Xbox One Preference: Digital or disc?

girlgotgame

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What's your preference for games -- digital or disc? I'm torn. Physical storage space is at a premium in our apartment and this makes digital games very appealing. We don't have a large hard drive for the One, yet, though, so space is kind of limited there, too. Also, I worry about losing all my games if my hard drive crashes.
 
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My preference is whatever is on sale, ha ha! Seriously though, you'll run across digital sales several times a year so that's when I do most of my downloading. At Christmas time I typically buy discs so I'll have something physical to wrap, but otherwise I'm just going with the best deal.
 
I'm basically at digital at this point... the games I did have at launch are traded in and well I have a 5tb external that stores my stuff..
 
My preference is whatever is on sale, ha ha! Seriously though, you'll run across digital sales several times a year so that's when I do most of my downloading. At Christmas time I typically buy discs so I'll have something physical to wrap, but otherwise I'm just going with the best deal.

I like the idea of buying discs so you have something to wrap for whomever you bought the game for. I buy my hubby games for his birthday and Christmas every year and it does get awkward having to be like, "Merry Christmas! Get on your console. Bet you'll never guess what I got you!"
 
I heay ya but Microsoft going digital has done one thing very well... stay competitive in pricing with games that are 1/2 year or so old... they are almost weekly doing a game sale or bundling 2 games for 3/4 of the price of one.. plus they do push the digital dlc/content pretty hard...

usually they are on par with amazon games as far as used or sale. and almost 85% of the time better or ahead of gamestop at this point.. I would almost bet if you got in Microsoft chatt with a flyer/game sale on paper they would match it... they have honestly shocked me with the way they mark down games... I almost try and avoid the sale section as I have over 100 xb1 games and barley play any of them but I have to have them lol
 
Always disc for resale value later. I like to keep physical material from anything I spend just so I have a way to cash out later, and digital copies never provide an adequate discount for losing the resale value. Can't tell you how many times a video game on craigslist saved my ass from starving...
 
Discs. Not only for their resale value, but for the sake of building a collection. I love special editions of games and proudly display the beautiful cases they come in. Who knows, maybe you can sell your rare discs for a lot of money one day? You can't do that with digital copies. One thing digital copies do have over discs is obviously convenience and special, usually lower prices with the sales and all.
 
The thing I've noticed about resale value is that, even if you resell a classic, the new edition will be discounted in a couple of years before prices go up - they usually go up after 2 console cycles. It's getting harder and harder to find OG copies of Halo and we're 2 consoles ahead of the xbox. Just a pattern I've noticed.
 
For me a lot depends on the game I'm buying, and if it's a new release but I've played before and I know the longevity of the game will last, I'll buy digital.

For the older games that I think I might want to trade in at a later date, then the physical disc copy is the way to go, so at the moment I choose to do both.
 
I have home sharing enabled with my brother, so I can't play any of my digital games offline (but I can play his) so the way I work is that games I think I'm going to love (such as Rise of the Tomb Raider, Quantum Break, Zoo Tycoon which I have both digitally and physically) I get physical copies of and games that I don't think will be permanent staples for me I get digitally, unless it's something he wants to play as much/more than I do, but even if I get a physical copy he can still borrow it if he wants to.
 
Digitаl аll thе wаy! I likе bеing аblе tо rеsеll but its nоt thаt impоrtаnt tо mе. Yоu gеt shit vаluе оut оf mоst оld gаmеs аnywаy. Digitаl is bеttеr fоr mе bесаusе I hаvе twо Xbоx Оnе's. My wifе оссаsiоnаlly plаys gаmеs with mе sо I оnly nееd tо buy оnе соpy. Whеn wе bоught Hаlо 4 I hаd tо immеdiаtеly buy twо соpiеs. Nоw I'm stuсk with twо Hаlо 4 titlеs thаt аrе wоrth nеаrly nоthing. I knоw it sоunds lаzy but its sо niсе tо switсh gаmеs in аn instаnt withоut gеtting up оr gоing dоwn stаirs frоm my gаmе rооm tо grаb аnоthеr disс. Putting а disс in my Xbоx Оnе fееls wеird nоw аnd hоnеstly I'vе nеvеr triеd thе disс drivе оn оnе оf thеm lоl. If Miсrоsоft соuld hаvе gоnе аhеаd with thе idеа оf buying thе physiсаl disс аnd gеtting digitаl pеrks. Thе оnly timе I'vе bееn burnеd by thе digitаl vеrsiоn is СОD Ghоsts. It wаs sо bаd I wаntеd tо gеt rid оf it but соuldn't. Lеts just sаy I'm fаr mоrе саutiоus аbоut buying gаmеs nоw. I'll rеnt СОD frоm Rеdbоx tоmоrrоw fоr 360 аnd dесidе if I'll buy it.
 
I usually just buy whatever is on sale :D Maybe I've started to prefer digital more. It's so easy that you can now delete your game and then when you want to install it again, it's possible.
 
I think the price does come into it aswell, and like you say, I think a lot of people will do the same and just go for whichever is the cheapest option at the time.

Games are expensive these days, and if we're able to save a few dollars here and there, then I think we should, even if the format we're getting isn't exactly what we'd prefer.
 
I just downloaded Dishonored: Definitive Edition because it was twenty dollars, I do that when games are on sale.
 
^ Yeah, sale prices are a great exception to digital. I'd always still prefer to get the sales price on the hard copy if I know I can resell it, but hey, it is what it is sometimes :/
 
The price does make a difference and I'm sure we all like a bargain. If the sale is on the digital copy though, it can be false economy as even if we pay I little more to get the disc, at least we know that in the future we can trade it in and get money back.

That's not the case with the download version of course, so even though it might be cheaper, it probably works out the same after we've added the trade in factor in.
 
I would chose disc storage, even though the price is different. I always had a kind of fear that someone would steal my account or some way I would lose all my games because of them being stored on the hard drive. Also, if you have them on disc, you won't have to worry about running out of space too son on your hard drive and then take decisions like what should get deleted.
 
I agree that the loss of your account probably is the biggest risk that people fear the most but that very rarely happens. Even if and when it does there's enough security measures in place to make sure that when you do get it back, you've not lost all your downloads, as they're protected separately anyway.
 
I would chose disc storage, even though the price is different. I always had a kind of fear that someone would steal my account or some way I would lose all my games because of them being stored on the hard drive. Also, if you have them on disc, you won't have to worry about running out of space too son on your hard drive and then take decisions like what should get deleted.


Every $100 you spend on games gives you $0 back if you go all digital. It gives you ~25~75 if you sell physical copies. If you're willing to sit back on it, buying digital is one of the worst decisions financially because you lose the liquidity of the money. People that buy digital obviously never needed that last $40 for rent ;) lol
 
Digital download while is proving to be increasingly popular, its still in its infancy and I think that the main reason for that is because of the trade in value that people can still get.

Eventually I can see digital download becoming the norm, but while shops are still offering decent value for trading in games, that's going to take longer than I think Microsoft or Sony would want.
 
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