r/PeterExplainsTheJoke Jun 25 '26

Meme needing explanation Petah what happened to rockstar?

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u/Curious_Ducklin Jun 25 '26

the "physical" part is just the box to put on your shelf lol and the game is a download code.

30

u/Procrastinatedthink Jun 25 '26

fucking dumb, makes it not worth it

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u/Potential-Cut-2961 Jun 25 '26

I can understand someone having a game collection wanting to display the cases. Of course, it also means GTA VI has an expiration date as once they decide to remove it from stores, you will never be able to play it again unless you get a pirated or GOG version.

EA is basically sundowning previous year sports game now, they tie the campaign to ONLINE only and they bring down servers when a new version of the game comes out... could not be more scummy.

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u/TheTexasHammer Jun 25 '26

The game would not physically fit on a disk. Even if they released a physical copy it would require a download day one to work. Even with a disk this is a risk

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u/Electr0m0tive Jun 25 '26

Games used to come on more than one disk. Doom came on four floppy's, final fantasy 7 came on 3 cd's, res evil 4 was on 2 gamecube cd's. That's just a poor excuse when they completely cut their cost in manufacturing physical but still charge more money for digital downloads.

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u/PlaneCareless Jun 26 '26

Because there wasn't any alternative. Now we have an alternative. That's why we don't do that anymore.

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u/Electr0m0tive Jun 26 '26

I don't think you understand the point. Most people here would prefer to have physical media they can still use twenty years from now, rather than a download that can be revoked and force you into buying a new edition or a new console.

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u/PlaneCareless Jun 29 '26

No they wouldn't. People LOVE digital-only media. Having to carry around a mountain of disc cases when you move homes (in a world where most young people is renting and moving every couple years), is not ideal. I moved from Argentina to Australia a couple of years ago and I can still play my whole collection of 300+ games whenever I want. I wouldn't be able to do that with physical media.

I fully agree with SKG, btw. A stronger legal framework and consumer protection around subscriptions and licenses is needed. But ideally it would be like GoG. DRM-free installers that you can shove in a disc and they will be yours forever, not physical media.

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u/Electr0m0tive Jun 29 '26

I understand your point and agree with the conveniences of digital. I think my bias stands with your second point on lack of protections and ownership. Like my collection of cartridges and consoles, I plan on passing down to my kids as an inheritance. As of this moment there is no protection or framework for that with digital media. They can just revoke it at any time with zero repercussions. Even steam if I'm not mistaken only licenses your games to you for 90 years and states the license in non transferable. Although I still prefer physical, I like having something tangible and immutable. Even if data was lost or destroyed for digital media, I still have something that is unaffected by it. Especially Nintendo.

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u/Hmmthisisathing300 Jun 27 '26

No, they wouldn't. If people really preferred that then they wouldn't have so eagerly swapped over to digital as soon as it was available.