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General discussion (archive)Do you continue to buy physical copies of games ?(71 posts)(71 posts)
(71 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted September 20, 2014
From time to time yes. If it is cheaper than buying digital, I'll buy physical. I also enjoy browsing the local thrift stores, though they've as of late really cut down on their game selection (and their book selection as well, which used to be my main reason for going to those stores in the first place).
Posted September 20, 2014
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MaxFulvus: I'm curious ! With the digital market and stores like GOG, Steam, Humble Store... Do you continue to buy physical copies of games in store or occasion games in garage sales, regarding to the DRM issues?
What do you mean "regarding to the DRM issues"? Many retail games may e.g. have some nasty Starforce or somesuch copy protection, which is the only reason why the game refuses to work on e.g. Windows 7 systems.

I am not actively looking for retail (PC) games anymore, partly also because I feel my current physical game collection already takes too much room in my home. If I see some rare game cheaply somewhere, I might buy it though.

The last time was when at work someone had left a bunch of DVD-movies, PS2- and PC-games with a note "free, help yourself". I saw LOTR: Battle for Middle Earth 1-2 (including expansion pack(s)) there, yay! I would have paid money to get them, but since I didn't know who had left them there, I took them for free.

I also took Ubisoft's King Kong game, but that is one of those games known not to work on e.g. Windows 7 systems due to the copy protection. My Windows XP machines are probably too slow for that game, so it appears I will never play that game. I guess i could just as well throw it to trashbin because apparently e.g. GamersGate is selling an enhanced DRM-free version of the same game, which does work in Windows 7.

I think the earlier time I bought a retail PC game was when I saw Terra Nova CD on sale for a couple of bucks on flea market. Yay!
Posted September 20, 2014
No, not any more.
I used to only due to my awful internet connection, just to avoid tens of gigabytes of download that would require days to be completed... but given my recently acquired extremism against DRM, now that almost every copy needs an online activation -defeating the very same purpose of its existence- I don't even consider the idea. Steam pushed me to that decision: a part from the fact that I despise Valve's politics, the last time I bought a physical copy it forced me to redownload nearly the entire game because the retail verison wasn't updated with all their new crap.

I have never been a collector, and I always considered boxes just a waste of my limited space and (talking like the crazy ecologist I am) a useless cause of environmental pollution. DRM-free digital download is the best: constant availability, freedom of use, possibility to save a copy on different supports in case of necessity and 0% waste production. THAT is the way to go, imo.
Post edited September 20, 2014 by Enebias
Posted September 20, 2014
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Enebias: the last time I bought a physical copy it forced me to redownload nearly the entire game because the retail verison wasn't updated with all their new crap.
Oh yeah, that's another good point against buying retail games for me: they rarely contain the definite version and often require you to search for patches on the internet anyway - at least at some point -, and then you would need to store those patches separately from your game disks and/or search for them again, each time you install the game, instead of just storing the most recent version of the installer like you can with digital games.
Post edited September 20, 2014 by Leroux
Posted September 20, 2014
I like searching for very good deals of collectors edition of games,doesnt matter if old or not.,and few times I buy them.

I also buy every blizzard entertainment game on collectors,because i'm a fanboy :( :P
at least as long as I can financially keep doin this.
Posted September 20, 2014
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Leroux: Oh yeah, that's another good point against buying retail games for me: they rarely contain the definite version and often require you to search for patches on the internet anyway - at least at some point -, and then you would need to store those patches separately from your game disks and/or search for them again, each time you install the game, instead of just storing the most recent version of the installer like you can with digital games.
I actually have a "Game_Updates" directory on a couple of my hard drives containing updates to lots of my retail games. Once I download some game update, I put it there safe, just in case I want to use it again but can't find it online anymore. That has been the case sometimes, I've stopped trusting that everything will remain available online forever. Web sites carrying that stuff come and go.

That's also one reason I am not so keen on obtaining pirated or "abandonware" versions of PC games. Finding an update to an old and rare game can be a task in itself (currently Patches Scrolls.de is my trusted place, no idea where to get them if it ever closes its doors, and even they seem to be missing some updates), but then obtaining a working crack for that updated version can be even harder.

So yeah, digital DRM-free version is the best solution for me too.
Post edited September 20, 2014 by timppu
Posted September 20, 2014
I snagged a physical copy of Blade Runner a while back, and in the past couple of years I've snagged Morrowind and a few others.

That has to be the most boring post I've ever made in here. XD
Posted September 20, 2014
Yes. One good reason is if the game is like 20GB+ in size... no effing way am i going to download that much data.....
Posted September 20, 2014
I buy physical copies sometimes if I find them cheap (for example, most game stores have a buy 3 pay for 2 option) and I can't find them in digital form.
Posted September 20, 2014
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Enebias: the last time I bought a physical copy it forced me to redownload nearly the entire game because the retail verison wasn't updated with all their new crap.
that happened to me as well for me it was Fate

Since joining up here I haven't bought many physical games but if a game looks perty & there doesn't seem to be anything on there that punishes me for buying & the game doesn't seem to be here yeah, I'll consider getting that disc.
Post edited September 20, 2014 by Rusty_Gunn
Posted September 20, 2014
Only used Xbox games and that was like two times when I was working in the UK where it was super-cheap, not like here discounted by $1.

I stopped buying physical copies of PC games long time ago, even before Steam. Pirated versions and backup HDDs being able to store dozens of them had satisfied my need (i.e. not stuffing my limited living space with useless boxes). Nowadays I just buy a license of Steam game for a couple of bucks or a copy of GOG game and store it on HDD.
Post edited September 20, 2014 by Rinu
Posted September 20, 2014
Nope. I stopped buying boxed copies for three reasons:

1. I have a very good internet connection (60Mb) without data cap. Game is 50GB? Who cares?

2. Boxed games don't offer any advantages anymore. They won't run without any clients and often you can't install them from the disc anyway. They don't even come with a manual anymore... Most boxed games were degraded to "unnecessary waste" a long time ago.

3. I don't store them visibly in a shelf anymore. There's no collection to look at. I think I just got too old for game covers as decoration :/
Posted September 20, 2014
No
Posted September 20, 2014
The last hard copy of a PC game I bought was Fallout 3.

I've basically given up on new games now as everything is Steam infected or Origin etc.

Not a problem for me though, there are plenty on my wishlist from GOG and I'm busy with Asheron's Call too
Posted September 20, 2014
I don't.

And I kinda swore I ever would.
Post edited September 20, 2014 by Telika
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Community
General discussion (archive)Do you continue to buy physical copies of games ?(71 posts)(71 posts)
(71 posts)