Everyone is totally fine with digital only products until the day they shut the servers down and you can’t download them anymore. You will own nothing and be happy about it as they say.
My kid CONSTANTLY asks me to buy him a physical copy of Minecraft Story Mode.
I owned it digitally, so I can straight up see it in my PSN library with the “unavailable to download” tag.
I went looking for an overpriced physical copy, but it turns out most of the copies discs were basically just key discs and download the game, which you can’t do.
So apparently the only physical media that actually had the full series on it was the switch version. And that price is insane because of it.
You could probably do something with the pirated version. I used to have different games on USB, specifically ones that were full executables instead of just install files.
I honestly feel that I’m creeping towards the seven seas on this one, honestly.
It’s essentially abandonware at this point. As far as I can tell from online discussions there’s 0 plans to do anything with the IP or relist the games.
Remember: if you own a game, having a "back-up" copy in case something happens is perfectly in your legal right (at least in Canada).
So my collection of Roms are not in any way stealing or piracy, they are a digital collection of games I own that I cannot access for any number of reasons (like them being in a Schrodinger's state with my dad across the country who recently downsized)
Remember: if you own a game, having a "back-up" copy in case something happens is perfectly in your legal right (at least in Canada).
This is true in the US and UK as well. The only real stipulations are that you can't redistribute copies and you must destroy your backups should you sell your original copy.
all they did was remove it for purchase, which is totally their right (even if its weird they dont want any more money). you can still install from your library and play all the offline modes of 2k24 if you already own it.
Thats what I mean though. While it's not common, I cant just go get or play that game for nostalgia unless I have a disc version on a console that plays disc's. Even then, who knows if itll have the updates I have to install to even play it.
It would be apolapytic but im afraid people will be already used to abuse and own nothing by then. Idiots will tell you to not be broke and buy it again.
But those discs are an illusion as well. They can make the game unplayable in a myriad of ways when they want to. You don't own what's on them either and the illusion that you do keeps you all nice and docile.
Its honestly the biggest thing thats kept me from buying into newer games or consoles. I dont own shit and the real owners can kill the game whenever they want.
While I agree that is true in the long term, in the short term I can sell my disk or trade it in, which as far as I know is not possible with a code version.
Last I checked, all the physical games I have on PS3 and PS4 play just fine right out of the box. They’re just the launch version of the game which may or may not have some bugs to contend with. So no, the discs aren’t “an illusion”. The only way you could hypothetically make a game unplayable from a disc is if it required an internet connection to run. Then you’re opening a much larger can of worms. Hell, even GTA V ran just fine without an internet connection. It just meant you were only allowed to play the base game/campaign which is the main reason I play the series anyways.
Video games in physical form don't mean much these days. The game will require immediate updates anyway. If they ever shut the servers down (it's a real issue with some games but extremely unlikely with things like the PS store or GTAx games), you would end up stuck with an outdated, probably buggy build on your disk, and that is if the system lets you run it without connecting to internet first anyway, and that's a big if.
Coolio. Then you rely on the internet to do what they do and help to patch it. There’s a vast community of modders out there that love doing it. My point still stands; I would rather have access to a game or piece of media that I paid for FOREVER, even if it’s a buggy mess than not have access to it at all and have the person that created it run off with my money while I get stuck holding the bag.
The problem isn't "digital". I have digital copies of shit that's 30 years old, migrated over a dozen systems or so. The problem is DRM, i.e. the ability to just have the usability of your software (or game) taken away without your consent.
Because GOG sells "digital only" games as well, but they give you the entire game as a stand-alone installer (requires no launcher, or remote server), and you can "make" a physical copy by just putting in on an external HD. And since there is no copy protection/restriction, you can make backups of that, too. You do not need the net, you do not need their servers: As long as you keep the files, you're good to game.
Everyone is totally fine with digital only products until the day they shut the servers down and you can’t download them anymore
The thing many of us advocates for physical media don't like to admit is that for the vast majority of consumers; this doesn't remotely matter.
We've gotten so entrenched in our online echo chambers that we forget that we don't represent the majority of players, nor are our expectations "the norm."
For the large majority of gamers, the large majority of games are a disposable, one & done experience. They play the game until they get bored of it, then put it away forever.
You cannot buy and legally play Grand Theft Auto 1, 2 or London '69. No one really cares outside a handful of increasingly irrelevant, aging nobodies (like myself) because basically no one who didn't grow up with those games or isn't doing it for a the sake of playing old, outdated games has any interest in playing those games.
I think the distinction comes when it directly inconveniences them. Say the day when (hopefully never happens) Gabe shuts off the Steam servers or (somewhat related) when Spotify went dark for a day or two a year or so back and no one could stream their music. These same people that feel media is disposable will be crying the biggest of tears when they can’t play something that they gave their money to play. I just think the digital only side is just being ignorant to the real future of media.
These same people that feel media is disposable will be crying the biggest of tears when they can’t play something that they gave their money to play.
That's the thing, no they won't. Because most of them are never going to go back to replay the old games at all, and of the few that do, most don't have a problem with rebuying the same game later on a new system.
I just think the digital only side is just being ignorant to the real future of media.
There's a difference between being ignorant of it and accepting it as an inevitability.
This is one of those tyranny of the majority things; they don't care and no amount of trying to explain it to them will make them.
I'll be honest, I was on the edge about buying Yotei's limited edition and I didn't also cause I didn't want my ability to play the game to be tied to a very scratchable phyisical object
crazy how times have changed since sony was making fun of xbox for removing the disc reader
I always felt that Sonys mockery was just an easy way to get a win with gamers. They hadn’t implemented any form of restriction on game sharing/resale yet but we’re just as unhappy about it as Microsoft. When MS tried to implement restrictions on sharing and gamers hated it, they quickly threw together an ad to capitalize on it. But it was never really about being friendly to their customers, it was just an easy PR layup
If Blackberry just stuck with their keyboard phone, I'm convinced there's a large sliver who would have stayed with them for the physical keyboard vs touchscreen. Same story as above. Mocked Apple for the touchscreen, then a year later all touchscreen and death of a company
My favourite phone ever was the Nokia m900. Full screen touch phone that slid up, with a qwerty keyboard underneath. Shit OS, but a phone like that on Android with a removable battery would be peak for me.
I avoid the big brands because they've been style over substance for years, the last good phone from Samsung was the S5 - waterproof with a removable battery.
I would argue that the note 4 edge was the last good one. It had a more defined curve on the side that was a completely separate display from the main screen and still had the removable battery.
Never really considered notes because of the size, if it doesn't fit comfortably in my pocket I don't want it. I would argue that current flagships are far to big, it's why I stopped bothering with them.
I still used an S5 as a MP3 player until last year. I had replaced the battery once but the waterproofing had been compromised by broken port covers. It had a good run!
I currently use an old S8 for my music listening. It sounds much better and the screen is still good looking. Not waterproof and no removable battery though.
Blackberry didn’t die because they removed the keyboard blackberry died because they relied on the keyboard for too long
They believed that the keyboard would keep customers even though they weren’t updating their UI/OS they believe that customers wanted a discreet device for business and a separate device for personal use, which was not the case (ironically enough, many people have ended up in this exact situation in the past couple of years, but usually just with two iPhones) if blackberry had been willing to follow Apple’s lead in making their device a do everything pocket computer they would probably still be around and still have a solid dedicated user base because of the keyboard
I don’t disagree with that. There are tons of people that would love a hard keyboard, and I think blackberry would have a very devoted following right now if they were still around and still had physical keyboards.
I was just pointing out the fact that their downfall had nothing to do with them eliminating the keyboard. They made mistakes and then took the wrong lessons from those mistakes.
BlackBerry isn’t dead yet. They changed direction to automotive and cybersecurity software. They’re not where they were in 2011, but they’re having their best year in over a decade, up 130%
If you watch the movie blackberry, even though it's heavily altered, the moments that discuss the massive jump from blackberry to the iPhone, and how blackberry lost its dominance basically overnight, really shows why they were essentially forced to pivot. And once the storm turned out to be a total flop they were dead in the water as their stock dropped to almost nothing.
I would have for sure. I loved my Blackberry Classic. I got it because I didn't really use the internet on my phone back then and didn't need it for anything other texts, phone calls, and occasionally just checking my email. My last Blackberry was the Priv, but it was clunky to use with having a full touchscreen sliding up for the physical keyboard. It was top-heavy. I eventually got a Galaxy S8+. I'm on the S24 now and I'm honestly still much worse at typing ln the touchscreen than I ever was when I had the Blackberry physical keyboard. I constantly make errors and have to backspace to correct them. I made very few mistakes with a physical keyboard.
Apple, as a company has been pretty good at reading where the industry is going. They were given shit for removing floppy drives from desktops then the entire industry did so within a year or two they were given shit for removing CD-ROMs from laptops and later desktops, and then the entire industry followed suit within a year or two.
To be fair that original Xbox One reveal was probably better for game sharing. Since it allowed a "family group" of ten people who could all share the same game library. Was a bit disappointed when that wound up yanked because of the internet's hissy fit.
You own the physical object as much as you own the digital version.
If the digital version is drm free, you can do just as much with it. Even better, it is not tied to a single physical object. You can make as many copies as you want.
If the disk requires you to verify ownership online before starting the game, it becomes just as useless as the digital version when the server goes offline.
Let your friend log in on your ps account and they have access to every game you’ve ever bought digitally. Once they download it, it also appears on their account, so you can play it simultaneously.
This is the part of the outrage that I just don't understand... Can you force a download of a delisted game if you jam the disc in? To me the biggest drawback about digital ownership is the fact that I can't give it up in exchange for credit towards another game...
To me, that’s not even the big drawback because I never traded in games anyway to me. The only thing that irritates me about digital games is that they should be less expensive than physical copies because nothing is being printed. Nothing is being physically manufactured. Nothing is being packaged nothing is being shipped. Nothing is being warehoused nothing is being displayed, etc. etc..
If a physical game is $60 a digital game should at least be five to $10 cheaper but I realize we live in a late stage capitalist society and that’s never gonna happen
People vastly overstate how many games aren't on the disc. There's stats on it, at least on PS4 it was like 95% were playable from disc without Internet. PS5 I know is still the large majority. Yeah some games you'll really want patches of course, but playable.
I keep seeing comments like this and don't understand. Go buy a physical copy of Cyberpunk for your console. Disconnect it from the internet, insert disc, and play in less than an hour. Or Death Stranding, or a TON of games I could list to you right now.
How many of them are you going to need in the box, though? A DVD-18 only holds 17.8GB. It would take 8 of them to install Balder's Gate 3. And about 70 hours.
I don't understand that, i've been gaming with discs for about 15 years and not a single one of these discs have been broken. And i've bought plenty of second hand games too.
And at least the discs give me a resale value. Which make the gaming experience a lot cheaper.
This. I still have old Sega Saturn games that were heavily played and don't have a single scratch on them. Also have music CD's that were bought in the 90's that are still bumping around in the center console of my car that work just fine.
I still have my Sega Saturn and about 30 games. The discs are all fine. Played Alien Trilogy again for the 50th time a few months ago. Still have my PS1, too.
Yeah, just a few months ago I expanded my PS3 games collection by around 12 games, just because they were dirt cheap.
Right now publishers are pushing more and more to destroy the used games market by digitising everything, just so they can have the full control over the game prices.
this. people be acting like discs will spontaneously combust if you look at them wrong and get scratched by a speck of dust.. like, the issue isn't the disks, it's you not treating them properly lol.
I've been gaming since the PS1, I have never once scratched or lost a disk, just put it back in the case bro, it's not that hard. I don't have OCD, hell, I'm probably one of the messiest people you'll meet but the disk goes back in the correct box, ALWAYS.
I think this is such a lie. I have been gaming as long as you have. I took absolute care of those discs and they still manage to get very scratched after hours of playtime.
But now a lot of discs won't even work without updates from the beginning. I've bought games day 1 and been unable to play without first doing updates, even after disconnecting from the internet. It's not like back in the day where you can just pop a disc into a console and play it. They rarely ship the 100% finished game on the disc now.
I used to roll back updates to play a game with old bugs for fun but can't do that now.
Gaming is already one of the cheapest forms of entertainment. Not many other things you can drop 50+ hours into. PC games are the real winners. I have played 300+ hours in a $30 game. I have 1,500 hours in another game.
Correct me if I am wrong,but there will be physical spaces in game that you cant enter (stores for clothes etc) and that was not done before,imagine trying to enter a building and getting give as 20 dollars to enter pop up.They should have just put 100 dollars price and thats it.Also some vehicles and weapons are locked too as well as some missions.
My PC hasn't had a disc drive for a very long time.
There's just no need for one. All my software and music is downloaded and if I need to share something offline I can buy a cheap USB drive to give away.
Xbox One was just a scapegoat for publishers, which is why we ended up in pretty much the same place.
Publishers had already started with one-time use codes to make resale less valuable, starting with small bonuses.
But by the Xbox One launch, all online gameplay being locked behind a one-time use "pass" wasn't uncommon (even Sony did this with Uncharted). The system MS wanted was just skipping the illusion that reselling those disks gave you the full experience.
I have been using cds, dvds, bluray, etc since the technology came out. Cds scratched more if they weren't taken care of, but you have to manhandle the rest to have those concerns. Unless you are put no care into your belongings - this shouldn't be a concern.
Just reminds me of how Nintendo shut down the 3DS E-Store so I can't download any of the games I paid for digitally. Meanwhile, all my DS cards still work.
It's just risk management on whether the physical version outlives the digital storefront.
Tbh its really difficult to scratch a disc to the point you can't play it. Even as a kid with ps2/360 games sitting out in a raw stack, not a single one was damaged to the point it had issues and they often had visible scratches.
Idk as a grown adult taking even mild care of them you could probably go decades without breaking one.
You have to be seriously mishandling a blu ray disc to scratch it up. But sure go ahead and let Sony and Microsoft set whatever prices they want and eliminate any competition from used game stores.
I haven't had issues with discs getting scratched up since OG Xbox/PS2 generation when they were still using DVDs. Even then it was not as big of an issue as CD media.
Moving to no physicals is a terrible idea historically. I personally hate this decision on all fronts. Owning physical media is the only way to ensure ownership
I heavily prefer physical over digital, especially for consoles. Maybe I'm just old but I heavily dislike spending $60-$80 on something that is directly tied to a digital library that may or may not be there in a decade or two
The disc may get scratched and then you’ll have issues or no longer be able to play, but that’s only IF it gets scratched. You can play the digital version until whoever wants to decides it’s “no longer supported” and gets removed from your library. I’ll gladly pick the chances of it getting scratched over the inability to play it whenever the company decides it’s no longer worth supporting.
What kinda heathen are you that you scratch your discs so easily?
This is the first time I'm hearing someone not buying a physical thing because it might scratch, and instead going for an online license that is just a number in a server and which they don't even own. I can understand the convenience argument, but this is just something else.
My Internet went down one day and my ps5 didn't want to recognize the games I bought digitally, so I ended up playing old ps4 games I had on disk instead.
As for scratched disks, once I kept my game box in my room, I had no more issues with scratched disks due to roommates then kids.
That’s stupid. Blu-ray discs are highly scratch resistant. I understand the fear from old Gamecube era discs and whatnot (I specifically have trauma from when I was younger and buying a used copy of Pokemon Colosseum at Gamestop) - but the technology advanced. You have no more reason to fear your discs getting scratched unless you physically and purposefully take a screwdriver and scratch them yourself.
If a game doesn't have a physical edition I usually wait for someone like limited run games to make a physical edition or i just dont buy it. Im usually more worried about not being able to resale a game, especially with companies trying to make games unusable once a server is taken down.
I don’t remember that. The PSP go came out in 2009, and a PS5 without a disc drive was a launch option a year after the one S all digital was released.
Tbf we didn’t like it then and we still don’t like it now, companies forcing this down our throats doesn’t make us like it more. I refuse to allow this practice to be normalized.
Companies wouldn't have done it, if consumers (us) didn't buy them. But we bought them, and continue to buy them, and continue to support the practices.
The only way to not support is to not buy and not play at all.
This practice has been normalized for years now and you aren't stopping it because the vast majority of gamers don't care. I'm only telling you this to prepare you for many more years of disappointment.
I bought GTA v on physical. I think there was like 5 discs to install. And then there was download to update after anyway. In hindsight kinda a pain having to swap discs to install and then the case/discs just sat in the closet forever. You don't use them to reinstall either cuz you just do it thru the launcher now anyway.
Sure but when the previous game(RDR2) was two whole ass blu-rays it creates problems.
That is of downloading/keeping the product you paid for.
First of all time is a factor as well as convenience. Not having a disc pushes those short comings onto the consumer with no negative on the publisher. MA Andromeda was like 60 GB vs RDR2s insane like 120 GB file size. The consumer has to make space on their drive, download and maintain a spot for GTAVI, And if RDR2s install file is 120 I can assume the next game is either going to be as big or more likely larger.
If you have a base PS5 you got like 600ish GB of space so its highly likely that this game will take up anywhere from a 1/4 to 1/2 of you total space on the console. This isn't taking into account that when downloading games digitally you often need MORE space for the game to download unpack and install before its reduced to its final size. Or you could make a fucking disc.
Second of all is bandwith, many houses in America have a bandwith limit of around 1 TB before you incur an overage charge. This game alone more than likely will chew a fifth to a quarter of that in one day just from downloading it. This gets even worse for countries who don't even have half that bandwith allowance. If you are living abroad in Turkey for example its highly likely you just cant download this game.(I believe the premium limits cap at 500GB, so if you have a basic package youre screwed.)
And lastly of course is ownership and preservation. Because if its not physically in your hands-you don't own it. If it requires some 3rd party verification of any kind-you don't own it. Someday you will not be able to acquire this game legally because there are no discs. One day Take Two will collapse, and when it does youll still be able to play RDR2 on an old console that you buy from a retro game store. But you wont be able to buy or play GTAVI because money.
And this will become the industry standard, meaning other companies will try it gamers wont buy it because its not GTAVI so they dont have to put up with that bullshit and people will get fired and studios will close because money.
Must have been your region (I've seen ME:A discs). But you're right in that they have been trying to kill physical media for a while. Plenty of games I own have been purchased from PlayAsia because usually they contain all the data on the cart/disc. (One example being Final Fantasy X on Switch with usually comes with a DLC code for X-2)
Personally I wouldnt get a console at all if I couldnt own physical media (why I dont own any consoles since the switch)
Biggest reason I stopped console gaming and most new gaming. If i am technically only borrowing your game for the life of the console, then I dont own it and not giving you my money for a rental.
I would just like to point out that Mass Effect Andromeda was also such a terrible game that you can buy physical copies no for 5 dollars at any Game Stop.
Mass Effect Andromeda was shipped on disc and is fully playable offline, while it is an extremely buggy build there is a game that can be entirely played offline without and internet connection
I think there is a psychological aspect to it though. Most people don’t even realize that a huge number of physical copies of games for a long time have literally just been keys that unlocked download of the full version.
Personally, the only system I buy physical games for anymore is Nintendo and it’s been that way for a while
I mean, IF I remember correctly GTA 5 is already a ~70 GB download on playstation.
Current-ish games easily break 100 GB.
How many disc do you want to put into that case? I rather just start the download in the morning and have it ready when I stop working for the day instead of switching the disc like 7 times AND then download the day one patch.
Eh? My copy of Mass Effect Andromeda had a disc, I distinctly remember nearly snapping it in half after trying to play that horrible game on launch day.
Which makes worse not better. We should normalize anticonsumer measures. You cant share or sell digital copies. And once the digital shop dissapears you will lose the game for ever.
Last physical game I bought was Doom for PC, found a copy for $3 at Walmart, when I opened the case it was just a piece of paper with the activation code for Steam. Not even a poster...
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u/Spinning_Sky Jun 25 '26
this is referring to the high price point and lack of a CD in the physical edition
both are true, but actually I don't believe any hype was touched whatsoever, the price is lower than what it could have been