Super Smash Bros. Ultimate creator Masahiro Sakurai weighed in this week on the physical vs. digital games debate and took a side on the matter that might surprise some people. According to Sakurai, he’s 100% “Team Digital all the way” when it comes to his preferred method of purchasing games. He confirmed this in the most recent video in his ongoing YouTube series while also offering some explanations as to why he prefers digital media over the physical counterparts not just when it comes to games but other mediums, too.
Sakurai started his video below by first laying out the pros and cons of buying products digitally or physically, but around 50 seconds into the talk, he took his stand.
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“Personally speaking, I’m Team Digital all the way,” Sakurai said. “People sometimes give my physical copies of games, but if I’m buying a game for myself, I’ll do so digitally.”
One might assume that someone who’s made as many hits as Sakurai has would naturally be inclined to collect games and would therefore prefer the physical format, Sakurai explained that he wouldn’t really consider himself a collector and that he doesn’t get “too attached to ‘physical’ things.” He keeps his games in sleeves within a binder when possible, a storage system which he says has a lot to do with storage space. Without a dedicated place to store his games compared to his resources he previously had, Sakurai says he puts more emphasis on the experience from the game as opposed to the physical packaging they came in.
Sakurai also took a stab at the topic of digital games costing as much as physical versions. He said that the user provides the storage device for digital products and pointed out that those versions of games didn’t have to have packaging costs factored in either, but he digressed by saying he wouldn’t be digging into the reasons behind the prices of these products.
He ended his video on a more neutral point by saying that people were fortunate to have the option to buy games physically or digitally as often as they can. He added that he approaches books the same way and that he prefers those digitally, too.
