean, I have a copy of Rime that came with some cool pack-ins, but most of the game data had to be downloaded. Should I just expect that for most games it's going to be one thing or the other?

I'm a child of the '90s and still do most of my console gaming in that era. I maintain a small collection of titles and get just as much hobby-wise out of collecting as I do playing. Physical releases just feel normal to me; I certainly prefer them. But I'm not sure about physical releases on modern consoles... I think the time might be past, as much as I hate to say it. I still haven't picked up Breath of the Wild, and the physical versus digital conundrum has actually been part of the reason for that.

I suppose this isn't without precedent. My gaming switched from mostly console to mostly PC around 2000, and I still have a few physical big box PC games. One of those is Half Life. Yeah, I could install the game with the physical copy, but why bother because Steam? Another one is Diablo 2. If I want a fully patched version of the game I'd just get the installer from Blizzard. The CD key is the only thing I actually need from my physical copy to play the game. But at least those games came packed with other goodies, Diablo 2 especially.
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Re: Is physical media for modern consoles worth it?

by marurun Wed Jun 09, 2021 10:30 pm

For consoles with optical media is it down to the limits of the discs. In the case of the Switch it is down to what Nintendo charges for the different sizes of cartridge. The largest size is significantly more expensive (or it used to be) than the others. Meanwhile, 8 gig is about the same as a pressed Blu-Ray. So companies cheap out and use a smaller cartridge and make you download the rest.
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Re: Is physical media for modern consoles worth it?

by zcal Wed Jun 09, 2021 10:55 pm

Yeah, I read that about the Switch carts after I popped in Rime and it basically had to download the whole game. IIRC there was some controversy that Nintendo's supplier couldn't even provide carts >32GB for a while. Reminded me of when people talked about cart sizes for the N64 and Neo Geo like they were features.
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