Would you buy a disc-free console?

General and high profile video game topics.
User avatar
VideoGameCritic
Site Admin
Posts: 18102
Joined: April 1st, 2015, 7:23 pm

Would you buy a disc-free console?

Postby VideoGameCritic » March 30th, 2017, 9:00 pm

I read this article with a lot of interest:
https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2017/03/ ... le-option/

I noticed the comments were heavily slanted toward those who wanted to go all-digital, but I think that's reflective of the Ars readership, which tends to be on the bleeding edge.

Personally I would never consider a console that didn't take physical media, and I think the benefits of physical media are really understated by the article.

What's your take?

User avatar
BlasteroidAli
Posts: 1594
Joined: April 9th, 2015, 7:50 pm

Re: Would you buy a disc-free console?

Postby BlasteroidAli » March 30th, 2017, 9:16 pm

I already have. I bought the gamestick. It has been discontinued. The servers have been shut down. What is on the consoles ssd drive is all that is every going to be on it. It was not the greatest system but like a few other consoles it only lasted 2 years. I think the Ouja was the same.
People talked about the disc free society but at the end of the day most games are better on disc. After all you cannot show off your collection if it is on your hard drive.

I would be against it.

Sut
Posts: 845
Joined: April 8th, 2015, 4:23 pm

Re: Would you buy a disc-free console?

Postby Sut » March 31st, 2017, 3:40 am

I think it's a tough pill to swallow for those of us who have played and collected games for a long time. But it has an air of inevitability about it.

I've posted before I've gone all digital for music and books but as yet I'm not prepared to go digital on games. Although I do feel I may be in a minority outside the mainstream gamers.

User avatar
Rookie1
Posts: 705
Joined: August 6th, 2015, 7:42 am

Re: Would you buy a disc-free console?

Postby Rookie1 » March 31st, 2017, 5:54 am

I seriously thought about getting a Steam Box when it was released, but like all consoles, I waited to see what would happen and I am glad I did.

I have contemplated going to steam for a while now in fact, but I just havent had anything push me over them edge yet. I just bought a new PC, which should run newer stuff, but I am not a PC gamer at heart so its hard to make that transition.

Honestly, unless Nintendo pumps out some gold on the Switch (that I am interested in), I just dont see myself even buying another console.

User avatar
Gentlegamer
Posts: 787
Joined: April 7th, 2015, 1:01 am

Re: Would you buy a disc-free console?

Postby Gentlegamer » March 31st, 2017, 9:07 am

Yes, I would buy a disc-free console.

That takes carts.

User avatar
velcrozombie
Posts: 610
Joined: April 12th, 2015, 3:37 pm

Re: Would you buy a disc-free console?

Postby velcrozombie » March 31st, 2017, 11:39 am

I'm typing from one!

User avatar
scotland
Posts: 2561
Joined: April 7th, 2015, 7:33 pm

Re: Would you buy a disc-free console?

Postby scotland » March 31st, 2017, 1:12 pm

Sut wrote:I've posted before I've gone all digital for music and books but as yet I'm not prepared to go digital on games. Although I do feel I may be in a minority outside the mainstream gamers.


I hear you, friend Sut, but I think I am falling into the digital camp because its not so black and white as it may be for books.

I like physical media too for lots of reasons. Its fun to root through 35 year old game carts that work like new (or better than new). But I also have multicarts and flash carts, and its really just a way to get digital content to my old hardware. I bought a VIC 20 multicart, so its physical, but inside its an SD cart and a PCB. I buy games from GOG - are they digital or physical? If I burn my GOG game on a disc, did I change anything? The difference between physical and digital doesn't matter much anymore.

I see the difference is how independent the system is.

(Sometimes its unclear how independent something is. I have a several year old Android tablet. A lot still works, and I can still use the Play Store to look for new games, but fewer and fewer are still compatible with that version of Android. Even games already loaded may stop working if you let them update.)

User avatar
Gentlegamer
Posts: 787
Joined: April 7th, 2015, 1:01 am

Re: Would you buy a disc-free console?

Postby Gentlegamer » March 31st, 2017, 1:47 pm

velcrozombie wrote:I'm typing from one!


Switch?

Voor
Posts: 1555
Joined: April 14th, 2015, 8:08 pm

Re: Would you buy a disc-free console?

Postby Voor » March 31st, 2017, 4:00 pm

Possibly, as long as games could be saved to it forever. My NES Classic is essentially one , and it hasn't been a problem.

However, as long as it's not too expensive (like vintage/collectibles), I prefer the physical route. Case in Point: i don't own a kindle and don't have any music on my phone--I still buy books and CDs.

User avatar
Rookie1
Posts: 705
Joined: August 6th, 2015, 7:42 am

Re: Would you buy a disc-free console?

Postby Rookie1 » March 31st, 2017, 5:17 pm

Gentlegamer wrote:
velcrozombie wrote:I'm typing from one!


Switch?


Don't be silly, the switch doesn't have a browser.


Return to “Video Games General”