AJerman Posted November 20, 2013 Share Posted November 20, 2013 Well, this is in Microsoft and I have a PS4, but just the same, I bought my first 3 games in the buy 2 get 1 free so I have physical copies, but I expect I'll probably try to go digital after this. I assume there's an ability to redownload games you purchased digitally, but that would be the only thing to check. The only issue with digital is if you start running out of space and need to delete some older games files then want to go back and play it again one day. It can be a long process with a digital copy compared to a physical, but I suspect I'll upgrade my PS4 HDD to some massive size I won't fill, then I shouldn't have any issue with digital. I've got a 30 Mbps plan with my ISP, so assuming the servers aren't dirt slow (that's one other thing that could affect the decision), digital downloads shouldn't take too terribly long still. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Houtei Posted November 20, 2013 Share Posted November 20, 2013 Im going digital even though my dl speed is only 6mb at the moment but its not capped with a bandwidth limit. Mainly because I have a kid and I am not taking chances with disc getting scratched and I have never sold a game back EVER even when they sucked. Also its just more convenient being able to take my xbox with me to the hotel or friends house not having to have disc. The only downside for me is I wont be able to lend my game to a friend at least for a few months till they work something out with the digital sharing. I was thinking though I MIGHT do the buy 2 get 1 free but i really dont want to be locked down to having a disc in the drive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billus Posted November 20, 2013 Share Posted November 20, 2013 Used to prefer digital because of the price and convenience (thank you Steam) and also the ability to play games without a CD. Now, I see myself preferring physical copies (particularly at preorder when the price difference is often marginal) and I will go and pay extra for the special edition that come with scaled models or special cases such as fabric and steel. Most of the time it's a $10-30 difference at preorder. For normal purchases I still tend to go digital due to deals and my PS3 often covers my games that were off my radar thanks to Plus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HawkMan Posted November 20, 2013 Share Posted November 20, 2013 Seeing as Xbox will reintroduce the sharing and other stuff for digital copies. I'll buy digital when I can also easier since I'm 2-3 hours away from the nearest store and they offer day one digital and I don't pre order. more value for the digital copies this way on the One. Thief000 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HawkMan Posted November 20, 2013 Share Posted November 20, 2013 Especially with games like COD wanting 40GB. With a 500GB hard drive you're screwed. how many games do you really play at the same time ? and the XBox will be able to have the games on a USB drive so it's not going to be an issue anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Audioboxer Subscriber² Posted November 20, 2013 Subscriber² Share Posted November 20, 2013 how many games do you really play at the same time ? and the XBox will be able to have the games on a USB drive so it's not going to be an issue anyway. MP games like that can be dipped into frequently over a year+ Do I really want to install/redownload games each time I want to play? 40GB is ridiculous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fourjays Veteran Posted November 20, 2013 Veteran Share Posted November 20, 2013 I'm not sure why the games are so large to begin with. Largest PC game I've come across is 20-25GB and that is including high-res textures. Is nothing being compressed on the next-gen consoles or something? :s Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HawkMan Posted November 20, 2013 Share Posted November 20, 2013 MP games like that can be dipped into frequently over a year+ Do I really want to install/redownload games each time I want to play? 40GB is ridiculous. and thus USB HDD... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
riceBox Posted November 20, 2013 Share Posted November 20, 2013 Going digital. Most "physical" games here are sold at almost twice the price compared to US due to taxes. Also most games I buy aren't physically available here, or late in release. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Houtei Posted November 20, 2013 Share Posted November 20, 2013 MP games like that can be dipped into frequently over a year+ Do I really want to install/redownload games each time I want to play? 40GB is ridiculous. For me though at most i would have BF4 , ryse, dead rising 3 and maybe 1 other game between now and the new year and thats prolly only 85gb+/- the 4th game i may buy and still over half the space left and i dont think i saw anything else coming i want anyways till march or so. I am certain by the time i actually get full external usb support will be available. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spenser.d Posted November 20, 2013 Share Posted November 20, 2013 MP games like that can be dipped into frequently over a year+ Do I really want to install/redownload games each time I want to play? 40GB is ridiculous. So you leave a handful of MP games on there, and a handful of other games that you can cycle out and leav for long periods of time, and you still have plenty of space left over. I understand this line of thought, but I don't think it's going to be as big an issue as people think it will be. The bigger issue is download caps from ISPs and bandwidth speeds, which are definitely impediments to going digital, but not the 500GB HDD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Audioboxer Subscriber² Posted November 20, 2013 Subscriber² Share Posted November 20, 2013 So you leave a handful of MP games on there, and a handful of other games that you can cycle out and leav for long periods of time, and you still have plenty of space left over. I understand this line of thought, but I don't think it's going to be as big an issue as people think it will be. The bigger issue is download caps from ISPs and bandwidth speeds, which are definitely impediments to going digital, but not the 500GB HDD. How many steam games do PC owners have installed? NBA2K14 needs 50GB of space. If the average was 40-50GB of space, that is like <10 games on the hard drive, not including any recordings of your footage/apps/etc. How can you answer digital storage isn't a factor with games of this size, and keep a straight face? You don't even get the whole drive, space is needed by the OS and for cache. The main hindrance for any sort of digital content is the space of the hard drive/storage medium. That's always been the case, right back to the days of 8/16GB ipods. Going digital only with console game sizes at the ridiculous size they are just now seems like an awful idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HawkMan Posted November 20, 2013 Share Posted November 20, 2013 I certainly don't let my steam library grow to 500GB. that's just ridiculous. my unorganized mess of RAW photos with a complete lack of ever deleting bad photos however... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Audioboxer Subscriber² Posted November 20, 2013 Subscriber² Share Posted November 20, 2013 I certainly don't let my steam library grow to 500GB. that's just ridiculous. my unorganized mess of RAW photos with a complete lack of ever deleting bad photos however... Yeah for the main reason of how many steam games need 40-50GB, and that swings back round to the point I'm making, storage is a massive issue right now if these console games are going to continue as this size. My steam remark was actually in agreement with your comment, you could have 50+ steam games installed and it only take 300GB. WTF is NBA2K14 doing at 50GB? It would actually take me like a week to download that as well, so no I cannot simply delete it then decide in a weeks time when my friends come round to download it again for a match. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spenser.d Posted November 20, 2013 Share Posted November 20, 2013 How many steam games do PC owners have installed? NBA2K14 needs 50GB of space. If the average was 40-50GB of space, that is like <10 games on the hard drive, not including any recordings of your footage/apps/etc. How can you answer digital storage isn't a factor with games of this size, and keep a straight face? You don't even get the whole drive, space is needed by the OS and for cache. The main hindrance for any sort of digital content is the space of the hard drive/storage medium. That's always been the case, right back to the days of 8/16GB ipods. Going digital only with console game sizes at the ridiculous size they are just now seems like an awful idea. The real question is how many games to PC owners play at once, and how many do they just keep installed because there's no reason to uninstall them, even if they aren't playing them. Realistically speaking, you aren't playing 10 full games at once. You probably aren't usually playing 5 at once, and there are plenty that you play and then probably won't come back to and play again for years, so you can uninstall them, and when you finally do come back, years later, you can reinstall them. It might be more of an issue to hardcore gamers, but not to most people that will end up with these consoles. And this is coming from someone who owns 40+ disc-based 360 games, and more digital/XBLA titles. I don't think it will be an issue for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Audioboxer Subscriber² Posted November 20, 2013 Subscriber² Share Posted November 20, 2013 The real question is how many games to PC owners play at once, and how many do they just keep installed because there's no reason to uninstall them, even if they aren't playing them. Realistically speaking, you aren't playing 10 full games at once. You probably aren't usually playing 5 at once, and there are plenty that you play and then probably won't come back to and play again for years, so you can uninstall them, and when you finally do come back, years later, you can reinstall them. It might be more of an issue to hardcore gamers, but not to most people that will end up with these consoles. See my point above, I can easily just reinstall a 50GB game? The consoles being more casual than the PC is actually worse, consoles are often used at parties/friend gatherings and the likes. You do not entertain your guests with a 24 hour download needed for a MP game. On the PS4 you only start off with 408GB as well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madd-hatter Posted November 20, 2013 Share Posted November 20, 2013 At the beginning, when digital games became a choosing option, I almost always opted for the physical copy. But they don't make instant classics like black label PS1 Final Fantasies anymore and the older you get, the more junk piles up. I much prefer digital these days, especially in rehash titles like BF3-BF4, NBA2K13-NBA2k14, etc... In other words, I would only consider physically buying what I believe to be a classic single player experience going forward. (MGS4 and Dark Souls as a few recent examples.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spenser.d Posted November 20, 2013 Share Posted November 20, 2013 See my point above, I can easily just reinstall a 50GB game? The consoles being more casual than the PC is actually worse, consoles are often used at parties/friend gatherings and the likes. You do not entertain your guests with a 24 hour download needed for a MP game. Yes, as I said first, the limitation is in your bandwidth speed and cap, not in your HDD size and that limitation makes going digital harder for people like you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Audioboxer Subscriber² Posted November 20, 2013 Subscriber² Share Posted November 20, 2013 Yes, as I said first, the limitation is in your bandwidth speed and cap, not in your HDD size and that limitation makes going digital harder for people like you. Even with fast internet downloading 50GB isn't a pain? I simply cannot take anyone serious saying the storage medium isn't an inherent limitation of digital gaming... I don't know what else to say other than I hope any of you guys talking to me realize this is nothing to do with criticizing the Xbox One and you aren't letting my username cloud your judgement before saying things like "storage isn't a limitation". I think wandering into a PC forum and telling gamers their hard drives aren't a limiting factor would result in you being thrown out of their topics.... and we're not even talking about your standard 8-20GB PC game, we're talking 40-50GB games here on hard drives that are nowhere near the industry max... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Houtei Posted November 20, 2013 Share Posted November 20, 2013 See my point above, I can easily just reinstall a 50GB game? The consoles being more casual than the PC is actually worse, consoles are often used at parties/friend gatherings and the likes. You do not entertain your guests with a 24 hour download needed for a MP game. On the PS4 you only start off with 408GB as well First off all 23 games at launch take up a rounded up number of 321 leaving you atleast 80 or so left and i seriouslly doubt ANYONE is going to have every game. So this is not even an issue for months to come and even then external support is coming..Anytime I have a party i know about it atleast a few days in advanced lol though im sure whatever games i still had on my hdd would be perfectlly fine and i wont need to go redling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger H. Veteran Posted November 20, 2013 Veteran Share Posted November 20, 2013 Well, this is in Microsoft and I have a PS4, but just the same, I bought my first 3 games in the buy 2 get 1 free so I have physical copies, but I expect I'll probably try to go digital after this. I assume there's an ability to redownload games you purchased digitally, but that would be the only thing to check. The only issue with digital is if you start running out of space and need to delete some older games files then want to go back and play it again one day. It can be a long process with a digital copy compared to a physical, but I suspect I'll upgrade my PS4 HDD to some massive size I won't fill, then I shouldn't have any issue with digital. I've got a 30 Mbps plan with my ISP, so assuming the servers aren't dirt slow (that's one other thing that could affect the decision), digital downloads shouldn't take too terribly long still. Even at full bore 30Mbps will take 7Hrs to download a 25GB - which i'm using as an average for games later on down in life. Regarding storage issues - Since as pointed out the PS4 starts off with 408GB and i'm guessing Xbox One will be in the same range that's plenty of games for sure, probably in the 30-40 range as all games wont be in the 50GB or even 30GB range. I'll guess most in the high teens to 20s. What about other media however. I know most here probably don't buy TV shows and such from Xbox/PS4 stores but those run into the 1-5GB range per episode as well (for HD TV). There are also tons of videos (not TV/Movies related) on Xbox which surely you can delete but there are plenty of times i see something i want to watch but don't have the 1hr to check it out at the time so i just click download and watch it later. Do that on the website all the time as well for other stuff which then downloads to my console (Xbox 360). Right now prolly got 50GB of stuff to watch that i haven't gotten around to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atomic Wanderer Chicken Posted November 20, 2013 Share Posted November 20, 2013 I buy physical games because obviously they're cheaper. Digital downloadable games on the PS Store are overly expensive for me. I also have bought and play tons of games on steam. The sales on steam are amazing sometimes, I got Fallout 3 for $3 I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spaceelf Posted November 20, 2013 Share Posted November 20, 2013 I only buy digital on any system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George P Global Moderator Posted November 20, 2013 Global Moderator Share Posted November 20, 2013 Has anyone yet even downloaded a full game? We know how much these games take up on the disk to install but is the install and the download size the same? I don't see why we couldn't download compressed copies which are then extracted at install time for example. That 50GB install size could be a 20GB download give or take. Or maybe these are just quick ports and are the exception and not the rule going forward? Both MS and Sony must have an idea of how much games will take up on average and both settled on 500GB drives to start. Adding something bigger wouldn't be much cost either, but who knows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magik Posted November 20, 2013 Share Posted November 20, 2013 Stupid question: Will all games be available Digital and/or at the same time as Physical? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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