Start Games Earlier with Pre-Download
Opting to go for digital versions of AAA games on release date means no more heading out to the store when you get a chance, or waiting for the postman to deliver the parcel. Pre-downloading allows you to be ready as soon as the game becomes available in your region. For online centric games, that means you can jump online late at night to get ahead to the competition.
You also won’t have to wait for the game to install when it becomes available. It can be annoying to start a brand new game only for it to tell you that you have wait for the whole thing to install to the hard drive. In this age of wanting to be the first to experience everything, going for digital over physical is the best option to do so.
No More Plastic Game Cases
Plastic game cases can be pretty and many people like how they look when they’re all lined up next to each other on a shelf. However, one thing most people don’t like is mess. If you don’t maintain your physical game library then it can begin to consume everything around it – your desk will turn into a home for your game cases. If you have a huge collection, you may not be able to find the game you want to play, or they’ll go missing forever. All of that is only for those that don’t keep their collection tidy.
However, there can be negatives to even those that do keep their shelves neat. Plastic cases take up space that could be used for something else, which can be a problem for those that live in smaller accommodations. They will be a pain if you ever move house and are easily broken. Steelbooks, while sturdy and wonderful to look at, cause many of the same issues. They take up space and can be lost just as easily as standard plastic cases. While physical cases admittedly look nice, wouldn’t it be nice to remove the clutter from your house?
You Don’t Have to Change Discs
It is really annoying when you are sat comfortably on your sofa and you decide to play something different, only to realize that it means you have to get up and chance discs. While that sounds like a trivial complaint, it is an effort that simply isn’t necessary.
You do not have to find the game you want to play, or hope the disc is inside when you go all digital. Digital gaming allows you to change what you are playing using your controller, without disturbing your comfort. This is especially useful if you are a gamer that does not focus on just one game. Maybe you’ll want to switch between a sports game and a shooter to match what you feel like playing. Doing so is much easier when your game library is digital.
Often Cheaper
PC gaming has largely become solely digital focused. Steam and its incredible sales made it almost impossible for physical stores and other retailers to match the prices so everyone moved their libraries over. This is slowly becoming the case on console. Sony and Microsoft have introduced frequent sales that dramatically slash the prices of some big games, and even smaller digital ones. Just last week I purchased the Deluxe Edition of Dragon Age: Inquisition for £2.99 on the UK PlayStation Store, which is a price I’m unlikely to ever see the physical version at.
In the US brand new games are all the same price as the retail versions. Yes, you lose the opportunity to trade the game in, or lend it to a friend, but it saves you time and effort. As the retail stores begin to close, cutting out the middle man that publishers so often rely on, the price of new AAA digital games will likely fall. However, this isn’t the case in many places around the world, such as much of Europe, where new digital games are closer to the RRP rather than the price in retail stores, which is disappointing. If the price was to ever match the retail price in those regions, I’m sure more people would embrace the digital future.
Backwards Compatible Future
A point that Microsoft continue to repeat when it comes to the marketing of their upcoming Project Scorpio console is how it will play all digital Xbox One games and all backwards compatible Xbox 360 games. The case is often the same with physical copies but the digital versions are automatically made available in the library on your console. Xbox 360 games are kept in the same place as Xbox One games and the function is added automatically.
With the future of games consoles seeming to move away from generations and towards incremental steps up, backwards compatibility will be a vital function that keeps games from becoming obsolete after just a few years. As we move into the era of the next PlayStation console and Project Scorpio, backwards compatibility will be very important.
Published: Apr 13, 2017 04:06 pm