In the gaming world, more and more of it is going online. You can now purchase and download video games digitally versus buying them physically. I had bought some games digitally myself when the price was right, but I still prefer buying them on discs whenever possible. Most gamers have a mix of physical and digital games in their collections.
Pros to Digital Games
No changing, losing, or damaging discs.
If you don't feel like getting up to change discs when you switch games, that could be a reason you might opt to purchase video games digitally. You also do not need to worry about misplacing or scratching a digital game or having a kid or pet break or scratch the disc. So if you are one to lose or break your video game discs, maybe you should consider buying more games digitally.
Earlier access to games upon release.
For those who want to be able to play an upcoming game as soon as the clock strikes midnight, buying a digital game may be a better option for you. You can usually download games hours ahead of time and access it once it's midnight local time. Most retailers that sell video games close at 9-9:30 pm. Depending on the game and retailer, you may be able to pick up a physical copy or digital code of a game the night before it's official release date if your local retailer is authorized to do an early release. So you can still at least start to download a game before midnight.
Cross-buy and game sharing.
With digital games, you can log in to your account on another game system and download the game on more than one system while purchasing a game once. With PlayStation Plus and Xbox Live memberships, you get free digital games every month. They are easy to download on to any system your account is logged in to.
Pros to Physical Games
You are stuck with it, whether you like it or not.
If you buy a physical copy of a video game, you can return, sell, or trade it in if you need some cash or want to purchase another video game. When you buy a game digitally, you are stuck with it. Xbox supposedly lets you get refunds on games you have played for less than 2 hours. You can erase the game and save data from your system to free up hard drive space, but you'll always have the game in your purchase history.
Physical games take up less memory.
Most current generation video game systems have 500GB or 1TB (or around 1,000GB) of hard drive storage space with the option to purchase an external hard drive for more space if needed. Some games, such as Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto, and Red Dead Redemption take up a significant amount of a game system's hard drive space, not even including future updates. Digital games, while may be more convenient, take up more hard drive space than their physical counterparts.
Worry less about internet speeds.
With a digital copy of a game, you have to download the entire thing, and depending on your internet speed, that can take a long time. With physical games, you are not downloading the entire game so download times are shorter and are less reliant on the console's internet connection.
