The ways that we consume media has changed hugely over the last ten years. Changes in format are not new; people used to collect records on vinyl, that changed into cassette tapes and then onto compact discs, in the same way that VHS copies of films got upgraded first to DVD and then to Blu-ray. Digital downloads however are a much bigger change.
A New Kind of Storage
It used to be pretty simple. You had some shelves in your house and you’d use those shelves to put things on. All your CDs, DVDs, games cartridges and CD ROMs could sit on display – ready to be played or used whenever you wanted. Those days are soon to be completely behind us though. By making copies of films, music and games digitally available we no longer need a physical copy to take up space on a shelf. The days of having an entire wall filled with PC game or VHS tapes are over and masses of films, music and games can be easily stored digitally on hard drives the size of a single old VHS tape or smaller.
More Reasons Why Game Downloading is Great
Owning downloaded, digital copes of games is certainly the way forward. How many times in the past have you scratched a DVD or lost a disc somewhere? Another of the benefits of downloading PC games is that once they’re downloaded you cannot break them, nor have them stolen. Hard copies of things will eventually perish anyway. Even if you do have an old collection of games, the chances are strong that they will eventually stop working, either simply through age and wear or because the means to play them becomes less and less available.
Not only does going the download route help your own home from becoming less cluttered, it also does the same for the whole world. The less plastic we need to use for game boxes and discs the better, not to mention all the waste of paper from inlay cards and booklets. A digital download has no effect on the environment and doesn’t create waste. Who really wants racks of dusty plastic boxes all over their home anyway! Keep your carbon footprint low by downloading rather than ordering games by post, saving on materials and both delivery costs and pollution.
Smart Collecting
Downloading games also opens up a whole new area to choose your entertainment from. You can order less well known, independent games online just as easily as huge releases. This means that there are loads of great downloadable games out there from smaller companies that would never have had the budget to get onto shop shelves if downloading wasn’t an option.
The Way Forward
Don’t try to resist, as the future is indeed bright and clutter free. Kiss goodbye to those cheap, dusty games boxes and say hello to a much more stylish living room. You can get all the big name games, cheap old school bargains and cool new independent games just by pressing a few buttons. Why wouldn’t you!
Martin French has been writing and blogging about media formats, upgrades and expansions for over a decade. Check back regularly for more on the benefits of downloading PC games and many other topics.
