Future of Physical Media in consoles - end of disks?

[DonFerrari]

DPsx7 said:

Conina said:

Where to begin? So much FUD, lies and half-truths!

Duck Tales: Remastered wasn't on sale digitally for a few months. Then it reappeared in all digital stores again after the licencing issues were solved.

Do you also blame the stores or the publisher/developer, when a physical game ain't available for a few months or even goes out of print forever?

People who already had one of the digital versions (PlayStation, Xbox, Steam,... ) kept a valid license and could play it the whole time.
People who already had one of the digital versions (PlayStation, Xbox, Steam,...) could download it the whole time, even in the delisted window.
People who already had one of the digital versions (PlayStation, Xbox, Steam,...) kept a valid license when the game came back to the digital shelves.
People who already had one of the digital versions (PlayStation, Xbox, Steam,...) didn't have any disadvantage due to the delisting.

If you bought Half-Life 2 (or any other of the earlier Steam games) as retail version you could install it directly from disc.

You didn't have to download the whole game, you only had to enter the Steam key for activation.

When Half-Life 2 launched in November 2004, Steam already had an off-line mode and still has it.

 

I never lost it so I made the right choice.

Not an issue, I'll have my copy before it disappears. This is another one of those cases where if I didn't, it's my own fault. Remember digital can be stolen back at any time without refund.

But if you didn't have it, lost your account or HDD, then no luck.

This is 100% wrong. I bought the game and would have installed from disc if given the option. Offline mode does not exist. I have first hand experience from my many attempts to finish the damn game. I will never allow that malware on my system again and probably won't trust anyone who speaks positively of it. Totally lost my appetite for PC gaming.

We have seem cases of people permanently banned from Live, PSN, Steam or whatever and they lost access to all the games they had even the ones installed weren't able to play because license couldn't be checked. How do you saveguard from it? Obey whatever order the companies give and accept every TOS?