Which is better buying games from steam or having physical copies of the game?

[AliceShiki]

???

You don't run the risk of your CD getting scratched and your game becoming unplayable.

 

[Ral]

You don't run the risk of your CD getting scratched and your game becoming unplayable.

Not that a digital copy could last forever either.

 

[AliceShiki]

Not that a digital copy could last forever either.

Often times they can? Especially if you download it from a source without DRM, you just need to have a backup or two and you're pretty much guaranteed to have it forever.

Like, sure, maybe 30 years from now that file format will no be longer supported, but then someone will have created an emulator that will allow you to keep playing it anyways.

 

[Ral]

Often times they can? Especially if you download it from a source without DRM, you just need to have a backup or two and you're pretty much guaranteed to have it forever.

Like, sure, maybe 30 years from now that file format will no be longer supported, but then someone will have created an emulator that will allow you to keep playing it anyways.

You can pretty much do the same thing with a physical copy.

And no, a back up copy isn't going to last forever either.

I mean, even big companies like Google have problems with digital storage and how volatile they are.

The thing is, there isn't much difference in terms of permanence between the two. Your physical copy can get damaged (scratched) and your digital copy can be ruined by your storage device going kaput or by a virus attack. In terms of permanence, none has an advantage over the other.

 

[AliceShiki]

You can pretty much do the same thing with a physical copy.

And no, a back up copy isn't going to last forever either.

I mean, even big companies like Google have problems with digital storage and how volatile they are.

The thing is, there isn't much difference in terms of permanence between the two. Your physical copy can get damaged (scratched) and your digital copy can be ruined by your storage device going kaput or by a virus attack. In terms of permanence, none has an advantage over the other.

Making 2 or 3 backups online is trivial. Even if one is lost (which almost never happens), you still have others.

Making different copies of the CD you're using is a lot harder, especially because CDs often have DRM in them... Also, a CD getting scratched is still a bazillion times easier than losing a digital copy of something.

You can say that both mediums are succeptible to being lost, which I agree to, but saying neither has an advantage? That is silly. A digital media is much much much easier to preserve and much more likely to last a long time than a physical one as well.

Not to mention you can actually lose a physical media with some ease, while digital medias are pretty much always in the place you want them to be... And even if you forget where you put it, you'll always know where to search.

Digital is definitely the winner in lasting long.

 

[Ral]

Making 2 or 3 backups online is trivial. Even if one is lost (which almost never happens), you still have others.

Making different copies of the CD you're using is a lot harder, especially because CDs often have DRM in them... Also, a CD getting scratched is still a bazillion times easier than losing a digital copy of something.

You can say that both mediums are succeptible to being lost, which I agree to, but saying neither has an advantage? That is silly. A digital media is much much much easier to preserve and much more likely to last a long time than a physical one as well.

Not to mention you can actually lose a physical media with some ease, while digital medias are pretty much always in the place you want them to be... And even if you forget where you put it, you'll always know where to search.

Digital is definitely the winner in lasting long.

Making copies of the CD is harder . . . but harder doesn't mean impossible, and it is not even that hard. And digital versions does have DRMs too. Also these physical version are digital too, they are just recorded on (mainly) read-only devices like CDs. I mean, DRM stands for Digital Rights Management. Really, the only real difference between the physical and the digital are the mediums they are in. Heck, you can turn physical to digital and digital to physical.

Yes, they have advantages over the other, but the advantage you talk about is ease of use not permanence. When we talk of ease of use, then digital is superior but when you talk about permanence, none of the two have an advantage over the other.

And what? Permanence of a media has nothing to do with you losing them. You unable to find them doesn't mean they don't have permanence.

And digital copies are rather vulnerable too, from hacking, virus, hardware malfunction and lots of other stuff. While, yes, you let other people (essentially companies with services like Google Drive or Dropbox, which I assume is what you mean when you talk digital) do the hard work for you, that doesn't mean they aren't vulnerable just because you aren't the one who take care of the problem and issues.

And, digital media does includes the CD you know? Those digital forms do need to be stored on physical medium like Hard Drives, Flash Drives or, you guess it, CDs. It is not as if this "digital" is some mysterious thing that has its own mysterious medium. It is pretty much the same as those physical copies, only that the storage is in some other place, owned and taken care of by other people.

Still, no. Digital is not a master of lasting long. Ease of use yes, especially when it is other people who do the work for you. In terms of permanence? Nope. Just because you don't know how to take care of your stuff doesn't mean the mediums is at fault.

 

[Zoey]

And, digital media does includes the CD you know? Those digital forms do need to be stored on physical medium like Hard Drives, Flash Drives or, you guess it, CDs. It is not as if this "digital" is some mysterious thing that has its own mysterious medium. It is pretty much the same as those physical copies, only that the storage is in some other place and own and taken care of by other people.

Anyway I guess you just solved our problem of digital vs physical because all media is stored on some kind of physical medium because we live in a physical world that works with physical things so really there's no argument it's all just physical vs physical if we really just think about it.

Edit: the problem here is that the way I define digital is different from the way you define digital so we'll never come to an agreement unless we first define what digital means. Which I'm way to lazy to do so let's just leave it at this and move on with our lives.
And don't you dare bring out the dictionary, that's not a discussion anymore it's just people arguing what the dictionary 'actually' means which is a huge pain in the ass and I don't want to deal with that.

 

[Kldran]

I favored physical in the beginning. Eventually, though the sheer size of my collection became a problem. Now I favor digital.

 

[Ral]

Anyway I guess you just solved our problem of digital vs physical because all media is stored on some kind of physical medium because we live in a physical world that works with physical things so really there's no argument it's all just physical vs physical if we really just think about it.

Edit: the problem here is that the way I define digital is different from the way you define digital so we'll never come to an agreement unless we first define what digital means. Which I'm way to lazy to do so let's just leave it at this and move on with our lives.

There is a pretty clear definition here. Physical is something like CDs or cartridges and the like which the game came in when you buy them. Digital is pretty much the ones you have to get through the internet (like through Steam) that you have to download into your computer or exist only in your computer.

 

[Zoey]

There is quite a pretty clear definition here. Physical is something like CDs or cartridges and the like which the game came in when you buy them. Digital is pretty much the ones you have to get through the internet (like with Steam) that you have to download into your computer or exist only in your computer.

like I said, lets move on with are lives.
I'm being serious this conversation will have zero impact on either of are lives so lets just end it at this.

 

[Ral]

like I said, lets move on with are lives.
I'm being serious this conversation will have zero impact on either of are lives so lets just end it at this.

Well, I am doing it for enjoyment. Pretty much like gossiping. It is not like we do things because they have big impact in our lives or something. I don't know that you are taking this seriously. I don't. I would most likely forget about this a few days from now.

 

[AliceShiki]

Making copies of the CD is harder . . . but harder doesn't mean impossible, and it is not even that hard. And digital versions does have DRMs too. Also these physical version are digital too, they are just recorded on (mainly) read-only devices like CDs. I mean, DRM stands for Digital Rights Management. Really, the only real difference between the physical and the digital are the mediums they are in. Heck, you can turn physical to digital and digital to physical.

Yes, they have advantages over the other, but the advantage you talk about is ease of use not permanence. When we talk of ease of use, then digital is superior but when you talk about permanence, none of the two have an advantage over the other.

And what? Permanence of a media has nothing to do with you losing them. You unable to find them doesn't mean they don't have permanence.

And digital copies are rather vulnerable too, from hacking, virus, hardware malfunction and lots of other stuff. While, yes, you let other people (essentially companies with services like Google Drive or Dropbox, which I assume is what you mean when you talk digital) do the hard work for you, that doesn't mean they aren't vulnerable just because you aren't the one who take care of the problem and issues.

And, digital media does includes the CD you know? Those digital forms do need to be stored on physical medium like Hard Drives, Flash Drives or, you guess it, CDs. It is not as if this "digital" is some mysterious thing that has its own mysterious medium. It is pretty much the same as those physical copies, only that the storage is in some other place, owned and taken care of by other people.

Still, no. Digital is not a master of lasting long. Ease of use yes, especially when it is other people who do the work for you. In terms of permanence? Nope. Just because you don't know how to take care of your stuff doesn't mean the mediums is at fault.

I said physical copies of cds were harder, not impossible... And also a pain to store.
I also explicitly mentioned files without DRM in the digital argument because those are super easy to find... Meanwhile, pretty much any game cd for a console will have DRM in it.

I am not talking about ease of use, I'm talking about permanence. And a media you can lose easily, sit on top of, slip from your hand and hit the ground, among numerous other trivial to happen occurrences certainly has much less chances of lasting a long time when compared to a file in your computer.

Hacking basically never happens, it's pointless to worry about that. Viruses basically never inflict your computer either, so also a pointless worry. And hardware malfunctions deleting files is something I never heard of... And all of those problems are easily avoidable by having a backup online, which is again, trivial to make and maintain multiples of.
And worrying about google having issues with your files is about as sensible as worrying about a meteor hitting the Earth and wiping out the Human Race... It can happen, but it most likely won't. You can safely trust giant rich companies to handle your stuff... And even if you don't, a 2nd backup solves the issue... Which is again, trivial to make.

CDs are physical medias, Digital Medias are files in a computer or in the cloud. Stating otherwise is just arguing in bad faith.

I know how to take care of my things just fine, but I can assure you that it's much easier for a CD to slip from my hand and hit the ground when I'm taking it out of my ps4, then it is for my computer to break in the same day that google goes bankrupt and loses everything stored in its cloud.
Digital media just has a much much much higher chance of lasting pretty much forever, while physical media is far too easy to damage and lose some functionality.

 

[Ral]

I am not talking about ease of use, I'm talking about permanence. And a media you can lose easily, sit on top of, slip from your hand and hit the ground, among numerous other trivial to happen occurrences certainly has much less chances of lasting a long time when compared to a file in your computer.

Your inability to take care of your stuff has nothing to do with the permanence of the media. That is not what permanence of a media means.

Hacking basically never happens, it's pointless to worry about that. Viruses basically never inflict your computer either, so also a pointless worry. And hardware malfunctions deleting files is something I never heard of... And all of those problems are easily avoidable by having a backup online, which is again, trivial to make and maintain multiples of.

You are kinda just denying stuff. Just because they have not happened now doesn't they won't happen later and just because you never heard of them doesn't mean they don't happen. Like, many people have their old game cartridges and CDs in really great condition, and you don't really expect your computer/laptop to never malfunction, do you?

Also, I could easily say that my physical copies are in a password protected safe and I'm just using copies of them (which means I almost never use of the originals) so losing them and damaging them is pointless to worry about. The same logic as yours is. The issue you have is really more of your lack of care than the inherent impermanence of the media.

And again, online, those aren't really permanent either. Many people have lost their data online. They are really in computers and hardware too and they are pretty much prone to problems as any other computers. Not to mention, they are under control of companies and these companies can go bankrupt or stop providing these services and other things that could happen to such companies.

I know how to take care of my things just fine, but I can assure you that it's much easier for a CD to slip from my hand and hit the ground when I'm taking it out of my ps4, then it is for my computer to break in the same day that google goes bankrupt and loses everything stored in its cloud.

I see. It is because you are can't be trusted to take your stuff then. You don't even bother to make a back up of your CD. And again, just because it doesn't happen now doesn't mean it won't happen, and many people have lost data they stored in the cloud.

Though, I must admit many cloud services (especially the big ones like Google) are quite reliable. I mean, they are big companies and they good at their stuff.

Digital media just has a much much much higher chance of lasting pretty much forever, while physical media is far too easy to damage and lose some functionality.

Again, no. Digital data is lost all the time.

On the other hand, many people still have their old game cartridges and CDs in very great condition, the testament of their longevity (given proper care). Many old games have survived today because these game media survived.

Really, the issue here is more like you pretty much unreliable at taking care of your stuff.

But I understand. These online stuff are kinda reliable (unless they suddenly don't). Still, they are stored in actual physical media and they are pretty much vulnerable as any physical media. The thing is, they do all the caring and back-up and all the hard work for you (which you apparently don't do with your stuff) so your data would last longer in their hands than in your own hands.

Still, these data can't "last forever" and they never will. How long they last depends on the care they receive and even then accidents happen.

 

[Raneday]

hmm if it's a limited edition of a game then I would always buy the physical one

 

[AliceShiki]

Your inability to take care of your stuff has nothing to do with the permanence of the media. That is not what permanence of a media means.

You are kinda just denying stuff. Just because they have not happened now doesn't they won't happen later and just because you never heard of them doesn't mean they don't happen. Like, many people have their old game cartridges and CDs in really great condition, and you don't really expect your computer/laptop to never malfunction, do you?

Also, I could easily say that my physical copies are in a password protected safe and I'm just using copies of them (which means I almost never use of the originals) so losing them and damaging them is pointless to worry about. The same logic as yours is. The issue you have is really more of your lack of care than the inherent impermanence of the media.

And again, online, those aren't really permanent either. Many people have lost their data online. They are really in computers and hardware too and they are pretty much prone to problems as any other computers. Not to mention, they are under control of companies and these companies can go bankrupt or stop providing these services and other things that could happen to such companies.

I see. It is because you are can't be trusted to take your stuff then. You don't even bother to make a back up of your CD. And again, just because it doesn't happen now doesn't mean it won't happen, and many people have lost data they stored in the cloud.

Though, I must admit many cloud services (especially the big ones like Google) are quite reliable. I mean, they are big companies and they good at their stuff.

Again, no. Digital data is lost all the time.

On the other hand, many people still have their old game cartridges and CDs in very great condition, the testament of their longevity (given proper care). Many old games have survived today because these game media survived.

Really, the issue here is more like you pretty much unreliable at taking care of your stuff.

But I understand. These online stuff are kinda reliable (unless they suddenly don't). Still, they are stored in actual physical media and they are pretty much vulnerable as any physical media. The thing is, they do all the caring and back-up and all the hard work for you (which you apparently don't do with your stuff) so your data would last longer in their hands than in your own hands.

Still, these data can't "last forever" and they never will. How long they last depends on the care they receive and even then accidents happen.

The number of surviving functioning cds of old games infinitely smaller than the number of ISO files downloaded of the same game.

You can't use copies of your CDs because 90% of the time they have DRM, making them unable to be copied.

It is not I that don't take care of my things, accidents just happen, and they are a million times easier to happen with physical media than it is to digital media, so digital media lasts much longer.

And saying digital data is lost all the time is a plain lie, so... *shrugs*
Like, sure, you can accidentally click the delete button in your keyboard after disabling your trash bin and removing the confirmation prompt for deletion... But aside from that, data is almost never lost.

 

[binarysoap]

The thing is, there isn't much difference in terms of permanence between the two. Your physical copy can get damaged (scratched) and your digital copy can be ruined by your storage device going kaput or by a virus attack. In terms of permanence, none has an advantage over the other.

I would like to point out the difference is sure, both of them can disappear, but your physical copy is more likely to get degraded/become unusable than a digital copy.

You already talked about it before, but technically everything is physical. So really, the difference is then what is likely to last longer, a large company dedicated to maintaining data, with lots of backup and stuff, or a single CD/game cartridge in your house? Also, who the heck uses CD's anyways. My laptop doesn't even have a CD reader.

Which brings me to my next point of technological obsolescence. Either way, there will be new standards, and it's unlikely you got to play your old game with new hardware anyways. For a digital copy, it's likely someone will go and convert that for you (if it's popular enough), but for a physical copy, well you'll have to hope your old compatible machine doesn't break, and most tech do not last too long.

 

[AliceShiki]

Also, who the heck uses CD's anyways.

Most game consoles still use CDs though?

I mean, technically they're Blu-Ray discs I guess, but that's still a CD as far as I care.

 

[Ral]

I would like to point out the difference is sure, both of them can disappear, but your physical copy is more likely to get degraded/become unusable than a digital copy.

You already talked about it before, but technically everything is physical. So really, the difference is then what is likely to last longer, a large company dedicated to maintaining data, with lots of backup and stuff, or a single CD/game cartridge in your house? Also, who the heck uses CD's anyways. My laptop doesn't even have a CD reader.

Which brings me to my next point of technological obsolescence. Either way, there will be new standards, and it's unlikely you got to play your old game with new hardware anyways. For a digital copy, it's likely someone will go and convert that for you (if it's popular enough), but for a physical copy, well you'll have to hope your old compatible machine doesn't break, and most tech do not last too long.

Okay. Your digital copy can degrade/become unstable . . . you just have back ups to replace them. These back ups often are discs/hard drives/flash drives that you keep in a safe location that you have to periodically check so you can fix any problems. After all, it would be horrid if you bring up your back up only find it useless. This digital copy you have now might not be the original one that you have but a copy. The original one is gone.

This is to my why buying a physical disk or downloading it from the internet is pretty identical to me. After all, what is important, what you use, is the content not the medium. If you buy a physical disk it is essentially the same as the digital version just stored in a disk instead in your PC or the cloud. You can do pretty much the same with its content with what you can do with the digital version, the ones that don't come in the disks.

And obsolescence. Sure it makes these things difficult to use, but they don't disappear right? We are talking about permanence here guys not ease of use. If it still exist but difficult to use, it still exist. And if you put effort into it, you can still use them. A great example would be Andy Warhol's digital art that was recovered from old floppy disks. They are still not gone you know?

And this my point. What you called "digital copy" especially those old games, come from these cartridges and Disks. They aren't distributed "digitally" and guess what? These old games still exist now because some people have the great idea to back them up/make copies of them or just plain take care of the cartridges and CDs and hold on to them. Now they can share these games with us. Let us give thanks to these guys for their contributions that enable us to keep enjoying these games.

You can't use copies of your CDs because 90% of the time they have DRM, making them unable to be copied.

No, you can copy them. People do it all the time. Well, the DRM kinda puts obstacles, that is what DRM do, but they can be circumvented and often times, they are kinda easy.

I mean, digitally distributed games like the ones on Steam have DRMs and you can still copy them. You just can't use them outside of Steam or their respective platform.

And saying digital data is lost all the time is a plain lie, so... *shrugs*
Like, sure, you can accidentally click the delete button in your keyboard after disabling your trash bin and removing the confirmation prompt for deletion... But aside from that, data is almost never lost.

It is not a lie. It does happen all the time. Well, it might not happened to you yet (though you might have those faulty flash drives Micro SD that just don't work anymore which means the data they hold are lost) or, at least, doesn't happen to your important stuff (like your games) but that doesn't mean they don't happen. It is like you saying slavery doesn't happen because you didn't see it happen.

Data is always lost and it is not just because you accidentally deleted them. As I said, there hacking and virus attacks and you will actually hear it in the news. I mean you could actually just google them to see thousands of examples.

Of course there are just times when the company who holds your data jsut messed up, like what happens to MySpace. Yeah, I know, its not popular now, but still. They messed up and lost years of user data.

There are sites too that just go belly up and disappeared. Good example would be those video sharing sites that just can't compete, like Vidme.

And then, there are the rules that companies have that justify them to just get rid of your data. Cloud storage for example has the right to delete your data if you don't continue paying your subscription. Or they just don't like your content which constantly happens when these sites just deletes your photos or videos or posts for whatever reason if they don't outright ban you from using their platform. And of course, some site just don't want to keep your data forever, like, what would they do with your data if you stop using their services or you die?

Sometimes they just get through legal troubles or similar excuse . . . like Tumblr removing adult content from their site. Or Youtube asking you to remove videos. Or books disappearing from people's Kindle.

Claiming that data is almost never lost, especially when you talk about the internet, is just naivety. Data in the internet disappear all the time. You might just be lucky that it doesn't happen to you (or maybe you aren't around long enough or those data you lost are data you don't care about) but single anecdotal evidence isn't doesn't necessarily portray the truth. As I said before, it is like you saying slavery doesn't happen because you didn't see it happen.

Sure many data does persist because there might under the hands of great people who cares, or there are just so many copies of them and they keep multiplying that more just keep appearing than disappearing, or they exist outside of the their online digital form (like paintings and movies which are under the care of people who makes sure they last). But just because some data persist doesn't mean (all) data last forever (excluding those that deliberately deleted by the creators), especially if you don't take care of them.

 

[AliceShiki]

No, you can copy them. People do it all the time. Well, the DRM kinda puts obstacles, that is what DRM do, but they can be circumvented and often times, they are kinda easy.

It is certainly easy to copy stuff like PS1 and PS2 games. PS3 games took years for someone to find a way to do so, and AFAIK nobody even found a way to do it for PS4... And even then, using a copied game usually locked you out of online play.

It's not easy, and often times you can't even use the stuff you copied.

It is not a lie. It does happen all the time. Well, it might not happened to you yet (though you might have those faulty flash drives Micro SD that just don't work anymore which means the data they hold are lost) or, at least, doesn't happen to your important stuff (like your games) but that doesn't mean they don't happen. It is like you saying slavery doesn't happen because you didn't see it happen.

Having an online backup or a local backup solves the issue of a buggy SD drive, the argument is flawed.

Data is always lost and it is not just because you accidentally deleted them. As I said, there hacking and virus attacks and you will actually hear it in the news. I mean you could actually just google them to see thousands of examples.

A backup solves this issue, and again, almost never happens.

Of course there are just times when the company who holds your data jsut messed up, like what happens to MySpace. Yeah, I know, its not popular now, but still. They messed up and lost years of user data.

There are sites too that just go belly up and disappeared. Good example would be those video sharing sites that just can't compete, like Vidme.

And then, there are the rules that companies have that justify them to just get rid of your data. Cloud storage for example has the right to delete your data if you don't continue paying your subscription. Or they just don't like your content which constantly happens when these sites just deletes your photos or videos or posts for whatever reason if they don't outright ban you from using their platform. And of course, some site just don't want to keep your data forever, like, what would they do with your data if you stop using their services or you die?

Sometimes they just get through legal troubles or similar excuse . . . like Tumblr removing adult content from their site. Or Youtube asking you to remove videos. Or books disappearing from people's Kindle.

A local storage and/or a 2nd backup solve the issue.

Claiming that data is almost never lost, especially when you talk about the internet, is just naivety. Data in the internet disappear all the time. You might just be lucky that it doesn't happen to you (or maybe you aren't around long enough or those data you lost are data you don't care about) but single anecdotal evidence isn't doesn't necessarily portray the truth. As I said before, it is like you saying slavery doesn't happen because you didn't see it happen.

And as I said before, the comparison is nonsensical. Losing data in the internet is ridiculously hard as is, and a backup or two makes the chance basically null.

It's completely different from talking about a real issue.

But just because some data persist doesn't mean (all) data last forever (excluding those that deliberately deleted by the creators), especially if you don't take care of them.

If you don't care for some data, you'll probably delete it yourself to save space in your hardware or in your cloud storage once you're done using it. In that case the data wasn't lost, it was deleted consciously.

If you do care, you probably have it stored and a backup or two for it.


... I just don't get your argument. All you need to lose data in physical media, is for a CD to slip from your hand and get scratched when it hits the floor.
OTOH, to lose data in digital media your PC needs to break on the same day Google goes Bankrupt. It really is a no-brainer which one has bigger chances of lasting longer.

 

[Ral]

First, your argument was that digital data last forever. I given your examples that clearly shows that they don't. OTOH, you ignore my examples of people who do manages to keep their physical media safe despite decades. You obviously have bias here.

And sure you could back up your digital data, but the same argument holds with physical media. While yes, they are more involved than the digital version (it isn't a simple copy paste), but you still can. Heck, you can just by two or more, use one and archive the rest. Seriously, your argument essentially boils down too: I didn't bother to back up my physical media and didn't even bother to take care of them.

And your claim with PS3 and PS4 is kinda bogus.

... I just don't get your argument. All you need to lose data in physical media, is for a CD to slip from your hand and get scratched when it hits the floor.

And to lose your digital data is for your computer to go kaput or you accidentally deleting your data. What is your point?

OTOH, many have collected various physical medias and they are still in great conditions decades after.

Both are vulnerable to you carelessness.

Like my argument is so simple. I just given counter examples. Think of it like this. You said that all roses are red, then I said that roses have other colors and I provide proof by showing you a rose of a different color. In the end you said you don't get my argument. That is what happened. I provided examples where digital data clearly doesn't last forever and are easily lost and I also provided examples of physical media lasting decades, and you tell me that you don't get my argument?

OTOH, to lose data in digital media your PC needs to break on the same day Google goes Bankrupt. It really is a no-brainer which one has bigger chances of lasting longer.

OTOH, to loose you game disk at the same time that your back up copy goes in flames. It is really a no-brainer: back-up your data.

Essentially your argument is you not making back-up copies of your physical media (because it takes more effort and that you are incredibly careless to booth) against your digital data that you make multiple back-up of and place them to the care of other people. That is what you use as an argument that digital is better than physical in terms of permanence. That is, your argument is just anecdotal.