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The Final Bosman Show

I've made a Gif =P
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Yeah, nice video. Great to see someone genuinely think and comment about all those things instead of painting them black or white. Lots of "buts" indeed. :)
 
I love him and his video... But I have to say, that the idea that due purely to it's physicality that a disk is inherently more valuable is NOT true. Not purely.

I think people see the value in owning a disk game, because even hard-drives are fallible. Totally disregarding the concept of a service coming to an end.

If you keep a disk in good quality it will last for another 50 years, and that data will ALWAYS be on there, and almost always be readable in some form, whether it's through an emulator or someone investing time in porting it.
 
I love him and his video... But I have to say, that the idea that due purely to it's physicality that a disk is inherently more valuable is NOT true. Not purely.

I think he's referring more to the psychological aspect of putting more value in things that have a tangible physical presence. Like the same reason why companies that make software that's only sold digitally still mock up a box to show potential consumers even if that box will never actually exist.
 
I love him and his video... But I have to say, that the idea that due purely to it's physicality that a disk is inherently more valuable is NOT true. Not purely.

I think people see the value in owning a disk game, because even hard-drives are fallible. Totally disregarding the concept of a service coming to an end.

If you keep a disk in good quality it will last for another 50 years, and that data will ALWAYS be on there, and almost always be readable in some form, whether it's through an emulator or someone investing time in porting it.
Unless there's a manufacturing defect
 
If you keep a disk in good quality it will last for another 50 years, and that data will ALWAYS be on there, and almost always be readable in some form, whether it's through an emulator or someone investing time in porting it.

That's assuming you still have the right device to read it... Could you read a VHS today ? A floppy disk ? A magnetic tape ?
In 50 years you probably won't be able to read a DVD or a bluray without going to a museum to find one of the few dozens readers that survived.

That's actually a problem with modern information. Paper books and stone tablets could be usable for centuries, but digital data is lost after a few decades, even (or especially) if physical.
 
That's assuming you still have the right device to read it... Could you read a VHS today ? A floppy disk ? A magnetic tape ?
In 50 years you probably won't be able to read a DVD or a bluray without going to a museum to find one of the few dozens readers that survived.

That's actually a problem with modern information. Paper books and stone tablets could be usable for centuries, but digital data is lost after a few decades, even (or especially) if physical.
Google's got us all covered (and cornered).
 
I like the videos, but don't get what is so particularly amazing about them. I feel like people must have had a very low bar of expectation in gaming opinion pieces to be so enthused by his videos.
 
As a gamer who prefers physical over digital any day...excellent episode!
And as a gamer who prefers digital over physical any day... excellent episode!

Digital will bring great new things, but its incredibly short-sighted and anti-consumer to *force* it.

It'll happen naturally soon enough as these supposed benefits materialize. If the option of physical purchase (and/or used games) has to be completely eliminated before any of these benefits can happen then its a wholly unrealistic plan in the first place.
 
I like the videos, but don't get what is so particularly amazing about them. I feel like people must have had a very low bar of expectation in gaming opinion pieces to be so enthused by his videos.

It's legit and honest without putting on a different persona that screams in the camera all the time.
 
I'm sad he didn't mention the real downside of digital: No manuals. I know we don't really get them anymore thanks to "the environment" (
companies saving money
), but damn do I miss a good, well written, fun manual.
 
I'm sad he didn't mention the real downside of digital: No manuals. I know we don't really get them anymore thanks to "the environment" (
companies saving money
), but damn do I miss a good, well written, fun manual.
I've seen more games with the manuals available directly in-game, either in the menu or in the pause menu.
 
I've seen more games with the manuals available directly in-game, either in the menu or in the pause menu.

Or the weird ass install manual for The Last of Us. What the hell was that? Installs and puts in my Playstation 3 folder on the XMB. What.


Great episode though. Really starting to love this guy. He is so calm. It's refreshing with all the rage that's on the internet.
 
It's weird, I agree with Kyle on the subject here, but his reasoning boiled down to a lot of "oh, well we did it as kids!", which isn't a compelling argument.

The main problem with the current transition from physical to digital is that consumer benefits haven't really been explained in a meaningful way by anyone trying to force digital. I think a lot of people do know that benefits are there, but its unclear whether we're actually ever going to see those benefits, of if we're just on the losing end of a business deal.

Bring digital to consumers when you can prove that digital is a bonafide benefit to consumers. Otherwise you're selling a product that isn't created for consumers.
 
That's assuming you still have the right device to read it... Could you read a VHS today ? A floppy disk ? A magnetic tape ?
In 50 years you probably won't be able to read a DVD or a bluray without going to a museum to find one of the few dozens readers that survived.

That's actually a problem with modern information. Paper books and stone tablets could be usable for centuries, but digital data is lost after a few decades, even (or especially) if physical.

I just bought a usb floppy disk drive the other day. :P

The thing about all of those mediums you mentioned is that they use physical read heads which rub against the film, deteriorating them slightly each time they are used. It's a given that they won't last. Outside of manufacturing defects or improper storage conditions, optical media doesn't have that problem and generally lasts a lot longer and the ubiquity of the format means they'll be supported for a long time yet. DVD drives aren't going to disappear. Additionally, things like bluray discs will last far, far longer than older CDs which were made when the manufacturing process was still immature.
 
Great episode, all 'dem buts!

I agree with the notion that having options is the best way. When companies have moved on that no one would miss physical due to benefits of digital or limitations of physical, it will naturally go that way.
 
I wish the boxed games would come with a code that was tied to your account, so if you WANTED to install that game to your console and not have to use the disc you could. But you would have to deactiviate it if you wanted to sell your disc.

I'm really bummed by that going away, I love the benefits of having a disk and a digital library. But I guess I'm the only one...

Also, I was excited to swap games with my buddy -- we had it all planned out. Now I have to buy every game instead of half... yay gamers?
 
That's assuming you still have the right device to read it... Could you read a VHS today ? A floppy disk ? A magnetic tape ?
In 50 years you probably won't be able to read a DVD or a bluray without going to a museum to find one of the few dozens readers that survived.

That's actually a problem with modern information. Paper books and stone tablets could be usable for centuries, but digital data is lost after a few decades, even (or especially) if physical.

Exactly... So you could go to a museum and play it, as long as you had the disk. You have that piece of media, that piece of content, safely stored away virtually forever.

The same cannot be said for my PSN games when my PS3 dies eventually in 5 years time or so. I've already downloaded them 5 times, so I can't download them again.

Consumers KNOW, when they haven't made a physical purchase, they've agreed to a form of rental.

That's the difference I am highlighting.
 
In 50 years your DVD's and Blu-ray discs will be unreadable even if the museum has still has a reader...

Why do you say that? People still have and stores still sell record players even though their time has supposedly pass. I think in a culture that's growing in its appreciation of the past due to the internet, DVD's and Blu-Ray discs will definitely be easily readable in some way, shape, or form in 50 years or so. But if it's found digitally, then there's a significantly lesser chance of that occurring since you would need the specific console itself as well as a log in key to a set of servers that are no longer online. It sets a solid expiration date.
 
I've seen more games with the manuals available directly in-game, either in the menu or in the pause menu.

Those manuals are nothing more then 5-6 pages, with "saftey information", a button layout, and how menus work. Gone are the days of in-depth lore, of maps, of illustrations or pictures of random stuff, of COLOR. The last really good manual I remember getting and not having to pay a ridiculous "collectors edition" price was the original World of Warcraft.

The worst part is that you can't play the game and look at the manual if you forgot a button or how to do some special action. You have to pause, and dig through menus, and wait for the digital manual to load if the game will even let you access it while playing.

Or the weird ass install manual for The Last of Us. What the hell was that? Installs and puts in my Playstation 3 folder on the XMB. What.

When I initially saw that it was an installer I got super excited. I thought it was going to be some kind of Interactive Manual that could have really fleshed out the world. I was hoping it would be something with stories, or newspaper clippings, or timelines. Something like that Metal Gear Encyclopedia they released for free back before MGS4, but not nearly as dense (that would take waaaaay too much money to make). Instead, it was just the normal 4-5 pages we get in a box nowadays. I was so disappointed. At least it was in color I guess.
 
I have the same memory with SMB3. Me and my older brother got it on christmas and were incredible excited. We still have it on video tape and it's a very fond memory. I was four at that time. Thinking about the new generation of kids that don't have video game boxes under the Christmas tree makes me kinda sad. They're missing something.
 
And as a gamer who prefers digital over physical any day... excellent episode!

Digital will bring great new things, but its incredibly short-sighted and anti-consumer to *force* it.

It'll happen naturally soon enough as these supposed benefits materialize. If the option of physical purchase (and/or used games) has to be completely eliminated before any of these benefits can happen then its a wholly unrealistic plan in the first place.
I agree but I think there is maybe some value to targeting consumers with boxed copies. I'm not too up to date on how the music industry works but don't some artists still release their albums on vinyls, alongside cds and digitally? Sure the amount printed is probably drastically less but I'd be interested to see if it were possible for devs/pubs to print boxed copies of their games in small batches if the pricing is worthwhile.

I think it's also a matter of archival. Ironically digital's public face is very anti-archival when you look at something like Steam that has forced patches, same with most other DD services. I think most people gravitate to boxed copies because they think eventually "one day" they will have the original if they can find a way to play it from v1.0 or whatever. Ironically I think people who invest a bunch of time ripping games (aka 'pirates') are probably doing the most public service in archiving everything because they will practically find a way to rip most individual patches even on DD games to the point where if you looked hard enough and put enough work into it you could probably download a version of a game that'll stay at version 1.0 (or whatever) without forced patching.
 
Took me until nearly the end of the vid to figure out how he was working the point, counterpoint format. Slightly embarrassed to admit.

I like though that he often throws some curve balls in his messaging/format.

This was, as usual, another great vid.
 
Took me until nearly the end of the vid to figure out how he was working the point, counterpoint format. Slightly embarrassed to admit.

I like though that he often throws some curve balls in his messaging/format.

This was, as usual, another great vid.

Me too. Based on the opening I was expecting it to be "here's what some guy on the internet says and HERE'S WHY HE'S WRONG but in my usual affable manner." Also, I thought the first butt (hurr hurr) was referring to people who said "oh man, family sharing and all my games on the hard drive? the Xbox One just got better!" as opposed to "oh man, they rolled back all the awful DRM? the Xbox One just got better!"
 
Good episode as usual. Even as someone who greatly prefers digital, I have to agree with him that games lose their "specialness" a bit in the digital format. I just think the benefits (which he also covered well) outweigh those losses, especially for the smaller/indie games I tend to prefer.

Those manuals are nothing more then 5-6 pages, with "saftey information", a button layout, and how menus work. Gone are the days of in-depth lore, of maps, of illustrations or pictures of random stuff, of COLOR. The last really good manual I remember getting and not having to pay a ridiculous "collectors edition" price was the original World of Warcraft.

Those kinds of manuals were on their way out long before digital distribution took off. Their absence is more due to people preferring in-game help and tutorials, and publishers wanting to cut the production costs of their physical product.
 
Another great episode.

This guy is the best thing to come from the press since Zero Punctuation.

Yahtzee can be funny but he's far too smarmy and negative most of the time.

Really, I think Bosman is more like the best thing since Extra Credits. I think you do a disservice by not mentioning James and his crew.
 
Yeah I share some of his sentiment. I don't mind consoles sticking to physical copies even though I've gone full digital on PC. I still appreciate games I bought digitally just as much I feel, of course a game I bought for 2.99 because I had a passing interest in it is not something I care about as much as a physical copy or even a digital copy I got for $40-60, but in general if a game is good, I don't care how I got it.

I like how his videos feel more 'real life' and 'natural' compared to some other gaming ones who feel the need to use extreme personalities to get noticed. I'm sure he acts the way he does on purpose, but it still comes off as more natural regardless.
 
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