Digital Games, blessing or curse?

So, I just wanna talk about something that has happened to me recently. Just to give you a bit of info first, I have to say that because of national industry issues, the import rate in my country is a complete insanity, so because of that the physical copies that are available at electronic stores, or even official sony stores have taxes that take a new video game from an original 60 us dollars price to what can be converted to around 90 (!).

That is really unbuyable, not cause the price alone, but because it is just one videogame (that can either suck or be great), what grinds my gears is that they price never goes down, EVER.

just as an example, Batman Arkham Origins is around 80 dollars at a retail store.

This is where digital games from xbox marketplace or the ps store come in. Now (it is on sale so that's why I use it as an example) the same Batman Game is $8.......dafaq. Sad part is, as you may know, physical copies have a closer place in our gaming hearts, but those prices are impossible to deal with when you have a digital option.

NOW, a lot of people have troubles with the credit cards or pre-paid cards here, like for example they don't know if they can use it internationally. Or if some kid that doesn't work or have anything like a credit card ask his parents for a game it is pretty unlike that the parent would choose to use a credit card on an online marketplace through a console.
So because of this problem, some guys came up with a workaround that is a "gray" zone. As you know, digital games (at least in psn) can be downloaded in two different consoles that share the same account. So what they did is create an account, buy a game, then sell you the account, rather than the game.
The catch here, is, as everyone noticed, the price was extremely cheap (almost half off, even from the digital price) what these people do is after they buy the game they download it, sell you the account data with this instruction:

-Create a new user in the console
-enter psn and re download the game from the download list
-Play it with your own user
-NEVER delete the new user or the game you created, or the game will be lost and cannot be re downloaded cause the password will be changed shortly after.

Now, the reason why it is so cheaper, is that they sell the same account twice, so they buy one game and sell two.

I only bought a game like this once, which was The Last of Us when it came out, got it for 35 dollars aprox., and here's the last part of the evil plan: After I created the new user, and enter the account data, I went to the download list, only Last of Us there, BUT, when I tried to download it, a message popped up saying that the game has already been downloaded in 2 consoles. So I called the person who sold be the game, and they said I should try again in 5 minutes, when i did that the download started.
My guess is that what they did was deleting the game on the console they originally bought it, that way they can assure that the game can only be downloaded in the consoles they sell the account to, so they wait until you call them saying that you have a problem.

I'm pretty sure that if this practice came to be in the US or Europe Sony would step up and do something about it, here this type or deals are done in local online game stores, not in serious more professional stores. The last convenient thing about it is that you can paid the game with locals credit card and get up to 12 payments without interests, making it the best deal possible.

And of course, the last part of this stupidly long post, has to about the great service that PS plus is (or games with gold, but I don't have that), I was at the sony store the other day and saw the prices from some games and the one year sub that I got for plus was cheaper that any AAA triple alone, i tried to quickly calculate how much money I've saved from the games I found in the store that I got with plus (Puppeteer, Arkham City, Tomb Raider, Remember Me, DmC, Metro Last Light, etc) but I gave up. And just to get the most of it I bought a Vita just to get the games from ps plus and play them too.

In conclusion I can say that in my case, and in the cases of a lot of people outside Us and Europe, digital stores and services like ps plus or games with gold are they way to go in comparision to go to a store and buy an actual game. I am aware that a lot of people is hating the digital price for being the same as a retail price in the US, which makes a lot of sense cause the physical copy will always be better, if the complaints are heard and the digital prices become cheaper (like in MGS V case where the digital copy was 10 dollars less) then it can all get better for everybody.

To each their own, I personally don't like digital games, yet somehow I end up getting them with Games with Gold. I can certainly see the appeal in it. I was able to get Dark Souls, Dead Rising 2, Street fighter IV, Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light, and several other games for free. I think the only game I ever purchased digitally was Bioshock Infinite on my computer. I'm not a PC gamer, though. When it comes to games that I must have and I'm not just experimenting, I'll go out of my way and purchase a physical copy. If I'm just testing things out to see if it's my cup of tea, digital seems to be a cheaper route.

I don't see anything wrong with it though, sharing games have always been a thing, it just becomes a little more of a hassle to share them digitally than it is just handing your friend a physical copy. For example, the way my friend shares digital content with me is he brings his HDD over with his profile, downloads his profile onto my system, then redownloads the content onto my system. It was a hassle, but I was able to play the DOA5 demo early.

Well, there's no denying that a big wall full of games is a pretty nice view. A much nicer view when you consider that 250gb in a ps3 is so little space so you have to keep deleting and re downloading everything

PAULSAMSON wrote:

Well, there's no denying that a big wall full of games is a pretty nice view. A much nicer view when you consider that 250gb in a ps3 is so little space so you have to keep deleting and re downloading everything

Yeah, but I keep them in my drawer.. which is running out of space actually.

I remember when there was a time that 60GB could store your entire life's work. Now 500GB on your fancy new black boxes aren't enough to hold your games.

I'm not a fan of digital, I'll pretty much only buy one when it's the only option (e.g BloodRayne Betrayal) or when it's very cheap (e.g. Fatal Frame for $4 on PSN). However $80 for one game is absurd so I can see why they're popular where you live.

Also, I've seen people share downloads in the US plenty of times, although I've never seen anyone try selling it like that before.

37 Narwhals wrote:

I'm not a fan of digital, I'll pretty much only buy one when it's the only option (e.g BloodRayne Betrayal) or when it's very cheap (e.g. Fatal Frame for $4 on PSN). However $80 for one game is absurd so I can see why they're popular where you live.

Also, I've seen people share downloads in the US plenty of times, although I've never seen anyone try selling it like that before.

if the price is the same for a new physical copy, then I think we can all 100% agree that the disc is the way to go. I think that can't be done in an environment where Sony might find out, otherwise they will eliminate the 2 consoles thing, and that may be catasthrophic .

I don't really have anything against digital games and will buy them if it's the only option (e.g., The Walking Dead), but generally I prefer to have a physical copy whenever possible, even if it does cost more.

I have a problem with the wait time. Generally if I buy a game, I like popping in the disc and just playing it. If the game is free, I don't mind a wait to go ahead and play it though.

My biggest problem is with my Xbone, I'm forced to download a game I onto my system it doesn't just let me play from my disc. If I am forced to do it anyway, I shouldn't have to mess around with all the discs.

Vandal wrote:

I have a problem with the wait time. Generally if I buy a game, I like popping in the disc and just playing it. If the game is free, I don't mind a wait to go ahead and play it though.

My biggest problem is with my Xbone, I'm forced to download a game I onto my system it doesn't just let me play from my disc. If I am forced to do it anyway, I shouldn't have to mess around with all the discs.

Same we could say about the ps3 discs that require installation, you got the disc but the 20gb install is necessary, if you get the same game digitally it doesn't, of course, requiere another install

PAULSAMSON wrote:

Vandal wrote:

I have a problem with the wait time. Generally if I buy a game, I like popping in the disc and just playing it. If the game is free, I don't mind a wait to go ahead and play it though.

My biggest problem is with my Xbone, I'm forced to download a game I onto my system it doesn't just let me play from my disc. If I am forced to do it anyway, I shouldn't have to mess around with all the discs.

Same we could say about the ps3 discs that require installation, you got the disc but the 20gb install is necessary, if you get the same game digitally it doesn't, of course, requiere another install

Whoa, wait what? The PS3 makes you install the game before you play? I didn't know that.

Vandal wrote:

PAULSAMSON wrote:

Vandal wrote:

I have a problem with the wait time. Generally if I buy a game, I like popping in the disc and just playing it. If the game is free, I don't mind a wait to go ahead and play it though.

My biggest problem is with my Xbone, I'm forced to download a game I onto my system it doesn't just let me play from my disc. If I am forced to do it anyway, I shouldn't have to mess around with all the discs.

Same we could say about the ps3 discs that require installation, you got the disc but the 20gb install is necessary, if you get the same game digitally it doesn't, of course, requiere another install

Whoa, wait what? The PS3 makes you install the game before you play? I didn't know that.

Not the whole game, just part of it. Something like 1/4 of the game's data.

Ghost Leader wrote:

Vandal wrote:

PAULSAMSON wrote:

Vandal wrote:

I have a problem with the wait time. Generally if I buy a game, I like popping in the disc and just playing it. If the game is free, I don't mind a wait to go ahead and play it though.

My biggest problem is with my Xbone, I'm forced to download a game I onto my system it doesn't just let me play from my disc. If I am forced to do it anyway, I shouldn't have to mess around with all the discs.

Same we could say about the ps3 discs that require installation, you got the disc but the 20gb install is necessary, if you get the same game digitally it doesn't, of course, requiere another install

Whoa, wait what? The PS3 makes you install the game before you play? I didn't know that.

Not the whole game, just part of it. Something like 1/4 of the game's data.

Yes, a bit of it in most of the games, some games like Heavy Rain install a lot of data. What I mean is that if you have a 160gb console you may not have enough space to keep the data and have to delete something anyway, and if you want to play after a while you put the disc and have to install it anyway

Yep, physical is the way to go. However, digital is a great way to get rare games for cheap. I mean, 5€ for Tomba! on PSN or 100€ for a used copy of it, that's a no-brainer. Well, unless you really want that super expensive old game in your collection.

Steams sales are another good example of digital downloads. I can get a dozen games for the price of one, usually ones that I wouldn't otherwise want to put my money in. Then again, now I have so many games on my Steam account I have no time to play them all.

It is quite impossible for me to obtain any priced, digital content. That's why I stick with the ever-expensive physical copies. They are also much better to have because you get fun bonuses like manuals and artwork.

PWNERX wrote:

you get fun bonuses like manuals and artwork.

Which have become non-existent these days . I don't want the fucking digital manual if I buy a physical copy!!!

PAULSAMSON wrote:

PWNERX wrote:

you get fun bonuses like manuals and artwork.

Which have become non-existent these days . I don't want the fucking digital manual if I buy a physical copy!!!

Depends on the system. While PS3 games (and I assume it's the same with 360) do seem to resort to a paper slip as the "instruction manual" at least 3DS and DS games still have quite hefty manuals.

One of the craziest things to date, still, has got to be the fact that the only edition of RE6 that came with an actual instruction manual was the collector's edition.

Mass Distraction wrote:

PAULSAMSON wrote:

PWNERX wrote:

you get fun bonuses like manuals and artwork.

Which have become non-existent these days . I don't want the fucking digital manual if I buy a physical copy!!!

Depends on the system. While PS3 games (and I assume it's the same with 360) do seem to resort to a paper slip as the "instruction manual" at least 3DS and DS games still have quite hefty manuals.

One of the craziest things to date, still, has got to be the fact that the only edition of RE6 that came with an actual instruction manual was the collector's edition.

I have RE5 gold, RE6, RER and ORC physical copies for PS3, the only one with Manual (and a good one too) is ORC

Ghost Leader wrote:

I don't really have anything against digital games and will buy them if it's the only option (e.g., The Walking Dead), but generally I prefer to have a physical copy whenever possible, even if it does cost more.

This is exactly how I feel about it. Except that I do have The Walking Dead Season 1 on a disc   .

I'm a big fan of digital games, however, it's for my own personal reasons. I have epilepsy, as such, the state of Florida feels that losing consciousness and having a seizure behind the wheel of a 3 ton metal object traveling at 45mph would pose a few hazards to those around me, so they took my license.

The nearest store that sells games is either gamestop or walmart(the gamestop is in the shopping center in front of walmart) and is ~10 miles away. In a car, that is a quick 10-15 minute drive. However, if I wanted to get there by my usual form of transportation, it would take me about an hour to ride my bike to the store, one way. A 20 mile bike ride during the hottest part of the day to go get a game isn't an enjoyable experience, so digital downloads are quite the blessing.

However, that obviously wouldn't apply to everyone.

One good thing about hard copies of games is that when you buy a shit game, sticking the disk in a blender and turning it into a smoothie is a much more satisfying experience than pressing the "uninstall" button.

VitalSigns wrote:

I'm a big fan of digital games, however, it's for my own personal reasons. I have epilepsy, as such, the state of Florida feels that losing consciousness and having a seizure behind the wheel of a 3 ton metal object traveling at 45mph would pose a few hazards to those around me, so they took my license.

The nearest store that sells games is either gamestop or walmart(the gamestop is in the shopping center in front of walmart) and is ~10 miles away. In a car, that is a quick 10-15 minute drive. However, if I wanted to get there by my usual form of transportation, it would take me about an hour to ride my bike to the store, one way. A 20 mile bike ride during the hottest part of the day to go get a game isn't an enjoyable experience, so digital downloads are quite the blessing.

However, that obviously wouldn't apply to everyone.

One good thing about hard copies of games is that when you buy a shit game, sticking the disk in a blender and turning it into a smoothie is a much more satisfying experience than pressing the "uninstall" button.

How about a bus?

PAULSAMSON wrote:

VitalSigns wrote:

I'm a big fan of digital games, however, it's for my own personal reasons. I have epilepsy, as such, the state of Florida feels that losing consciousness and having a seizure behind the wheel of a 3 ton metal object traveling at 45mph would pose a few hazards to those around me, so they took my license.

The nearest store that sells games is either gamestop or walmart(the gamestop is in the shopping center in front of walmart) and is ~10 miles away. In a car, that is a quick 10-15 minute drive. However, if I wanted to get there by my usual form of transportation, it would take me about an hour to ride my bike to the store, one way. A 20 mile bike ride during the hottest part of the day to go get a game isn't an enjoyable experience, so digital downloads are quite the blessing.

However, that obviously wouldn't apply to everyone.

One good thing about hard copies of games is that when you buy a shit game, sticking the disk in a blender and turning it into a smoothie is a much more satisfying experience than pressing the "uninstall" button.

How about a bus?

I live in the suburbs of Tampa, nearest bus stop is about an hours drive from me depending on traffic. These people are full of shit about "driving is a privilege, not a right" because it's a need.
America is pretty much based on the expectation that you have a car and preferably a license.

That is the reason you have a single walmart to handle most of the shopping in a 10 mile radius. I live in the middle of a huge residential district. The kind you find in Florida, a couple thousand 6 digit homes that cost the builder less than 50k to build because every house has the same exact floor plan.
You won't hit a single businesses for at least a mile in any direction.

Anyway, you're not going to find many people taking the bus who live in houses that cost over $400k(before the housing bubble burst). So, rather than having a bus driver doing dick-all they never built bus stops.

There is a bus service, but they travel around Tampa proper.