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Forums - Gaming - Are physical games eventually going to die?

 

How do you get your games?

physical only 9 13.04%
 
Mostly physical 26 37.68%
 
50-50 11 15.94%
 
Mostly digital 15 21.74%
 
Digital only 8 11.59%
 
Total:69
SvennoJ on 24 September 2023
DroidKnight said:

Slightly off topic.  The Kindle actually turned me into a book collector.  For mostly every book (I have recently been purchasing entire 5-10 volume sets of unknown self-published authors on the Kindle store for like .99 cents. And even though they are quite amateurish, I still find them quite enjoyable.) I purchase on the Kindle I also get a Hard-cover copy, and try to make it a first edition.  Pre-kindle, I purchased paperbacks and as cheap and thin as the paper is nowadays, I'll wear them out if I read a book more than 3 times.  I did purchase the Wheel of Time series for my Kindle so I could keep my grubby hands off of these:

If I remember correctly, 9 of these are 1st Editions.  

My physical book collection in just the Hardcovers is around 200.  Including paperbacks is around 500.  

My movie and Tv show physical collection is in the thousands.

My physical video game collection is around 1200-1400 (I still have all my original Atari games from the early eighties). 

The only thing I got rid of was my VHS collection.  I didn't have any real gems in it, and ended up giving away most of it and eventually just disposing of the rest.  I did repurchase almost everything that was in it on DVD and Blu ray.

There are many things contained in my collections that are worth significantly north of what I paid for them. 

Lack of physical options for me would be a major bummer.  

Awesome collection. I got rid of a lot of stuff when I moved overseas in 2002. I gave all my region 2 stuff away, including all my PAL games and systems. I did take my Laserdisc collection with me, yet half of that got damaged in a flood :( Physical needs to be stored right, I learned my lesson.

And yeah VHS isn't really worth keeping. Magnetic tapes degrade over time. I watched some of my old VHS tapes a couple years ago and it's half snow now. Also the tapes I made with my first digital camcorder JVC GR-DV1 are now severely degraded. It was awesome at the time, yet those tapes don't last.


I mainly buy physical books because reading off a screen is just not for me. I need that tactile experience while reading, ear marking the pages and physically see how much fun is still left to enjoy :)

Physical movie collection is also in the thousands, I've replaced all my Laserdiscs and VHS with DVD and blu-ray. I still have a box of Laserdiscs (now safely stored) but currently don't have a working player for them. They work best on CRT anyway for a nice warm analog picture.



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zeldaring on 25 September 2023
Chrkeller said:
SvennoJ said:

Oh they are into those now as well (12 and 14 now). I meant when they were 4 and 6, discovering video games through the tactile experience. Already at 2-3 years old getting a kick out of crashing the plane in Wii sports resort, feeling the rumble as the pilot jumps out. That look of joy and wonder on their face is priceless.

Now they're old and just play whatever you tube tells them to play :/ 14 year old is into Rust and Rocket League, 12 year old wants to play GTA 5 and is configuring the color sequences on his new keyboard. BotW uses motion controls btw, still need that tactile part ;)
They grew up too fast, perverted by you tube streamers! Yet the youngest still wants to play 1-2-Switch now and then. How will that be preserved digital only...

I credit Rayman legends on the switch for my kids getting into games.  I would play with a pro controller while they used their finger to make the glums worth more.  That and they played coop Mario galaxy collecting star bits.  

Wow I thought almost every kid likes games.



Cobretti2 on 25 September 2023

Poor old VHS getting attached here...

I still got m VHS collection lol. Few reasons. Some of the original VHS are uncut compared to DVD. Fox especially decided to turn some of their R movies to MA and cut out scenes, and you just can't find those versions digitally from any DVD rip version.



 

 

Azzanation on 25 September 2023

With time, yes. As we progress with tech, Disk drives are becoming less and less needed. Also, companies make less money with physical as it creates a middleman to sell. As much as I like Physical games, it's inevitable.



haxxiy on 25 September 2023

I mean, it's all but confirmed that the mid-gen refreshes (and probably the PS5 Pro as well) will be diskless with a separate disk drive add-on.

If I were to hazard a guess I'd say the next-gen consoles will be diskless while still being compatible with said add-on but more and more games will be digital only until something like collector editions are the sole physical releases left.



 

 

 

 

 

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SvennoJ on 25 September 2023
Cobretti2 said:

Poor old VHS getting attached here...

I still got m VHS collection lol. Few reasons. Some of the original VHS are uncut compared to DVD. Fox especially decided to turn some of their R movies to MA and cut out scenes, and you just can't find those versions digitally from any DVD rip version.

The analog snow and rolling bands do have a certain charm :p S-VHS was quite good as well, too bad it was never used for selling movies afaik. Yet recordings were almost as good as live tv. (400 lines instead of 240). When digital VCRs came out it was a no brainer to make the switch, we still use those.

Ah the memories of prying out a tape stuck in the machine, good times!

We still have a bunch of Disney movies on VHS, original packaging and all. No clue how they look now. I'm more sad about Laserdisc disappearing / not getting a successor in that size format. The special editions were amazing as well as the artwork on the normal editions. They did take up a lot of space though, and a box full of them weighs a ton. Plus many movies you had to switch discs halfway through.



KratosLives on 25 September 2023

That will be a sad day if it ever happens. Try buying a game from ps store, $120 minimum. Go buy it physical, 75 to 80 max.



SvennoJ on 25 September 2023
KratosLives said:

That will be a sad day if it ever happens. Try buying a game from ps store, $120 minimum. Go buy it physical, 75 to 80 max.

Try buying FH3 from the MS store, delisted. Plenty physical copies around luckily.



Fight-the-Streets on 26 September 2023

It's a very emotional discussion, especially, if you (like myself) grew up with the NES/Game Boy and since then owning and keeping all Nintendo consoles and handhelds (bar the Virtual Boy) plus PS4, PS3 and PS4 Pro incl. and most of the games I ever owned incl. packages/cases and booklets in very good condition. Hopefully, one day GameStop will bring out its own console/hybrid because they will surely make sure that it will have a disk drive/card slot! I can understand that most of the indies are download only but without the physical (collectors) aspect, something very important is just missing for me.



jonathanalis on 26 September 2023

I want something like a physical activator for digital games.
the console emits a signal when you try to start the game. If it finds the chip of the physical activator in a 5m range, it starts the game.

Vantages:
you can trade, sell, rent, etc.
You can have a collection in your shelf
You don't need to take it, open the box, take out the disk that was there, find the box, and put in the disk tray
Consoles don't need extra space for disks.
You have all your collection in your console avaiable on 1 click, like digital media.
All consoles at your home can play the same games with 1 copy (or even on an event)