1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,840 Microsoft just sent us their brand new Xbox time to make a whole video on all the big changes 2 00:00:07,000 --> 00:00:15,020 Well, it's an Xbox Series X alright with no disk drive and some cost optimizations, and it's white 3 00:00:18,160 --> 00:00:25,640 Okay, very funny, but there is legitimately more to this story the new model will also save you $50 4 00:00:25,640 --> 00:00:32,160 That is if you're willing to commit your soul to the digital only future and give up playing disk-based games 5 00:00:32,680 --> 00:00:37,440 Probably forever. Should you take the deal? I mean on the one hand $50 6 00:00:37,640 --> 00:00:45,120 That's a lot of money to save But on the other hand the conventional wisdom says that physical games are much cheaper than digital ones 7 00:00:45,560 --> 00:00:50,600 Especially in the long run. Does that make diskless consoles like this a bad deal? 8 00:00:50,920 --> 00:00:55,920 How many games would you need to buy before you wipe out that $50 savings? 9 00:00:56,400 --> 00:01:03,400 That is the question we set out to answer and it turns out it's kind of complicated or well really complicated 10 00:01:03,400 --> 00:01:08,840 The good news is we did the complicated part for you And when you're done watching this 10 and a half minute video 11 00:01:09,040 --> 00:01:13,120 You will be equipped with some very practical tips that will save you money 12 00:01:13,120 --> 00:01:16,160 And you'll also be equipped with this message from our sponsor 13 00:01:20,960 --> 00:01:32,280 We began our price comparison journey by adding the top rated and top selling PlayStation 5 titles to a spreadsheet 14 00:01:32,280 --> 00:01:38,480 Then culling any of the games that didn't have a physical release. That left us with a healthy mix of 67 games 15 00:01:38,840 --> 00:01:44,920 We've stuck with the PS5 this time around because the cross-platform licensing on Xbox is a bit more complicated 16 00:01:44,920 --> 00:01:48,720 So leave a like if you want to see a deeper dive that includes the Xbox and the PC 17 00:01:49,280 --> 00:01:54,040 Also about twice as many people have PS5s than current gen Xboxes. So PS5 18 00:01:54,640 --> 00:01:59,120 Step two was to populate our spreadsheet with both digital and physical pricing 19 00:01:59,320 --> 00:02:03,240 Now some individual prices may have changed since October 15th 20 00:02:03,240 --> 00:02:07,560 But the overall story shouldn't giving us the answer to our first question right away 21 00:02:07,880 --> 00:02:15,680 How many non-used games would you need to buy right now to break even on the $50 that you spent on a disk drive version? 22 00:02:16,600 --> 00:02:21,840 29.8 which I gotta say is a lot more than I expected 23 00:02:21,840 --> 00:02:28,960 I mean sure if you bought our entire sample library here, it's clear you'd come out way ahead with physical games 24 00:02:28,960 --> 00:02:36,240 But let's be real that's way more than most people are gonna be buying over the entire lifespan of a console. So 25 00:02:37,320 --> 00:02:44,720 digital wins Brother we are only at the first nest of this rabbit warren to go deeper 26 00:02:44,720 --> 00:02:49,320 We need to add these columns tracking historical sale pricing where 27 00:02:50,040 --> 00:02:56,920 Digital extends its lead Not only is it cheaper for a gamer with an average size library 28 00:02:56,960 --> 00:03:01,240 But it's even cheaper overall and not by a narrow margin 29 00:03:01,240 --> 00:03:05,840 We're talking a savings of $4.19 per game for the patient gamer 30 00:03:05,880 --> 00:03:13,880 That's 281 dollars for our complete library, but before you physical media enthusiasts finish typing that comment 31 00:03:14,360 --> 00:03:18,880 We're not done yet. So backspace backspace a couple more times. There you go 32 00:03:19,320 --> 00:03:29,960 Let's break this down tech tip by tech tip Although we've been focused on digital versus physical so far the most important metric is really current price versus sale price 33 00:03:30,120 --> 00:03:34,600 which was a difference of 13 to $20 per game or 34 00:03:35,320 --> 00:03:38,760 900 to $1,300 for the entire library 35 00:03:38,960 --> 00:03:43,080 So that right there is tech tip number one be patient 36 00:03:43,760 --> 00:03:47,080 Seriously, if you take one thing from this video, that's it 37 00:03:47,520 --> 00:03:52,160 Using some of the same tools that we used like ps deals or camel camel camel 38 00:03:52,160 --> 00:03:58,240 You can not only view historical sale prices, but in many cases you can even predict future sales 39 00:03:58,320 --> 00:04:03,720 Both the timing and even the pricing. I mean look at this. It's like clockwork these days 40 00:04:04,280 --> 00:04:09,280 Especially for digital you can also follow social accounts that are dedicated to keeping you informed on regional sales 41 00:04:09,280 --> 00:04:14,320 We're gonna have links to some of those tools as well as the consoles. We're talking about down below now, of course 42 00:04:14,320 --> 00:04:17,360 I understand you can't always be a patient gamer 43 00:04:17,360 --> 00:04:20,400 You want to jump into that new release while all your friends are playing it? 44 00:04:20,400 --> 00:04:24,800 But especially for single-player games guys you can save as much as five to ten dollars 45 00:04:25,200 --> 00:04:29,680 Simply by waiting a week or two and picking up a secondhand copy. Ah, yes 46 00:04:29,920 --> 00:04:34,080 The ace up the sleeve for team physical used games 47 00:04:34,520 --> 00:04:39,040 These are gonna change the math in a big way first. Let's talk about where to get them 48 00:04:39,040 --> 00:04:46,080 That's tip number two It turns out that if you want something right now your local GameStop might not be as bad as we expected 49 00:04:46,080 --> 00:04:53,840 On average pricing on used games at GameStop and Amazon is remarkably close and that's before you include promotional offers 50 00:04:54,200 --> 00:04:58,600 We did find that used prices on Amazon could be significantly lower sometimes 51 00:04:58,800 --> 00:05:07,640 But the availability was pretty inconsistent Of course if you're patient and willing to emerge from your gamer den once in a while buying on Facebook Marketplace is 52 00:05:07,720 --> 00:05:14,880 King for finding the best deals on used games our spreadsheet makes that clear already and we haven't even tried to lowball anyone yet 53 00:05:14,880 --> 00:05:19,400 So so much for everything else. I said physical for the win video over 54 00:05:19,920 --> 00:05:24,200 Or is it the whole Convenience argument against Marketplace 55 00:05:24,440 --> 00:05:29,720 That's a real argument picking up all your games in one shot really is a lot easier than meeting up with 56 00:05:30,160 --> 00:05:37,880 67 strangers on the internet But if we're gonna talk about convenience in our equation then it kind of reopens the door for digital doesn't it click click 57 00:05:38,240 --> 00:05:41,320 Boom you got a new game to play your time has a value 58 00:05:41,320 --> 00:05:47,680 And I'm not just talking about driving to and from the store because the discs we're buying these days are pressed weeks in advance of 59 00:05:47,720 --> 00:05:52,840 Launch meaning that even on day one there are almost always crucial patches that turn your disc into 60 00:05:53,000 --> 00:05:56,200 Little more than a shiny license key that takes up space on your shelf 61 00:05:56,200 --> 00:06:02,520 We downloaded three whole games in the time that it took to install and update one game via disc 62 00:06:02,960 --> 00:06:07,880 Though of course your internet speed is obviously a big variable there making matters worse though 63 00:06:07,880 --> 00:06:12,840 Let's say you bought six games one at a time as you build up your game library 64 00:06:12,840 --> 00:06:16,320 And you bought them from the store at a median us hourly wage 65 00:06:16,320 --> 00:06:20,500 You just added at least 12 to 15 dollars in time and 66 00:06:21,120 --> 00:06:25,920 Transportation to your cost now the full picture is obviously gonna vary from person to person 67 00:06:25,920 --> 00:06:34,200 You can clearly order a physical game online as well But what we can say is that with waiting around factored in digital absolutely 68 00:06:34,800 --> 00:06:39,560 obliterates physical But we're not done yet. What about game preservation? 69 00:06:39,640 --> 00:06:46,160 Buying digitally is just leasing a license that was literally settled in court not that long ago 70 00:06:46,160 --> 00:06:48,800 And when those servers go down you lose your game 71 00:06:49,720 --> 00:06:55,160 Point for physical then well, yeah, but counterpoint when that happens 72 00:06:55,160 --> 00:07:00,000 You're also gonna be losing access to crucial updates for those physical games 73 00:07:00,000 --> 00:07:04,400 So if you're really concerned with preserving your gaming experience for all time 74 00:07:04,960 --> 00:07:09,000 This key point that used to go to physical media now belongs to 75 00:07:10,280 --> 00:07:14,760 piracy But since the current gen systems haven't been jailbroken yet 76 00:07:14,880 --> 00:07:18,720 We're gonna cut that conversation off here changing gears though 77 00:07:18,720 --> 00:07:22,200 There is one huge W that physical still retains 78 00:07:23,120 --> 00:07:26,400 Transferable licenses you can lend your friend a game without 79 00:07:26,840 --> 00:07:33,160 Account-sharing shenanigans and you can even sell your games outright to partially cover the cost of your next no-life addiction 80 00:07:33,160 --> 00:07:39,200 In fact, if you're trying to min-max your gaming and if time means nothing to you because hey, it's your hobby anyway 81 00:07:39,520 --> 00:07:43,800 This is the clear winning strategy. You find a deal on a used game 82 00:07:43,800 --> 00:07:49,640 You finish it in a week or two then you sell it directly to the next consumer not back to GameStop 83 00:07:49,640 --> 00:07:56,480 If you can time it right you can usually get your money back or even make a few bucks here and there now if that kind of flow 84 00:07:56,480 --> 00:07:59,800 Sounds exhausting to you. Don't worry. You're perfectly normal 85 00:07:59,800 --> 00:08:04,240 But if it's your jam power to you and I get it as for me 86 00:08:04,240 --> 00:08:08,120 I think the most interesting finding from our investigation is probably how 87 00:08:08,680 --> 00:08:15,960 Subscriptions factor into the equation. Let's match up our cheapest overall category of historic low used prices 88 00:08:16,320 --> 00:08:23,360 Against the historic low digital prices, but this time let's include two years of PlayStation Plus extra 89 00:08:23,720 --> 00:08:32,600 That adds $70 for the subscription, but we get 24 out of our 67 games for free giving us a net savings of 90 00:08:33,280 --> 00:08:39,720 136 dollars that makes the price difference between the lowest all used and all digital just 91 00:08:40,280 --> 00:08:43,040 37 dollars for the entire library 92 00:08:43,680 --> 00:08:50,000 So once you factor in the $50 discount for a digital console, all of a sudden you're ahead 93 00:08:50,400 --> 00:08:54,640 $13 by going disc-free and you've got two years of online play 94 00:08:54,760 --> 00:08:58,600 extra features and access to hundreds of additional games, of course 95 00:08:58,680 --> 00:09:04,720 You're gonna have to keep paying for PSN forever and even if you do some of those games might get taken away at some point 96 00:09:07,400 --> 00:09:14,600 Are we gonna have a conclusion here? Teaching value for these things as you can see can be really f**king complicated 97 00:09:14,600 --> 00:09:20,920 And that ignores the fact that depending how you do the math and which games you look at the numbers can bear out 98 00:09:20,920 --> 00:09:25,840 Very differently if we'd used median values for initial analysis, for example 99 00:09:25,840 --> 00:09:31,320 It might have only taken us half a dozen games to make up the cost of our disc drive rather than the original 100 00:09:31,920 --> 00:09:37,000 29.8, which is why we focused on the overall trends that make it easier to make 101 00:09:37,320 --> 00:09:41,080 Generalized tips for you. So here's one more in the real world 102 00:09:41,080 --> 00:09:47,000 The best deals are on a per game basis and if you want the cheapest version of our complete library 103 00:09:47,000 --> 00:09:53,360 It's probably no definitely going to involve a mix of used and digital games 104 00:09:53,960 --> 00:10:00,640 that Right there I think is the conclusion because that is the most irrefutable argument 105 00:10:00,920 --> 00:10:06,960 Against the removal of the optical drive because what it costs you is not only measured in dollars 106 00:10:06,960 --> 00:10:10,160 It's measured in flexibility with this console 107 00:10:10,160 --> 00:10:16,440 I don't get to choose anymore what kind of game I'm going to buy that is why David who wrote this video is 108 00:10:16,440 --> 00:10:22,760 Going to be doing a second exclusive over on LMG gg-slash Floatplane going through the spreadsheet in a bit more detail and 109 00:10:23,480 --> 00:10:27,320 Admitting he was wrong about the ps5 pro's lack of a disc drive 110 00:10:27,480 --> 00:10:35,600 He said he didn't think it was that big of a deal He wrote this video and then immediately went out and bought a disc drive for his I look forward to watching that 111 00:10:35,600 --> 00:10:40,280 And I look forward to telling you guys about our sponsor if you like saving a buck on your video games 112 00:10:40,280 --> 00:10:44,280 Why don't you check out our video about five mods that Nintendo wishes were illegal? 113 00:10:44,640 --> 00:10:47,800 Seriously, don't watch it now before their lawyers try to take it down 114 00:10:48,560 --> 00:10:50,640 Which isn't a challenge big red?