Does anyone else miss actually having physical copies of Sims games? «123...Next Go

Lustianicia

It might just be nostalgia speaking, but I honestly miss having physical copies of the base games, expansion packs, and stuff packs. I remember being a kid and experiencing the excitement of saving up money, going to the store, and buying the newest pack for my Sims game. I remember the excitement of opening up a new pack on Christmas or for my birthday. I even miss having to type in those codes in order to install them (even though it often got tiring after awhile). I also miss those screenshots each pack had while installing the game... it added to the overall excitement and anticipation. Also, I always loved watching my collection grow as more packs got released... I would often sometimes just take them all out, place them on a table (in order), and just admire them... lol

I understand that the way it is now has made things more convenient in some ways... and the process is much faster... however, I just kinda miss all of these things.

Am I the only one who misses all of this? What do you think?

nerdfashion

Other (?)

I don't really care to be honest. You can technically still buy Sims games in stores, but only the Base Game and Expansion Packs.

phantasmkiss

No, I much prefer digital.

I still own cd's, and the last couple times I bought music, I bought cd's that came with digital downloads.

That said, I'm glad I have Sims in digital form. My Sims 2 disks took up a lot of room (before they got stolen) and even cramming as many disks as possible into one case, I still had several cases stuffed with booklets and disks. Sims 3 was shaping up to be the same way, and at this point in my Sims career, if everything was a physical copy, I'd have a full box of boxes of stuff.

I loved going through the booklets, referring to them, looking at the art. There's something that feels very special about having physical things, but there's also something to be said for knowing that I can't lose them, no one can walk off with them, and even if my computer died, I could log into my account from somewhere else.

I resisted the change, but I've assimilated. I'm okay now, and I like it here.

Chazzzy

No, I much prefer digital.

I’m not buying hard copies of anything anymore. It only becomes a problem when I lose my internet access.

Hermitgirl

No, I much prefer digital.

I do have some nostalgia over it like I have my boxes from past games. Unfortunately the way they came packaged with codes on slips of paper, or on the books inside themselves, some of those codes have gotten lost. With children some of the disks are scratched and I had to buy more than one copy in the past. I even had some disappear and I'm guessing some child that was visiting had sticky fingers. I do admit to not being very organized at times though so some loss could be just something I did without thinking. Digital is just better for me. I can't lose it. The only thing I need to remember is my password for my account..

LaBlue0314

No, I much prefer digital.

I prefer digital because you can't lose or destroy those. I can't even tell you the number of times I lost hard copies over the years.

DivieOwl

Yes, I miss physical copies.

I'm all for digital in all things except my Sims.

I sure wish I had all my packs on disc. My Sims 1, 2, and 3 are lonely on the shelf without their Sims 4 companion.

I did see another simmer create their own cases. I'll probably do that when my lazy trait isn't so strong. Heck, I'd pay someone to do it for me. 😂

So_Money

Other (?)

Yes and no.

Yes, I miss them from a collectible standpoint, just like I miss DVDs. No, I don’t miss the clutter and the lack of convenience.

DoodlyDoofus

Yes, I miss physical copies.

Finally own my own place. Bought myself a nice big bookshelf because when I lived with mom and dad I never had a cool thing to put all my stuff on display. Got all my CD's, Blurays, Video Games, Comics and everything. I put my Sims games on one shelf and....it just stops at the Sims 4 base game. Digital is very convenient but I'll always miss the collecting.

Atreya33

Yes, I miss physical copies.

Digital is convenient but I miss physically buying them in a store, looking through the booklet on the bus ride home and seeing my collection grow.

It is a real shame GP's and SP's are not even available separately in stores. At least there are origin cards available in stores because I try to avoid using credit cards online as much as possible.

I do like to be able to register discs online so I can download them should I ever need to. (scratched disc or discs being lost)

The big advantage of digital is the sales on origin (games are rarely on sale in physical stores here) and I can use shelf space for other things.

Hestia

No, I much prefer digital.

I like collecting stuff but if anything, I would only want deluxe editions sold physically with extra swag. It’s a lot more environmentally friendly that way. Pay a higher price for exclusive physical editions and make the shipping worth it.

This way, less fossil fuel is used to ship the physical items across the world. Plane, car, personal emissions to the store, manufacturing materials, etc.

GrumpyGlowfish

No, I much prefer digital.

Not being able to lose or break digital games, nostalgia, environmental friendliness and all that are cool bonuses, but the main reason I prefer digital copies is because physical ones take up too much space. It was fine when I was still living with my parents in a much bigger flat with my mother occasionally helping me to keep order, but now that I live alone in a flat that is hardly bigger than the bedroom I once had, and everything has to go in there, I've started to appreciate every possible way to save space. I own Sims 1, 2, and 4 with almost all expansion packs, every Tomb Raider and Resident Evil game that ever came out on PC, the entire Mass Effect series, parts of other series and several standalone games. I would need an entire shelf to fit them all in if I had them as physical copies, but that space is already filled by my books and DVDs.

PrincipleOfEntropy

Yes, I miss physical copies.

Physical any day. I appreciate being able to sell old games when I'm done with them. I recently sold a lot of old Sims games to a friend as he just got a new PC. That and being able to borrow and lend games is nice.

Then again I am pretty old school. I miss the days when you put the disc in your PC/console and installed the game or had it just launch. No waiting for updates, no internet concerns, just you and the game. That and the way digital live service games work is kind of worrying.

Digital obviously has its advantages too, of course.

annaliese39

Other (?)

Yes and no. I do miss the DVDs because I enjoyed having something to open on Christmas/birthdays and adding to my Sims collection. I also worried at first about my games being online as it felt less secure to me and reliant on Origin/Maxis. I knew I had to keep with the times though and I have since adjusted to it. I really enjoy the convenience of being able to download packs from home, play without discs and take my games anywhere. I still miss physical copies a little (and the good old days of TS2), but I am happy with digital.

izecson

Yes, I miss physical copies.

I was one of those that collected sims 3 physical copies, I like putting them in a bookcase it really looks good.

invisiblgirl

No, I much prefer digital.

Physical disks will degrade over time, especially in a dry climate. (I backed up my entire CD collection to my computer when I realised this could happen - I already had a couple of disks from the late 80s that were unplayable.) With a digital copy, you lose access to the game if the company folds, but most of us are well down the road with other games by that time. Even if you do have a good copy of the physical disk, it may not work with later versions of Windows - my Creatures 2 disk is still good, but it won't work with Windows 7 and above, even in retro mode.

In any case, I'm all in favour of reducing my environmental footprint wherever I can, so less stuff is always a good thing (and I certainly don't need more stuff in my house). Plus, not having to shuffle disks all the time is a big plus.

Goldmoldar

Other (?)

I do prefer physical media only if I do not not need to hook up to the devs website to finish installing and being this is now the case in most games being offered in physical media, I rather go digital as the process is quicker even if there are some caveats to going to digital and there are some with physical media as well. I save on real estate going digital and one of the game distributing companies to my knowledge that do digital but allows you to cut the cord by allowing it's customers to DL the installer file is GOG, however, it is mostly on the older games and few of the newer games but I still love them. The only time you may need them is to patch your game which is not mandatory.

Stutum

Other (?)

I wish I still had the physical copy of the original release of Sims 1, that box was so awesome. I don't care much about the rest, digital is fine.

keekee53

No, I much prefer digital.

I used to have so many hard copies of games, I need extra storage space to store it all. It is so much better to have things digital. I will not even talk about when the CD gets damaged and you can't even use it anymore. I have had that happen before.

mika

No, I much prefer digital.

No. Digital makes it easier to transfer my game to other computers

LatteCrab

Yes, I miss physical copies.

This is quite funny that I just came across this poll.
Last night I got Island Living on sale for $21.99 at Best Buy (not inc tax) and open it on way home, and OMG there was the physical disc inside!
I was completely surprised.
Best Buy only had the physical copy on sale (digital version was still regular price ).
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/the-sims-4-island-living-macwindows/6348478.p?skuId=6348478

SERVERFRA

Yes, I miss physical copies.

I miss the DVDs of the game. It was better and less expensive. Also, I didn't have to worry about it being lost in the net.

PlumbobCrossing

No, I much prefer digital.

As much fun as it was to collect all the physical copies, I don’t miss it because now I just see it as clutter, I had all the sims 2 dics and had to move them out to storage, as I’ve gotten older I hate clutter.

Idontrcall

Yes, I miss physical copies.

I miss them. I like going to the store and picking my game out. I've got a fraction of the expansions (stuff & game) now primarily because I can't pick it up at Target.

MadameLee

Yes, I miss physical copies.

I only miss pyshcially copies since unlike the U.S. in Canada and several other countires Origin cards do not exist. So it means I have to rely on my sister or my Mom to buy the stuff for me instead. Well if they're were physically copies I could use my OWN money for the packs.

Simburian

No, I much prefer digital.

I've got two large boxes full of them and most unplayable on Windows 10 and I'm trying to get rid of clutter at the moment. You cannot sell or pass on redeemed and registered EA games anyway these days.

I've got some pre-registration games, like the Terry Pratchett Diskworld ones which I would love to play again though so I would keep those.