Oddly enough, my house was actually broken into as a kid. The assholes took every game I owned.
I've never had any of my digital games accounts hacked ever(I probably just jinxed myself). I agree it's possible, and I'm not arguing burglary like that is common for most folks. I don't even intend this as a counterargument, as its anecdotal and just one incident. I have legit experienced my physical games being stolen from me though. That neighborhood was going to shit right before my parents decided to move us away from there.
Originally posted by JmanghanThis cuts both ways. Conversely, you can NEVER lose or damage a digital copy of a game. I lost my entire PS2 and 360 physical collection in a house fire in 2012, as a example, and numerous disks to simple wear and tear as a child. How is that more permanent than a digital copy?
I'm just saying you will never ever have a guarantee, (assuming you game on consoles) that your digital purchases are indefinite, and that the company that LET YOU buy them won't take them from you tomorrow.
I lost all of my DVD's when I was in my 20's because some people busted down my door.
Another good thing about digital is that you will most likely not come across situations where you cannot find a game anymore. Publishers only print a number amount of discs...while digital doesn't have that (unless its artificial scarcity).
LimitedRun said a thing, but it was quickly called out by tons of people:
https://twitter.com/LimitedRunGames/status/1374002466983923712
"This is the inevitable digital future. At some point all digital storefronts will cease to exist, replaced by newer technology or storefronts. Digital purchases are not forever. #ForeverPhysical"
Think it's kind of hypocritical that they criticize digital gaming and wanna support physical gaming, yet refuse to reprint games.
I get that's the whole point of the games being "Limited Run's", but don't say "Forever Physical" when a small amount of people actually get to buy your games (that are usually gone within a month and cost 2-3x as much as the original digitally.)
Originally posted by Smasandian
The thing is....most games I will never play again. I would say 80% of them. I realized I don't care if I kept Assassins Creed Syndicate....In 15 years, if Microsoft kicks the bucket and I want to play a game that I cannot access anymore......I will probably pay the $5 bucks to pick it up again.
The same people likely have bank accounts though. I think folks forget how huge a deal that was historically, and even now. There was an entire generation of folks that wanted to keep their cash stashed in safes in their houses instead. Why? The money in your bank account, technically, could disappear tomorrow. This actually happened to some Chase Bank customers years back, due to a glitch in Chase's system. You still happily have your checks direct deposited into your account though, don't you?
And that's something far, far more serious than your game collection. We do this stuff with music, movies, and any number of other things. People get weird about it when it comes to games for some reason though.
The book thing is complicated, for many reasons. It's possible physical books are just preferred by many, but these counts are also a bit misleading.
The big one that everyone references is the 2019 report from the Association of American Publishers. That one has it's flaws.
More articles pointing some shortcomings in counting book sales, especially the Nielson(the other one typically referenced). https://www.janefriedman.com/myth-print/ https://electricliterature.com/everything-you-wanted-to-know-about-book-sales-but-were-afraid-to-ask/
I think a fully accurate gauge of digital sales vs physical would reveal a far different landscape tbh. Remember, Amazon and many other e-book sellers don't actually publish their sales figures. It's hard to say how much they are selling exactly, and accounting for digital subscription readership is also complicated. Independently published titles(a way bigger thing in e-books) are also not counted since they don't have ISBN's, and are hard to gauge without real data from places like Amazon.
Additionally, no one predicted the rise of audiobooks. They are already overtaking e-books by some estimates, and show no signs of slowing down. Considering their rate of growth, we may be witnessing the return of oral story telling. It's like technology allowed us to reconnect with our roots, in a way. The oral tradition is the original way humans told stories.