Virtual games or physical games?

Hey there, everybody, new guy here!

Just here to ask a quick question to see everyone's opinions: with the rise of platforms such as Steam and general online purchases, how do you prefer to buy your games? Virtual copies, or physical copies? And, most importantly, why?

Bump!

Bump!

I don't play much on PC, but most people here will say digital because of the price.

Digital. I don't purchase video games but even if I was it would be digital or it.

Physical! The only games I virtually play are arcade games on emulators like MAME, Supermodel, Model 2 Emulator, Demul, etc.

I'm a collector... I play my console games on the real deal! I get tired of sitting on my laptop all day sometimes. XD

^ Why don't ya connect your laptop to the TV and play from the couch with a gamepad?

This is a bit of a loaded question and I've seen flame wars start over it, but if you are in the US and you are talking PC games I think the ship has pretty much sailed on having a choice and you'll have to go digital for the most part.
 
Some games are forgoing a boxed retail release these days and even those that still do one in most cases for high profile games it will just be a Steam or Origin or UPlay code in a box anyway.
 
The deals on digital are generally quite good and it's very convenient as you don't have to go to a store or wait and you can (mostly) get all your games collected together in one place and automatically updated with Steam.
 
The indie bundles are great deals and let you try out games you might otherwise have never come across with little risk due to the low price point so that's another reason to go digital.

Steam or bust for me.

PC gaming seems to be 99% digital and I follow suit. Console gaming I am still buying physical unless its a handheld or a really good digital deal.

Digital, because its one less thing for me to lose or forget where the hell I put it.  Also, makes my desk and entertainment area less cluttered, and I don't have to worry about scratching the physical disc.

Since this is the PC forum, Digital all the way, except for when games have cool CEs.

StryderOmega said:

Since this is the PC forum, Digital all the way, except for when games have cool CEs.

Click to expand...

Even then sometimes it's still sort of digital. I mean I have the Skyrim CE and it's basically just a Steam key with some cool physical swag. It does come with the disc but they've patched so many times it's so far outdated that you'll still have redownload the current version. Plus you're tied to Steam no matter what.

Another thing I like about digital using clients like Steam and Origin, as Motoki touched on a few posts ago,  is that it will automatically download and patch to the latest version of the games (or at the least a one-click check for updates).  I haven't installed a physical game in a while, but I remember I had to go through a few extra steps, like going to the publisher or developer's website to see if I had the latest version, find the download section, download it and patch it myself.  In this instance, digital is just more convenient and less worrisome.