@@James-gj8rnI am debt free with varying investments in 4 investment properties, crypto, equities and precious metals, and I really don’t care about the ownership side of things. Money doesn’t matter to me. Money is still money and I will always get whatever is cheapest. Physical is nice, but even as someone who is financially comfortable, I can’t ever swallow spending 20-30 more for digital when I can get the game significantly cheaper physically.
@@FrodoBagginsPotter For some its just the reassurance that you own the game (though it doesnt mean much anymore) But also its just to grow their game collection and see it pile up on the shelf. For me I like physical games due to the box art. in most games especially switch ones the box art means just as much as owning the game itself.
@willmcconnell4332 Steam servers have outlasted so many consoles. Look at the Xbox 360 the store is gone, Steam is still standing. I'm pro physical games, yet I have more faith in my Steam library than some of my discs.
I'm surprised no one is bringing up a big advantage of physical games: you can SHARE THEM! Which is probably one reason the family-oriented Nintendo especially will continue with physical media: you have multiple Switches in one household, but you only have to buy one copy of the game.
while ultimately they would want you to buy a copy for each system, they've always been one for local sharing. the Mario Kart games on 3DS, at least one of them, had it so that only one system needed the game. actually played some rounds with people on a trip back from a YGO tournament a long time ago.
Publishers don’t want you to share them. They want you to buy a brand new copy of a game. That’s kinda what Xbox got shit for with the Xbox One reveal when they said you couldn’t share games. Then Sony has the extremely memorable video of how to share a game on the PS4 which was just them handing a physical game over to someone else.
No one talks about margins either, taking out physical removes material costs, manufacturing, shipping, labor, etc. It's actually kind of hilarious they're still able to release only digital games at full price once they've cut out every single one of those previous factors.
@@silasrogan241 not to get political but you can see why c0mmies push the you will own nothing and like it mentality and how physical products are part of that. They want us to own nothing. The last thing they want is a lively economy.
@@callak_9974 since the very start, I never understood digital games being same price as physical. Typically I can even find a physical cheaper than a digital ever gets if I'm vigilant enough.
Nintendo understands the value of physical items. Look at the recent years. Special edition consoles, collectors edition games, classic systems, amibo, etc. it’s likely why they have a hand over these digital only companies.
@@ganymedehedgehog371 thankfully they mostly don't bundle games in special edition consoles anymore (previously those were digital copies). Meaning the price of the special edition console is the same as the regular one and you can just buy your own physical copy if you're interested in the actual game the console is skinned after. The only recent exception I can think of were the Animal Crossing themed Switch Lites which came with digital copies of AC:NH.
On the upside, Nintendo is bound to be the last hold out for physical games. On the downside, Nintendo is the most trigger happy when it comes to shutting down emulators, even for games they don't have commercially available.
It makes game preservation very hard when emulation is being attacked. One of the things I love about my old Gameboy carts is that I could actually rip them to a cheap emulation device. That way I'm not wearing down the original carts and hardware, and I can retire my Gameboy device and carts whilst still playing those games.
Thankfully, with things being physical, you were able to extract the information and work backwards for emulation in the future I truly believe that’s always been a backdoor way too do such things
Nintendo is bound to be the last holdout for console gaming as a whole. One day within your lifetime PlayStation and XBox will be apps on your desktop.
@@bigduke5902 If that's where they go I''ll buy Evercade, MISTER, or Analogue. Just because the big corpos don't see the value doesn't mean I don't. And I'm sure others feel the same.
The fact that Nintendo follows such a strict policy is one of the reasons their physical media remain so valuable. This, along with the fact that Nintendo rarely offers discounts on their games, provides a strong incentive to continue purchasing their games physically. As mentioned, the digital distribution channel is already larger for other consoles. Games on those platforms are often offered at significantly reduced prices shortly after release. One is practically punished multiple times for buying the physical version of a game.
The day I can’t buy disks/ carts we are gonna have a problem here 🧐 I will still likely play games but unless it’s super cheap I won’t be spending any money on them if I have to jailbreak my console I will out of spite
The market for physicals won't disappear, even if the 3 major console manufacturers decided they wanted out of that market. Evercade, Analogue, and Limited Print companies will have to adjust but there's a reason they exist in the first place.
@@kinggoddavid5104 we can literally die without physical products, you know. Talk to me when you can consume digital food & water, wear digital clothing, and live in a digital shelter.
Always get physical. It helps wih game preservation and you don't need to worry about servers being shutdown meaning you can't play your game. Also with games that are 50GB+ you need a really good Internet connection which also costs more money.
as someone who has been mostly digital for about 13 years now, physical media does have its place. there is absolutely no reason to have it one or the other 100%.
@@skycloud4802 100% this. This is why a digital only future is scary. Because you rely too much on these companies to continue giving access to your library. If something happen were to happen to your account or their servers, you're shit out of luck.
@@Omer_Sastim_is_turtle_botphysical video games will get to the same point as vinyl and cds. Although most people buy digital, there will still be a place for them with collectors and enthusiasts.
I buy physical when I can, especially first party Nintendo games. However, I don’t have any qualms about buying digital games that are heavily discounted.
The Nintendo Switch generation is the first one in which I finally have a job and can afford to buy the video games I want, my collection of physical games is more than 70, so for me clearly physical games are my ideal option, I just wish I had more time and desire to play u.u
Nintendo being so behind market trends is a double edged sword, and being cut so many times makes it all the more satisfying when it finally swings the other way
I'm primarily a PC gamer, and physical PC games disappeared over a decade ago, so I've kind of gotten used to it even if I don't like it. Digital sales have their upsides in terms of convenience and availability (easier to get "rare" titles). They also democratized game sales, as small indie studios don't need to worry about getting discs pressed. The problem is these companies are under no obligation to honour your purchases indefinitely. Like we saw with Ubisoft unilaterally removing DLC from ppl's accounts, or Redbox going belly up and people losing all their movies, or some Xbox games not working during server outages. The problem is that in North America, our already embarrassingly weak consumer protection laws STILL haven't been updated to reflect digital purchases. Your "rights" are dependent on the good nature of the company. Nintendo in particular is one of the worst offenders. No refunds, digital codes (including ones bundled with physical games) are still region locked, expiring gold points, etc. I frankly don't even trust the eShop to honour my purchases going into next gen. I'm strictly physical for Nintendo games going forward.
Pretty understandable that physical is bought so often for Nintendo. Cartridges are so convenient to use, they are small and "feel less delicate". Nice that you can just op a bunch of cartridges in a case and that way you have a bunch of games with you on the go! Be nice if a 4th gaming console came out that also went with cartridges or something like them.
I love the idea of Nintendo being able to put the entire game on a cartidge as it guarantees you the game out of the box. Its unfortunate that some physical games require a "patch" which is the rest of the game or possibly installation of DRM (cause I tend to see an EULA page on certain games like EA, Ubisoft, 2K, etc.) which is not true ownership.
Can we talk about the fact that there’s only ONE revision of the pokemon SV + DLC cartridge that actually contains all the dlc on the cart. Oh and only in Japan. Oh and there’s no way to tell what revision you have until you open it. So sad.
Not just Nintendo that do it either. I've got an Asian copy of Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy X-2, both games are on the cart (and can be played in English)...everywhere else, only Final Fantasy X was on the cart and X-2 had to be downloaded separately.
I'd rather the version that only has a portion of the DLC rather than how Smash Ultimate and Mario Kart 8 just don't have any physical card for their game plus DLC.
One of the big advantages of buying physical for me is...having at least some data (if not all) on the cart and not having the entire game take up a ton of room on your micro SD card. Those things fill up surprisingly fast and the highest capacity ones are still pretty expensive.
I'm a physical media geek in general, Videogames, Movies, Music... I buy everything i own physical if it is an option and I've abstained repeatedly when it is not an option.
I used to work at Best Buy, and I actually asked our Nintendo rep about the physical digital split. She told me that for the Switch, the split was actually close to half. She gave me a specific percentage but I don't remember, it was around 55 digital 45 physical. This was in late 2023 mind you.
I’m in the camp of people who will find a physical copy of a game at any cost. I have spent well over $1K on Nintendo Switch physical copies of games I want, via preorder or just picking them up after release.
I always aim for physical whenever possible. I refuse to pay ridiculous amounts of money to greedy resellers if it's one of those 'limited' type releases with a very small print run and I miss out though.
I love physical games. I especially love Nintendo for physical because the game is usually just ready to go. Not waiting around for hours for shit to install.
Buy physical, play them, sell them for at or near same price. It's like free rentals for everything. Given how well Nintendo games especially hold their value, it actually makes it one of the cheapest consoles to play long term.
@@manuelberenguerrojas7271 I have never sold any of my games since I like to hold on to my games. It's also just nice to have my games in one place without needing to pop the cart in and out everytime I wanted to play a different game.
@@goldmemberpbthat’s obviously the main benefit of digital and great for traveling. Like most people, I have both. I far prefer my physicals though. I can buy games second hand complete them and sell them for the same price or more. I also love having a collection of my favorite games on my shelf which I can lend to friends. It really isn’t much to pop in a disk or cartridge, though, but I get that small conveniences go a long way.
@@makasete30 Honestly having a quite large library makes the physicals more convenient for me since I don't wait for downloads (or at least wait less), I don't have to go scrolling for games, and if I want to see everything at once I can. I also don't *love* the UI for my console digitals. Folders kinda help. My Steam library's load time kills me. Gog Galaxy is actually noticeably better along with being able to view my Epic and GOG games all at once too.
I really love going into game stores, scroll through old/new games, merch and buy physical games. And having them at home scrolling through great gaming memories I’ve had through my life. And just popping a game into my system and replay again is amazing. I hardly watch movies/series anymore since digitalization
I prefer physical games, they are mine and it feels like proper ownership for games i really like, i just hope that most of my single player stuff can be play offline should the need arise
I just got to 110 physical games! I have a backlog of 22 physical. (I don't have stats on how much I've spent total on physical but 82% of them have been on sale) I have spent $2030 so far on e-shop points (including 5 years/$100 of basic online.) I have 192 digital games only 36 could have been physical found in mainstream retail, but 57 of them have been given limited physical releases. I tend to be willing to pay a slightly higher premium for physical games. And my biggest pet peeve are when digital games get the complete/deluxe releases and not the physical ones. I only own two games digitally and physically, one because of impatiently waiting for the physical to launch and the other because of a gift.
At the very least there isn't much reason for Nintendo to cut off the physical side. It's still bringing in a lot of money. Which is good since I want to keep growing my collection for as long as possible. Once we hit that totally digital future...I'll still have plenty of games to play.
When games stopped having nice detailed manuals the value of physical games sort of deminished for me personally. However, i do think we need to keep physical media. I would be fine with even reduced packaging, like a case that was only slightly bigger than the game disk itself.
I only buy physical Switch games and I have just over 130 games for it. I buy from Limited Run for the Switch as well. I buy as many XB games from limited Arun as I can as well because I want to show people still buy physical for it. Only platform I buy digital from is PC through Steam and Unreal. A lot of times I have gotten a game for free on Unreal or for dirt cheap on Steam and then bought the physical copy on my Switch. Long live physical plug and play games!!! Forever Physical!!!
The thing is, as far as Xbox and ps5 are concerned physical media is already dead. the disc is nothing more than a license. If the consoles online functions ceased to exist you won’t be playing your game regardless of it being physical or digital
You should've quit when games stopped being playable in 2006. Or when Microsoft started releasing their first-party games cross-platform with Windows in 2013. Or when companies fell down the Alt-Right pipeline in 2015. You're in this shit until consoles stop being made, there's no going back.
More cost goes into production of a physical copy (case, disc/cartridge, paper artwork, ink, shrink wrap, shipping to stores), So there is no reason for a switch game to be both $60 on Walmart's shelf and on the eShop. I only go digital when it's the only option.
At first, I didn't mind going digital, but then when I went to borrow the RE revelations game for the switch from my uncle, I was horrified with what I saw... A DOWNLOAD CODE INSIDE THE CASE WTFFFF LIKKE WHY BOTHER RELEASING A PHYSICAL CASE WHEN THERE'S ONLY A CODE INSIDE. LITERALLY THINK ABOUT THE AMOUNT OF PLASTIC WASTE THIS MAKES
Looks good on your shelf next to the physical games. You can't gift a game through the eshop. It's not a waste unless you don't care and throw it in the trash.
one element of the switch the plays strongly in favour of physical carts with the full game on it is its a handheld system. They want you to be able to buy the latest Zelda, Mario etc etc and insert it and play it hand held immediately even if you’re aware from Wifi.
It's not that Physical is not selling well in Xbox and Playstation... Its the Fact that Playstation and Xbox intenionally NOT MAKING PHYSICAL and they Make a propaganda that consumers don't want physical. IT's an artificial problem all gaming company make excluding Nintendo.
They can just compress the file. Dosnt have to play right off of the disc. Save that for smaller games. Use dual layered Blue ray, and if needed multiple disks for install, like back on ps one and 2. At least you'll have the game on a working format. There's no reason not to do this besides to put extra cash in there pocket.
Except for a few specific franchises, I’m done when/if games go all digital. I have more physical games than I can ever play ATM. Only reason I continue to buy at this point is for collecting.
If it's a really good game sometimes I'll buy both. But I have so many physical copies I just keep buying physical copies. My shelf looks good with a lot of switch games. I have few Xbox and Playstation physical copies.
Main difference between nintendo and the competition is the games are actually on the cartridge not just a portion of it unless it's something from a third party like activision who doesn't put effort in, which nintendo is my main platform always has been minus the wii and I buy almost all of my games physically unless it's just to hard to get a physical copy or to expensive, my other platform is xbox which is primarily to play older backwards compatible titles with the occasional new game that are not available on nintendo other then that it's just my bluray player
I cant remember where i saw it but some Chinese scientists have created a optical disc system capable of storing 200000gb on a single disc. So to all those people who think bluray could never be topped and due to size alone its the end of physical i dont think its the case even an optical system with less than 10000gb capacity would be good for ps6 and ps7,ps8 i think
many indie games end up super cheap or digital only which of course skews digital sales numbers. i personally don’t mind buying indie games digitally and physical for the “bigger games”
Like it or not, gaming will move away from physical and even downloading on a hard drive will be the thing of the past once streaming becomes norm. Get your hands on classic roms and physical copies to your hard drive so you can actually own your games that you already paid.
I wouldn’t buy anything over $5 digitally. I’m only 1 person, I can only play so many games. So eventually I will want to sell these games when I will never play them again. Can’t get money back from digital. It’s why I quit buying pc games, steam killed the platform for me
If I’m able to get physical, I will always grab a copy, but I will always support smaller teams that do digital as well xD I’ll always support the small guys that do physical stuff as long as it’s something
With backlogs, I never buy physical or digital at full prices but I do want to see them both continue. I usually buy digital first then buy physical when it goes to half price or less. Glad to hear this report!
I largely prefer physical media. In fact, I only found out recently that Disney are no longer selling DVDs & Blu-Rays of their movies in my country. I'm kinda used to importing physical media from other countries at this point, so that might be what I'd have to do more of in the future if games are going to have less and less of a presence in physical stores going forward. Until we are fully in that "all-digital future" of course.
I don’t buy physical anymore unless it’s a Nintendo game. All games on my Xbox or third party games on either console I get digital. I am only interested in having the actual game if it’s Nintendo.
I've always been a fan of owning physical over digital, but I do love the convenience of having digital (assuming theres enough storage space to keep everything on there). Sometimes wanting both of those means we end up buying the game twice... Im sure the platform holders love that, so physical may not go away so quick, especially where sometimes people understand buying physical could mean forking out more cash for the item.
Nintendo is a company people associate with physical games. I suspect that chart doesn’t tell the whole story. While people may but physical Switch games, they are also buying digital games, often times if they are cheaper or more convenient. Nintendo will be the last holdout for physical media
When I first started with the switch I opted for all digital only for convenience. However, since there's no guarantee that access to my digital library will always be there, I also collect the physical versions for the collection where possible and for future preservation.
I love physical games and especially on my Nintendo Switch. The Nintendo Switch had a wonderful time on the market and I hope Nintendo doesn't forget what made the Nintendo Switch beloved. Cool video. ^_^
**LOOK AT IT THIS WAY MY FRIENDS* the correct path forward in supporting our favorite industry that is videogames will be forever fighting for the right stuff *where you spend your time and money matter*
You nailed it! Nintendo releasing games that are playable with the data on the cart is way more appealing then Microsoft and Sony's idea of releasing digital keys on a disc and the whole reason why digital is taking over on those systems. I can't tell you the last game on either of those systems that was playable right out of the box. Even if it does it won't be compatible with any of your friends online. very strange but makes sense.
When I buy games for my Switch I go physical. When it’s for my PS5 I mostly go digital unless it’s a present. You have to download/ install for PS5 so just makes more sense to go digital for me.
A lot of games don’t offer the best edition on disk these days with DLC, that they offer for an ultimate edition, as they only have that as digital to buy or a collectors edition which is physical :(. Shame how the force those who want the extra DLC or preorder bonus to either buy the best edition digital or miss out, as they don’t offer the physical best version of the game to force more digital sales I believe!
If that’s the case, please explain Blockbuster… Xbox gamepass boast 34 million subscribers and Netflix have 277 million. Clearly, due to convenience, digital has become the societal norm. HOW is this not consumer driven? We get it. You love physical media. I love physical media, but stop talking out of your @ss..
I mean, given the main console manufacturers (Nintendo, SONY, and Microsoft) have exhausted all they could in the console market, I definitely agree with that sentiment.
@@cbgg1585digital iTunes movies did NOT outsell DVDs and blurays. Digital is not what’s desired. Cost effectiveness and convenience is. That’s why Netflix took off. They under cut competition in order to kill them off and then raise prices later to finally start making money. This used to and still should be illegal. The INDUSTRY wants digital. Not the other way around. They HATE 2nd hand markets, they fundamentally HATE the concept of ownership and they HATE customers who have standards.
I have no problem buying a digital game when it's deeply discounted, but I can't stomach the idea of buying a full priced game digitally. Something about that just doesn't sit right with me lol
K first, thank you for any good news on the physical gaming front, cuz I was starting to feel like an infant fighting Mike Tyson on that one, as I am an almost entirely physical collector, I was happy to hear that ,at least, Nintendo will continue to "get physical" as it were, was really nice to hear.thanks spawner.
I like having certain games on digitally that I may always want to have accessible, such as local multiplayer games that I may spontaneously want to play with some friends. Other games that are more single player story focused I'd rather have them on the cartridge so they don't take up storage space. I don't need those available for spontaneity since I typically focus on one and when done with it I move on to another.
Why would someone go to a store. See a copy of whatever game. And see a card with a redemption code and pick the card to purchase ? Makes zero sense. Unless the digital is 70% off vs. physical.
I love physical games, and almost has always been a physical collector or buyer, however the past couple years, I have bought some games digital knowing that, it is convenient like if it's a sports game or COD game or a game that won't have any value after a week of release, and a game that I might want to play for an hour, but don't want to change out the disk. It does make it useful. Plus since we have kids, we have to make sure the physical doesn't get damaged, we are teaching them to take care of things, but there is an age where kids won't always take care of their things. So digital is honestly good in that aspect.
I will happily and GLADLY pay more for physical versions, im not denying the convenience of digital but it WILL one day stop existing, at least with your physical copy it will last much longer
I've been collecting a bunch of 3DS and Switch games since I bought both 2 years ago, and my 3DS is homebrew. Recently the SD of my 3DS died, and I lost my entire digital backup collection. Thanks goodness I had backups into the physical cartridges, and I could restore every single save. I could only imagine the tragedy if I didn't had the physical collection with the saves. I would had lost 2 years of collecting pokemon and other important saves.
Generally speaking with Switch games, I tend to get them physically if they're single player, complete in cartridge, games which includes pretty much all 1st party games and a few 3rd party games. If it's a multiplayer game that I know I'll play consistently with friends, I tend to go digital (but I'm open to getting them physical too) as the ease & convenience of hopping between games, especially ones with local MP, is there. I also go digital for a vast majority of indy games, mainly because they tend to be cheaper both on the eShop's MSRP price & during digital sales when compared to their Limited Run Games, Super Rare Games, etc counterparts, especially if you miss the game's respective pre-order window.
The day the industry goes 100% digital, Is the same day I stop supporting the industry. Not the day that I stop playing video games, or even stop playing new video games. Just the day I stop paying for them. If they refuse to release a physical copy of a game I see no issue with pirating said game. Asking consumers to pay $70 for something they don't actually own and you can pull from their library at any time is disgusting and does not deserve to be rewarded.
The one thing might change in the next gen is the size of the boxes, I think Nintendo might make 3DS sized boxes for the next Switch to save money, occupy less space on retail shelves and smaller carbon footprint from the plastics used
Physical games forever
it's proper ownership and i love that
@@James-gj8rnI am debt free with varying investments in 4 investment properties, crypto, equities and precious metals, and I really don’t care about the ownership side of things. Money doesn’t matter to me.
Money is still money and I will always get whatever is cheapest.
Physical is nice, but even as someone who is financially comfortable, I can’t ever swallow spending 20-30 more for digital when I can get the game significantly cheaper physically.
I don't see why people like physical games so much tbh. There's barely a difference.
@@FrodoBagginsPotter For some its just the reassurance that you own the game (though it doesnt mean much anymore) But also its just to grow their game collection and see it pile up on the shelf. For me I like physical games due to the box art. in most games especially switch ones the box art means just as much as owning the game itself.
@@FrodoBagginsPotter are you serious, it's fulfilling to see a game collection grow, especially with games i like and companies can't take that away
Physical copies of video games is a healthy games industry.
Have you been to any stores lately?
Fun, playable, exclusive videogames is a healthy games industry.
Pirating too
@@41mooseu will own nothing, and be happy.
@@41mooseyep, seen tons of physical copies and people buying them.
Im a physical collector. If digital takes over i have plenty to play. But we need to make sure it doesn't happen.
It should happen soon. PC went all digital like million years ago. What’s the difference
@willmcconnell4332 Steam servers have outlasted so many consoles. Look at the Xbox 360 the store is gone, Steam is still standing. I'm pro physical games, yet I have more faith in my Steam library than some of my discs.
@@Ace_Of_Bass8the store is gone but you can still download your 360 games. Lots of games are delisted on steam.
@@willmcconnell4332pc is a lot easier to play cracked versions of games.
@@willmcconnell4332there's also no resale value in PC games
Physical is how I buy my games
❤ me tooo
I'm surprised no one is bringing up a big advantage of physical games: you can SHARE THEM!
Which is probably one reason the family-oriented Nintendo especially will continue with physical media: you have multiple Switches in one household, but you only have to buy one copy of the game.
while ultimately they would want you to buy a copy for each system, they've always been one for local sharing. the Mario Kart games on 3DS, at least one of them, had it so that only one system needed the game. actually played some rounds with people on a trip back from a YGO tournament a long time ago.
You can also rent. GameFly is still a thing. Rented Stellar Blade. Found out I love it. Bought myself a copy.
Well, now on steam you can create families to share your game library.
Publishers don’t want you to share them. They want you to buy a brand new copy of a game. That’s kinda what Xbox got shit for with the Xbox One reveal when they said you couldn’t share games. Then Sony has the extremely memorable video of how to share a game on the PS4 which was just them handing a physical game over to someone else.
That is another reason Sony wants them gone.
No one talks about margins either, taking out physical removes material costs, manufacturing, shipping, labor, etc. It's actually kind of hilarious they're still able to release only digital games at full price once they've cut out every single one of those previous factors.
Margins being there is good. It creates jobs. People need to supply materials, manufacture, ship, and sell the game. It creates a lively economy.
@@silasrogan241 not to get political but you can see why c0mmies push the you will own nothing and like it mentality and how physical products are part of that. They want us to own nothing. The last thing they want is a lively economy.
@@silasrogan241I think it is more those savings aren't passed to the customer when it's digitally release.
@@callak_9974 since the very start, I never understood digital games being same price as physical. Typically I can even find a physical cheaper than a digital ever gets if I'm vigilant enough.
Releasing digital games at a lower price than their physical counterparts would severely hurt sales of physical copies.
Nintendo understands the value of physical items. Look at the recent years. Special edition consoles, collectors edition games, classic systems, amibo, etc. it’s likely why they have a hand over these digital only companies.
There have been collector’s editions released with a download code so I doubt there will be that big a change on that end.
@@ganymedehedgehog371 thankfully they mostly don't bundle games in special edition consoles anymore (previously those were digital copies). Meaning the price of the special edition console is the same as the regular one and you can just buy your own physical copy if you're interested in the actual game the console is skinned after. The only recent exception I can think of were the Animal Crossing themed Switch Lites which came with digital copies of AC:NH.
On the upside, Nintendo is bound to be the last hold out for physical games.
On the downside, Nintendo is the most trigger happy when it comes to shutting down emulators, even for games they don't have commercially available.
It makes game preservation very hard when emulation is being attacked. One of the things I love about my old Gameboy carts is that I could actually rip them to a cheap emulation device. That way I'm not wearing down the original carts and hardware, and I can retire my Gameboy device and carts whilst still playing those games.
Thankfully, with things being physical, you were able to extract the information and work backwards for emulation in the future
I truly believe that’s always been a backdoor way too do such things
Nintendo is bound to be the last holdout for console gaming as a whole. One day within your lifetime PlayStation and XBox will be apps on your desktop.
@@bigduke5902 If that's where they go I''ll buy Evercade, MISTER, or Analogue. Just because the big corpos don't see the value doesn't mean I don't. And I'm sure others feel the same.
The fact that Nintendo follows such a strict policy is one of the reasons their physical media remain so valuable. This, along with the fact that Nintendo rarely offers discounts on their games, provides a strong incentive to continue purchasing their games physically. As mentioned, the digital distribution channel is already larger for other consoles. Games on those platforms are often offered at significantly reduced prices shortly after release. One is practically punished multiple times for buying the physical version of a game.
The day I can’t buy disks/ carts we are gonna have a problem here 🧐 I will still likely play games but unless it’s super cheap I won’t be spending any money on them if I have to jailbreak my console I will out of spite
That will never happen.
Used Games won't just suddenly disintegrate.
Wow that’s so crazy
The market for physicals won't disappear, even if the 3 major console manufacturers decided they wanted out of that market. Evercade, Analogue, and Limited Print companies will have to adjust but there's a reason they exist in the first place.
@@catriamflockentanz It would not surprise me in the slightest if the industry started buying up old copies to destroy them.
@@DanSutherlandThe Videogame industry would not be the first to cannibalize itself to bottleneck the market.
Not about "collecting" not about looking at game boxes on a shelf; it's about game OWNERSHIP, RIGHT TO RESELL & PRICE FIXING.
👊🏻
Physical GLORIOUS Master Race!
Almost 90% of all game sales are digital.
@@kinggoddavid5104you’re probably one of those people
@@kinggoddavid5104 And within 10 years they will own nothing.
@@kinggoddavid5104 we can literally die without physical products, you know. Talk to me when you can consume digital food & water, wear digital clothing, and live in a digital shelter.
Always get physical. It helps wih game preservation and you don't need to worry about servers being shutdown meaning you can't play your game. Also with games that are 50GB+ you need a really good Internet connection which also costs more money.
I have over 160 physical games on Switch & is my largest physical library for any console I own in the 35 years I've been gaming.
Same, I have real FOMO with switch physical games. Maybe it’s all the talk of it going away that’s making me panic buy 😂
as someone who has been mostly digital for about 13 years now, physical media does have its place. there is absolutely no reason to have it one or the other 100%.
Both compliment the other really well. When digital storefronts go down, physical copies are often the only way to continue playing them.
Yes, like movies I can't find on streaming.
@@skycloud4802 100% this. This is why a digital only future is scary. Because you rely too much on these companies to continue giving access to your library.
If something happen were to happen to your account or their servers, you're shit out of luck.
I got my Zelda Echoes of Wisdom on physical preorder
Enjoy it while it lasts, the digital only future comes for us all.
@@Omer_Sastim_is_turtle_botif consumers continue to demand it someone will fill the void
Me too
@@Omer_Sastim_is_turtle_botphysical video games will get to the same point as vinyl and cds. Although most people buy digital, there will still be a place for them with collectors and enthusiasts.
Thanks for NOT saying "I've got my Zelda"
I buy physical when I can, especially first party Nintendo games. However, I don’t have any qualms about buying digital games that are heavily discounted.
The Nintendo Switch generation is the first one in which I finally have a job and can afford to buy the video games I want, my collection of physical games is more than 70, so for me clearly physical games are my ideal option, I just wish I had more time and desire to play u.u
My mario 3D world collection is worth 1.5 times the amount I paid for it. People that got digital can't sell it.
😭😭😭😭😭 i lost my copy!!!
Nintendo being so behind market trends is a double edged sword, and being cut so many times makes it all the more satisfying when it finally swings the other way
I bought mostly physical for the Nintendo switch. But out of the five or six games I got digitally, I did buy it in physical as well this year.
I'm primarily a PC gamer, and physical PC games disappeared over a decade ago, so I've kind of gotten used to it even if I don't like it. Digital sales have their upsides in terms of convenience and availability (easier to get "rare" titles). They also democratized game sales, as small indie studios don't need to worry about getting discs pressed. The problem is these companies are under no obligation to honour your purchases indefinitely. Like we saw with Ubisoft unilaterally removing DLC from ppl's accounts, or Redbox going belly up and people losing all their movies, or some Xbox games not working during server outages. The problem is that in North America, our already embarrassingly weak consumer protection laws STILL haven't been updated to reflect digital purchases. Your "rights" are dependent on the good nature of the company. Nintendo in particular is one of the worst offenders. No refunds, digital codes (including ones bundled with physical games) are still region locked, expiring gold points, etc. I frankly don't even trust the eShop to honour my purchases going into next gen. I'm strictly physical for Nintendo games going forward.
News could make a grown man cry
It didn't make me cry, but it sure as hell put a big smile on my face ^_^
Pretty understandable that physical is bought so often for Nintendo. Cartridges are so convenient to use, they are small and "feel less delicate". Nice that you can just op a bunch of cartridges in a case and that way you have a bunch of games with you on the go! Be nice if a 4th gaming console came out that also went with cartridges or something like them.
As a 90s kid, I am pleased that Nintendo Carts have gone from "fossils" all the way back around to being the best thing ever. It is just too perfect!
I love the idea of Nintendo being able to put the entire game on a cartidge as it guarantees you the game out of the box. Its unfortunate that some physical games require a "patch" which is the rest of the game or possibly installation of DRM (cause I tend to see an EULA page on certain games like EA, Ubisoft, 2K, etc.) which is not true ownership.
I guess that's one benefit if having not very graphically intensive games. You can fit it all on SD card
Physical Games for life 👏👏🤩
Can we talk about the fact that there’s only ONE revision of the pokemon SV + DLC cartridge that actually contains all the dlc on the cart. Oh and only in Japan. Oh and there’s no way to tell what revision you have until you open it. So sad.
Still runs like shit. And I say that with even finishing the story sort of.
Splatoon 3 + DLC is also fully on cartridge in Australia and Japan, but for some reason, it comes with a code in other regions.
Same with botw + dlc in Japan and mk8dx +doc
Not just Nintendo that do it either. I've got an Asian copy of Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy X-2, both games are on the cart (and can be played in English)...everywhere else, only Final Fantasy X was on the cart and X-2 had to be downloaded separately.
I'd rather the version that only has a portion of the DLC rather than how Smash Ultimate and Mario Kart 8 just don't have any physical card for their game plus DLC.
One of the big advantages of buying physical for me is...having at least some data (if not all) on the cart and not having the entire game take up a ton of room on your micro SD card. Those things fill up surprisingly fast and the highest capacity ones are still pretty expensive.
We are not old😂, we are considered RETRO.😎
We need to keep physical games alive. I buy only physical
I'm a physical media geek in general, Videogames, Movies, Music... I buy everything i own physical if it is an option and I've abstained repeatedly when it is not an option.
I used to work at Best Buy, and I actually asked our Nintendo rep about the physical digital split. She told me that for the Switch, the split was actually close to half. She gave me a specific percentage but I don't remember, it was around 55 digital 45 physical. This was in late 2023 mind you.
Nintendo does for Nintendo Switch what Microsoft and Sony don’t for Xbox Series X and PS5.
And never wrong to say playstation and xbox as shit company.
@@QuantumChristlove the games and consoles, but they definitely are shit companies.
@@damascus6480faxx especially Sony this generation like microsoft was touching me like a minecraft RUclipsr during XBone 😢
I agree Xbox and Sony are shitty companies, but Nintendo is just as shitty if not more.
I’m in the camp of people who will find a physical copy of a game at any cost. I have spent well over $1K on Nintendo Switch physical copies of games I want, via preorder or just picking them up after release.
I always aim for physical whenever possible. I refuse to pay ridiculous amounts of money to greedy resellers if it's one of those 'limited' type releases with a very small print run and I miss out though.
@@TromaDogg give them your money, show the man whats up
Physical is KING!
I love physical games.
I especially love Nintendo for physical because the game is usually just ready to go. Not waiting around for hours for shit to install.
Buy physical, play them, sell them for at or near same price. It's like free rentals for everything. Given how well Nintendo games especially hold their value, it actually makes it one of the cheapest consoles to play long term.
Yep, buying digital on switch is throwing money away.
@@manuelberenguerrojas7271 I have never sold any of my games since I like to hold on to my games. It's also just nice to have my games in one place without needing to pop the cart in and out everytime I wanted to play a different game.
@@goldmemberpbthat’s obviously the main benefit of digital and great for traveling.
Like most people, I have both. I far prefer my physicals though. I can buy games second hand complete them and sell them for the same price or more.
I also love having a collection of my favorite games on my shelf which I can lend to friends. It really isn’t much to pop in a disk or cartridge, though, but I get that small conveniences go a long way.
@@makasete30 Honestly having a quite large library makes the physicals more convenient for me since I don't wait for downloads (or at least wait less), I don't have to go scrolling for games, and if I want to see everything at once I can. I also don't *love* the UI for my console digitals. Folders kinda help.
My Steam library's load time kills me. Gog Galaxy is actually noticeably better along with being able to view my Epic and GOG games all at once too.
I really love going into game stores, scroll through old/new games, merch and buy physical games. And having them at home scrolling through great gaming memories I’ve had through my life. And just popping a game into my system and replay again is amazing.
I hardly watch movies/series anymore since digitalization
I prefer physical games, they are mine and it feels like proper ownership for games i really like, i just hope that most of my single player stuff can be play offline should the need arise
I just got to 110 physical games! I have a backlog of 22 physical. (I don't have stats on how much I've spent total on physical but 82% of them have been on sale)
I have spent $2030 so far on e-shop points (including 5 years/$100 of basic online.) I have 192 digital games only 36 could have been physical found in mainstream retail, but 57 of them have been given limited physical releases.
I tend to be willing to pay a slightly higher premium for physical games. And my biggest pet peeve are when digital games get the complete/deluxe releases and not the physical ones.
I only own two games digitally and physically, one because of impatiently waiting for the physical to launch and the other because of a gift.
At the very least there isn't much reason for Nintendo to cut off the physical side. It's still bringing in a lot of money. Which is good since I want to keep growing my collection for as long as possible. Once we hit that totally digital future...I'll still have plenty of games to play.
All thanks to the Japanese market they focused on
When games stopped having nice detailed manuals the value of physical games sort of deminished for me personally. However, i do think we need to keep physical media. I would be fine with even reduced packaging, like a case that was only slightly bigger than the game disk itself.
I could see physical copies being exclusive to online retailers and places like gamestop.
I only buy physical Switch games and I have just over 130 games for it. I buy from Limited Run for the Switch as well. I buy as many XB games from limited Arun as I can as well because I want to show people still buy physical for it. Only platform I buy digital from is PC through Steam and Unreal. A lot of times I have gotten a game for free on Unreal or for dirt cheap on Steam and then bought the physical copy on my Switch. Long live physical plug and play games!!! Forever Physical!!!
The thing is, as far as Xbox and ps5 are concerned physical media is already dead. the disc is nothing more than a license. If the consoles online functions ceased to exist you won’t be playing your game regardless of it being physical or digital
Lots of Bots in the comments. Once physical is done I am out of gaming.
Sure you are 😂
You’re suppose to stay and finish your backlog. Thats my plan. I have plentyyyyy of games to go back to.
@@TheSubZero187 Exactly. I have so many physical games that I am set for the rest of my life.
@@1978pqme too.. I have prolly 600-700 physical games
You should've quit when games stopped being playable in 2006. Or when Microsoft started releasing their first-party games cross-platform with Windows in 2013. Or when companies fell down the Alt-Right pipeline in 2015. You're in this shit until consoles stop being made, there's no going back.
More cost goes into production of a physical copy (case, disc/cartridge, paper artwork, ink, shrink wrap, shipping to stores), So there is no reason for a switch game to be both $60 on Walmart's shelf and on the eShop.
I only go digital when it's the only option.
At first, I didn't mind going digital, but then when I went to borrow the RE revelations game for the switch from my uncle, I was horrified with what I saw... A DOWNLOAD CODE INSIDE THE CASE WTFFFF
LIKKE WHY BOTHER RELEASING A PHYSICAL CASE WHEN THERE'S ONLY A CODE INSIDE. LITERALLY THINK ABOUT THE AMOUNT OF PLASTIC WASTE THIS MAKES
Looks good on your shelf next to the physical games. You can't gift a game through the eshop. It's not a waste unless you don't care and throw it in the trash.
one element of the switch the plays strongly in favour of physical carts with the full game on it is its a handheld system. They want you to be able to buy the latest Zelda, Mario etc etc and insert it and play it hand held immediately even if you’re aware from Wifi.
It's not that Physical is not selling well in Xbox and Playstation... Its the Fact that Playstation and Xbox intenionally NOT MAKING PHYSICAL and they Make a propaganda that consumers don't want physical. IT's an artificial problem all gaming company make excluding Nintendo.
They can just compress the file. Dosnt have to play right off of the disc.
Save that for smaller games.
Use dual layered Blue ray, and if needed multiple disks for install, like back on ps one and 2.
At least you'll have the game on a working format.
There's no reason not to do this besides to put extra cash in there pocket.
After my internet went out and i couldnt play my digital games on ps4 or xbox im done with digital only buying physical from now on
Except for a few specific franchises, I’m done when/if games go all digital. I have more physical games than I can ever play ATM. Only reason I continue to buy at this point is for collecting.
Rest in Peace, GameInformer.
1991-2024
If it's a really good game sometimes I'll buy both. But I have so many physical copies I just keep buying physical copies. My shelf looks good with a lot of switch games. I have few Xbox and Playstation physical copies.
Main difference between nintendo and the competition is the games are actually on the cartridge not just a portion of it unless it's something from a third party like activision who doesn't put effort in, which nintendo is my main platform always has been minus the wii and I buy almost all of my games physically unless it's just to hard to get a physical copy or to expensive, my other platform is xbox which is primarily to play older backwards compatible titles with the occasional new game that are not available on nintendo other then that it's just my bluray player
I cant remember where i saw it but some Chinese scientists have created a optical disc system capable of storing 200000gb on a single disc. So to all those people who think bluray could never be topped and due to size alone its the end of physical i dont think its the case even an optical system with less than 10000gb capacity would be good for ps6 and ps7,ps8 i think
many indie games end up super cheap or digital only which of course skews digital sales numbers. i personally don’t mind buying indie games digitally and physical for the “bigger games”
Like it or not, gaming will move away from physical and even downloading on a hard drive will be the thing of the past once streaming becomes norm. Get your hands on classic roms and physical copies to your hard drive so you can actually own your games that you already paid.
I get any game physical if it's an option, or unless it's like 3 times more expensive. So yeah this is great news to hear!
I am steadfast in my love of physical media.
I wouldn’t buy anything over $5 digitally. I’m only 1 person, I can only play so many games. So eventually I will want to sell these games when I will never play them again. Can’t get money back from digital. It’s why I quit buying pc games, steam killed the platform for me
Long Live Physical Media!
If I’m able to get physical, I will always grab a copy, but I will always support smaller teams that do digital as well xD
I’ll always support the small guys that do physical stuff as long as it’s something
PHYSICAL FOREVER!!! 💿💿
With backlogs, I never buy physical or digital at full prices but I do want to see them both continue. I usually buy digital first then buy physical when it goes to half price or less. Glad to hear this report!
Still buy all physical!
I've moved to PC mostly, so I have no choice but digital, but whenever I buy a switch game, i always do physical.
I largely prefer physical media. In fact, I only found out recently that Disney are no longer selling DVDs & Blu-Rays of their movies in my country. I'm kinda used to importing physical media from other countries at this point, so that might be what I'd have to do more of in the future if games are going to have less and less of a presence in physical stores going forward. Until we are fully in that "all-digital future" of course.
I don’t buy physical anymore unless it’s a Nintendo game. All games on my Xbox or third party games on either console I get digital. I am only interested in having the actual game if it’s Nintendo.
I am never going to stop buying physical games, unless I have no other choice, like is the case for 99.999% of games on PC
You won't, as games get bigger the storage media won't hold all the data
FINALLY some good news about this. Thank you.
I've always been a fan of owning physical over digital, but I do love the convenience of having digital (assuming theres enough storage space to keep everything on there). Sometimes wanting both of those means we end up buying the game twice... Im sure the platform holders love that, so physical may not go away so quick, especially where sometimes people understand buying physical could mean forking out more cash for the item.
If you buy digital youre literally throwing your money away as you cannot sell it to someone else later.
Nintendo is a company people associate with physical games. I suspect that chart doesn’t tell the whole story. While people may but physical Switch games, they are also buying digital games, often times if they are cheaper or more convenient. Nintendo will be the last holdout for physical media
When I first started with the switch I opted for all digital only for convenience. However, since there's no guarantee that access to my digital library will always be there, I also collect the physical versions for the collection where possible and for future preservation.
I love physical games and especially on my Nintendo Switch. The Nintendo Switch had a wonderful time on the market and I hope Nintendo doesn't forget what made the Nintendo Switch beloved. Cool video. ^_^
No more game informer at gamestop i had that for 24 years i will miss it
**LOOK AT IT THIS WAY MY FRIENDS* the correct path forward in supporting our favorite industry that is videogames will be forever fighting for the right stuff *where you spend your time and money matter*
You nailed it! Nintendo releasing games that are playable with the data on the cart is way more appealing then Microsoft and Sony's idea of releasing digital keys on a disc and the whole reason why digital is taking over on those systems. I can't tell you the last game on either of those systems that was playable right out of the box. Even if it does it won't be compatible with any of your friends online. very strange but makes sense.
When I buy games for my Switch I go physical. When it’s for my PS5 I mostly go digital unless it’s a present. You have to download/ install for PS5 so just makes more sense to go digital for me.
I will enjoy every game on an SD card after I have hacked my Switch. Otherwise, I still enjoy buying physical. Power and choice of a consumer!
Hopefully physical stays around for a while longer, I still love to buy as much of my library physical as possible.
A lot of games don’t offer the best edition on disk these days with DLC, that they offer for an ultimate edition, as they only have that as digital to buy or a collectors edition which is physical :(. Shame how the force those who want the extra DLC or preorder bonus to either buy the best edition digital or miss out, as they don’t offer the physical best version of the game to force more digital sales I believe!
Its also an investment 👌
Physical games can increase in some cases.
The demand for Digital media actually comes from the industry itself, not consumers.
If that’s the case, please explain Blockbuster…
Xbox gamepass boast 34 million subscribers and Netflix have 277 million. Clearly, due to convenience, digital has become the societal norm.
HOW is this not consumer driven? We get it. You love physical media. I love physical media, but stop talking out of your @ss..
I mean, given the main console manufacturers (Nintendo, SONY, and Microsoft) have exhausted all they could in the console market, I definitely agree with that sentiment.
bingo
@@cbgg1585 He's talking about Video Games not movies
@@cbgg1585digital iTunes movies did NOT outsell DVDs and blurays. Digital is not what’s desired. Cost effectiveness and convenience is. That’s why Netflix took off. They under cut competition in order to kill them off and then raise prices later to finally start making money. This used to and still should be illegal.
The INDUSTRY wants digital. Not the other way around. They HATE 2nd hand markets, they fundamentally HATE the concept of ownership and they HATE customers who have standards.
I have no problem buying a digital game when it's deeply discounted, but I can't stomach the idea of buying a full priced game digitally. Something about that just doesn't sit right with me lol
K first, thank you for any good news on the physical gaming front, cuz I was starting to feel like an infant fighting Mike Tyson on that one, as I am an almost entirely physical collector, I was happy to hear that ,at least, Nintendo will continue to "get physical" as it were, was really nice to hear.thanks spawner.
I like having certain games on digitally that I may always want to have accessible, such as local multiplayer games that I may spontaneously want to play with some friends. Other games that are more single player story focused I'd rather have them on the cartridge so they don't take up storage space. I don't need those available for spontaneity since I typically focus on one and when done with it I move on to another.
I actually like to own my games, not just have permission to use them.
yes i noticed the update content was a tactic to get more digital useage for games and not rely on the physical medium
Why would someone go to a store. See a copy of whatever game. And see a card with a redemption code and pick the card to purchase ? Makes zero sense. Unless the digital is 70% off vs. physical.
If it's a game I'll only ever playthrough once, it's physical. I can then ebay it.
If it's a game I never plan on trading in, it's digital.
Definitely physical games for the switch because it also takes up less gigs when I use the cartridge
Thank God for Nintendo and keeping physical games. People didn't understand how games can disappear until recently.
I love physical games, and almost has always been a physical collector or buyer, however the past couple years, I have bought some games digital knowing that, it is convenient like if it's a sports game or COD game or a game that won't have any value after a week of release, and a game that I might want to play for an hour, but don't want to change out the disk. It does make it useful.
Plus since we have kids, we have to make sure the physical doesn't get damaged, we are teaching them to take care of things, but there is an age where kids won't always take care of their things. So digital is honestly good in that aspect.
I will happily and GLADLY pay more for physical versions, im not denying the convenience of digital but it WILL one day stop existing, at least with your physical copy it will last much longer
I've been collecting a bunch of 3DS and Switch games since I bought both 2 years ago, and my 3DS is homebrew. Recently the SD of my 3DS died, and I lost my entire digital backup collection. Thanks goodness I had backups into the physical cartridges, and I could restore every single save.
I could only imagine the tragedy if I didn't had the physical collection with the saves. I would had lost 2 years of collecting pokemon and other important saves.
Generally speaking with Switch games, I tend to get them physically if they're single player, complete in cartridge, games which includes pretty much all 1st party games and a few 3rd party games.
If it's a multiplayer game that I know I'll play consistently with friends, I tend to go digital (but I'm open to getting them physical too) as the ease & convenience of hopping between games, especially ones with local MP, is there.
I also go digital for a vast majority of indy games, mainly because they tend to be cheaper both on the eShop's MSRP price & during digital sales when compared to their Limited Run Games, Super Rare Games, etc counterparts, especially if you miss the game's respective pre-order window.
I love physical games because it saves on hard drive space! You fill up a 2tb hard drive really fast nowadays!
The day the industry goes 100% digital, Is the same day I stop supporting the industry. Not the day that I stop playing video games, or even stop playing new video games. Just the day I stop paying for them. If they refuse to release a physical copy of a game I see no issue with pirating said game. Asking consumers to pay $70 for something they don't actually own and you can pull from their library at any time is disgusting and does not deserve to be rewarded.
The one thing might change in the next gen is the size of the boxes, I think Nintendo might make 3DS sized boxes for the next Switch to save money, occupy less space on retail shelves and smaller carbon footprint from the plastics used