Shit man I’m old and would’ve dropped a good chunk of money on a complete, single-player GTA6 physical disk, at launch.

I might’ve even gone and bought a PS5 as crazy as that sounds. I already have a great PC and haven’t gotten a console in a decade but I’ve gotten so much enjoyment from the franchise I’d feel pretty safe buying.

But the lack of a physical disk might actually be the thing that makes me completely reverse my decision. I tolerate it on PC because there are so many indie games it doesn’t really make sense to have a physical copy every time but with a huge AAA title from a proven money hungry powerhouse like R* it’s completely unacceptable. I want to be able to dig that disc out in 20 years and play forgotten games. I want to take my console out into the woods and play the game completely disconnected from the modern world if it suits me.

Yeah that’s my problem with it as well. People keep going “but steam does the same thing” but with steam I actually have the install on my computer, a computer which valve does not control and they cannot take things off me after the fact.

Removing options is an issue

I’ve been thinking about this since the announcement from Sony. I see alot of friends complaining when I fully know they have massive steam libraries and no optical drives.

And I think it comes down too we have Steam. Steam is run by Valve a non public company with no shareholders. And Valve not only says but does. They keep things open and accessible. Game removed from Steam, that’s file you can still download it and play. Things like GoG where you can get an offline installer. And we can pirate probably fits in There some where

But console you only have the maker and not a single one can be trusted. Sony removed movies and TV shows a couple times at this point.

A few things.

One is that steam frequently has actually cheap games more readily than the console digital stores.

Another is that if I’m buying a digital entitlement anyway, I’ll go with the ecosystem with the greatest track record for long term compatibility. A game purchased 20 years ago on steam is still generally playable in brand new system. A PlayStation game purchased then is not playable on a new Sony system. It is in fact only playable on PC through emulation, so PCs have been covering for console incompatibly.

Once upon a time, consoles brought some unique values. Easy to plug into TVs, consistent gamepad experience, and just turn on and play.

Nowadays PC operating systems and console operating systems act the same, tv output is just HDMI, gaming controllers are well supported on PCs… The last reason to bother with the console gaming was the physical media. So while sure, they can go digital only, but then why bother with a console at all? They’ve already lost every other advantage.

PC hardware is not vendor controlled. They can’t delete your game because sales of the sequel are low or a license agreement ran out. Buying is owning on a pc where the game can be backed up, reinstalled on new machine etc. without any need for the agreement or permission of the publisher. You bought it. Can’t do any of that on console. Cant back up to your own systems, cant copy and if the console vendor decides to withdraw it from your library and delete from your device, you cant stop them (short of never connecting the device to the internet again) Historically console physical media has had a good second hand market, no such thing without physical media.

You’ll hand your money over, own nothing and have no recourse.

The arguments are all over the place but in quick. You can’t resell digital games. Also PC is an open platform, Xbox and Playstation are not. Steam might feel like a monopoly but they have to keep in mind the competitors like Epic and can’t rip you off too much.

I’d be more fine with it if it translated to lower prices for the consumer but I have doubts the shareholders will allow for even the tiniest hit to their profit margins.

They aren’t closed ecosystems to the extent that consoles are. PC gaming isn’t just Steam, and you’re generally free to do what you’d like with the files once they’re on your computer.

You can chase sales, modify and fix games, play online without a subscription, use your preferred controller, buy DRM free (or bypass DRM if you so choose), share and revive old games, etc.

I doubt I’ve covered everything, and (respectfully) I’m genuinely surprised that so many people still ask this question.

I’m not sure there’s a great argument for why it’s different that’s not just vibes but the case for owning a console is getting smaller.

A console is basically a single purpose computer. The reasons to own one are that they’re cheaper, plug and play, you can buy and trade physical games, and the exclusive games. Seems like they’re converging towards PCs to the point that the only real benefit next gen will be ease of use and exclusives. And both of those reasons are fragile. Steam has pretty much solved the barriers to getting games running.

Nintendo figured out how to sell consoles based on exclusives but I don’t know that Sony will be able to make the transition. Third party developers will just go elsewhere if Sony can’t sell the hardware. As a child of the 80s/90s, I like the excitement around consoles. The hardware is cool, having a shelf of games is fun, I like going to GameStop and trading in old games and finding weird used games to buy. But the kids now don’t have that nostalgia. They have a Nintendo Switch and a gaming PC.

Maybe I don’t understand the vision but it seems like Xbox tried the whole “it’s just a computer! Play on your computer too!” and people said “good idea, I don’t even need an Xbox.” I need a computer to do computer things but I don’t really need a second computer that doesn’t do computer things besides games. Maybe I’d consider if I could install Linux on the PlayStation 6.

But I think a lot of the backlash is from people who like to buy consoles and remember how fun it was to own an N64 or PS1. Are consoles fun anymore? It feels like they get a bit worse every generation. Maybe the master plan is to ruin the business so they get out of making the PS 9 with the butterflies that fly in your ear, if anyone remembers those commercials.

It is also impossible to store a lot of these games on CDs because of the size. That said, as someone else said, the companies that make these consoles have shown they will screw over consumers any chance they get, so at some level I get it. But I am mostly a PC gamer and most of my library is old games I emulate anyways.

I don’t really game anymore after having almost a 40 year run. However, I used to regularly recommend going digital only up to several years ago. Then, store delisting started becoming more common and affecting games I previously played, so I completely gave up consoles and retracted all my recommendations.

I wish I could still buy physical PC games. It took me a god damn month to download Doom 2016.

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Maybe it’s ok, because it is not “Everything is through steam”. I have digital copies from different stores. It’s basically the same fight against closed platforms in the mobile ecosystems. And I am really curious whether the EU will force Sony to open up their platform as well.

I quit shortly after the PS3…

Video cards are just so expensive.

Fun fact! PlayStation Plus, Xbox Live, and Nintendo Online subscriptions go directly to them and none of that supports the server costs game developers have to pay to host online games. This is why most online games are forced into the games-as-a-service model, which makes zero sense to me as a game developer. It’s also why most indie games do not bother to add online multiplayer support as it’s far to expensive to pay for server hosting, let alone the cost of development.

Yeah the big advantage of disc is Sony can’t randomly take it away. And given the fact that they have literally just done that with a bunch of movies it’s kind of a problem.

I was already planning to abandon Sony even before they shot themselves in the foot (or leg? groin? time will tell I guess)

I bought the PS5 solely to play one specific game, but I still expected to get some other games. And I’ve gotten a few at least: The Finals is amazing, Baldur’s Gate is amazing, Battlefield 6 is great… and that’s about the end of my list.

The one specific game I bought the PS5 for, No Man’s Sky, has tons of stuff you can do with mods and save editing. Same for Baldur’s Gate as far as mods go. The Finals and BF6 are FPS games so no mods, but still… 100% of the games I like could just be played on PC instead, and 50% are significantly better for doing so.

In the last few generations of consoles / handhelds, Sony has:

• Removed the ability to back your data up via USB as of PS5 (ostensibly because scary ol’ North Korea hacked them, but really because they want to force you to buy PS+)
• Removed the ability to use custom themes as of PS4
• Removed the ability to play online for free as of PS4
• Removed the ability to set a background for your console ffs as of PS5, then gave us like 10% of that back by letting you set a background specifically and only for the screen you see after the console starts
• Jacked up PS+ prices repeatedly and offered like 99% games that I never play again (granted I’m a very picky gamer but still. Shoutout to Jurassic World and some Resident Evils tho)

There’s so many reasons to ditch them even separately from the disc drama

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Ahh yes, steam renowned for its physical media.

Hopefully it just keeps them using old consoles and punishing them by not buying the digital games.

But we all know everyone will just roll over.

No one on those platforms buys games anyway. They’re too busy playing mobile games.