Digital Vs Physical

[Aerospray MG]

I'm debating if I should buy the game physically, or if I should download it from the Eshop. I prefer physical copies but digital seems more convenient.

 

[Fisherman]

If you think you will want to pklay the game a lot and very often buy it digitally. If you're only going to play it once in a while then physically.

 

[RespawningJesus]

I am going with physical, because if I can fill up a terabyte worth of data on my other gaming consoles with ease, no way am I gonna go digital when the Switch has way less space, even with a micro sd card.

 

[Lonely_Dolphin]

I always go physical, you never know when you might want to trade or sell your games. Yeah you gotta change out cartridges but that's not too difficult a task.

 

[Ulk]

Depends. How much space does your micro SD card have? In general, quality Micro SD cards load Switch games faster than the cartridges. We're talking two seconds here and there though, so whether that's worth taking up space on your SD card is up to you to decide.

Without an SD card, I can absolutely not recommend a digital copy. The Switch is not made for that with 32GB of space.

 

[Joseph Staleknight]

I'll try to get a physical copy to save on space, but if that doesn't work out then I'm going digital.

 

[Dessgeega]

I always get physical when I can help it. Amazon's 20% discount on new games helps with that decision too.

 

[dylan_not_bob]

I'm going all digital on the Switch like I did with Wii U outside of some collectors editions etc. The Wii U wasn't even a portable console and I took it with me all over the place so having all the games right there was amazing. The Switch being build for portability just makes it that much better.

I also haven't sold or returned a Nintendo game in years so I'm not worried personally about not being able to resell stuff, but that's obviously a personal case-by-case thing.

I ended up buying a 1TB hard drive for my Wii U and only ended up using about 200-300GB over the 5 or whatever years I had it. I bought a 64GB or something SD card to start with my Switch but eventually I'll upgrade to something like a 500GB (when they actually exist) so I'm also not worried about space, personally.

 

[Dessgeega]

The main worry about digital games is their lifespan. A physical game can be played 20 years down the line, but once Nintendo's servers shut off or some other obstacle appears, if you ever lose your download the game is gone for good. Just something to consider.

 

[dylan_not_bob]

I personally don't see many more cons with digital than I do with physical in that sense though. Physical media still relies on the hardware to play, and that might not always be easy to find if the hardware you have fails. Physical media is also more prone to failure such as disc scratching etc. I've had a lot of N64 cartridges just straight up fail.

I think there are pros and cons to both concerning longevity so I just go with what works best for me in the more immediate future.

 

[Dessgeega]

I personally don't see many more cons with digital than I do with physical in that sense though. Physical media still relies on the hardware to play, and that might not always be easy to find if the hardware you have fails. Physical media is also more prone to failure such as disc scratching etc. I've had a lot of N64 cartridges just straight up fail.

I think there are pros and cons to both concerning longevity so I just go with what works best for me in the more immediate future.

Fair enough! We've already seen digital games get pulled for various reasons and become totally unavailable, while games from 30 years ago can still function (albeit with difficulty at times), so it continues to be a concern for me.

 

[RespawningJesus]

Depends. How much space does your micro SD card have? In general, quality Micro SD cards load Switch games faster than the cartridges. We're talking two seconds here and there though, so whether that's worth taking up space on your SD card is up to you to decide.

Without an SD card, I can absolutely not recommend a digital copy. The Switch is not made for that with 32GB of space.

I own a 200 GB microSD, so short term side of things, I will be fine. Long term? I might have to make the hard decision on whether or not I want to uninstall something to make room for something new. Also, I own a case that lets me store about 8 game cartridges, so I am fine with swapping out game carts.

 

[Ulk]

I own a 200 GB microSD, so short term side of things, I will be fine. Long term? I might have to make the hard decision on whether or not I want to uninstall something to make room for something new. Also, I own a case that lets me store about 8 game cartridges, so I am fine with swapping out game carts.

200GB is plenty. If you go with digital for only the absolute major titles, you've got nothing to worry about even in the long run. Though the Switch seems to have the potential for a promising life span, and accordingly a potentialy promising line-up, so do keep that in mind.

I'd give it a second thought when it comes to games like BotW with a file site of more than 10 GB, as well as other games like Xenoblade 2 that are probably also going to have a massive file size. But games like ARMS and Splatoon that are getting a massive percentage of their content via updates anyway and have a base file size of a few GBs are something you can get digitally without having to worry at all. I'd say if you generally prefer digital, go for it. With 200GB external memory you should have nothing to worry about.

 

[Maave]

I always go physical with console for the reason Dessgeega mentioned. Eventually in the future I'll be unable to download them - could be 5 or 10 or 15 years - but I still want to play some of those old games. That and I really like physical merch.

PC games on the other hand I go all digital. PC games have insaaaane lifespans, being resold, repackaged, and pirated for 20-30 years after release. So I don't have any worry about re-acquiring those.

 

[dylan_not_bob]

I always go physical with console for the reason Dessgeega mentioned. Eventually in the future I'll be unable to download them - could be 5 or 10 or 15 years - but I still want to play some of those old games. That and I really like physical merch.

PC games on the other hand I go all digital. PC games have insaaaane lifespans, being resold, repackaged, and pirated for 20-30 years after release. So I don't have any worry about re-acquiring those.

I mean, you can pirate most console games eventually as well. And anything that requires online servers (I.E Splatoon) won't be playable when those servers get shut down, regardless of whether or not the game is downloadable anyway.

 

[Dessgeega]

And anything that requires online servers (I.E Splatoon) won't be playable when those servers get shut down, regardless of whether or not the game is downloadable anyway.

Which is pretty much everything these days. Even single player games suffer from the "release now, patch later" mentality. Games aren't very future-proof anymore sadly, but at least physical versions ensure some release of the game will be playable.

 

[OogieBoogie]

I like to go physical for big titles like this. I only usually go digital for the smaller, cheaper indie games (even when they have a physical release option)