First thing’s first: this is a “general Halo and Xbox Topics” forum section. As a result, I am fully able to post this here as it is protected by the “general” and “Xbox” categories. Any/all attempts to censor this post/move it to hide it are unjustified and will result in painting yourselves in a bad light. You have been warned.
The argument over whether games should be distributed on physical media or digitally has been around for years. And while there are both positives and negatives to both, one clearly stands above the other. So, let’s find out which.
Digital positives: The biggest thing digital games have going for them is affordability. Unlike physical games, digital games can be made for a lot less as nothing physical has to be manufactured. In terms of benefits for gamers, digital games offer the luxury of being able to effortlessly switch from game-to-game within seconds without moving more than your thumbs.
Digital negatives: The unfortunate thing about digital games is that, if they’re on consoles, that game will become entirely unavailable once the online services for that console are inevitably terminated. And once those services are terminated, things like console failures, hard drive failures, etc. will mean a permanent loss of games.
Physical positives: Physical games will be around forever. You can go out right now and pick up a copy of Super Mario Bros. on the original Nintendo and you’re good to go.
Physical negatives: There was once a time where physical disks could become easily damaged. Thankfully, that’s no longer an issue. The only negatives physical games have now are being pricier to create and asking gamers to be slightly physically active to swap games.
In conclusion, physical games are, undoubtedly, superior to digital ones. The only positives that digital games have over physical is being able to be lazier. Need I say more?
You also can’t resell or trade in a digital game, or share it with your friends. Sure, you may be able to get a refund (see, MCC), but you can’t trade it in for something else you want, or sell it for more money than you get for the trade in.
Disagree with the part about physical discs getting damaged though, because that still happens especially if you live in a house with a dog that gets into things or a human being under the age of 5. Discs also get wear from massive amounts of use - I had to get a new copy of MLB 2K11 because the disc was worn and cracked in the center.
Well, all software has to be held in by hardware. Technically, ALL your games are physically present, whether on a disc or in your XBox hard drive. You CAN make digital copies physical copies by your standards by burning it to a disc or onto your flash drive.
I also disagree with your statement about digital copies not being availible once it’s life is terminated. You are confusing digital-a mere software program- to always online drm, where you always have to be online and the game has to be online for it to work. If Minecraft suddenly became no longer supported, is it simply not going to work? No! It just means that development is stopped, and that certain things like Realms is not availible.
By contrast, games like Halo 5 are going to be limited not because of digital copies, but drm.
So in reality, physical copies wear away. The games on them simply move from physical storage to physical storage. That is how games last.
On a side note about the Nintendo games, I replaced my broken NES to play my games. The inserts on the games are prone to bending or whatnot.
> 2533274850493408;2:
> You also can’t resell or trade in a digital game, or share it with your friends. Sure, you may be able to get a refund (see, MCC), but you can’t trade it in for something else you want, or sell it for more money than you get for the trade in.
> Disagree with the part about physical discs getting damaged though, because that still happens especially if you live in a house with a dog that gets into things or a human being under the age of 5. Discs also get wear from massive amounts of use - I had to get a new copy of MLB 2K11 because the disc was worn and cracked in the center.
> 2533274926304395;3:
> Well, all software has to be held in by hardware. Technically, ALL your games are physically present, whether on a disc or in your XBox hard drive. You CAN make digital copies physical copies by your standards by burning it to a disc or onto your flash drive.
>
> I also disagree with your statement about digital copies not being availible once it’s life is terminated. You are confusing digital-a mere software program- to always online drm, where you always have to be online and the game has to be online for it to work. If Minecraft suddenly became no longer supported, is it simply not going to work? No! It just means that development is stopped, and that certain things like Realms is not availible.
>
> By contrast, games like Halo 5 are going to be limited not because of digital copies, but drm.
>
> So in reality, physical copies wear away. The games on them simply move from physical storage to physical storage. That is how games last.
>
> On a side note about the Nintendo games, I replaced my broken NES to play my games. The inserts on the games are prone to bending or whatnot.
“I also disagree with your statement about digital copies not being availible once it’s life is terminated. You are confusing digital-a mere software program- to always online drm, where you always have to be online and the game has to be online for it to work. If Minecraft suddenly became no longer supported, is it simply not going to work? No! It just means that development is stopped, and that certain things like Realms is not availible.”
“The unfortunate thing about digital games is that, if they’re on consoles, that game will become entirely unavailable once the online services for that console are inevitably terminated. And once those services are terminated, things like console failures, hard drive failures, etc. will mean a permanent loss of games.”
You misunderstood what I said. You can’t buy digital-only games once the service is terminated.
On a side note, I own the original Super Mario Bros.. I obtained it recently. It works perfectly. If the game was digital-only, it would’ve been unavailable since the 80’s or 90’s. But since it exists, it can still be bought.
Digital is much better. Anyone who think online services are going to go away aren’t living in reality. I can see Xbox becoming a PC service that you can access all of your games from the past on, as we’re already stepping in that direction. Physical games are so antiquated at this point.
I like to have physical copies and its not cause Im scared of loosing my games due to a service shutting down. I like physical copies more because I like to actually be able to have the game in my hands and see it in a shelf of my whole collection… I don’t know its just me.
> 2533274816702503;7:
> Digital is much better. Anyone who think online services are going to go away aren’t living in reality. I can see Xbox becoming a PC service that you can access all of your games from the past on, as we’re already stepping in that direction. Physical games are so antiquated at this point.
If you’re going to declare digital games as being superior, give reasons. Otherwise, you sound twelve.
Physical games hands down for me.
I only get 40gb of internet a month so downloading any game is a no go haha
besides who wouldnt want a physical copy of a game?
> 2535442460223691;10:
> Physical games hands down for me.
> I only get 40gb of internet a month so downloading any game is a no go haha
> besides who wouldnt want a physical copy of a game?
PHYSICAL ALL ZE WAY!! They say “physical copies can get damaged or lost” but digital can also. Accounts can get hacked, XB1s can break, so in my opinion that argument of “physical can get damaged” is invalid as a negative over digital because digital can get damaged in its own way if you don’t have the hardware/accessibility to play it!
Plus having a solid copy is a good thing IMO. No negatives for me.
The disk is the physical copy but so is the digital when it’s put onto the Xbox. When the Xbox breaks you have to spend hundreds getting your game back!!! Compared to a disk breaking where you would have to spend on average £50/$80-ish.
So which is cheaper really???
> You misunderstood what I said. You can’t buy digital-only games once the service is terminated.
Also not true. Digital copies can continue to be bought and distributed long after the the life of the digital-only game has expired. I can’t source a historical example that’s grounded in digital only (digital only is relatively new), but thanks to online stores like Steam, games can be bought and downloaded long after support and service is terminated. Hell, if the community is large enough, they’ll host their own support and service of the game (Command and Conquer for example).
> On a side note, I own the original Super Mario Bros.. I obtained it recently. It works perfectly. If the game was digital-only, it would’ve been unavailable since the 80’s or 90’s. But since it exists, it can still be bought.
Lucky duck. I envy your supreme cartridge condition.
Wait 15+ years. That’s how long I’ve had my NES games. All that dust and/or use will do something to the condition, trust me.
Also, Super Mario Bros is availible for download on the Wii
Honestly it depends on what works for the person. I myself have lots of younger brothers which results in, no matter what I do, copies getting scratched, lost, whatever. Since I have no friends to bring my discs over I prefer digital. Both should exist for various reasons.
> 2533274926304395;13:
> > You misunderstood what I said. You can’t buy digital-only games once the service is terminated.
>
>
> Also not true. Digital copies can continue to be bought and distributed long after the the life of the digital-only game has expired. I can’t source a historical example that’s grounded in digital only (digital only is relatively new), but thanks to online stores like Steam, games can be bought and downloaded long after support and service is terminated. Hell, if the community is large enough, they’ll host their own support and service of the game (Command and Conquer for example).
>
>
>
>
> > On a side note, I own the original Super Mario Bros.. I obtained it recently. It works perfectly. If the game was digital-only, it would’ve been unavailable since the 80’s or 90’s. But since it exists, it can still be bought.
>
>
> Lucky duck. I envy your supreme cartridge condition.
> Wait 15+ years. That’s how long I’ve had my NES games. All that dust and/or use will do something to the condition, trust me.
>
> Also, Super Mario Bros is availible for download on the Wii
“Also not true. Digital copies can continue to be bought and distributed long after the the life of the digital-only game has expired. I can’t source a historical example that’s grounded in digital only (digital only is relatively new), but thanks to online stores like Steam, games can be bought and downloaded long after support and service is terminated. Hell, if the community is large enough, they’ll host their own support and service of the game (Command and Conquer for example).”
Really!? I can’t wait to download Halo 5: Guardians on Steam! Oh…
> Really!? I can’t wait to download Halo 5: Guardians on Steam! Oh…
Yeah, I was about to include an edit on my post about that. I’ve gotten so used to PC gaming that I forget some things arent available to consoles. My apologies.
If you really abhor digital-only copies on consoles (they have the disadvantages regarding that that computers lack) than I would suggest taking up PC gaming. I can’t say that they will ever release Halo 5 to PC, but I can forsee this becoming a major console related issue for future games on the Xbox. Something that the PC versions (non-exclusive, of course) would have easy remedies for.
So yeah, I guess I really hate digital-only on consoles now…
> 2533274934443240;4:
> > 2533274850493408;2:
> > You also can’t resell or trade in a digital game, or share it with your friends. Sure, you may be able to get a refund (see, MCC), but you can’t trade it in for something else you want, or sell it for more money than you get for the trade in.
> > Disagree with the part about physical discs getting damaged though, because that still happens especially if you live in a house with a dog that gets into things or a human being under the age of 5. Discs also get wear from massive amounts of use - I had to get a new copy of MLB 2K11 because the disc was worn and cracked in the center.
>
>
> Only DVDs damage easily.
> 2533274850493408;17:
> > 2533274934443240;4:
> > > 2533274850493408;2:
> > > You also can’t resell or trade in a digital game, or share it with your friends. Sure, you may be able to get a refund (see, MCC), but you can’t trade it in for something else you want, or sell it for more money than you get for the trade in.
> > > Disagree with the part about physical discs getting damaged though, because that still happens especially if you live in a house with a dog that gets into things or a human being under the age of 5. Discs also get wear from massive amounts of use - I had to get a new copy of MLB 2K11 because the disc was worn and cracked in the center.
> >
> >
> > Only DVDs damage easily.
>
>
> Yeah, well, that’s just like, your opinion, man.
Oh? I have plenty of blu-ray games that I bought used and, based on the cases, the previous owners didn’t care for them. Flipping the disks around, perfect condition.
> 2533274934443240;9:
> > 2533274816702503;7:
> > Digital is much better. Anyone who think online services are going to go away aren’t living in reality. I can see Xbox becoming a PC service that you can access all of your games from the past on, as we’re already stepping in that direction. Physical games are so antiquated at this point.
>
>
> If you’re going to declare digital games as being superior, give reasons. Otherwise, you sound twelve.
I did. Everyone says they’re afraid of their digital games disappearing. I am saying that this isn’t going to happen. And that there is no ACTUAL benefit to physical copies. Wanting a collection isn’t a practical benefit to a physical copy. Being able to switch between games and not having the disk be destroyed is a REAL, PRACTICAL benefit to a digital game.
> I did. Everyone says they’re afraid of their digital games disappearing. I am saying that this isn’t going to happen. And that there is no ACTUAL benefit to physical copies. Wanting a collection isn’t a practical benefit to a physical copy. Being able to switch between games and not having the disk be destroyed is a REAL, PRACTICAL benefit to a digital game.
Everything digital is on a physical drive. The question being would you rather replace a $50 disc or a $300 console.
