Buy your games physically or digitally?

[Arhops]

I want to know Smogon's/Cong's opinion of which way to buy your games is superior. Which games should you download digitally, and which ones should you not? Why do you buy your games physically or digitally? Do you trust physical or digital copies more? I have my thoughts below:
Physical:

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Pros:

• If you break your stuff you either will lose only 1 or no games
• You can return your game to the store
• Never run out of space unless your on Xbox One in which case you have no choice but to digitally download things anyway

Cons:

• You have to go to the store to buy it
• Either you have to carry the games around with you or you have to have
• If you don't pre-order games the stores might not have any leftover copies for you to buy

Digital

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Pros:

• You don't have to store all your disks/cartridges and switch them around in the disk drive/cartridge thing
• Stores can't run out of copies

Cons:

• If your stuff breaks or you mess something up you lose all your games
• Can't return games as far as I know
• You either run out of space or have to pay for external space

also if your name is Aldaron and your reading this please don't go through with your plan lol

ALSO NO DISCUSSION ON ROMS/EMULATORS AND PIRATING PLEASE

current poll because i'm dumb:
always physical: 14
usually physical: 21
half and half: 10
usually digital: 5
always digital: 5

 

[Shinryu]

I can't recall the last time a game was so popular it would run out if every store, been many years so I don't think that's a valid con these days unless you only go to like 1 store or you live in the middle of nowhere in a tiny town that might order only a few games.

Anyways for me, almost half and half. I still buy any console games physically, but for PC games (which you can't trade in anyways one opened/registered), I've stopped buying them in stores largely and I just use Steam or Bnet for WoW and other Blizz games. If it's not on one of those platforms and uses another company's "proprietary" front (like say it uses EA or Ubisoft's horrid thing like Origin), I don't buy it at all because I don't want their crap on my PC and would rather opt for the console version if that's the case.

 

[Trax]

Digital is my preference at this stage, I mean with Steam cloud + local storage you don't really risk losing anything and it's cheap.

Anyways for me, almost half and half. I still buy any console games physically, but for PC games (which you can't trade in anyways one opened/registered), I've stopped buying them in stores largely and I just use Steam or Bnet for WoW and other Blizz games. If it's not on one of those platforms and uses another company's "proprietary" front (like say it uses EA or Ubisoft's horrid thing like Origin), I don't buy it at all because I don't want their crap on my PC and would rather opt for the console version if that's the case.

There's something very confusing about you hating Origin and Uplay but being okay with the Blizzard equivalent.

 

[Shinryu]

Digital is my preference at this stage, I mean with Steam cloud + local storage you don't really risk losing anything and it's cheap.

There's something very confusing about you hating Origin and Uplay but being okay with the Blizzard equivalent.

Probably, but it's more because I was playing WoW before they came out with all their retarded Bnet integration shit and launcher, so it's more a forced use over actually liking it. Besides I still just launch WoW with the .exe or through Steam instead of bringing up their stupid thing to play. So after that its like no more other proprietary crap, Steam or nothing.

 

[Enguarde]

I love owning physical copies of my games and DVD's, I wouldn't call myself a collector but I do arrange and display the cases they come in, and it feels satisfying to be able to actually hold it. I was so disappointed when I found out that the most recent Phoenix Wright game was going to be digital only.

 

[Lemonade]

atm i don't have a good mode of transportation and while I could order online I don't want to wait to get it, so I like dl. Also, most digital purchases now are tied to an account so if your stuff breaks you can just re-dl can't you? Also I think the policy with most stores for physical games is if you open the wrapping you can't return it anyway so eh.

 

[Jellicent]

I almost only go digital these days. Steam sales and Humble Bundles are incredibly cheap compared to stores. You can also re-download them on other computers, so it's not like you risk losing them if your comp gets fucked. It's great when you can pick up a recent game that you've wanted for like 5-7 bucks, or like 8 random games for 10 bucks or whatever. Physical copies take years for those kinds of price drops.

The only exception for me is handheld games. It's nice to have something you can bust out and play whenever you're waiting around somewhere for a while. Plus there are fun games like Pokemon, Animal Crossing, Layton, etc. that aren't on the computer anyway, so it's cool to mix it up with them from time to time.

 

[Jho]

I like to have physical copies because of owning things from a collectors standpoint. Steel back versions of games are something i collect :D. Also im forgetful af and have had to make so many new steam accounts because i forget my password that spending money on digital games usually gets me nowhere ;~;

 

[Cresselia~~]

Depends whether it's a long term game (like main Pokemon games) or short term game (that you probably would stop playing pretty soon)
Physical for long term game in case I break my 3DS or lost it.

Digital for the others because it doesn't really matter.

 

[Fishin]

Generally depends on whether or not whoever's selling is willing to pass down some of the benefits they get from digital along to the customer. So usually digital for PC/Steam, and physical for consoles.