It's the year 2015. How'd you like to get your VNs?
(A) DVD
(B) USB
(C) Download
(D) Time Machine
I prefer combination of DVD and download. Download-only with no DRM is also acceptable.
I prefer a physical copy and a download. Physical copies can get damaged and I usually buy them more for collectors purposes but at the same time if a website disappears due to unforeseen circumstances or internet just doesn't work for downloading purposes it's nice to have the physical copy as a backup. I am much more inclined to pick up a physical copy though if there is special content included with it. So far Jast does not have the greatest record of packaging content. I would like to see more Japanese style pre-orders packages with extra stuff in the physical department and would be willing to pay a little bit more for these types of packages. The bundles you can get in Japan are pretty cool and so far the best package I've seen yet by Jast is the steins;gate but it was overpriced for too little content. Mangagamer's Ef Hard Copy was pretty decent with a nice 100 page artbook and a much better packaging. I would prefer to see visual novel collections like they do in Japan both in content and packaging. The single DVDs are rather boring for someone who also collects. I'd love to see more artbooks/trinkets/wallscrolls/posters/soundtracks, etc... in future limited editions. The box sets in Japan just look a lot fancier and seem better packaged the art on the box art is beautiful and also often quite safe making it easier to display. I might just be one of the few who would like to see stuff like this though.
I’m open to physical copies and downloads. I’m always willing to pay more for a physical copy if I think it’ll be a good game. I am the old fashioned type that has shelves lined with books, dvds, and games. I’m not against downloads and if a game is download only and looks good I will definitely buy it.
Anything but B). Yes, of course including D). Give me the game now, not when you’re done translating it, godammit! 
Time machine, huh…? Wonder if it will work like SG and arrive unexpectedly via microwave. That would be a heck of a thing, to warm up some mac and cheese and find Raidy III staring back at you when you open the microwave door! ;D
But being serious, I’m going to join the chorus and sing “DVD + download combo” as my purchase method of choice, for the same reason kyrt mentions – it’s reassuring to have a backup if either the physical item or the company website suffers some unforeseen misfortune in the far-flung future. I’d also echo what he said about bonuses with the physical copies being awesome, but I draw the line at humongous Japan-style VN boxes. I don’t regret buying it, but packages the size of School Days HQ Special Edition just take up too much shelf space. Just one guy’s opinion, of course.
Also, just out of curiosity, is USB something you’re really considering? This is the first I’ve heard of a game being delivered that way, and I’m not sure how it works. Would that delivery method basically be a flash drive in a physical-edition box (rather than a DVD) or something?
@jacksprat1 We've been evaluating options for the future of PC gaming in a world with no disc media, which might come in the next 2 to 5 years. A USB media option could potentially be an installer or stand alone playable games without need of installation. Here's some concept art of USB media:
Huh! Interesting… Yeah, now that you mention it, there are already plenty of tablets and some laptops out there that don’t accept disc media, so I can see the problem for the DVD-ROM status quo if that trend continues. Kudos for planning ahead, though it’s very weird to think of discs going away since we’ve been using some variant on that type of storage ever since we got rid of floppies. Bizarre. Thanks for making me feel like an old man, Nick! Geez!
I like your concept art there, and I would like to offer an “emulate this” suggestion at whatever point you go that route – I love the cases Nintendo uses for their DS/3DS game cards. They’re even stouter than the average DVD Amray case, very portable, and storage-friendly. Since those game cards are about the size of a USB media card, it might be an option to look into.
Aren't USB flash drives prone to bit decay? As in, if you don't power them on for say, 10 years, won't the data start to disappear? The cells can only hold a charge for so long.
From my understanding, bit rot in USB Flash media is about the chip managing the data losing its integrity, not the data itself. This can be re-flashed if needed. However, optical media goes through actual chemical decay, which varies based on the quality of the media and the conditions its stored in.
I prefer discs, because I store and play my games on my laptop, which is not connected to the Internet out of dread necessity. The Wife has colonized our connected machine and I'm pretty much prohibited from ever using it. (What's that? Oh, I'm writing this at work.) Besides, I like to look at the boxes. I like to turn them over in hands. I like to stare at them on a shelf. I like to put the discs in the cradle and slowly slide them into the machine. I like the little posters or game books that sometimes come with them. I like to look at the pictures of the characters and read the bios. I like the physical world too much. The Matrix can wait.
From Nicholas's link:
"Solid state media – such as EPROMs, flash memory and other solid-state drives – stores data using electrical charges, which can slowly leak away due to imperfect insulation. The chip itself is not affected by this, so re-programming it once per decade or so will prevent data decay. The biggest problem can be finding a clean copy of the chip from which to make the copy; frequently, by the time the user discovers the data decay, there are no un-damaged chips to use as a master."
The entry itself contradicts itself, so let me clarify. The loss of electrical charge is the issue. Simply powering on the drive should prevent decay. In the case of generic flash drives used for short term storage, this is not an issue. For long term storage, this becomes a real worry.
I would make sure any USB storage solution has at the least the staying power of optical media before marketing it to collectors as a future-proof investment. A reasonable collector will expect that if they take a game from an unopened box 15 years from now, the data will be intact and the game will be playable.
Time machine based delivery would be awesome. It’d be like that one puzzle in Sorceror (now I’m really showing my age) where you ordered stuff from a magic supply company that was delivered seconds after you’d ordered it.
As for USB installation - that is an interesting concept, but I’m not a fan. I like ROM based installation cause that way I know it can’t be modified or deleted, or trigger some kind of copy-protect that involves updating state on the device every time it’s used. Also, I have like 4 USB drives plugged into my computer already.
On the other side, my original copies of both Critical Point (the “limited edition” no less) and Do You Like Horny Bunnies have bit the dust, and that’s just the ones I know of that I’ve tried to use relatively recently.
Hmm… All this talk of storage media biting the dust has me mulling over questions of video game mortality. Alack, alas! Must good eroge fly from this mortal coil so soon?!
Aha! I’ve got it. Put it all on vinyl.
"On the other side, my original copies of both Critical Point (the "limited edition" no less) and Do You Like Horny Bunnies have bit the dust, and that's just the ones I know of that I've tried to use relatively recently."
Just referencing that, I still own and play CD-based console games (Sega Saturn and original Playstation) on a fairly regular basis, and I haven't had a game CD crap out on me yet due to age. Those are a good 5-10 years older than the games you mentioned, so it makes me suspect a lot of a CD's staying power may be determined by how professionally the CD in question is manufactured. I think some of JAST's older physical editions may not have been exactly top-of-the-line in that regard; you get this odd burn-on-demand "cigarette smoke" smell when opening the package that I have previously smelled on dollar-store public-domain DVDs. (Note for prospective/current customers: This hasn't been the case at all in recent years, so no worries.)
But yeah. I hope the company gives the long-term durability of whatever physical medium they want to use a good long look before they adopt it, because that's ultimately the number one reason I purchase physical copies. It's an insurance you get to keep playing it in the future.
I'd prefer physical versions over digital ones, since I'm collecting these kinds of games. If a title comes out that also comes in a limited edition and I'm interested in the game, I will most likely buy a LE hardcopy.
Digital downloads are also an alternative if it's being handled like with J-List, but to me, just physical copies would be a definite reason to buy something.
Definitely prefer being able to buy VNs and games in general as physical copies with a download code as a solid backup. Definitely having both as DRM-free is a necessity in most cases as I like to be able to backup the files somewhere else to protect the games I want to play now and whenever in the future. If I buy a game, I only typically want to buy one copy of it, and not have to worry about buying the same game again in the future due to a DL service going out of business or something else.
Hm, because the vns on JAST are DRM-Free I enjoy having the physical disc since it feels like I really own the game and am able to have a small collection. Even games that are 15-20 years old that I still have on the physical disc still work on my computer (though the game itself is normally buggy).
I also enjoy getting download editions just so I know that my games are "immortal". But there is always the fear of servers shutting down as well and losing the ability to download games from the site, but as long as they're also DRM-Free they can be put on a backup.
In short a combination of A and C is ideal.
C) Download.
I’m all digital these days. My house has no room for more stuff. 
All conventional physical media is subject to entropy and decay, and we still don’t have holographic imprinted crystal storage.
The only viable long term solution for the time being is to keep ongoing SAN/NAS repositories with ongoing periodic backup at the source,
ideally providing an ongoing download link like JList, Steam, Humble Bundle,
and (even more ideally) for customers to maintain their own raid-1 NAS if they want their game copies to outlast the licenced company selling them.
In a world which (STILL!) does not have ubiquitous fast internet, and games like Wolfenstein:TNO which exceed 50Gb (and VNs which can exceed 6Gb), downloads are not an option for everyone.
Compact, cheaply produced physical media at least to get the initial copy installed must remain available for those who need it.
Also, a multi-terabyte NAS takes up a LOT less space than cupboards full of game discs and boxes.
These issues are not going to be solved by free market economic pressures, they are only likely to be worsened resulting in a growing gap between haves and have-nots, and furthermore (unfortunately), increased radicalism towards piracy by those who think the world owes them something. Welcome to capitalism.