Board 8 > What's less risky, going digital or buying physical copies of games?

(+) Yeah! (+)

For example, if your 3DS got lost or stolen then your digital games are presumably gone forever? So it's still better to purchase physical copies, right?
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physical ideally because they're playable indefinitely as long as you have a system and the game

but so many games need a day 1 patch nowadays that physical doesn't offer the security it once did
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Most systems like PS4 and Steam will let you download digital games again by logging into your account on another device. Idk about Nintendo though
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Nintendo will too, at least on the switch. I sold my switch a while back and added a profile to my roommates and linked my nintendo account to it and was able to download purchased games. Funnily enough it works for both profiles.

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Digital games these days are tied to your account on all platforms so unless you lose your log-in or something you don't need to worry on that front. If we're talking extremely long term then all physical media is eventually going to degrade to the point of unplayability.
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Xiahou Shake posted...

Digital games these days are tied to your account on all platforms so unless you lose your log-in or something you don't need to worry on that front. If we're talking extremely long term then all physical media is eventually going to degrade to the point of unplayability.

history for consoles says your physical media still outlasts the hosting services for the digital content.

For PC Steam is eternal and superior. Consoles are a toss-up with necessary system updates and day 1 patches. So many physical games I've bought that I've been unable to play immediately due to a required system update.
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I will die with physical media the minute that stops I don't know what I'm going to do
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Physical will always be less risky. Any digital service could get shut down, and then you lose the game forever. Physical copies could fail, but someone with the talent could make them work again. I've made non-working PS2 games play again and I'm not any kind of an expert. Experts can get cartridge games running again with ease.
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red13n posted...

history for consoles says your physical media still outlasts the hosting services for the digital content.

This is also true, yeah. It's kind of funny but the one true road to reliable preservation of games appears to be emulation.
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Xiahou Shake posted...

red13n posted...

history for consoles says your physical media still outlasts the hosting services for the digital content.

This is also true, yeah. It's kind of funny but the one true road to reliable preservation of games appears to be emulation.

Wasn't there a thing about how Nintendo or someone had to use a ROM as their starting point for a remaster because they themselves lost the original code for the game?
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Edit: Apparently Switch is actually normal for account activation. I didn't expect that from Nintendo.
I don't trust Nintendo digital because their system isn't just log in and activate like everything else, and they've ditched DS and Wii service already. I'll still buy digital-only games from them, even non-exclusives now that the Switch is the strongest portable system. PSN I have no reservations about it. They haven't discontinued PS3 or even PSP. I'm not sure what the lifespan of optical media is but apparently it's gotten longer with improving technology. But as said, some games ship kind of needing that day 1 patch, to say nothing of content patches that make them more well-rounded.
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Depends on what kind of risk you're talking about

If your house is destroyed/burglarized you could lose all your physical games but it would not affect your digital collection.

But a digital collection is subject to the whims of whoever hosts it.

The worst of both worlds is the old nintendo stuff where games are tied to the device but it seems they are finally moving on from that.
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