Digital or Disk?

So I perfected Lego Star Wars and bought my Xbox One.  And I'm loving it.  I'm having a blast in Titanfall and Destiny and recently Gears of War Ultimate Edition (of whatever it is called).  But all this excitement has me thinking.  And that's a scary thing.

I have a shelf full of game cases for all my systems going back to the PlayStation.  I'm running out of room to put new game cases.  I can't image what it will be like a year or two from now.  So I've been thinking about going all digital vs. buying disks.

I probably wouldn't have even considered this a couple of years ago but having the Games with Gold option every month it's nice to get a full game and not clutter up a shelf with a case that will never be used.  Plus I don't have to flip around a big CD case looking for a game disk of what I want to play.  I know the Arcade titles have always been digital but in the past I've preferred to buy a disk when I wanted a retail game.  Now I'm rethinking that.

I don't store my disks in the case they came in.  Instead I put them in to a very big CD folder (which I'm running out of room in between my PS2, PS3, Xbox 360 and Xbox One games).  Those game cases are now just decoration . . . and clutter in my living room.  I guess I could always pull a case out and look through the insert manual for help in playing the game.  But wait, games aren't coming with inserts anymore.  And there's no organization to my shelves at all.

So why not digital?

That's what I've been asking myself for the last couple of months.  When I started to budget for getting an Xbox One and heard the announcement of a 1TB system I knew I had to get that larger hard drive space . . . especially if I wanted to get all digital.  On my 250GB hard drive on my Xbox 360, I've run out of space several times.  All of my Arcade titles are now stored on a thumb drive and I've deleted all the extra stuff for games that I probably won't play for awhile.  I figure I'll just re-download them if/when I play that game again.  File management has been a bitch.

A 1TB hard drive should be big enough, right?  If not I guess I'll have to look in to some external storage for my XBO.  I like not having to flip through a case but instead flip through a couple of titles on my screen.  And there isn't the hassle of having to get up to change disks whenever I want to change games.  I can see the beauty in going all digital.  But it doesn't feel like I "own" anything when I purchase a digital game.

I love to read but I have no interest in going to a digital platform for books.  My tablet is a Nook from Barnes & Noble but I have no interest in reading a book on it.  I prefer the paper and glue method of delivery that I've used for years.  I feel like I "own" those books , , , even if I've only just checked it out of the library.  There is something about holding something in your hand and saying "this is mine" that is very satisfying to me.  That's why I've been buying disk copies of games.

And it always seems to me that I can find cheaper copies of the game if I buy the disk than if I buy a digital copy.  Recently I've been looking for a copy of the game Enslaved: Odyssey to the West for Xbox 360.  I saw that GameStop had a used copy for $3, but in the game store on my Xbox a digital copy was still going for $15.  Now why would I want to spend $15 on a game when I could get the same game for $3 somewhere else?  (In fact I got the game for $1.50 somewhere else so I saved even more money.)  For less than $60 I was able to pick up 5 games only one of which was new (Gears of War Ultimate Edition $40).  For less than $20 I was able to pick up 4 more games that I wouldn't have been able to if I had purchased the digital version of Enslaved.

Until digital pricing goes down on older games I'm not so sure that I want to spend more money than I have to for older games.  That doesn't mean I won't buy digital at all (and I won't stop getting Games with Gold games for free if I like them).  But maybe I only pay full price on new games.  You know, when the digital copy is the same price as a disk copy.

Yeah, I won't have any little inserts or "24 hours free Xbox Live Gold membership" cards in a case.  But I also won't have a case cluttering up the space in my living room.  I'm running out of shelf space as it is.  And with digital some games have the option to pre-purchase and pre-download so you're ready to play the game from minute one on the day it comes out.  I like that.  But whether it is digital space or shelf space I don't see myself stopping to buy video games anytime soon.  New or used.  I only see more video games in my future . . . especially this holiday season.  Lots more games.

Xbox One is in the house

Since I finally perfected an Xbox 360 game I got the reward of treating myself to a new Xbox One system and games.  I was so excited when I opened it up and hooked everything up.  There were a lot of downloading and updating to do so I didn't get the chance to play on Friday.

I did get the chance to look at my friend's list and finally see what my friends were playing.  It was so annoying on the Xbox 360 so see my friends playing "Xbox One" and not know what game it was.  Now and I could see.  And what were they playing?  YouTube.  TV.  And "watching a video".  Really?  That's what you were doing?

After all the grief I had been getting for the last couple of years of not upgrading, yet when I finally do that's what everyone was using their system for?  What about games?  Do my friends still play those?  Maybe this is just the void before the storm as there are lots of great games that are coming out this holiday season.  Let's hope so.

But when I was finally able to get online and play, my friends online were still only watching TV or videos and not playing games.  I was starting to get sad.  Then I put in Titanfall.  And then I felt better.  It would have been great to play with friends, but it was still nice to play a game that I had waited a long time to play.

You see, there were several games that came out that when they did so they were for both the Xbox 360 and Xbox One.  Of those games, I decided to wait to get them for the Xbox One instead of the Xbox 360.  That meant I wasn't playing Titanfall, Destiny and Shadow of Mordor.  I could have, but it was my choice to wait until I could get the newer system.  I think the only exception to that was Thief.  I just couldn't wait to get that game on an Xbox One.

I don't know how many of the great games that will be coming out this year I'll be able to afford.  I hope my friends that do have some of the games that I do have will play with me like they use to in the old days.  I guess we could always watch TV or YouTube videos together too.  It's just not the same.

Where I welcome a new gaming system to my household . . .

I've been wanting to get a new gaming system for a long time.  I ended up with a little bit of money this month and I decided to take the plunge and get a new system. 

What system did I get?  Was it an Xbox One?  Maybe a PS4?  Or could it be a Wii U?  There's also a PS Vita to consider.  As well as a PS3.  And I desperately need a new computer.  Plus I'd love to get a new laptop.  There's also the possibility of a 3DS.  Which could it be?

I decided to get a PS3.  Yes, my "new" console is considered a "last generation" system.  I don't care.  My finances have been really tight for the last 6 years or so and I've always wanted a PS3.  My favorite console until recently was always the PS2.  Mostly because of the great games and that it was also backward compatible so I could still play my PS games without having to swap out systems.

I got the 500GB The Last of Us bundle.  It was last year's holiday bundle and I was afraid that they would come out with a different one that I wouldn't like.  I also got lucky finding it at my local Game Stop. 

And you know what the best part of all of this is?  I got to keep my same gamertag.  Yep.  I'm Pengwenn on Xbox Live and now I'm Pengwenn on PSN.  When my brother bought his PS3 (in July) he set up his account with a different name.  That's going to be hard to remember which one he is on the different systems.  If you have a PS3 and want to add me as a friend, send me a message and let me know who you are (if you have a different gamertag from how I know you on Xbox.

I got 3 games for the system.  In addition to The Last of Us, I also got a 2 game bundle of Uncharted and Uncharted 2.  I didn't have any money to get anything else.  I will try to get more games.  I figure they're cheap now so many I could pick up one every couple of weeks on payday.  I'm sure I can find some really good bargains now. 

Eventually I'll move up to the "current gen" systems and get an Xbox One and PS4 and a Wii U.  Right now I don't have the money.  There are some games that I know are out on Xbox 360 or PS3 but I want to have them for the current systems.  Games like Destiny, Shadows of Mordor, etc.  Hopefully I won't have to wait as long to get those systems and games that I did for my PS3.

I've only played The Last of Us and I've already gotten stuck twice.  The first time I called my brother and he told me what to do.  I understood what he was saying but I needed to see visuals so I got on Twitch and found someone in my exact spot.  I watched him die 5 or 6 times just while I was watching before he got through the area.  He did it just like what my brother said.  When I got back on to the game I was able to get through that area on my first attempt and it was pretty easy.

Now I'm stuck again.  I have to figure out how to get past/through 3 clickers and about a dozen runners.  Yeah me.  I guess it's back to Twitch for some help.  If anyone has this game and wants to play some co-op or multi-player (whichever it offers) let me know.  It will be nice to make some new friends and to actually play with them.