Digital Distribution or Hardcopy?

What if all our HDDs just died simultaneously?
It's better to have everything nice and shiny sitting in the box with the manual.

Well ya see...if it's steam then your sorted and just re-download, if it's a hard copy then it's impossible to find the disc...

Disk and manual here! Although I don't mind digital distro, as long as there's a PayPal payment option. (I have no Credit Card)

Box and manual..... especially if said box actually includes a manual, rather than some lame note saying 'manual included on CD in PDF format :sick:

Box it all up for me baby :D

Me chooses boxaging!

i like to buy hard copys, cuz i dont have a credit card or paypal account. but once its on steam (if it is a game that goes with steam) i never use cd's again

Digital ftw

Hard copy. Makes me feel safer.

I think all games should be on steam... It is the best system to date and it makes it so much easier when I want to install games!

I totally agree wiht shadowless. Disks are safer, because if something messes up, you can still re-install it. You can also lend it to your friend, and the manual is important for troubleshooting and/or geting a background of the game and it's mechanics. (I sound like such a nerd, but there it is)

Forget disks, I'm tired of wrangling them & all the copy protection nonsense. I simply re-download wherever I am, or toss a collection on a dvd if totally necessary.

Steam is the only digital distibution platform that I trust, plus if I lose it, I can just redownload it anyway. :D

Box and Manual ftw.

Not me, box and disk. I don't trust a digital version, at all.

what is a god game without a good box to match it? :D jk, almost...

a boxed version is more rewarding imo (and safer to buy: go to the store, pay the money and leave as with digital distro its a hassle with credit card numbers, potential hackers, worlds colliding XD)
just give me my boxed on with manual XD

even thought selling online cost lessa money to distribute box and manual still win because sometimes you find goodies inside (ie: halo 3 beta, free xbox live gold 48 hours)

Ah yes, digital distribution.

There's nothing better than paying for something that can crap out on you during download and refuse to restart, be corrupt when you have downloaded it, have mismatching serial keys or become permanently lost when your machine conks out and the data can't be recovered.

I don't wanna have it jsut on my Computer, I want to hold it in my hands, but games like garrysmod are ok ;) !

The problem with a digital copy is that if your hard drive breaks, then you have to buy a new copy. Digital distribution is great for free stuff because if you lose it, you can just re-download it.

Besides, boxed games come with a cool cover.

Box is better because if you have to re-install the game for some reason, you can't re-use the digital version, but I may be wrong. Plus you need a credit card to buy online, and I hate credit cards! They're just overly-convenient endless cash pits. :flame: Go Box!

I answered Digital Distribution, but it's only Steam really. Everything ive bought from it has been cheaper than what I could get in a store.

Can't say the same for EA's mess. £30 for 2142 over EA Link when I can buy it from Play with free delivery for £24? No contest really.

I go for the retail hard-copy because it means i don't have to worry if I need to reformat my computer. I can just pull out the disc(s) and install it again!

I only do digital distribution from retailers that require an account (aka Steam) that way I can play it until I'm bored, delete it to save space and improve performance, and then download it again when I feel the need to play it. That seems to be the only "right" system at the moment, and steam seems to have the best implementation of this system.

yup, I like steam a lot now. At start it really was sh*t. I had to insert my cd key of my retail hl EVERY time I started steam, and one day it told me my cd was already registered with another acc...which freaked me out :P
But now I think it's the best there is. Good customer service too.

But still, there's nothing like a cool box to put on your shelves! ( <3 )

TODO: add a "both" option

and a "don't care"

Box and Manual all the way. I do like Steam and all, but there's nothing sweeter than that new Manual smell...

sounds weird, but i agree with garcian!

btw, I just downloaded HL2 at Steam (yes, one week ago) AND i only did it for the prize!
This 3Pack costs me 24,95$, thats about 18€ in my country, buying the retail version would cost me about 35€, the DOUBLE!

But thats cos i live in Europe, and American goods are cheap to buy this way. I still don't trust Steam... I don't trust the Internet at all.
I know people got their account hacked and now they lost games worth 150€:)

I really like to buy a new game, open the box, look at the goodies and then read the manual at a friday evening before going to bed ^^ </dream>

steam u don't have to buy new stuff...

freakin' packrats ;)

Digital Distro has done me fine so far.

When it comes to certain special games, its cool to have a box and manual, but for others It's just far more convenient to download it all.

I'm really undecided here.
I haven't bought any games online yet, except for a premium account on bloodthirst.dk, but I've tried pleanty of mods and demos on Steam.
Will buy Vampire: The Masquarade from Steam as soon as I get time to play it, since I haven't seen that game in any stores.

Digital distribution can do games cheaper, since they don't have to spend money on transport.
But then again "real" stores will often be stuck with dated games, so they are forced to sell them really cheap.

The boxes for physical products are both a plus and a minus.
They look great on a bookshelf, but if you don't have enough space on said bookshelf it's an annoyance.

But physical copies are not hax-free either. When I bought HL2 my CD-key was already in use, and I had to bug Valve to get a new one.

Yeah, gotta be box with manual all the way. So much nicer and if you look after them, something to be proud of. ;)

I really like Digital things, it's just a hassle with credit cards i can't afford... So i choose for box and manual.

mmm, new manual smell!

I like digital distribution for games like defcon, or garrys mod 10 that probly would never make it to the shelves otherwise but I prefer to have something to salivate over while the game installs

Both, really. Many, MANY games on STEAM I can get in retail cheaper:
Sin Episode 1: $10
PREY CE (tin box & all) :$20
HL2+CS+DM: $30
CoD1: $10
Darwinia: $10
Defcon: $10

All those are $10 cheaper then Steam.

But I did like buying Defcon on release via the DEVELOPER & having a copy MAILED to me. Really liked that. Honestly, anything else is a rip WE (gamers) aren't saving $$ by digital distro's & the dev's aren't making much more eigther (Darwinia & Defcon same price on steam & dev site, which one do you think gets the dev's more $$?).

Plus, do you REALLY want to keep download 4/5 DVD's worth of data every time a new game comes out? I don't. I can go to the store (on release day) & pick it up & install it right when I get home. Hit "ok", walk away, eat dinner & come back & it's all set. no problem! Sure, I COULD download it & do the same, but if the game sucks then what? I'm stuck with a $50/60 game that will just be uninstalled & never used again. At least with a hard copy I can e-bay it quick & get some of my $$ back.

Plus, Valve has THE MOST complaints against it, according to the BBB (better business bureau, www.bbb.org), then many other software dev's, publishers & brick+mortar stores combined. There is a reason for that.

Not everyone has a credit card or access to one. I pay cash only.Gimme that box lol.

I like Steam. I buy a box at retail, plug in the key, then am able to download and delete my games at will. It works, and is the best of both worlds.

i think both, i really really really hate digtal ditribution, but at least it saves me changing the dvd EVERYTIME i wan't to change the game

so i would say box and manual and perhaps something allong the lines of steam, only no downloading :p

But the bad things about these little thingys are it wastes resources. Global Warming peoples.. We need to prepare. So we need to save resources by using digital distributuion instead

there's really no way to prove that. Sure, you can cut trees & run factories to make discs, boxes & manuals, but with digital you have more high powered servers running 24/7, computer running at more power to download data, and (possibly) on for longer periods of time to download, thousands (or hundreds of thousands) at a time, and each time you want to install it's like that again, where as trees regrow & can only be cut down once.

The best ways for gamers to fight global warming is to buy all old games off e-bay, amazon, etc. & get 486's to run them. Then no more energy/trees used to make new copies & you'll use 1/100th as much power playing them. :)

I am all for hard copys, digital distribution takes too long

But, only because of steam, I have brought around 8 games off of steam, all of them cheaper than in store, quicker and easier than to go down GAME. And also, I can get games before they are in store' s and games that aren't even in stores. And the best part is, when I format my PC all I have to do is log in to steam and leave it for about 4hours. And I have my game collection back. :D

I think hardcopy is the best! I love just going down to the store. Grabbing your copy and eagerly wait in line and perchase it. Ounce the cashier tells you have a nice day, you dash out and get home and pop that game in. That is why I love hardcopys! But the bad things about these little thingys are it wastes resources. Global Warming peoples.. We need to prepare. So we need to save resources by using digital distributuion instead. I hope by 20 years Digital Distribution will take over when its much more relible and saves resources. We dont need to cut down trees and make plastic and wahtnot for the game disks.

But remember when you installed a steam game on another computer and was like "Oh I dont need the disk..." but when you final start downloading, you wish you have brought the disk with you. Thats how I felt when I was at my dads house.

It's easy to download the digital copy(after u buy it) but it's not easy to pay for it...if u dun have a credit card.
Maybe a mix of both is better, like u buy the code from a store and d/l it from the internet using the code.

Hard copy because then you're just basically buying the serial or a burdensome digital account if you don't. Paying 60 bucks for a download is just cheaper for the company. You can download the game anyway from a torrent or something if your CD breaks and use the serial. Much rather get more than less in my purchases.

I picked and prefer box and manual, although steam have done a really good job in that even if you need to reformat you can easily just download again.

I voted for Digi but i just thought... i steal my games :-/ from my work... so boxes it is

Id rather have the box and manual. Although nowadays they come with the jewel case and small booklets, I miss the larger boxes and manuals.