Current Events > People laugh at Gamestop say physical games are dying

(+) Yeah! (+)

Physical is slowly dying but that doesn't stop me from buying physical on Switch whenever possible.

Its really doesn't matter either way. The holy experience of playing video games is untouched by foolish standards such as this.

Play more games, do less of this stuff.

tbf, I own a PS5 with a disc drive, but only own digital games.

I might sometimes watch Blu-rays/DVDs, though.

Pre-order the standard version of our game for $69.99 (Digital copy only)
Or pre-order the collectors edition for $120 (Same thing, but now you get a physical copy with a neat little case)

SailorGoon posted...

Pre-order the standard version of our game for $69.99 (Digital copy only)
Or pre-order the collectors edition for $120 (Same thing, but now you get a physical copy with a neat little case)

these days the digital version is the $120 version with some bs dlc exclusive

the physical goes on sale but the digital doesn't

FF7 Rebirth at release could be got for $50 for physical (not everywhere but certain places had a sale)

this is also another reason they want to kill physical, physical price is dictated by stores and shelf space

gamestop sells funko pops not games

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

Physical media is not dying, it is rationalizing; adjusting to match the percentage of people who actually want it.

[ The influx of people now choosing convenience over "reminders of their experiences" packaging is the biggest driver of this change. ]

andri_g posted...

Physical media is not dying, it is rationalizing; adjusting to match the percentage of people who actually want it.

[ The influx of people now choosing convenience over "reminders of their experiences" packaging is the biggest driver of this change. ]

an interesting thing is go to any subreddit about a game or series and most common post is

"look at my collection of physical media"

They can make the next consoles all digital for all I care. This gen sucked and barely anything noteworthy came out, so if they want to ruin gaming for good I'll always have retro games and or emulation to fall back.

wouldn't be surprised if switch 3 is all digital, but comes with a 1TB storage.

Perhaps these are not the same people. Or perhaps the idea that less hardware for more cost is absurd even to people who don't intend to use the hardware in question.

ReturnOfDevsman posted...

Perhaps these are not the same people. Or perhaps the idea that less hardware for more cost is absurd even to people who don't intend to use the hardware in question.

You are absolutely getting so much more hardware it's not even funny. That's an absurd argument.

Jerry_Hellyeah posted...

You are absolutely getting so much more hardware it's not even funny. That's an absurd argument.

I had a feeling somebody was gonna say this, lol.

ReturnOfDevsman posted...

I had a feeling somebody was gonna say this, lol.

Then reevaluate before you post that crap lol

I do think gamers who in online spaces tend to be a little oblivious to the fact that most people really dont care if a new console is digital only. Its especially funny because I assume that if youre online complaining gaming youre probably a pc gamer, in which case you probably have hundreds of non-physical games in your steam library.

SAlYAN posted...

Perhaps if you look at it reductively.

Do you remember how Microsoft marketed the "always online Xbox one?" They talked up bigger, persistent worlds. Long, ongoing support from developers. Minute to minute updates and content delivery. And consumers feared losing ownership of their games, limited ability to trade their goods, the loss of their products when servers went down, deva releasing unfinished product, in0lqyability for rural players, etc.

In other words, they were describing a fucking live service. It didn't go away. And it didn't limit itself to a single company. It rebranded. And while still unpopular, it's got a hell of a lot more foothold than it did in 2013. The market HAS gotten more used to it. The shift is slower than others, but it's still happening.

I do feel stuff like this is unsustainable and still extremely reviled by a not insignificant portion of consumers. Yes, some are huge moneymakers but live service inherently can only have a few big moneymakers at a time and if enough devs start chasing it more are going to experience the Concord effect than the opposite. Honestly, I feel the chase for photorealism itself isn't very sustainable and that eventually it'll come to a crash even if it won't happen for a decade or more.

Kajagogo posted...

Physical copy only for me.

this.

wanting to hunt down ps3 games again. may have to branch off into ebay (really high price).

VRX3000 posted...

You also assume everyone is high speed internet. Most this country is still on dial up. You just told the flyover states that they arent your consumers.

I'm sorry, but this isn't true in the slightest. As of 2019 the census bureau estimated only about 265,000 US households still used dial up. With 2022 households estimated at around 127 million, that's about .2% of American households.

https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT1Y2019.B28011?q=ACSDT1Y2019.B28011&hidePreview=true

Do some areas have shitty internet still? Yes, absolutely, and in 2019 they still estimated about 13.4 million households had no access to internet, but to pretend the majority of the country is still on dial up like this is 2000 is crazy.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

Dying means "towards death"; rationalizing means "towards efficiency." What is there to not agree with?

Physical media hasn't disappeared and it won't go away. Rockstar released a collector's edition for RDR2 with *no* game (discs, cards, or codes) and people still bought it.

https://www.rdr2.org/wiki/collectors-box/

ReturnOfDevsman posted...

Perhaps these are not the same people. Or perhaps the idea that less hardware for more cost is absurd even to people who don't intend to use the hardware in question.

The notion that digital is not becoming more popular is straight up wrong, I can understand some wanting the physical media but over time mostly digital buyers are becoming more numerous.

People also have to factor in those that were raised on phones, and everything being digital have less attachment to physical media. So the question is not If but when we move to purely digital consoles, even if the console manufactures try to prevent this future it will happen eventually.

Kuuko posted...

To be honest I laugh at Gamestop moreso because half the store isn't even gaming anymore, but gaming/nerd merchandise. They could rightfully rebrand to Funkostop and no one would question it.

They should call themselves Funkoland!
... wait

Guys, stop doing the physical thing for new games. Seriously, its a different time now. Games aren't in those disc's anymore.

Its 2024. You are furthering mass plastic manufacturing and dumping for fucking useless media that's gonna still be around in a thousand years. Think about that.

Jerry_Hellyeah posted...

Guys, stop doing the physical thing for new games. Seriously, its a different time now. Games aren't in those disc's anymore.

Yeah, thats another thing about games since like, 2020. People say they always buy physical games for Ps5 or Xbox, but the moment you dont have the internet or their servers shut down, those discs are useless. You wont be able to play most games without Day 0 updates, patches, etc; and thats if the disc even has the game on it. Most discs are just some of the install files or just contain a digital code to tell the system to download the game for you.

WingsOfGood posted...

no that was DVDs and Blu Rays

You can also get them elsewhere. Which is.........amazon. That was the only reason why. Why compete in this when you can buy anything you want at the click of a button.

vycebrand2 posted...

You can also get them elsewhere. Which is.........amazon. That was the only reason why. Why compete in this when you can anything you want at the click of a button.

correct
but that doesn't fit the narrative that physical media is dying

WingsOfGood posted...

And yet rage when PS5 has no disc drive.
Seems like Physical is not going away. Gamestop will continue to sell them and make money.

Are you assuming it's the same people doing both these things?

I roll my eyes at any gamer that goes to bat for digital only. Physical games arent dying. Corporations are pushing this idea and hardware so that they can have more control over their customers.

This is also why I love having such a large collection of movies. Streaming services can pick and choose which movies to take away or add. Theyll put the holiday movies behind a pay wall around Halloween, Christmas, etc. banking on their customers not having physical copies of holiday classics.

Physical means you actually own it and can play offline. Digital means they have you by the wallet.

LonelyStoner posted...

I roll my eyes at any gamer that goes to bat for digital only. Physical games arent dying. Corporations are pushing this idea and hardware so that they can have more control over their customers.

This is also why I love having such a large collection of movies. Streaming services can pick and choose which movies to take away or add. Theyll put the holiday movies behind a pay wall around Halloween, Christmas, etc. banking on their customers not having physical copies of holiday classics.

Physical means you actually own it and can play offline. Digital means they have you by the wallet.

Yeah, streaming movies works for me in most cases but for movies I really like and I know I'm going to rewatch I like having a blu-ray. Then I don't have to worry about being subscribed to the right streaming service. I can just pop in the disc and watch it.

UnsteadyOwl posted...

Yeah, streaming movies works for me in most cases but for movies I really like and I know I'm going to rewatch I like having a blu-ray. Then I don't have to worry about being subscribed to the right streaming service. I can just pop in the disc and watch it.

My wife used to give me hell about my movie/show collection until the internet went out for a week during an ice storm.

LonelyStoner posted...

Physical means you actually own it and can play offline.

Not always these days

SammyLiimex posted...

Most discs are just some of the install files or just contain a digital code to tell the system to download the game for you.

The games I've bought over the past few months for my Series X, all of which are physical, run after installing the discs without an online connection or updates.

[ The only game I've played recently that has prompted me for a server connection is Watch Dogs... for the 360. ] :P

LonelyStoner posted...

Physical means you actually own it and can play offline. Digital means they have you by the wallet.

No, it does not mean that, and it hasn't for over a decade now.

When was the last time you plugged in your Xbox 360?

ClayGuida posted...

Biden did pass a bill 2 years ago that will bring high speed internet nation wide.

The money was given to the states, who were supposed to distribute it to local utilities. Red states (the ones that need it most) have dragged their feet in implementation (like with medicare, and free lunch benefits).

Feds should have just built it themselves, like the Interstates, but that's SoCiALiSm, I guess...

andri_g posted...

The games I've bought over the past few months for my Series X, all of which are physical, run after installing the discs without an online connection or updates.

[ The only game I've played recently that has prompted me for a server connection is Watch Dogs... for the 360. ] :P

Every single physical I own for my PS5 and PS4 also runs 100 percent fine offline, and yes, data is on the discs since all of jack-shit would not install otherwise.

The only exceptions to this is the obviously well-known ones like star wars jedi survivor (they cheeped out and instead of giving the physical 2 discs like square-enix did for FF7 rebirth, its just one disc of data and you download the rest from the net. Which defeats one of the main purposes of having a physical copy, lol) and some of those call of duty games,

Jerry_Hellyeah posted...

No, it does not mean that, and it hasn't for over a decade now.

When was the last time you plugged in your Xbox 360?

I plugged in my gamecube literally a week ago.

Quit pretending gaming was invented in 2018, or that every game ever is legally available on digital storefronts super easily. Or that these shitty online retailers routinely shutting their serviced down and revoking your purchases is at all acceptable.

Jerry_Hellyeah posted...

No, it does not mean that, and it hasn't for over a decade now.

When was the last time you plugged in your Xbox 360?

I'm playing mine [my 360] right now, offline, with no problems.

So, what are you trying to say? The 360 had the only service where you owned digital games tied to your gamertag.

My only issue with the external disc drive is the online activation requirement, which I don't even know is true anymore.

Otherwise, I'm self aware enough to realize the physical media is becoming increasingly niche. So I'm okay as long as it exists in some form. (And not half-assed with most of the game not printed on the disc).