Ease of Purchase
Who really wants to stand in line at GameStop to buy the latest edition of Call of Duty or Assassin’s Creed? It’s much easier to navigate a few menus within the PlayStation Store, find the title you want, and click purchase. No muss, no fuss. Sure, you could do the same thing at Amazon.com or another online retailer, but then you have to wait for them to actually ship out your order. Then there is always the worry that the retailer could go out of stock before they ship your copy, or it could get lost in transit. If you buy digital games, all you have to do is click, download, and play.
Let’s even start talking about how many payment options the PlayStation Network has now. Someone gave you some PSN credit as a gift? That’s Destiny partially paid for. Have money sitting in a PayPal account? There’s that new inFamous: Second Son expansion taken care of. Going to stores only lets us pay with cash or debit/credit cards. Amazon only gives the latter as an option. Sony has really made it so much easier to just buy digital than waste time with other retailers.
Lack of Clutter
Maybe you live in a small apartment. Maybe you have a big house but don’t want a bunch of game cases lying around. Perhaps you are a college student, sharing a dorm room with one or more roommates. No matter the reason, none of us like having a lot of clutter. Who needs a dozen game cases cluttering up a shelf or counter? Why not just buy digital copies and forgo the clutter all together? Not just the game cases, but so much of the less-awesome pre-order “bonuses” stores hand out now that should probably just go in the trash. Buying straight from the PlayStation Store eliminates this problem completely.
What clutter does appear on a game system from buying digital games is easy to clean up. Simply delete games not being played from the system’s hard drive and we’re left with a nice, clean dashboard. If we ever want to play those games we just deleted again, all we have to do is re-download them. After all, as we’ve already established, digital games are always with us.
Ease of Access
One of the best parts of buying digitally is the ease of access it provides. Imagine having an entire game collection available at the press of a button. Want to quit Watch Dogs and start up a game of MLB 14: The Show? Go right ahead. There’s no looking for misplaced games or wondering if that pre-owned disc you just bought is too scuffed to play. You can take comfort in knowing that your games will play the first time, and every time, when you go digital.
The ease of access becomes even more apparent when you pre-order on PSN. Now that pre-loading is an option, those early morning release night game binges are possible without having to stand in line at a GameStop with a huge crowd of people as the employees push unwanted discount cards, magazine subscriptions, and other add-ons. Buying digitally now allows games to pre-load a few days early and be available at 3AM EST/Midnight PST the day they release. That sounds pretty easy to us.
They Stay with You
With a plethora of high quality releases being released over the entire year, sometimes it is a little too easy to say “I’ll sell or trade this game I’m playing now to get this new one. I can always get this old one back later.” Of course, we rarely do and the cycle repeats again. If we buy digital games, we are forced to be more disciplined with our purchases. There’s no getting rid of them because a new shiny toy was just released, and we think that’s a good thing. It makes us want to go back and make sure we get every drop of enjoyment out of a game we bought at full price. Plus, knowing that we are stuck with a game forever makes us be choosier about the games we buy.
Of course, selling and trade-ins are but two ways we lose physical release games. We could actually, you know, lose them? Sometimes games get misplaced, stuck behind something on a shelf, or even (hopefully not) stolen by a “friend.” All of this has happened to us at one point or another. No matter how much we search or how many friends we ask if we “loaned” them a game recently, our beloved games go missing only to be discovered well after our interest in them has wained. If we buy digital releases of those games, however, we know exactly when and where they are waiting us. They always stay with us.
Potential Discounts
One argument that proponents of buying physical release copies of games love to tout is the lack of discounts on available for their digitally released counterparts. However, if one is a savvy shopper, it is quite easy to find PSN credit offered at varying levels of discounts. Sometimes they can be found on eBay or a game trading website dirt cheap. Other times, Amazon.com or another major retailer offers them with nice discounts. The truth is, if consumers want to avoid paying full price when they buy digital games, it is quite possible to do so with just a little bit of effort.
Of course, those willing wait a little while on new releases know just how much they can save. Sony often has sales and specials on the PlayStation Store. Sometimes, it is possible to find games discounted by 50 percent! PlayStation Plus subscribers potentially save even more. If you can wait for a few months on that latest title, it is quite possible you can get a very nice deal when you buy digital.
Who really wants to stand in line at GameStop to buy the latest edition of Call of Duty or Assassin’s Creed? It’s much easier to navigate a few menus within the PlayStation Store, find the title you want, and click purchase. No muss, no fuss. Sure, you could do the same thing at Amazon.com or another online retailer, but then you have to wait for them to actually ship out your order. Then there is always the worry that the retailer could go out of stock before they ship your copy, or it could get lost in transit. If you buy digital games, all you have to do is click, download, and play.
Let’s even start talking about how many payment options the PlayStation Network has now. Someone gave you some PSN credit as a gift? That’s Destiny partially paid for. Have money sitting in a PayPal account? There’s that new inFamous: Second Son expansion taken care of. Going to stores only lets us pay with cash or debit/credit cards. Amazon only gives the latter as an option. Sony has really made it so much easier to just buy digital than waste time with other retailers.
Lack of Clutter
Maybe you live in a small apartment. Maybe you have a big house but don’t want a bunch of game cases lying around. Perhaps you are a college student, sharing a dorm room with one or more roommates. No matter the reason, none of us like having a lot of clutter. Who needs a dozen game cases cluttering up a shelf or counter? Why not just buy digital copies and forgo the clutter all together? Not just the game cases, but so much of the less-awesome pre-order “bonuses” stores hand out now that should probably just go in the trash. Buying straight from the PlayStation Store eliminates this problem completely.
What clutter does appear on a game system from buying digital games is easy to clean up. Simply delete games not being played from the system’s hard drive and we’re left with a nice, clean dashboard. If we ever want to play those games we just deleted again, all we have to do is re-download them. After all, as we’ve already established, digital games are always with us.
Ease of Access
One of the best parts of buying digitally is the ease of access it provides. Imagine having an entire game collection available at the press of a button. Want to quit Watch Dogs and start up a game of MLB 14: The Show? Go right ahead. There’s no looking for misplaced games or wondering if that pre-owned disc you just bought is too scuffed to play. You can take comfort in knowing that your games will play the first time, and every time, when you go digital.
The ease of access becomes even more apparent when you pre-order on PSN. Now that pre-loading is an option, those early morning release night game binges are possible without having to stand in line at a GameStop with a huge crowd of people as the employees push unwanted discount cards, magazine subscriptions, and other add-ons. Buying digitally now allows games to pre-load a few days early and be available at 3AM EST/Midnight PST the day they release. That sounds pretty easy to us.
They Stay with You
With a plethora of high quality releases being released over the entire year, sometimes it is a little too easy to say “I’ll sell or trade this game I’m playing now to get this new one. I can always get this old one back later.” Of course, we rarely do and the cycle repeats again. If we buy digital games, we are forced to be more disciplined with our purchases. There’s no getting rid of them because a new shiny toy was just released, and we think that’s a good thing. It makes us want to go back and make sure we get every drop of enjoyment out of a game we bought at full price. Plus, knowing that we are stuck with a game forever makes us be choosier about the games we buy.
Of course, selling and trade-ins are but two ways we lose physical release games. We could actually, you know, lose them? Sometimes games get misplaced, stuck behind something on a shelf, or even (hopefully not) stolen by a “friend.” All of this has happened to us at one point or another. No matter how much we search or how many friends we ask if we “loaned” them a game recently, our beloved games go missing only to be discovered well after our interest in them has wained. If we buy digital releases of those games, however, we know exactly when and where they are waiting us. They always stay with us.
Potential Discounts
One argument that proponents of buying physical release copies of games love to tout is the lack of discounts on available for their digitally released counterparts. However, if one is a savvy shopper, it is quite easy to find PSN credit offered at varying levels of discounts. Sometimes they can be found on eBay or a game trading website dirt cheap. Other times, Amazon.com or another major retailer offers them with nice discounts. The truth is, if consumers want to avoid paying full price when they buy digital games, it is quite possible to do so with just a little bit of effort.
Of course, those willing wait a little while on new releases know just how much they can save. Sony often has sales and specials on the PlayStation Store. Sometimes, it is possible to find games discounted by 50 percent! PlayStation Plus subscribers potentially save even more. If you can wait for a few months on that latest title, it is quite possible you can get a very nice deal when you buy digital.
TLoUS remastered will be copped digitally
