FEATURE: Digital Download of Video-Games

Whether you're a collector or not, it wouldn't be surprising to see games released only digitally in the not so distant future.

As a gamer, you'll probably know that digital gaming is becoming a huge part of the industry, you can pretty much find any game you want via a download whether it be PSN Store, Xbox Live Marketplace, or Steam. You'll be able to find what you want somewhere without having to physically move, except with your hands of course.

Personally, I do prefer having physical copies of a game as I'm a bit of a collector but there's no denying that a lot of money is being made via digital distribution. So, I think it's time I weigh out the pros and cons of digital gaming downloads to come to some sort of conclusion as to whether digital downloads will take over physical copies of video-games.

Pros

• Don't take up any physical space at all 
• The disc will never get scratched or damaged
• You can't 'lose' a digital copy of a game, it's always available to re-download with no extra charge
• Very easy way of obtaining games that are hard to get in their physical form
• It's convenient to simply find a digital download and play there and then
• There will never be a shortage of stock

Cons

• Often the pricing isn't completely accurate (Red Faction Armageddon was £50 on PSN Store)
• Lack of any physical attachments such as the manual or the case (Mainly for collector's, not a huge problem for gamers who just want to play games whether they keep them in their collection or not.)
• As games get bigger in size, the longer the download will take
• You cannot return a digitally downloaded game
• No pre-owned games - it's not possible. A lot of people buy games pre-owned because it can a really cheap way of gaming, this is not possible the digital way.

As you can see, there are a lot of points to both arguments - like I said earlier, I prefer having the physical copy because it's nice to have the game as part of a collection with the artwork and so on but I know a lot of gamers don't care about any of that stuff, they just want the game to play and that's it. Either way, please comment and tell me what you think! Feature1