Why are some gamers so desperate to go pro digital?

[JC48573]

up to the point where they just want physical copies gone for good.

[dsheinem]

why are some so resistant to it?

why is the sky blue?

why ask why? try Bud Dry.

[Opa Opa]

I say we bury all physical copies of games in the desert somewhere. They'll never dig them up.

[BoneSnapDeez]

There are lots of advantages to digital media. If I didn't collect games I would have already made the switch. I went (mostly) digital for music a long time ago.

[Violent By Design]

I've never heard of someone wanting physical copies gone, but why wouldn't gamers want there to be digital copies? It's more convenient.

[irixith]

up to the point where they just want physical copies gone for good.

-Convenience-
The Nintendo eShop provides a great example of this. On release day, games are available in the shop at midnight. Why bother travelling to a store the following day, or waiting for a shipment in the mail? It's right there, downloading. SD card corrupted? No problem, download it again. It saves time, gas, potential disappointment if a store hasn't received or has sold out of their shipment. Saves waiting for a parcel in the mail that doesn't arrive when you want or are able to play. A SD card that lives inside the console provides the convenience of access to games wherever you take the console, without fiddling for cartridges. No need to worry about finding shelf space, or damage to the packaging. It's just flat-out convenient.

-Price-
Digital copies seem to be priced the same or slightly cheaper than their boxed counterparts at release -- but services such as Steam show us how deep digital discounting can go. PS+ gives a bucketload of current games for free with a $50 membership subscription. Services like the Virtual Console provide access to games that otherwise aren't purchasable in a store, or that wouldn't make sense to generate physical copies of. Ultimately, someone building a digital library of games can do it for far less than physical copies, provided digital copies exist.

-Selection-
There's only so much shelf space available in stores. There's no guarantee the game you're looking for will be available. (I've had this problem many times for current systems.)

...of course there are easy counters to each of those points...which don't matter, because someone who considers the above points "pros" isn't going to give a fart in high wind as long as they are satisfied in all three areas.

[Cronozilla]

I think its silly that it has to be one or the other.

Physical media that has a digital counterpart with the same purchase works pretty well.

[ApolloBoy]

Pro digital? As opposed to amateur digital?

[TheSegaSaturnGuy]

I think its silly that it has to be one or the other.

Physical media that has a digital counterpart with the same purchase works pretty well.

+1

[darsparx]

Personally i'd rather have physical copies if I can get them...I know that's not always possible with indie games so those I will always buy digital. But honestly I'd rather have a physical so I can put it on a physical shelf and fill up my room...now excuse me while I try to cram more stuff on to this shelf...