mechmouse: A console game has been, until recently, A licensed copy of a copyrighted material.
While
PC games have always been A licence to install and use copyrighted material.

Let me make this more clear.

A console game is like a book. Buy a book and you own that physical item, with all the rights that come with owning a physical item. You can sell it or privately lend it and so own. We've got about four thousand years worth of laws and social contract that deals with such things.

A PC Game is like an imaginary magic wand which you wave to make the book appear. Only the person that has the magic wand is allowed to read the book. Unfortunately all the laws of the land deal with real physical objects, and are not very good when it comes to magic. You might be able to sell that wand, or let a private individual use it, or not. We've had this magic for about 50 years and the laws and defined rights are seriously lacking . So its up to the magicians that made the wand to make up their own rules, and the great thing it they have magic to enforce which ever rule they want (DRM).

Console owners don't like digital games, because they don't like magic. Or more precisely the lack of rules and control. Console owners fought against microsoft when they tried to turn Discs into wands (original XBox one design would have bound games to accounts just like steam and killed the console 2nd hand games).

Console owners know that gameX will be released at £60, in a month they know they can buy it new for £50, in 3 months £40 and 6 months it will be about £20 brand new.

With digital, games will remain at full price for much longer (normally years), only available cheaper during random sales or many years after release. They know they can't sell them or get them second hand.

Console owners, those people the laughably named PC Master race call peasants, will keep fighting against going digital for as long at they can.

With PC. We have no choice. Even when games came on discs, we really we're getting wands. Once the technology (magic) got developed enough publishers (magicians) had the ability to enforce their own rules.

Some people "like" digital games in the same way they like paying for bills direct debit. Its not that they like paying bills, its just easier. Since buying physical discs still forces you to use the digital service, its easier to skip that step.

Other people "like" digital games like they like breathing air, there is no other option. Physical PC games are very rare, and once again most link you to the digital service anyway.

Other people openly embrace digital games. I'm sure they've got their reasons....

dudalb: Digital does not equal DRM.You can back up your GOG purchases for instance on DVD's External Hard Drives, or name your favorite physical storage device,and have a physical copy.
Your comparasion of Console and Computer games..with your implicatation that people never really owned computer games but somehow with consoles you "Owned" your games is pure nonsense.
And your criticism of Computer Gamers for feeling superior to Console Gamers,and then praising Console gamers as being brave fighters for freedom as opposed to the stupid Computer gamers is even sillier.

timppu: Is the question mainly "why do console gamers (still) prefer buying games as physical versions, and PC gamers are largely now buying digital downloaded versions?"? Because the question in the title didn't make sense to me, at least I haven't noticed any "hate" for console digital games, but then I am not really a console gamer (my newest gaming console is a Playstation 2).

seppelfred: I'm completey against DRM. On console all digital downloads ar DRMed, so you don't own them.
On PC I can buy DRM-free games on GOG, that I can download and store them on my external HD. They are not tied to an account.

For consoles I buy only retail games, because I can lend them to a friend or resell them. That's not possible with digital games.

F1ach: But what about all the other glitches that the patch is supposed to fix :p

mechmouse: There is no nonsense.

Console games which are not digitally downloaded are "Licenced copies of copyrighted material" in the same way books and DVD's are. As such consumers have the rights legally granted for such physical items. You own that disk and Publishers have absolutely no legal capability to restrict the resale of such materials.

While current gen consoles are moving into a grey area, where games are required to be copied to internal storage first, there has been no case to say the games are now licensed software.

PC games are licensed software, complete with all the pseudo legal rubish that they can put into a EULA.

I'm not saying digital means DRM, only that given the contractual nature of a license publishers can inlcude clauses they can not with console games. And of course they have the option in enforce those clauses via DRM. Even without DRM I can't sell my GoG games, but I am able sell my digital copy of Office (pre Office 364)

As for console gamers fighting for their rights. Yes they did. MS wanted to lock games to accounts and a large amount of xbox owners said "fine we're getting a PS4", enough to make MS change their plans.

PC gamers, sleep walked into a situation where one company now controls almost all of PC gaming. And many worship the guy in charge.

Rixasha: I used to love physical copies for the PC too, but then I ran out of physical storage space. I rationalized that as long as the games are DRM-free, I can make the physical copy myself. Not going to burn them on discs or anything, but I do have everything downloaded to a dedicated hard disk. That's my physical copy, it doesn't take all that much physical space, and is easier to keep up to date too.

I don't have a backup for the disk; if it breaks I'll just re-download the bunch. Were gog to go under I'll look into something more robust.

dudalb: I don't get the poster's insistence that the legal crap for cosole game is somehow different then the legal crap of PC Games.

KasperHviid: I just spend a few days in a cabin without internet.

Nintendo Switch worked. GoG games worked. Old DOS games worked. (I scored 46 points in Bouncing Babies)

Steam games? Totally broken without internet. Wait, I actually PAID for this...?

eisberg77: Play in offline mode, problem solved.

mechmouse: There is no nonsense.

Console games which are not digitally downloaded are "Licenced copies of copyrighted material" in the same way books and DVD's are. As such consumers have the rights legally granted for such physical items. You own that disk and Publishers have absolutely no legal capability to restrict the resale of such materials.

While current gen consoles are moving into a grey area, where games are required to be copied to internal storage first, there has been no case to say the games are now licensed software.

PC games are licensed software, complete with all the pseudo legal rubish that they can put into a EULA.

I'm not saying digital means DRM, only that given the contractual nature of a license publishers can inlcude clauses they can not with console games. And of course they have the option in enforce those clauses via DRM. Even without DRM I can't sell my GoG games, but I am able sell my digital copy of Office (pre Office 364)

As for console gamers fighting for their rights. Yes they did. MS wanted to lock games to accounts and a large amount of xbox owners said "fine we're getting a PS4", enough to make MS change their plans.

PC gamers, sleep walked into a situation where one company now controls almost all of PC gaming. And many worship the guy in charge.

CMOT70: To cut a long story short, I just pulled a few old boxed games (from the 90's) and physically read their license agreements, and do you know what? The person you're talking about is correct, the legal crap IS different between PC and Console. Even back then.
The license is for use of the software on the CD (that's exactly how they word it), the CD being nothing more than a transport medium and a half-assed attempt at DRM. I checked a few old games, and they're all similar. Further, the license doesn't allow transferal- which means, to the letter of the law, you are not allowed to sell it, trade it etc. You bought the license, not the person you give or sell the CD to. I know the stuff in the license is unenforceable and probably irrelevant because of it- we all used to sell and trade and copy PC game discs, but it doesn't mean we were doing it legally.

Trading/selling console discs and cartridges is perfectly legal at this point.

teceem: The license and/or EULA is not above the law (of the country/state you reside in).
Over here, you own the physical disc a game (PC, console, whatever) comes on and are free* to do with as you will.

*don't make silly comments - no of course you can't use it to kill other people with.