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prayformojo said: The entire world can stream music for all I care. As long as they still sell real albums on vinyl and/or CD, that's the route I'm taking. |
What about DVD-A? DVD-A is technically superior to CD in almost every possible way except for compatibility. With DVD-A, almost everything is at least 24/48 and 24/96 is pretty common, too. Then there is the capability of 5.1 surround, which I think sounds fantastic when it's lossless. I really wish the industry would abandon the CD format in favor of DVD-A.
At any rate, I refuse to support lossy compressed audio formats like MP3 or AAC. They have their uses, but not as a distribution format IMO (unless we're talking about free downloads). I think the advent of lossy digital music sales stunted the advancement of the music industry, from a technical point of view. Sure, hi-res downloads have finally shown up for a few albums here and there, but physical formats could do hi-res 15 years ago.
On the topic of digial distribution of video games, I'm not really a fan of it. I guess I can't say that I am 100% opposed to it because I have bought a few digital games, but only because they didn't have a physical release. Currently, I have only bought 3 digital games out of my collection of 1000+ games: Mega Man 9 (Wii), Mega Man 10 (Wii), and Perfect Dark (X360). As a big Mega Man fan, I just couldn't say no to a new Mega Man game, even though it really bugged me that they were digital only. Same thing with Perfect Dark, which is my all-time favorite FPS (I still have my N64 cartridge, of course). There are a couple of others I am interested in, which cause similar inner conflict: Contra ReBirth (Wii) and Gradius ReBirth (Wii). Nevertheless, I will always prefer physical when it is an option.
There is just something satisfying about having something tangible that you can display on your shelf. It does annoy me how a lot of physical releases are giving you less and less tangible assets. A modern physical release doesn't feel like much at all. Pick up a Mario Kart 8 case and compare it to Mario Kart Wii. The MK8 feels like it weighs half as much. It just doesn't feel like much at all. Part of it is these Eco-boxes which just feel cheap and flimsy. I am not a fan of them. Then there is the manuals, which are frequently absent or reduced to an instruction card. Many will argue that manuals are not necessary thanks to in-game tutorials, but that isn't the point. A lot of times you used to get artwork of all the characters with descriptions, which was pretty cool.
I also like how I can still buy physical games that are 20-30 years old. Granted, some of these have gotten pretty expensive, particularly with SNES games. But the question is, will today's digital-only games still be available for purchase 20+ years down the road? That remains to be seen. I have read of publishers pulling the plug on a couple of digital games already, which means if you're out of luck if you haven't bought the game already.
