Are we finally entering the Digital Age?
If Digital games were €15-€20 cheaper - would you cease buying disc versions in favour of digital?
The Digital era is fast approaching and I think if Sony and Microsoft waited a year or two to bring out their infamous PS4's and Xbox One's I think we would be looking at a vastly different machine. Not to mention the spec. would have an extra's 2 years development but with Broadband speeds increasing year on year both companies would more than likely have done away with their disc drives.
Microsoft have already started to embrace the digital era starting last week, Ryse - Son of Rome was reduced to €39.99 for digital download on the Xbox One Store. That's a huge saving of €20.00 on disc format from recognized retailers. Microsoft are actively looking into releasing digital versions of games at a reduced rate when the games are launched on disc but nothing concrete yet.
What would you prefer? To pay €59.99 - €64.99 per game to to have it on disc format and the possibility of reselling or paying €39.99 to download it in the comfort of your own home?
The way I see it...there are pro and cons to both sides.
Disc version
Ok, so you are paying €60 but with the possibility of selling it on as a trade in against another game or 2nd hand for €30, you are effectively only paying €30 once you sell it within a certain period - otherwise, the price will continue to drop and you are losing out.
Digital version
No resale on digital versions of the game for obvious reasons but is that really a bad thing? From time to time, people enjoy going back and trying out previous games. Only yesterday I took to playing FIFA 12 with my 7 year old(who scored after 30 seconds I might add) and enjoyed the simplicity of the game, all be it, only 2 years old, games have come on leaps and bounds since the 2012 version. There is also the fact that if you enjoy racking up achievements and your gamerscore, you can always go back to previous games and try getting that illustrious 1000 GS per game.
Disc version
Those dreaded scratches - thankfully havent had too much an issue with this but there have been certain instances when a game gets left out of it's box and gets a huge scratch down it rendering it useless. You can always pay the €3 insurance Gamestop are offering but that then bumps up the game price to nearly €70(on €64.99 games)
Digital Version
You'll never scratch a game and if your hard drive dies...the games are downloaded to your xbox profile and therefore you can port them to a different xbox in the future.
Disc version
Not too sure RE: PS4 load times but with the Xbox One, all games are installed or part installed on the Xbox One hard drive prior to being allowed play the game.
Digital Version
Once the game starts to download from the digital store, depending on your download speed, you can access a lot of the game content within the first 10-15 mins of the game downloading and like the disc version you can continue to play while the game is downloading in the background
Disc Version
Obviously discs are compatible with every Xbox One machine and for people in insufficient broadband areas, the disc version is the only way to go.
Digital Version
Digital whereas it would appeal to a lot of gamers with speeds of 3 Mbps or more, you can really only benefit if you have download speeds of at least 15 Mbps.
Conclusion
As I've stated already...digital is not for everybody but my suggestion would certainly be...if you've access to it - EMBRACE IT. Personally, it's the only way I game.
