Physical versus Digital (Full Version)

All Forums >> [Gaming Community] >> Out of Context



Message

toidiedud -> Physical versus Digital (8/15/2017 0:53:48)

So now that the sections have fused back together I think this is an apt time to do a topic that was relevant to both sides.

Not just entertainment media but physical versus digital is a constant war throughout our modern times. Cash versus Credit, Book vs Ebook, Disney Pop Star v.s Miku and the list goes on and on. On one hand digital is the inevitable future, its the convenience and efficiency that you just can't get in physical...usually. Which is where this debate really comes to fruition. Outside of just a preference of reading something physical,there are many things where physical still beats out digital and vice versa. Then some with their own list of pros and cons over the other. For video games this is a common debate, especially in this day and age where you don't run games off the physical discs anymore. Digital is faster, takes up no space and saves waiting, however physical can be sold or traded or given to friends as well as having a display piece. Both sides have distinct advantages but is either side truly superior? In some circumstances yes, in others not so much. An interesting sliding spectrum.

Theres as many situations where physical versus digital wins out over the other or vice versa so lets discuss it to our hearts content.



afterlifex -> RE: Physical versus Digital (8/15/2017 10:17:57)

Books vs Ebook, that a hard one IMO. Digital has more convince in distribution and storage, you don't need a large building just for books. On the other hand digital is not nessarily accessible by all tier of society, public libraries.

I could see physical books becoming a luxury item in time but until tablets/e-reader get to the point where they can be loaned or rented out by the "common man" it's not the time yet.

Movies, take comcast/xfinity for example, with the their on demand they always want you to "buy" movies rather than the one time rental. The thing is you aren't buying it to own you are buying unlimited access to the movie for as long as you are with the company. After you leave you no longer have the movie. Now in the context of the years it's no a big deal and short of having little children you probably won't watch a movie all that often to make it worth it to own either way. It just shouldn't be called "buying".

Same applies to digital games to extent it's only depending on how you access the game. Not much different than in game items.[&:]

......I could say more but RL calls.



Dwelling Dragonlord -> RE: Physical versus Digital (8/15/2017 10:41:06)

One benefit of physical disks when it comes to gaming in this day and age is that you can choose not the update a game to include micro-transactions which are patched in post-launch.

Also, I have had several occasions where I was downloading a game or demo and my internet connection was interrupted for a split second and the download was corrupted as a result.



Xplayer -> RE: Physical versus Digital (8/15/2017 11:16:11)

At least for PC it seems most disks these days are just a product key in a fancy box. Most developers publish for PC exclusively via digital distribution platforms so the days where you could just play the game out of the box without having to download anything is pretty much dead (except for those old people games that you find at grocery stores like "1000000000000000 games in 1" and "I Spy PC Edition").

I'm a collector for certain things like anime so I still enjoy having the physical boxes (collector's editions if possible) for series that I really like, but most of the shows I just watch online since its cheaper and more convenient.

As for books, I listen to Audiobooks mostly now since most of the time I have to read is when I'm driving or on the subway, and of course it's more convenient to download a single file to your phone than having to deal with a half dozen CDs or a box of tapes. For physical books it really depends on the kind of book. Reference books or textbooks need to be physical unless they have amazing indexing since it's harder to flip back and forth on e-books than physical books. Manga and comic books have to be physical because scans often don't fit the computer screen properly without scaling and sometimes don't do the art justice. Novels/narrative nonfiction are the best candidates for e-books, but sometimes it's just easier to check a book out of the library.



Onyx Darkmatter -> RE: Physical versus Digital (8/15/2017 13:41:43)

What I like about Digital is that it's one of the few (if not, the only) unit that has no Scarcity (in other words: it is limitless), whereas Physical copies tend to run out and waiting for more units to be ordered. From a sales perspective, it's very convenient because you won't have to worry about shortages or surpluses; just need to hope that the sales are met with favorable results.

Personally, I like Physical copies if it's an option. I'm more conservative regarding to owning a physical copy, that and it's very easy for me to sell it if I want to get rid of it.



raylas -> RE: Physical versus Digital (8/15/2017 20:47:25)

I prefer physical stuff. You can't glitch a physical book, or corrupt one either.

Physical games are good too, especially if your connection is spotty or the service has the potential to go down.



master -> RE: Physical versus Digital (8/15/2017 22:33:46)

This is something where it can depend on the person or situation. As stated physical copies can be used as a display to show either decoration, a bit of a personality of the person, or whatever else be the reason. For example a gamer who is a fan of the series Final Fantasy may opt out to have physical copies of the games as a ode to that favoritism. Whereas you have a casual player who may perfer digital copies due to possible prices being lower and to save real world space. Books could be the same way with wishing to display to show of what you are like as a person. A great reason for digital copies of books is price, they are waaay cheaper digitally, this is to the point where i recommend new college students to rent e-books. I have seen books for college cost easily $300 whereas a digital book could be $120. Also digital books take up very little space compared to video games.

Materialism is also a contributer to physical vs digital.



ShadowMoon -> RE: Physical versus Digital (8/16/2017 11:37:02)

books vs ebooks
ebooks are more convenient, but books are easier to get a hold of to read for free via library's.
physical video games vs roms, isos, ect
it really depends, for example with the dvd system thats been in place for every playstation & xbox & both wii systems, i'd rather have a rom on my pc due simply to how easy it is for a disk to stop working from a small scratch. about 5 ssbm disks, my shadow hearts & more then a few other games have been affected by this type of thing.
of course i'd also rather having something like a ds, 3ds or switch cartridge then a disk or iso, rom, digital ect cause i'd rather have a back up then to rsik all my games on the system itself.
especially given my current situation with my 3ds as i can't put the screen all the way back without it shutting off the system, if my 3ds gets to cold i risk it shutting off every time i close it and for a while there i was worried about it just out right never turning on again. i still need to get it fixed or get a new one, but everyday i risk losing all my shovel knight, pokemon shuffle & rumble world data. thankful all my other games are on carts and not at risk.
another-thing thats good about physical regardless of what it is is that you can sell it off when your done with it.
also, something like the data lock on the 3ds that prevents making back up data that can be loaded onto another system should not exist for any reason and its one of the reasons why i will never have qualms with people using powersaves



Xplayer -> RE: Physical versus Digital (8/16/2017 11:43:32)

I did mention that the library is a big advantage for physical books, and while the library is still mostly physical, many libraries are adding e-books to their collection. You can check your local library's website or OverDrive to check what's available in your area.



Superemo -> RE: Physical versus Digital (8/24/2017 10:50:17)

I personally use almost entirely digital media. In my opinion, the tradeoffs lean heavily in favor of digital being the way to go.
Digital media has an insurmountable advantage in terms of both portability and storage due entirely to the fact it does not take up physical space. Were I to own physical copies of all the albums I currently own digital copies of, I wouldn't just need to clear off more shelf space, I'd need more shelves.
While we're on the topic of ownership, there's also the issue of how quickly you'll own your copy of the media. With physical media, you'll need to either go to a brick and mortar store and buy a copy (which will take a chunk of time out of one day), or you'll need to order online and wait for shipping (which will take several small chunks of time out of a few days). With digital media, you'll just need to download it after your purchase the media, during which time you can do other things.
And for the final big point in favor of digital media, there's the potential issue of damage. The first copy of Fallout 3 I owned was a physical copy. It got cracked when my little brother threw the case, not knowing the disc was in said case. I had to shell out another $30 for a used copy of the game, because one hairline thin, eyelash-length crack damaged the disc enough that it wouldn't read. Had it been a digital copy, it would have taken destruction of the hard drive or deletion of the game data for the game to no longer be playable.

This all being said, I do understand the appeal of physical media. There's just something about a book that no eBook will ever have. It's a sense of "realness", if that makes any sense. It's why I still own printed copies of works that are in the public domain. Albums, too, have their own distinct flair present in the more archaic formats. Vinyl has a fuller sound than any MP3 ever will, and uncompressed audio files take up a fair bit of disc space (speaking from personal experience, Ghost's album Meloria takes up almost half a gig in .WAV format) and generally aren't available from digital distributors. There's also the album art, but a fairly large number of bands have started including digital copies of their booklets with digital copies of their albums, so that might become a non-issue soon.



afterlifex -> RE: Physical versus Digital (8/24/2017 15:53:41)

On the comments of libraries and ebooks:
quote:

while the library is still mostly physical, many libraries are adding e-books to their collection.


the funniest thing is:

quote:

What I like about Digital is that it's one of the few (if not, the only) unit that has no Scarcity


Does not apply.[&:] There can be quantity limitations for library ebooks. I assume it's a contractual issue but you have to "wait in line" for a digital book just like a physical book. Putting use restrictions on something that is essentially limitless. *sigh*

Now of course if there wasn't a wait no one would buy the digital versions they would just download them for free from the library. It's still kind of sad thou to see forced scarcity let alone on a public service.

Best part thou they can't be lost, damaged etc..



Onyx Darkmatter -> RE: Physical versus Digital (8/24/2017 20:30:12)

quote:

Does not apply. There can be quantity limitations for library ebooks. I assume it's a contractual issue but you have to "wait in line" for a digital book just like a physical book. Putting use restrictions on something that is essentially limitless. *sigh*

Now of course if there wasn't a wait no one would buy the digital versions they would just download them for free from the library. It's still kind of sad thou to see forced scarcity let alone on a public service.

Best part thou they can't be lost, damaged etc..


Well, yeah, but that depends on the providers. I'm just speaking in a sense that you won't have to worry about products you want going out-of-stock with digital, and the fact that Digital basically defeated Scarcity (the definition is "Unlimited Wants exceeds Limited Resources"; Digital will say "Unlimited Wants equals Unlimited Resources").

That too is another phenomenal advantage regarding to Digital. You'd really have to put in some effort to actually lose or damage your product that is on digital.



afterlifex -> RE: Physical versus Digital (8/24/2017 23:31:14)

I wasn't actually arguing any given point, the comment was more about ebooks from libraries than anything else. An institution known for having a limit to what they can lend out in physical media is still limited even if using digital which is theoretically limitless.


edit: it does however bring up another point, even digetal isn't safe from forced scarcity. At least as far as legitimately obtaining a product. Even if something could be copied and sold to no limit it does not mean a run of a product could not be short or few in number.



Digital X -> RE: Physical versus Digital (10/31/2017 22:05:26)

I don't buy music, but most of my stuff is digital.

I have a fair few collectors/limited editions of games (Driver 2 for PS1 with the Postcards, keyrings etc) for example and will go out of my way to get those if the price is reasonable.

Games on PC, all digital for my main PC. For the older PC made for older games they are physical, same as DVDs, Commodore 64 and Amiga 500/1200 games.



dunsten -> RE: Physical versus Digital (2/10/2018 3:10:38)

Personally, I prefer digital over physical. Digital versions tend to use less resources and is thus much better for the environment. Not to mention more efficient too! But there are also other things I would prefer physical like toys, games, and such for children.



Digital X -> RE: Physical versus Digital (2/10/2018 9:31:14)

As in don't buy music, I mean purchase/download in any form. Used to buy CD's but that was a long time. Physical items hold their worth hence it's more important to keep.



FC -> RE: Physical versus Digital (2/10/2018 10:12:07)

While both have it's ups and downs, I much prefer a physical copy since I know I can be responsible with my stuff.
One could make the argument that digital is superior, due to not having to fear damage of the copy, or loosing it. But considering the fact that the platform of digital copies could restrict or outright remove access to games you payed for , well being careful with a box is much easier than recovering a lost/banned account.



Randokkotonoshi -> RE: Physical versus Digital (3/22/2018 10:12:38)

I recently switched to digital purchases for games, but memory requirements for storage have REALLY put me off. CoD: WWII was like 60 gigs, and needed 80 minimum just to install. That is outrageous. With DLCs it will catch up to other installments in the franchise which were just as big.

With textbooks and novels I could go either way, and do do both. Not big on audiobooks though.



Digital X -> RE: Physical versus Digital (3/22/2018 15:26:35)

If I buy something for the PS4, always physical so I can trade it back for cash. Always digital on PC though and yes sizes are getting silly.

Forza Motorsport 7 is nearly 100GB..



Lord Noonien Soong -> RE: Physical versus Digital (2/7/2019 6:36:05)

Not trying to necrobump, but I happened to be flitting about the OOC forum and found this and kind of regret that this topic escaped my cone of vision.

I'd probably say in terms of books it'd have to be digital, simply taking from experience that books are a pain to move, not to mention you have to worry about spinal cracks, paper yellowing, and overall decay of just the book's physical self, though in terms of when I bought comic books if there was a certain issue that had a favorite story or piece of artwork I'd sometimes break down and get a physical copy.

Video games these days I'd certainly have to go digital, as I'm a pretty picky gamer and don't really buy new titles that often, so if I lose out on a couple of bucks on a game I don't necessarily have a guilty conscience, haha.

In terms of movies, that's a 50/50 split for me, but if forced to choose I'd say I prefer discs, as they easy to access and you don't have to worry about an account being locked or your movies being lost to oblivion as a result.

For music when it comes to driving a car I prefer CDs hands down, other situations though it'd just have to be digital simply for convenience.



Page: [1]

Valid CSS!




Forum Software © ASPPlayground.NET Advanced Edition
0.09375