Same reason why now everybody watches stuff on Netflix and not on DVD. Once (and if) the technology is good enough, then gaming streaming will become the standard.

Yep, I feel the same, even in this thread. I like my games physical, but can definitely see the technology taking over once internet speed/reliability improve significantly.

I understand your point, but disagree.

I think the large majority of the market (once internet speed and reliability will improve significantly) will shift to streaming. It will be relatively cheap and also appealing to the mainstream market.

I see a mix of download/streaming (à la Spotify) in the near future though.

Gameing is differnt than streaming music and movie/tv industry though.
I think all digital is the future, but I'm still not convinced that streaming games is the future.

Theres still upsides to owning physical hardware.
As long as they can keep prices low enough that cost of entry isnt a issue in future, streaming shouldn't gain large marget share (imo).
Currently still to many issues with streaming for me to think, its gonna take over everything anytime soon.

First I believe it’s a 3 way war between MS, Google and Amazon. Sony uses Azure for Ps Now so if they win so does MS. That said, Google and Amazon lack the 1st party to truly compete. Sure they have YouTube and Twitch integration respectively but content is still king. Xcloud has too many time tested IPs and too many seasoned studios under their belt. They simply can’t compete with Elder Scrolls, Starfield, Fallout, Halo, Gears, Forza, Doom, etc.

If you want to know which platform(s) are going to win over the next several years, then you only need to ask three questions.  Here they are in order of importance:

1) Does one platform clearly have a much better game library?
2) Which platform is the best value?
3) Does one of these platforms especially appeal to marginal gamers (i.e. "da casualz")?

So I am going to break this up into two categories: A) Sony vs. Nintendo and B) the streaming services and C) Apple Arcade.

A)  So if you compare PS5 vs. Switch, both are going to have a good library of games.  Switch already does have a good library with plenty more games coming, and we've seen that PS5 will have games coming.  Switch is a much better value though.  It's cheaper (that's obvious), but portability also makes it a much better value.  Switch probably also appeals just a little more to "da casualz" because it's portable and it has some motion control games.  But really any system that uses the classic controler scheme doesn't appeal to "da casualz" too much.  Overall Switch is going to be the clear winner based on value.

B) Let's take Microsoft vs. Google vs. Amazon on streaming service.  Microsoft's service is going to have a much better library of games.  They simply have a lot more game studios and every Elder Scrolls fan, for example, is going to want Gamepass simply because of the games.  All of these 3 subscriptions services offer a similar value and don't really appeal to "da casualz" because they use the classic controller scheme.   Microsoft is going to be the clear winner for the next few years simply because of its game library.  Google and Amazon are really going to have to come up with some good exclusive games on their own if they are going to have a chance of competing with Microsoft.

C) Apple Arcade is in a category all on its own.  That's because it's the only platform right now that is seriously trying to appeal to "da casualz".  Most of its games use either touch screen controls or maybe a simple joystick with buttons.  Both of these appeal much more to marginal gamers than the classic controller scheme.  That means that Apple Arcade (and gaming in general on the iPhone) is going to continue to be a very profitable business for Apple.  This service is not going to be a big deal anytime soon, but in 10+ years it may end up being the dominant player in gaming.  In gaming, 10 years is a huge amount of time.  It's the difference between Final Fantasy 1 and Final Fantasy 7.  Add another 10 years and you are in the FF12/13 era.  Give Apple enough time to make tons of bank with "da casualz" and their games are going to be much better and more sophisticated.  They will grow into a serious force to be reckoned with.  It won't happen anytime soon, but don't take your eyes off of them either.

I'm in this group I guess

Funny thing is that high end phones can cost a thousand or more.  I don't see a future where casual gamers carry around a controller to play AAA games on the go.  I can perhaps see people using it in their house with streaming sticks/other devices but that's about it.   How many people do you see in public playing smartphone games with a controller?   Very few if any.  I have yet to encounter anyone in public playing on smartphone with a controller.  Maybe it happens in other countries but not much here in US

Sure I'm a Netflix fan and have been member for over a decade but there are differences.   For one most video games besides annual releases will start going up in value after a generation or two.  DVDs and Blu rays only depreciate in value unless it is some ultra rare limited release which rarely happens if at all.  

I view it like this. Owning physical rare good games is like owning a house while owning DVDs/Blu Ray is like owning a regular car that depreciates in value every year.

Sure I'm semi hypocrite because I own a ton of steam games but computer games never really held value so I don't mind being all digital on PC. 

Sure eventually it will replace systems for most people but I don't see it happening anytime soon.  Maybe by 2030 or 2040.

Everyone owns a high-end phone, no one buys a high end for streaming. There are two customers to streaming, first, you got the PC and consoles owners that want to play on the go and then you have people like one of my buddies he says he's done with consoles and is PC is old, so he really wanted Stadia to be a success and now is excited about Luna. If you tell a casual you can play on the same console game on their smart device or tablets that is a huge selling point to them. I leave my spare controller in the car and have played Xcloud once in a while, I still much prefer playing at home but in a bind it's fun.