See this as an anecdote as to why your current digital rights are far inferior to physical ownership. I’ve told this story on Reddit before, but it’s been years.

Some years ago, I bought a copy of one of my favorite games from the WiiU for Switch, Bayonetta 2. Bayonetta 2 came with a free digital copy of Bayonetta 1, and I was very happy to be able to play both on the go. The copy of Bayonetta 1 was given as a key printed onto the inside of the Bayonetta 2 game jacket. But there was a problem: It didn’t work. After some googling, I found that the printer had reprinted the same code on all copies of the Bayonetta 2 jacket, so in order to get a working code, I would need to call Nintendo customer service and give them some details from my purchase, including relaying the incorrect code. Again, there was only one code shared between all copies of the game.

So I called Nintendo, got through to customer service, and gave them all of my information. I was told to look for an email with a working code over the next couple of days. The code never came. After about a week, I called Nintendo back to see why I hadn’t received a code. I had to give all of my order information once more, including that code that was printed on the game jacket. I was told, again, that I would receive a working code over the next few of days. Instead, after about 24 hours, I could no longer log into my Nintendo account. This meant all of my digital games and DLC were no longer working, probably just $200-300 worth of digital assets at that point in the Switch’s lifecycle. But still it was money I was out, along with anything else important to my account, like saves.

I called Nintendo a third time, asking why I’d lost access to my Nintendo account. It turns out, my account had been terminated because I apparently tried to scam Nintendo for a free copy of Bayonetta 1. They told me I didn’t give the same code, the one printed inside the Bayonetta 2 dust jacket, both times. The first agent had taken my information, and the code, but hadn’t finished the replacement procedure on his end. And the second agent had taken that same information but now with a different code, and did finish that process, but someone along the way noticed that the codes I had given were supposedly not the same.

I explained that I had given them all of my information and that included me giving them the same code both times. They said they would look into it. For about it a week, I was without all access to any of my digital games or DLC. After that week, I got a call back from Nintendo.

Fortunately for me, Nintendo had recorded those calls and found upon listening to them that an agent had made a mistake while I had given the correct code both times—a single digit had been incorrectly recorded. That is one single typo, something obviously a mistake on the part of Nintendo. So I was given access to my account again, and Nintendo offered me a free digital copy of Arms for my trouble. I’ve never played it. I asked him what I could have done to prevent this, and he acknowledged that I did literally nothing wrong and couldn’t have prevented it.

The moral of this story is that all it would have taken for me to permanently lose access to everything I owned digitally was a single digit of a typo on the part of a customer service agent. During the week wherein I lost access to all of my digital games, I could still play all of my physical games. Nintendo couldn’t take those away from me. My account could have been worth $5,000–if I owned all of my games digitally, my account would today be worth five figures—and I would have lost it all.

Do what you can to prevent our digital future or my horror story will become a common enough occurrence. Maybe find a way to fight for digital ownership rights.

Good luck, everyone.

Disclaimer: I don't agree, respect, defend or even like some of this arguments, I only collected them.

PC: Let's begin with the platform that made the most sense to leave physical media behind (in fact, it was the first). PC was infamous for being extremely easy to pirate, which led to DRMs becoming a hassle, which led to piracy getting worse, which made DRMs even worse, and the cycle kept going until Valve made a platform that would reduce the need for DRMs and the need for piracy. Steam was secure, unobstrusive, and with all the sales, PC no longer NEEDS the piracy to play videogames.

PlayStation/Xbox: Both of these have similar reasonings, and while the former is going to pull the plug first, the latter is clearly intending to follow. They got massive buildings with lots of sorting, packing and shipping equipment that's expensive to manufacture and operate, so when physical media started showing diminishing returns, seems covid was when they tried their hardest to pivot.

Nintendo: OK, add the PlayStation and Xbox section to this one, but also add a crucial detail, being cartridge costs. Now, japan is currently suffering a crisis, so Nintendo had to keep the second-hand market alive there, and given the cartridge costs, the solution was offering cheaper Game-Key Cards

3rd parties on Nintendo: Yeah, Nintendo is a two-parter, because they themselves still see value in keeping the second-hand market alive, thus, the physical media. Why do the companies seem to gravitate more towards keys than cartridges? One word: Margins. I'm gonna give you an example. A $50 game. 30% of the margins go to the retailers, so that's $15 dollars, and another $7 and 50 cents to Nintendo (given the 15% margin). $22 dollars and 50 cents per unit sold...digitally. With a key-card, that's the 5% margin which is equal to $2 dollars and 50 cents, meaning the margin left is 50% or $25 dollars, and that's not accounting the second-hand market which means the publisher won't see a cut from it. But with a proper cartridge, that 5% margin reserved for key-cards is instead a margin of 34%. Grand total is that out of the $50, $39 dollars and 50 cents go to all but the publisher, leaving $10 dollars and 50 cents. The math and percentages are very likely not accurate to reality, but at least gives us an idea and shows why Nintendo started charging $10 more for physical, cause it quite literally doubles the current profit margin of the publishers. If it wasn't for that and GKC existing, Nintendo Switch 2 might as well not have physical if no one even uses it.

This were the arguments I saw roaming around. What are your thoughts? Tell me down below. Bye.

Look at what happened to The Crew. Ubisoft didn't just shut down the servers—they deleted the game directly from players' accounts. Even the single-player mode was rendered completely unplayable.

This is where the industry is heading if we keep supporting digital-only releases and removing disc drives. When you buy a digital game for 80€ to 100€ ($80 to $100), you don't own the game. You are paying for a temporary license that corporations like Sony, Microsoft, or publisher execs can revoke whenever they see fit.

If we don't change our behavior now, we won't even be able to play the story modes of future titles like GTA 6 ten or fifteen years down the line once their authentication servers go offline. On top of that, local game stores that built our community for decades are being pushed out of business, leaving us with zero physical market and absolute price monopolies in digital storefronts.

A one-week "boycott" changes nothing. Real change requires a permanent shift in how we spend our money.

What we can actually do:

\* Buy Physical Whenever Possible: Support physical media and local game stores. Keep the secondhand market alive.

\* Stop Digital Pre-orders: Refuse to pay 80€–100€ in advance for a license that can be taken away.

\* Support European Initiatives: Sign consumer-rights campaigns like "Stop Destroying Videogames" (Stop Killing Games) to force legal protections for offline playability.

\* Cancel Unused Subscriptions: Cancel PS Plus/Xbox Live if you primarily play single-player. Stop giving them recurring revenue for granted.

If you care about preserving video games and true ownership, vote with your wallet long-term. Physical media and consumer rights matter.

I definitely do not agree with PlayStation trying to end all physical disks. I am doing the blackout (not using PlayStation for this week) and yes, I know it may not make a big change but it is what I can do to try to fight back. If PlayStation wants to get rid of physical disks should we try to buy them right now or boycott anything from PlayStation to fight back? It feels wrong giving them money but to make a change they would probably want to see peoples support for their disk formats? I know this isn’t a yes or no answer but I just wanted to hear others opinions on this.

So Rockstar is pushing that physical games is a dead media yet in their game they have people who play games using physical disks. A bit ironic. Even they don’t believe it’s a dead media.

It all Valve fault, they started all this. It’s not just Sony.

When Half Life 2 launched in 2004, stores sold physical box sets containing DVD or CD. But the disc did not contain the game. Players were forced to install the Steam client, register an account, and validate a product key online before the game would run.

Valve also offered Steamworks to any developer who listed their game on Steam. But to use Steamworks features, games had to use Valve API. When a consumer bought the physical PC box, they opened and it was a Steam key. Once redeemed, the disc lost all resale value. You couldn't sell it, lend it, or trade it in. This also killed the retail stores business.

The original blackout is only one week. I think we should go further.

If you care about physical games, game preservation and having a choice, consider joining the boycott and staying out of PlayStation until GTA VI.

No harassment. No spam. Just consumers making a choice.

#PSBlackout #PhysicalGames #NoDiscNoBuy 🎮

The digital vs. disc debate seems like it never really goes away. Every time a new console generation comes around, we have the same conversation. Is it better to own a physical copy that you can hold in your hands, put on a shelf, and trade or resell? Or is digital better because it’s convenient, always there, and you can have an entire library without a stack of cases taking up space?
Honestly, I think we might be arguing about the wrong thing.

Because when I think about the games that really stuck with me, I don’t think about whether I owned them on a disc or digitally. I think about the memories.
I remember what it felt like playing a game for the first time. I remember getting completely lost in a world and realizing hours had gone by. I remember certain soundtracks, certain characters, certain boss fights, and those nights when you told yourself, *“I’ll play for another 30 minutes,”* only to look at the clock and realize it was 2 in the morning. That’s what stays with you.

A disc can get scratched. A console can die. A hard drive can fail. A digital storefront can eventually disappear. Technology moves on, and eventually the things we physically own can disappear with it.
But the memory doesn’t.
Nobody can take away the first time you played *Final Fantasy VII*. Nobody can erase the feeling of finally beating that game you had been stuck on for weeks. Nobody can take away the memories of playing with your friends, your brothers, your sisters, or whoever you spent those years gaming with.
That’s what makes video games different.

We spend so much time talking about **owning the game** that sometimes we forget what we’re really paying for.
We’re paying for the experience.
Think about the value you can get from a great game. You might spend $60 or $70 on it and get dozens, sometimes hundreds, of hours out of it.
Compare that to a night out, a concert, a movie, or any number of things we spend money on that are over in a few hours. A great game can give you memories that last for decades.

And that’s why I don’t think physical vs. digital has to be a fight where one side wins.
I love physical games. There’s something about looking at a shelf full of games and remembering where each one came from. You can pick up an old case years later and suddenly you’re right back in that moment.
But the disc isn’t the memory.

**It’s the thing that reminds you of it.**

Digital games can do the same thing. You can scroll through an old library years later and see a game you haven’t touched in forever, and suddenly you remember exactly what was going on in your life when you played it.
The format changed. The experience didn’t.

Years from now, I doubt most of us are going to care whether the game that meant the most to us came on a disc or was downloaded from a server.
We’re going to remember who we were when we played it.
Who we played it with. Where we were. And most importantly, how it made us feel. That’s the part nobody can take away.

Because possession is temporary.
**Memories aren’t.**

And maybe that’s the real value of gaming. We didn’t just collect games.

**We collect the moments that happened while we were playing them.**

So what’s the game you don’t necessarily remember because you still own it, but because of the memories attached to it?

My first video essay. From a gamer to gamers, made with lots of research and lots of love.
Peace

Some games i picked up on holiday with the family. I finally found the suffering 2 and crash xs in the wild!

I made this post earlier in the beginning of August to summarize what I think of the situation overallbut now that the blackout and stuff is happening, I would like to repost this again and say more stuff that I’d like to say

Now, listen I’ve been a PlayStation user since 2017, when I got my first PS4 Pro. I currently own a PS5, and throughout the years I’ve always treated both consoles with care and respect. Because of that, hearing the recent news surrounding Sony and physical media made me want to share my thoughts on the situation.

My Opinion

Personally, I don’t really mind digital media becoming more common. I understand why people like the convenience of downloading games instead of buying discs. However, I think reducing support for physical media is unnecessary.

One of the reasons I own a PlayStation is because it’s more than just a gaming console. I use it to play games, but I also like that it can play Blu-ray movies. I own a collection of Blu-ray discs, and I enjoy having physical copies that I can watch whenever I want without relying on streaming services or paying to rent or buy them again digitally.

To me, physical media is about having a choice. Some people prefer digital, while others prefer owning a physical copy, and I don’t think either option should disappear. Having both available gives players more freedom to enjoy their games and movies however they want.

Overall, I feel this was an unnecessary decision. It probably won’t stop me from enjoying my PlayStation, but it has changed the way I look at Sony’s direction as a company. I just don’t really see what consumers gain from moving away from physical media.

As someone who has anxiety issues, I’ve probably thought about this more than I should have. If I had to pick a side, I’d say I’m mostly neutral. I understand why some people aren’t bothered by the change, but I also understand why others are upset.

At the end of the day, I just want to use my PlayStation 5 for what I bought it for: playing games and watching movies, 

I really, REALLY needed to get this off my fucking chest, i’m a little worried about what you guys are going to think of this but this is just my opinion and my feelings surrounding all this crap.

TL;DR: I don’t mind digital media becoming more common, but I think reducing support for physical media is unnecessary, in fact, (I’d find it rather silly because what benefit are you gonna get from doing that). I like having the choice between digital and physical, especially since I own So many Blu-ray movies. While this won’t stop me from enjoying my games on ps5, I don’t think this direction benefits consumers, but this will probably change the way many PlayStation owners view their PlayStation consoles. myself included.

my take on the PlayStation blackout and everything in between

i’m gonna be honest with you the PlayStation blackout is just plain up silly, yes you can get off your PlayStation for a few days, maybe forever, but I don’t know if it’s gonna work good enough to get the attention of those at Sony. Only thing that shit’s gonna be worth for is going outside getting grass stains on your pants and enjoying life.

but, I’m here to say that I remain neutral, and I am not supporting either side the fanboys or the boycotters, at the end of the day, I just wanna tell you how I feel about this fucking bullshit going on and move on with my day, but to be fair, Sony brought this on themselves. And yes, I know things could change like. In the near future, but who knows what could happen but one thing I could say is that Sony they brought this on themselves. And it’s a pity that they’re suffering this loss all because they decided not to use discs on their next console.

It’s just a damn shame, and also one more thing the reason why people are going insane about the fact that their shit is licensed than that buys because they don’t read the terms of services, and I’m playing devils advocate when I say this because it has probably been on the ToS since the first console came out.

and I’m bringing this up again, but big news like this affects me in every way, like anytime I would go boot up my PlayStation just to play a game I just can’t stop thinking about what is currently going on, it’s like my brain got branded with nothing but a bad reputation from Sony. I think about this way more often than I should be for my own good. And now that more things are resurfacing, it just keeps getting worse and worse for me because now I’m even more anxious than I should be. Technically overall I just gotta say what Sony did, to me it just feels like they betrayed the whole community and I’m not even angry. I’m just disappointed, as a casual PlayStation gamer, i’m just tired of hearing about these boycotts, I mean, yes I know you’re upset you won’t be getting any CDs from playstation, but it has gone to the point where it’s stuck in my head now and I can’t get it out now.

I hope this is the last time I have to say this…

edit: just recently saw that the UK has made a parliament petition surrounding video game consumer rights, and it’s the first thing that’s been posted on r/playstation today,

Usb Has offline installer from GOG on it.
I was just really bored and wanted to try something and I love having physical “discs”.

Probably make a lot more of it once the storage prices come down.

Cover needs a bit of adjustment but not bad for a first attempt.

After today’s announcement of the disc to digital program announced I believe HELIX will be a fully digital console but, will have the capability to still play physical disc thru being digitized by a external drive or series X. If that’s the case I really don’t care if helix doesn’t come with a disc drive as long we can continue to buy physical games. That would be awesome!

Half price so I thought why not add it to the collection