Digital vs Boxed

donjn

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I want to start a thread about all of these digital downloads we are starting to see. Now, I know these were available years ago, but now it is 100% mainstream.

Is anyone else old fashioned like me? Don't you miss the days of cracking open a new Ultima game and getting a manual, spellbook, and a cloth map? Wasn't it fun going to bed early and reading about all the Ultima spell names?

I fear this digital download fad will become the first choice someday..
 
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I prefer boxed edition although I buy some games in digital one.
 
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I prefer the boxes, though they are starting to take up too much space.

Bedtime reading is a big plus! :) Printing out manuals on an inkjet printer is entirely too expensive, though. :(
 
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I prefer the boxes, though they are starting to take up too much space.

Bedtime reading is a big plus! :) Printing out manuals on an inkjet printer is entirely too expensive, though. :(

Spend a few extra dollars and purchase a laserjet printer. In the end you will save money because their cartridges last much longer.

Prinouts suck. Plus it does not quite have the same smell as a thick manual from the printing press.
 
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I want to start a thread about all of these digital downloads we are starting to see. Now, I know these were available years ago, but now it is 100% mainstream.

Is anyone else old fashioned like me? Don't you miss the days of cracking open a new Ultima game and getting a manual, spellbook, and a cloth map? Wasn't it fun going to bed early and reading about all the Ultima spell names?

I fear this digital download fad will become the first choice someday..

Yes but most boxed games nowadays only come with the DVD. A very simple manual comes as PDF in the DVD (manuals of old are now called 'Prima Strategy Guide' and cost an extra $15 or so), and no maps.
But having said that, I still prefer buying a boxed over downloaded since for retarded reasons, downloaded versions cost the same as boxed.
 
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I'm a "boxed lover" too.

Collector's Editions are great and if possible I rather spend twice the money to buy CE version. Of the newer games, Gothic 3 for example had really nice CE with Gothic amulet and cloth map. :D

As an avid old games collector, especially Ultima (surprise!), I just love the old games with fat manual, cloth maps and extra stuff. When I was kid, I use to read the stories in the manuals just before I went to bed. And back in the days, when there wasn't that much dialog in the game, the manual usually contained the back story of the game and really helped to understand the game. Since I love to collect and archive games, the download option is no go for me. And if I buy the boxed game, there is always an option to re-sale the game too.
 
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I know this is a box-lovers thread but digital all the way, for me. I used to like the cloth map and the coin and so on but, honestly, I only need so much crap that doesn't get used. When was the last time you actually got a good cloth map?

So, I prefer to save myself the hassle of going to the store and dealing with the idiots (and they are idiots in my area), plus I can often get them faster and no disc-swapping.
 
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For new games I prefer the boxed versions. Ideally a nice CE for potential favorites but the regular version will do just fine in many cases, of course.
However, I also use download services sometimes, especially for classic games (GOG, Steam) and when I played Star Wars Galaxies (MMO) I bought some of the expansions as a digital download directly from Sony and I have also used EA's downloader for the BF2 booster packs and Blizzard's store for download versions of Diablo/Diablo 2.

For expansions I would definitely prefer it if publishers would extend their download offers since the download size is usually manageable and you don't really need a manual or anything.
As for full games, however, I think I'll stick with the boxes for now. Download services (and ISPs) still have too many issues from slow or unreliable connections to weird clients to delayed patches to retarded pricing compared to the retail version etc etc etc.

There are way more downsides than advantages in many cases so getting the retail is a no brainer for me most of the time.
I order 97% of my games from a UK online shop where brand new games usually cost between EUR 32 and 35 (instead of EUR 44 to 49 at German retail and download services) including shipping right to my doorstep.
Digital would have to be considerably cheaper before I'd seriously consider it as a full alternative. For me it would have to be new games <= EUR 25 before we're even talking. Until then I'll be very selective about if and when I use digital instead of retail because the minor convenience of no disk requirement just doesn't outweigh all the cons (for me at least).
 
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Another vote for boxed. While I like the touchy feedback, the prime driver for me is having usage forever. If I lose my download (to a HDD crash, for instance) I'm SOL. If I get a new PC, potentially I'm SOL. If I want to play an older game and the download site has gone out of business, no authorization code means no game. Maybe those problems aren't actually problems, but that's my excuse until someone educates me otherwise. ;)
 
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Definitely boxed; I want it in my hand. Plus with limited downloads, I don't want to waste any of my GB's on something I can buy for the same price at an online store.
 
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Another vote for boxed. While I like the touchy feedback, the prime driver for me is having usage forever. If I lose my download (to a HDD crash, for instance) I'm SOL. If I get a new PC, potentially I'm SOL. If I want to play an older game and the download site has gone out of business, no authorization code means no game. Maybe those problems aren't actually problems, but that's my excuse until someone educates me otherwise. ;)

I actually agree with you on this one. ;) When I buy a game, I don't want to depend on an online verification service that may disappear in a few years.
 
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Boxed. I don't mind digital, but if I can't back up my purchase, I'm wary of doing business. For many of the indie games, digital is the only cost effective method; no one would pay what they'd need to sell a good boxed copy and turn a profit at such low volumes.

I miss getting cloth maps, clue books that were a story in and of themselves, and more importantly; games I could backup without resorting to arcane rituals and human sacrifice and dogs and cats living together. You know, mass hysteria.
 
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I like the box copy for nostalgic reasons, but I am getting 90% of my stuff digitally now. Mass Effect, Red Faction Guerrilla, Risen, and I'm going digital for Dragon Age.
 
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Both. I lean towards boxed though, but I have no problem buying digital versions, if that's all I can find. This is the case for many adventure games - and for these games I'm very satisfied with buying from AdventureShop where a newly released adventure game often is listed at $19.99 or $29.99. That is so cheap that I don't really worry about potentially not being able to replay them in a couple of years..

I'm not very fond of Steam though, because their price is simply too high for a digital product. More often than not I can find the game cheaper as a physical copy - which makes it an easy decision which one to take. Recent example was Kings Bounty which I just picked up in a box for $20 - on steam it was also recently released, but it would cost me $46 including taxes! That's just ridiculous!

One annoyance with boxed copies is the copy protection though. Right now I'm primarily playing Risen, with Kings Bounty to fall back to when I don't feel like taking in a lot of story. Because I'm lazy I've downloaded and applied a crack to my legally bought version of Kings Bounty to avoid having to swap disks all the time...
 
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I prefer boxed also for the same mentioned reasons above. Having the case and a proper manual feels more "real" than a digital copy.

Just got the Limited edition of Uncharted 2 yesterday and the metal plating rather than a plastic case feels better, although the manual could have been larger it's still a lot more satisfactory than a digital only copy. (Not that Uncharted 2 can be obtained digitally but just as an example)

One thing I do fail to understand though, howcome games cost the same digitally as they do boxed? You would think that if a company can push out its games digitally they would be saving tremendous amounts of $, that's definitely something I don't get but hope someone might know more about the field.
 
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