"Steam Is The Only Good Monopoly" – The Danger of a Digital-Only Future for Gaming

[Leynos]

The kind of person I am is I only want to get something digital if super cheap but if the physical copy becomes an option I will buy it again for that. Even when I had free Gamepass for a month buying a new Laptop some years ago I played Ruiner. I stopped after a little but to spend $50 for the physical on PS4. I always prefer physical first. Sometimes I will double dip on a game physically or triple or more. But also If I have the game physical on one console I am ok to have it digital on another. Depending what came first I might keep it sealed not for monetary value. Example. I have Raiden III/IV on Switch (also have IV on 360) but they went on sale on SX for super cheap so got them digitally. The reverse of that is Ninja Gaiden II Black which launched digital only on Series X. I bought it there. It later came to PS5 physical so I bought that but still sealed. It's just so I have a physical version. I like something tangible I can hold.

For retro games. Take Blood Will Tell on PS2 for example. I can't buy the US version. It;s $400. I played the US version on PCSX2 emulator. Then bought the Japanese version. I don't have a Japanese PS2. It's just nice to own a physical copy tho. Will sometimes do that, US version too pricey, import a Japanese copy.