Which is better, PS5 Digital Edition or the (standard) PS5 Disc Edition? If you’re on the fence about spending the extra $100 USD on Sony’s newest video game console, I’ll gladly help you decide. Because you’re shooting yourself in the foot when picking the Digital Edition.
The PS5 Disc Edition is better than the PS5 Digital Edition, because of the limited storage capacity of the PlayStation 5. Furthermore, users have the ability to resell PS5 discs and save a lot of money that way, which is not possible for digitally purchased PS5 games.
There are many hidden costs that PlayStation gamers on a budget fail to take into account. Questioning if buying the PS5 is worth it for you? The first thing you should think about is the limited storage capability of the console.
Why Buying The PS5 Disc Edition Is Better
With a price difference of just $100 USD, the Digital PS5 (without disc option) seems like an attractive purchase. Save a hundred bucks, and go digital because it’s the future? Seems like a great deal at first. But it will end up costing you much more than you’re saving. Here’s why.
1. Digital Has MASSIVE Storage Problems
The Digital and Standard (disc) edition of the PlayStation 5 have the same amount of storage space. An 825 GB SSD hard drive, of which 667 GB can actually be used due to system files.
Most PS5 games require a minimum of 50 GB of storage, but some will need 100 GB or more. This means your PS5 Digital can only store a collection of 13 games total. And that’s the best-case scenario, because a game like Call Of Duty: Black Ops needs a whopping 136 GB.
And I haven’t even mentioned the extra storage needed for DLC and game updates yet.
This means you’ll be forced to purchase a PS5-compatible external SSD to store extra games at some point. That’s a lot of extra dollars out of your pocket, while you could have invested $100 USD extra and have the bulk of your data on a disc instead.
2. Your Internet Speed Needs To Be FAST For A Digital PS5
If you’re constantly switching installed games to save on the limited storage capacity, you need to download these games often. Many people don’t realize that this will take hours per game, unless you have a high-speed internet connection.
Especially in countries like the USA, internet speed limitations can cause big problems.
While it’s nice to have the ability to switch between games, doing this fast will probably mean you’ll have to upgrade your internet plan. And that’s an extra monthly cost that you probably haven’t taken into account yet.
3. Digital Kills Your Ability To Resell Old Games
A common strategy people use to play the latest PlayStation games for cheap is no longer possible with the Digital no-disc version of the PS5:
- Buy a new full-priced game
- Play through it in weeks
- Resell it for $10 USD below retail price
- You just saved yourself a lot of money!
This is no longer possible when you don’t own physical copies of the game. And it doesn’t even need to be recouping your money.
4. Say Goodbye To Borrowing Games From Friends
Unless you’re using the game share feature on the same console, you no longer have the option to borrow a physical copy of a PS5 game from a friend. The reason is simple: there’s no ability to share digital copies with other PS5 consoles.
Your friend might have wanted to play that single-player campaign in the new God of War.
Now you’re going to have to disappoint your friend, simply because you didn’t invest an extra $100 USD in the (superior) Disc Edition of the PlayStation 5. And you still had to purchase that game at retail price. Thanks, Sony. Thanks for nothing.
5. No More Bargain Buys At Video Game Stores
Remember the times you found that one PlayStation game you wanted in the budget aisle? The feeling of euphoria is now gone, because the PlayStation Store severely limits your ability to take advantage of sales.
Turns out, those traditional brick-and-mortar game stores are good for something.
Your local GameStop might have accidentally priced a game wrong. But you can’t buy it now, because you’re stuck with purchasing the games off of the official PlayStation Store. Say farewell to your lucky bargain buys.
Oh, and you can’t buy any second-hand games on eBay anymore either, unless it’s an unused digital game code. Bummer.
6. No Point In Buying PS5 Collector’s Editions
I’m probably not the only person that admires a good Collector’s Edition. If you are one of those people that loves to buy special editions of PlayStation games, don’t purchase the PS5 Digital version.
Sure, you can still buy a Collector’s Edition. But you can’t use that included Steelcase game.
You’re going to have to purchase the game separately on the PlayStation Store, unless the publisher was so nice as to include a digital download of the game for those poor buggers that bought the cheaper Digital PS5.
7. Say Goodbye To Blu-Ray And DVD Movies
You probably already thought about this one, since the PlayStation is often used as a Blu-Ray player or DVD player. If your console doesn’t have a disc drive, however, that’s no longer an option.
It really narrows down the things you can do on your ‘multimedia’ console.
It’s no longer a real multimedia device. Unless you only use Netflix these days, of course. But most people have some old DVDs or Blu-Ray discs laying around. If you ever want to watch a movie, you’re going to have to do it on another device. And that’s not ideal.
8. Can’t Play Your Old PS4 Games
One of the nice features of the PS5 is the ability to play PS4 games on them. That is, if the console can actually accept PS4 discs. And the Digital version of the PlayStation 5 will not accept old PS4 game discs (for obvious reasons).
Luckily, your digital PS4 games can be played on the Digital PS5. To transfer your PS4 games to the PS5, transfer the game file data from your PS4 to PS5. Select ‘game library from your Games home to access the data.
It’s also possible to transfer save game data from your PS4 to PS5. The method is similar for both PS5 versions. Regardless, the process is quite tricky when you only have digital files to transfer. If you only own a disc copy of a PS4 game, backward compatibility is not an option on the PS5 Digital.
9. Can’t Display Your Physical PS5 Collection
A dedicated game room is the wet dream of every gamer, young and old. Some will be satisfied with only a few shelves of video games. It’s an amazing feeling to display your purchases for all to see!
However, displaying your video game collection just doesn’t feel the same when it’s digital.
It’s like turning all your bookcase shelves into a single Kindle ebook. Sure, it’s convenient. And you’ll save a lot of space. But where is that game room vibe? Where is that feeling of accomplishment after buying a game? The nerd cave won’t ever be the same without games on the shelves. Let’s fight to protect that magical feeling for generations to come. Game on!
I’ve always wondered this. What’s the reasoning as to why console developers don’t offer us the ability to sell digital versions of purchased games to other consumers or even back to them to resell at a higher rate?
Capitalism
Disc version don’t save your SSD space, it still needs to transfer all the data to the hard drive.
if this is the new improved version, why didn’t they make it a combo of both? and with the digital they could easily add memory, TB ‘s of storage is not expensive. Then you could say mine does both.