Survey: 64% of Gamers prefer discs to digital

[Ares]

Survey: 64% prefer discs to digital
July 4th, 2010
By Joe Anderson

A new report from Ipsos MediaCT says that 64 percent of those questioned prefered physical discs to digital copies.

The research firm surveyed 1,000 people and found that discs are still close to people hearts.
“I believe the preference for physical discs amongst next-gen gamers reflects the potential value they derive from the pre-owned market, which is holding up the preference for physical – this is unlike the music and film markets,” said Ipsos MediaCT director Ian Bramley.

“Physical games discs have a long and well-established history, which is a deep mindset to change – particularly when gamers build a physical collection as they fear losing digital versions. In-store browsing is also important to buyers.”

Publishers do seem to understand this and have recently been trying new options to make money from the online space, while encouraging users to buy games from new. EA’s online pass is the perfect example of this.

Sony also recently said in an interview with VG247 that it underestimated users attachment to the physical product, adding it may be some time before discs disappear altogether.
Thanks, MCV

Source: VG247

 

[Hi Ho]

I hate game discs. They get scratched no matter how careful I am with them. I always have to find the disc when I want to play a game and it is never where I thought I left it.

I have been buying nearly all of my games on Steam since the platform was released in 2004. I have not had one bit of trouble with them. I can download my games on any PC and play them without any hassles. Keeping a local backup is as easy as copying the Steam folder to an external drive. I don't even have to reinstall the games if I reinstall Windows! All I have to do is install the steam client and everything is just like it was, settings, saved games, achievements, everything.

I still like discs for movies mainly because they provide the best possible quality but as far as games are concerned, good riddance!

 

[Ares]

If this survey came out last gen I would have said to give me a download but it's a whole different ball game now. I have yet to scratch a BD, DVD is a whole other story I like owning my games on discs reason when I'm done I pop over to GS and trade them in. I will never ever download a movie from the PS Store again to own, for the simple reason if the HDD goes so does the movie learned this one the hard way.

 

[Serj22]

All my game boxes are organized alphabetically by system; all the gamecube games are on one shelf, in order; all the Ps2 games on another, ps3, xbox 360 etc. When I'm done playing one game, goes right back in the case and then back in the exact spot on the shelf it's supposed to be in. my discs never touch anything but my hand, the case or the system, and never ever get scratched. I am also crazy OCD about how the boxes are organized and I need the boxes. I hate having a digital copy of a game. Infamous was on sale on PSN for $29.99 so I said "Hey, I'll get that!" walked down to GameStop and bought it on a disc for $26.99. You can's resale a digital copy of anything.

 

[MinusTheBear]

I prefer disks. I still play my games right off the disk over downloading them on the HDD.

 

[Ares]

I doubt physical media will disappear anytime soon, since HVD has yet to hit the consumer market which will take sometime for the prices to fall since a HVD player is about $15,000 and the discs are about $120-180 currently. Sony, Philips, TDK, Panasonic and Optware have plans to release a 1TB disc in 2019, they are able to hold up to 6TB of info.

How HVD works.

 

[dkane360]

It feels more gratifying when you buy something tangible. I'd buy a physical CD over a downloaded album (even FLAC) any day, even if its a little more money.

 

[Nugu]

Digital won music because the files are small, cheaper, and once you have them you can back them up/copy/keep them. The smart way for them to approach this would be to offer both methods like we've seen cropping up. That satisfies both types of consumers.

Digital (in this case) has everything against it.

+No disc to damage
-Higher price (vs used or even sale items)
-No resale
-Anywhere from 8-30gigs of bandwidth (No instant gratification)
-Dependence on a third party service to even get said item (internet to download)
-When the PSN ends because it's not profitable you have no guarantee about your games (PS3 dies? bye-bye digital games)


As for a disc version? It's basically the exact opposite of the digital version.
+Lower price
+Resale
+Walk to a shop and come home and play (instant gratification)
+You don't need a fiber connection (internet)
+You own the game, regardless of what happens to PSN
-Disc that can be damaged





As a side note, I'm still pissed I had to import a UK version of Agarest Wars since the US release was PSN only while the blasted xbox360 got a limited edition disc. Don't judge me.

 

[its phillip]

physical media forever

although i wish you could just rip the games to the system and play em from there/play backups

i know on some systems you can but they all involve modding :/