Console gamers prefer discs to downloads

July 5, 2010 | 11:46

Tags: #cloud #digital-distribution #games-on-demand #survey

Companies: #steam

A survey by Ipsos MediaCT has revealed that 64 percent of console gamers prefer physical copies of games to ones bought and stored digitally.

Reported by MCV, the research also quizzed respondents on their preference between physical and digital formats of other media, including music, films and newspapers. Surprisingly, the percentage for the console game was the highest, even trumping the newspaper, where 63 percent preferred a hard copy. Music scored the lowest, with just 45 percent wanting their music in physical form.

Ian Bramley, director of Ipsos MediaCT, claimed that both the collector's mindset and the second-hand game market were increasing boxed game purchases. The value placed on the pre-owned games market is "unlike the music and film markets," he said.

The survey did not take into account the opinion of PC gamers. If they had, we reckon the figures would likely have favoured digital distribution a bit more, given the huge success of platforms like Steam and Direct2Drive. The fact that 17 percent of participants reported that their console was not connected to the internet is likely to have affected the high preference for game discs too.

Asked about what would sway them to download a game, 55 percent claimed that lower prices would help, and 27 percent would like to see earlier availability of games.

Where do you stand on the issue of physical versus downloaded games? Is having a "real" copy of a game valuable, or do you simply prefer to use whichever method is cheapest or easiest? Let us know your thoughts in the forums.
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