As you and many others have said, this digital future was inevitable. I wish I could say I felt worse about this news, but I really don't. 10 years ago, maybe I would be up in arms, but my own relationship with games has changed so much in the last decade. I play as much for my Substack as I do just for myself. I just... don't care as much about new games as I used to. Outside of Nintendo, of course.
Morrissey once sang, "Has the world changed or have I changed?" My answer, for me, is "Yes."
Considering editing this article with the Morrissey quote at the start haha
I think I own 5 physical PS5 games, which at this stage, is averaging less than one a year. I’m going to try and commit more to buying physical while I still can, but I think similar to you, my passion for buying games will probably manifest more in building out my collection for older systems rather than newer ones.
The older I get, the more that quote appears in my mind, haha.
Yeah, I hear that. My only concern is retro gaming will grow even more inflated. But with systems and games failing over the next several decades, perhaps that is inevitable.
Like you said, I don't want to be too critical either side of the argument either, since both points are valid. You can only worry about what is in your control, and digital distribution was going to happen eventually. History is all about moments of great change followed by normalising them to the point that it becomes an afterthought at best.
For those of us who do remember physical media, I will admit I will miss the feeling of holding an object and having a connection to it, despite not really considering myself a collector. Great thoughts you had here, and I liked they were balanced and fair.
You're right - change is inevitable and, in many cases, a force for good. I just hope we don't look back at this transition period for how we consume games in 20, 30, 50 years time and realise we let go of something we can never get back.
Loving reading all of the articles on Substack about physical media in the wake of this news. This was a good article and sorry you had to go through that harrowing experience.
Physical media is intrinsically tied to video games, like it or not. Video games aren't just software, they are ways to escape the real world, ways to have fun and make memories. Ways to bond and share experiences. I think treating them just like any other software is a bad idea.
I'm not against the digital future necessarily, but I am against taking away choices and taking away ownership and outpricing consumers. That will unfortunately be our future for several years until hopefully we figure out how to get console games at parity with PC gaming, in the digital sense of DRM and whatnot. Sharing digital games is rough too, especially on Sony's platform. And selling your games, well I guess that's no longer going to be a thing since you don't own the games.
In the meantime, my gaming habits will lean more toward older stuff (pre 2027) more than they already have.
Well said. There’s always going to be a deeper, indescribable meaning we associate with something physical over its digital counterpart.
I’m going to try and commit more to buying physical games for the foreseeable future, especially since it is something I’ve kind of moved away from with newer games without even really noticing it. I know others who are going to do the same thing, and while I don’t think that’s going to reverse any decisions or anything, at least we can still engage in this side of the hobby while we still can.
As you mentioned, online stores have contributed a lot to the development of the medium and indie games but... If the shift to digital-only goes on, there will come a day when kids won't be receiving games as Christmas and birthday presents. Maybe a console or a code-in-a-box every now and then. It's bizarre.
There's a different, uncountable value when you bond with an item in its physical form. This number is going down. More sales, less ownership and less enthusiasm about the product don't sound that great of a mix.
As you and many others have said, this digital future was inevitable. I wish I could say I felt worse about this news, but I really don't. 10 years ago, maybe I would be up in arms, but my own relationship with games has changed so much in the last decade. I play as much for my Substack as I do just for myself. I just... don't care as much about new games as I used to. Outside of Nintendo, of course.
Morrissey once sang, "Has the world changed or have I changed?" My answer, for me, is "Yes."
Thanks for the article as always!
Considering editing this article with the Morrissey quote at the start haha
I think I own 5 physical PS5 games, which at this stage, is averaging less than one a year. I’m going to try and commit more to buying physical while I still can, but I think similar to you, my passion for buying games will probably manifest more in building out my collection for older systems rather than newer ones.
The older I get, the more that quote appears in my mind, haha.
Yeah, I hear that. My only concern is retro gaming will grow even more inflated. But with systems and games failing over the next several decades, perhaps that is inevitable.
Like you said, I don't want to be too critical either side of the argument either, since both points are valid. You can only worry about what is in your control, and digital distribution was going to happen eventually. History is all about moments of great change followed by normalising them to the point that it becomes an afterthought at best.
For those of us who do remember physical media, I will admit I will miss the feeling of holding an object and having a connection to it, despite not really considering myself a collector. Great thoughts you had here, and I liked they were balanced and fair.
You're right - change is inevitable and, in many cases, a force for good. I just hope we don't look back at this transition period for how we consume games in 20, 30, 50 years time and realise we let go of something we can never get back.
Loving reading all of the articles on Substack about physical media in the wake of this news. This was a good article and sorry you had to go through that harrowing experience.
Physical media is intrinsically tied to video games, like it or not. Video games aren't just software, they are ways to escape the real world, ways to have fun and make memories. Ways to bond and share experiences. I think treating them just like any other software is a bad idea.
I'm not against the digital future necessarily, but I am against taking away choices and taking away ownership and outpricing consumers. That will unfortunately be our future for several years until hopefully we figure out how to get console games at parity with PC gaming, in the digital sense of DRM and whatnot. Sharing digital games is rough too, especially on Sony's platform. And selling your games, well I guess that's no longer going to be a thing since you don't own the games.
In the meantime, my gaming habits will lean more toward older stuff (pre 2027) more than they already have.
Well said. There’s always going to be a deeper, indescribable meaning we associate with something physical over its digital counterpart.
I’m going to try and commit more to buying physical games for the foreseeable future, especially since it is something I’ve kind of moved away from with newer games without even really noticing it. I know others who are going to do the same thing, and while I don’t think that’s going to reverse any decisions or anything, at least we can still engage in this side of the hobby while we still can.
As you mentioned, online stores have contributed a lot to the development of the medium and indie games but... If the shift to digital-only goes on, there will come a day when kids won't be receiving games as Christmas and birthday presents. Maybe a console or a code-in-a-box every now and then. It's bizarre.
There's a different, uncountable value when you bond with an item in its physical form. This number is going down. More sales, less ownership and less enthusiasm about the product don't sound that great of a mix.