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[NomenNescio]

If we take a look at other markets within the entertainment industry, physical media never went completely away. It became secondary and niche, but it always retained a market. Albums are still printed on CDs (even vinyls and cassettes to a lesser extent). Movies are still being released on Blu-ray and DVD. I believe the same thing will happen in gaming.

That being said, I don't think physical media is the true answer here to the preservation concerns and consumer rights. I believe the true solution is much deeper and lies in achieving a digital distribution system that respects the buyer. GOG's model is an example of how digital distribution could be done right.

We also commit a fallacy when thinking physical media is permanent. Everything has a lifespan. A disc or a cartridge isn't going to play forever in the same way a digital file won't be hosted forever on the publisher server. Even if such disc or cartridge remains, you need specific hardware to play it, hardware that at some point won't be produced anymore and won't be widely available.

 

[Codeblew]

I like having a clean, clutter-free home and having years worth of game, movie and CD cases taking up space isn't for me any more. I even sell my old consoles when a new generation comes out. Having less physical items in my life takes some stress off. Plus it makes moving a whole lot easier.

 

[poppabk]

The cartridge or disc gave him unlimited access to the contents own by the publisher that he paid to have ownership of.
No one is making the mistake of thinking they own the IP, people are making the mistake of thinking the publisher can withdraw that that access when you're in physical possession of it.
They can't, being a physical possession is the key here.
They agreed to sale it to you for a sum on money, the deal is done.
Even if they came into your house and took it, who do you think would win the lawsuit here?
This is why they want you to have digital, it's their loophole.
No physical object to sale, no physical rights.
The illusion is making people think like you do.
As soon people realised this the better.
Even Christopher Nolan said the same, once you own a physical copy it belongs to you for as long as you want it.

It's still the same license, it's just harder for them to revoke it. You own the disc - you don't have any specific right to be able to use it.

 

[dano1]

Digital is the future whether you like it or not. How do 95 percent of people play music or movies.
I've had zero issues with my digital games.

 

[Gamer_By_Proxy]

Yes digital is going to screw us. I also think there will be more physical media too. People thinking all physical media just stopped at dual-sided blurays is just weird.

But what I've also come to accept is we're all gonna die and probably die sooner than most of the games people care about. Young people won't care about your old man games, and on your deathbed you're not going to be like "but I wanted to play Super Mario Bros 2 one more time!!!".

So yes, game preservation will be shit, but there's not much we can do about it and life is too short, so you shouldn't give a shit too. Just accept it for what it is.

 

[JaxarGT]

Some games you cannot play at all anymore

Again how would having a physical copy give you any advantage over digital in that situation?

 

[awwr999999]

That's why when the industry goes full digital with inevitably higher prices, I'm done with modern gaming. I don't trust these greedy corporations especially with game ownership and pricing where they will have FULL control. I don't know why so many modern gamers do not realize that or even care and they have absolutely no idea what they are embracing with an all digital future.

Studios aren't making enough money to keep gaming sustainable.
Moving to per-user licenses that are backed by PSN or Nintendo means buying games once and bringing them forward indefinitely.
With studios making one sale per user there's no excuse for DLC, MTX, F2P and all of the other BS that's ruining gaming.

 

[MacReady13]

THIS is the real madness of gaming today. Not a fucking $80 game. How about complaining that oner day that $80 game you'll never get to play again... And so many fucking people keep wanting to push this future ahead by getting shit like gamepass or constantly "buying" games online from PSN/Xbox store etc... You'll own nothing and be happy. Fuck off. I'm not happy and never will be with this shit.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

It doesn't matter disc or digital, whatever perks there are going physical, disc always works vs digital activation checks, ownership/non ownership, or cheaper price you might get with a disc when retailers dump it in the bargain bin.

All of it got stomped on by one crucial factor that ruled over everything else. Convenience of pressing a button to play the game as opposed to a gamer getting off their ass to change a disc.

Not really any different than Doordash or UberEats. It costs more and you got the risk the guy takes forever, food is cold, or the order is wrong because he's not going to check the bag for accuracy. But people do it more and more because it's easier for a delivery guy to do it than getting off your ass to get it yourself.

Ass Couch Syndrome is hard to beat.

 

[IAmRei]

Well, nothing stays forever...
I like physical, but i'm started to agree, that compatibility and easy to play someday (if launched on pc in the end) will kind of preverse older games.

 

[PlayStaytion]

The real issue actually in the choice itself, look at emulators and how publishers react to their deleted library being playable on emulators, the normal reaction would be ignoring all that fan made stuff, otherwise, any other behavior will insist onto hating the company itself, even Valve, Nintendo or Sega aren't immune to that outcome.

 

[Felessan]

Call me a relic yelling at clouds if you want, but I see this all-digital future as complete BS. Curious what the rest of you think. Are we headed toward a gaming dark age, or am I just stuck in the past?

The more people get niche and irrelevant, the more they like to preach about "gloriness" of their ways
A harsh truth indeed

 

[nowhat]

I've learned to let go as I've gotten older.

As a young kid I'd hoard toys and games and such>DVDs>Vinyls. Not anymore.

Word. Nowadays if a friend asks to help them move, if they have a sizable book or vinyl collection, I'm busy.

 

[Syphon Filter]

digital can be done right, look at gog for example.

 

[OzRinlvs]

A decade ago or so I bought a Vita and the PSN had a lot of old PS1 games for super cheap, as well as games that I never played. So I filled that library with quite a few games. But, for the same reason the OP cited, I downloaded all of them to cards and even made a backup copy. Because I am worried about loss of access. And goodness knows when I'll have time to play all of these games.

What will probably end up happening is that the card will become corrupt at some point and I'll lose my entire library. The PSN store is of course defunct so I won't be able to load them again.

So yeah, I also prefer physical copies, although I heard that disc rot is also a thing so who knows. Nothing lasts forever anyway.

 

[JaxarGT]

digital can be done right, look at gog for example.

Yep. I very rarely buy games at launch, I wait for sales and pickup games for often cheaper than what the physical version is going for. Plus my boys and I can game share across multiple consoles, even all play at the same time.

 

[_Ex_]

You buy physical games.

You lease digital games.

 

[Boss Mog]

You own the cartridge, not the game. Nintendo (or any publisher) still controls the license. It's a more durable illusion of ownership, but an illusion nonetheless

If it plays in a system offline forever and I can sell it or lend it, then it's true ownership no matter what Nintendo might think.

 

[Robb]

Yeah, I'm not a big fan. Digital is convenient but very limiting. Publishers and policymakers really have a lot of work to do on that front in general. Where's the digital re-sell market? Why are digital prices often the same, or even higher, when I get less?

As is, it's really very deeply designed in favor of the publisher rather than the consumer.

Full game on disc/cartridge and no DRM log-in, or you can keep your game to yourself.

 

[Bridges]

If Microsoft ever pulls the plug on Xbox I'm mega fucked but I won't go back to buying discs for a system that requires a download for every game anyway

 

[Shadowstar39]

As an indie developer, games I made for iOS years ago are simply gone. Not the same sentiment as this thread might intend (a lot of people don't consider mobile gaming in the same category) but it still stinks. I appreciate that it is their platform and they consider that a curated experience, and if something isn't regularly kept current/updated with modern features or other things to keep it relevant, then it isn't necessarily welcome on their marketplace (especially considering it's been long oversaturated with untold mountains of garbage) but still. Hell, there were lots of games I'd grabbed there years ago which likewise are just no longer available.

I can relate. On android Google killed all apps that are from before sdk 23. That was like 2016. That means many games like the port of heroes and might and magic 3, magic the gathering tales of planes walker, cardinal quest 1 and 2 all toast. It's ridiculous I got a new phone and half my apps don't work. App devs don't ever update them either.

It wouldn't be so bad if you could still sideload, but Google takes that away too as it won't run no matter what.

 

[Salmonboy]

I've learned to let go as I've gotten older.

As a young kid I'd hoard toys and games and such>DVDs>Vinyls. Not anymore.

Vinyl, not vinyl(s)

 

[Soodanim]

It wouldn't be so bad if you could still sideload, but Google takes that away too as it won't run no matter what.

I'm out of the loop, what happened there? Can you not just download any apk and run it anymore?

 

[acm2000]

I didn't keep my physical games anyway so it's no different to me, I play a game till it's done then never play them again.

 

[SkylineRKR]

You buy physical games.

You lease digital games.

Physical games aren't yours per se anymore either. Many games only work when played online, its at the mercy of the publisher if they make it run offline or not. Ubisoft rendered your copy of The Crew useless.

Most data isn't on disc either, what if those servers are gone. You can't download the game proper.

 

[LimanimaPT]

You are right. I only buy digital games if they are cheap, and I mean sub 15 euros.
The other day I went to a store to buy Hogwarts Legacy for the switch. I picked up the box and I was about to pay for it when I noticed writen on the box "dowladable game" or something like that. I thought "wtf they sell empty boxes at a story.? Fk this" and I returned the box to the shelf. Almost droped 40 euros for an empty box.
How is this even possible? I hate digital games. You can't borow them and you can't sell them. Digital games are indeed a rental.

 

[Banjo64]

Eventually you'll just be able to download anything and play it through emulation much like we can now for all the NES/SNES/SEGA stuff that's no longer available.

 

[Trilobit]

Can you even begin to fathom if Earth's internet infrastructure was fried by a massive solar flare for a year? All the young whippersnappers would have to be sedated en masse to deal with the massive shock. But they'd learn the true value of physical formats.

 

[NeonDelta]

The only physical media worth having is 4k blu ray movie discs because the quality is miles ahead of the digital equivalent

 

[Baemono]

this all-digital future everyone seems to be hyped for

No one is doing that

 

[HerjansEagleFeeder]

Oh my gawd, is this another one of these wholesome Gamer79 threads GAF is raving about lately?

 

[P.Jack]

Most data isn't on disc either, what if those servers are gone. You can't download the game proper.

Source? Or are you just repeating what you've heard from other uninformed users around here?

How is that people that don't use discs themselves always seem to know what is on them.

I'll educate you, even though there seems to be some kind of fact resistance going on in this forum regarding this topic.

Less than a few percent of the thousands of physical playstation games released require a patch or internet connection to function. Almost all of them can be played from start to finish without patching. Only a few (shitty) publishers releases incomplete discs or opt for always online. If you are curious about which ones, you can check doesitplay.org. It is not a comprehensive list at all but afaik it does list every game that DOES need a patch.

So no, most discs do in fact have the data required on them. I play discs without updating all the time, I've played hundreds of games without ever patching.

 

[rofif]

It's not a lot but I've been a pc gamer most of my life (over 600 steam games)... so it is what it is.
BUT:
Most of these games are playable 1.0 from the disc. And all of these games are playable fully offline after patching, with disc inserted.
All of this is mine, was cheaper than digital for the most part on release and I can sell Callisto Protocol for 40$ after finishing and buy it 2 years later for 10$ back lol.
There are no downsides to that. Just space.

 

[Toots]

I've learned to let go as I've gotten older.

As a young kid I'd hoard toys and games and such>DVDs>Vinyls. Not anymore.

Glad to read that im still a young kid at heart

 

[Shockwave_Fox]

I only buy games digitally that are cheap - under a tenner or less as usually I wont give a fuck about them afterwards.

If its more expensive then physical only - and in my opinion those PS5 cases look sweet.

 

[ClanOfNone]

Can you even begin to fathom if Earth's internet infrastructure was fried by a massive solar flare for a year? All the young whippersnappers would have to be sedated en masse to deal with the massive shock. But they'd learn the true value of physical formats.

If a massive solar flare wipes out the internet I don't think people will be worrying too much about media formats or video games.
They'll be too busy trying to survive the resultant societal collapse.

 

[Trunx81]

I honestly like the convenience of digital purchases. The PSP Go was ahead of its time, but I had lots of games on it, even before hacking the system. Added a 16gb stick, so now it has 32gb and it was just great not to worry about traveling with UMDs in the package. Same why I love my Kindle for books.

But I agree that there are many possible threats to your gaming "collection". Two examples I experienced myself:

1. Singstar on PS3/PS4: I bought lots of files from Sonys online-store to sing and when they shut it down and my HDD broke, I couldn´t redownload them anymore, having spent tons of money for it.
2. Bioshock on the iPhone: It broke with iOS 8 and 2k refused to update the game. I can´t redownload it onto newer systems, therefore never ever play it again.

 

[Ev1L AuRoN]

The only true way to preserve gaming history is through the community and piracy. I don't expect these companies to honor my purchases indefinitely

 

[Little Mac]

I have a question. Despite what goes on with Steam, I thought Digital game prices had to have some sort of polarity with Physical prices because of the relationship console manufacturers and software publishers had with physical retailers like Walmart, target, bestbuy, GameStop, ect … but now that these retailers are slowly moving away from selling physical games to free up retail space, why aren't digital prices going down? It's because software companies have been getting away with those ridiculous prices for digital software for generations now and the only option they have now is to increase profits to increase the price of physical higher. The fact that consumers can't sell or trade their digital copies of games, like they can with physical, isn't enough of an incentive for these greedy fucks to reduce the cost of digital games. There's also no shipping, packaging, ect costs like with Physical.

TLDR: Stop being a graphics whore, embrace indies, and buy a Steamdeck. Buy a reliable used car and put all the money you saved into a low cost index fund.

 

[Impotaku]

Pointless worrying about it nobody on either side can do anything to change it. just do what you can for yourself to limit it's impact. If you care about not losing control of your games then research and be more selective when it comes to physical buying avoid incomplete games. Accept that digital is just a time limited rental & treat it as such. Physical is now like vinyl it'll always be around but it will be boutique publishers making physicals it will never be totally eradicated no matter how hard some misguided people are hoping for it.

I already have enough games to last me several lifetimes physically. If a tiny indie releases a game I'm happy to grab it digitally as a rental so they get support on launch but I usually double dip & get it physically as well as a lot of times they can't afford to do a physical release on launch but sometimes later down the line they do release one or a limited run type company picks it up.

 

[Drew1440]

Physical games are nice because you have the option to sell or trade your games in the future, although having to make space in your home is an issue others have pointed out, and no one wants to deal with disc rot or scratched discs.

My main issue with digital is the end user client is often the barrier, with users losing access to their games because their password was compromised, or they were banned for ToS violation.
Future compatability will be an issue as Windows 10 EOL looms, for years I was able to play older games on my Windows XP system, until Steam updated their client which was no longer compatable with XP, which was understandable. However unlike GOG which allows you to download your purchased game via the Web browser and then transfer it to another PC, steam does not allow for this. Everything has to be done via the client and when it comes to older systems Steam is the barrier.

 

[MAX PAYMENT]

If any of my digital games get taken away, I'll just pirate it. Who cares?

 

[simpatico]

If Valve and Microsoft turn off their activation servers, we've probably got waaaay bigger problems then losing access to old school video games. Life is short man.

 

[RoadHazard]

While you're right overall, those games you listed are just as dead if you own the physical version. Servers being shut down is a separate issue from buying digital games.

 

[kpopSuperstar]

Everytime people say this, it's always someone bitter about losing The Crew. That fucking game.

I am surprised more games haven't been removed. It's actually more impressive how long games stay up than a problem with games going down.

 

[TGO]

It's still the same license, it's just harder for them to revoke it. You own the disc - you don't have any specific right to be able to use it.

 

[Black_Stride]

thats why PC gaming is the future

i have preserved lots of Nintendo, Sony games on my HD

Pretty sure Ubisoft can still revoke your PC purchases.
In fact alot of games without cracks can be revoked.
Some simply stop working because the DRM doesnt exist anymore or something.

 

[Baemono]

I have absolutely no idea if the screenshot is wrong or correct, nor have an opinion on it, but I wouldn't recommend using Google's AI

 

[Sorcerer]

It's nice that you have a physical coaster, but when happens when your console breaks down in the future and is probably beyond repair? I think that is the bigger question.

 

[Lokaum D+]

Pretty sure Ubisoft can still revoke your PC purchases.
In fact alot of games without cracks can be revoked.
Some simply stop working because the DRM doesnt exist anymore or something.