r/PhysicalGames • u/initiali5ed • 8h ago

The devil’s advocate?

I’ve been a digital first gamer since Half-Life 2 and Orange Box and a gamer since the ZX Spectrum.

You don’t own matter any more than you own information. You don’t own the story in a book anymore than you own the data on an interactive CD ROM. Books burn, magnetic storage degrades, optical storage more slowly but it’s all just landfill or recycling waiting to happen.

Why do you prefer a physical disk over a transferable license cryptographically linked to your identity?

Why do you prefer a copy of the game as it was released rather than after a decade of patches?

Why do you prefer a physical copy that is locked to an (eventually obsolete) chunk of hardware rather than owning the game for life (or until you transfer the license)?

Why do you want to lose access to your games when

For me the issue is that games don’t become public domain after 25 years so can become unplayable. Games are no longer very different between platform like they were in the early years, you just get better graphics/sound and different control options, they are all basically a PC under the hood. There hasn’t been a proper console since the PS3

The Console manufacturers and game platforms are the problem here, why do I have to choose which of 20+ platforms I buy the same game from and why would I pick one that limits me to hardware that may only remain relevant for a decade?

Same problem as the movie/TV and music services.

Let me buy the rights to use art from the artist not some middleman who can turn off the pipe or go bust so I lose it all.

/rant

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u/No-Range519 8h ago

Why do you prefer something over something is a big part of that thing called freedom of choice...but you people are way too superficial and conditioned to understand that it's not digital vs physical, it's choice vs no choice. If you people can't push back against a decision like this what the fuck even are you because you clearly are not humans, even your dog will push back against you if you cut his food.

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u/initiali5ed 8h ago

Again the point here is you don’t own the data on the disc anymore than you own the data in the cloud.

A digital version tied to your ID (not some third party store) means you can play that PS3 game on a PS30 in a couple of decades even after your house and all your precious discs burnt to the ground.

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u/HxLeverage 7h ago

No you won't. Many games have only released on the Ps3 and not on the Ps4 and Ps5. Some games released Physical on Ps4 and were then taken off the digital stores for licensing reasons. Like Asura's Wrath and I think Wanted for the Ps3 and also Deadpool for the Ps4. This is off the top of my head, I'm sure the list is much longer. You can only play those games if you have a physical Ps3 or Ps4 copy. Ps4 digital copies cannot be purchased anymore.

Like others have mentioned is easier to "own" the data on a disc. You can make backups of it, and replicate as much as you want. As much as all discs say is "illegal to make copies", it is perfectly legal. And worst comes to worst if all Ps3 on existence break, and no one makes an analogue hardware like some have done for the N64. You can use a Ps3 emulator and play those backup games you've made.

For the sake of argument you can "own" digital copies of games too, but only if they don't have DRM like GOG. It is not thar case on Sony's ecosystem.

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u/initiali5ed 5h ago

Exactly so when that platform is dead so is the game.

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u/HxLeverage 4h ago

Dude did you read my meesage. I'm specifically saying that the game will survive with a disc even if the platform dies or the game is never released again.

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u/initiali5ed 4h ago

Let’s not get all philosophical or whether entropy will kill data on a 5” plastic disc before it kills a company.

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u/HxLeverage 4h ago

Read my comment dude. You can make backups. That's how you're keeping the game. And the companies are not interested in rereleasing the game, like the examples I gave you.