Digital killed the physical star....
Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2026 7:52 pm
Just been a recent outrage that's resulted in mass debating ....sorry, couldn't resist!!!
No but seriously, the recent controversy of Sony announcing that all games released on Playstation consoles from January 2028 onwards will ONLY be digital. Effectively ending physical games for the platform. And to say it's caused a huge shit storm is a huge understatement.
Lot of people now at each others throat over the whole thing.
I can see both view points, as someone who grew up in the 80s and 90s where physical was the ONLY option, not just for games but VHS and cassette tapes etc. Heck even had a record player.
There definitely was something unique and special about going and buying a game, then trotting over to Burger King for a meal, read the manual with a cigarette on the go. Before they banned smoking in public places of course.
But I would also argue that TRUE proper physical game ownership died after generation 6 (PS2/original Xbox) era. The moment you started needing patches for games, actual sign in accounts and when DLC became a thing .... you never truly had the full unfinished game on a disc.
I mean try running Fallout: New Vegas on an Xbox 360 with no patches installed....it's a broken mess with your save files guaranteed to become corrupt.
Have to say I truly embraced the introduction of digital. For the following reasons:
-Space - no clutter of tons of plastic boxes everywhere.
-Ease of use for switching between games.
-No worry of disc degradation, ie, scratches.
-Better long lasting console functionality. Before switching to digital in 2013, I never had a single disc based console that would last the course. Sega Saturn, PS1, Dreamcast, PS2 and first Xbox 360 console. All would eventually malfunction due to the disc lens reader becoming compromised.
Alright maybe the Game Cube was an exception, but I only had that initially for a small number of years and rarely used it.
PC gaming has pretty been digital only for years now, and I did not see any uproar over that. But that is an open platform and there are ways to ensure you can keep your games permanently.
Do you prefer digital? Do you think that digital only now leads to serious abuses by publishers who can yank a game from your library even though you paid for it? That has never happened to me on with Xbox or Playstation....yet.
Will we truly "own nothing and be happy"? Just some thought for food there. Been a hot topic for a long time but now getting very real indeed!
No but seriously, the recent controversy of Sony announcing that all games released on Playstation consoles from January 2028 onwards will ONLY be digital. Effectively ending physical games for the platform. And to say it's caused a huge shit storm is a huge understatement.
Lot of people now at each others throat over the whole thing.
I can see both view points, as someone who grew up in the 80s and 90s where physical was the ONLY option, not just for games but VHS and cassette tapes etc. Heck even had a record player.
There definitely was something unique and special about going and buying a game, then trotting over to Burger King for a meal, read the manual with a cigarette on the go. Before they banned smoking in public places of course.
But I would also argue that TRUE proper physical game ownership died after generation 6 (PS2/original Xbox) era. The moment you started needing patches for games, actual sign in accounts and when DLC became a thing .... you never truly had the full unfinished game on a disc.
I mean try running Fallout: New Vegas on an Xbox 360 with no patches installed....it's a broken mess with your save files guaranteed to become corrupt.
Have to say I truly embraced the introduction of digital. For the following reasons:
-Space - no clutter of tons of plastic boxes everywhere.
-Ease of use for switching between games.
-No worry of disc degradation, ie, scratches.
-Better long lasting console functionality. Before switching to digital in 2013, I never had a single disc based console that would last the course. Sega Saturn, PS1, Dreamcast, PS2 and first Xbox 360 console. All would eventually malfunction due to the disc lens reader becoming compromised.
Alright maybe the Game Cube was an exception, but I only had that initially for a small number of years and rarely used it.
PC gaming has pretty been digital only for years now, and I did not see any uproar over that. But that is an open platform and there are ways to ensure you can keep your games permanently.
Do you prefer digital? Do you think that digital only now leads to serious abuses by publishers who can yank a game from your library even though you paid for it? That has never happened to me on with Xbox or Playstation....yet.
Will we truly "own nothing and be happy"? Just some thought for food there. Been a hot topic for a long time but now getting very real indeed!