I posted this article in the Bluray Movie section, but it also applies to Playstation games on Discs.

How much longer we can to expect to see games released on physical media, I don't know, but it seems the push is on to make games Download Only.

 

Far Far easier to completely control the price of games, and for them to get a bigger cut of every game studios profits.

 

https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20240629/p2g/00m/0bu/018000c

 

 

I have been a down-loader of games on PC for ages, disks were phased out for PC games years ago.

 

Not surprised that consoles are doing the same.

 

Mind you I only buy games when the are heavily discounted in sales.

Edited July 2, 20241 yr by muon*
typo

It means they can kill off the second hand games market. Can keep selling the same games over and over like Steam does. Makes financial arms but not a good move for consumers and will kill stores like Electronics Boutique assuming they’ve not gone under already.

1 hour ago, muon* said:

I have been a down-loader of games on PC for ages, disks were phased out for PC games years ago.

 

Not surprised that consoles are doing the same.

 

Mind you I only buy games when the are heavily discounted in sales.

I don't buy that many games, but I also don't like paying the additional on average 20%  price premium charged by SONY on new releases from the PStore.

No Disc version means Sony would now totally control the price of all Playstation games.

 

If I preorder a Disc version I save money, and I have a actual physical copy that I won't have SONY turn around some time in the future and say, sorry, you now no longer own the download version, because of some change THEY have decided to bring about.[I lost all my PS+ games on my PS3 because of some stupid software update.]

 

Its usually some MUSIC licensing thing that causes classic games NOT to be remastered, or to no longer work as it originally did if it is a downloaded version.[The Music/Soundtrack can stop working]

 

And once they disappear from the PStore you will never see them again.

Not a problem with a Disc version, you'll always have the game as it originally came out, with the MUSIC.

 

Also DISC versions of a game get discounted WAY before you ever see them discounted at the PStore.

1 minute ago, Tweaky said:

I don't buy that many games, but I also don't like paying the additional on average 20%  price premium charged by SONY on new releases from the PStore.

No Disc version means Sony would now totally control the price of all Playstation games.

 

If I preorder a Disc version I save money, and I have a actual physical copy that I won't have SONY turn around some time in the future and say, sorry, you now no longer own the download version, because of some change THEY have decided to bring about.[I lost all my PS+ games on my PS3 because of some stupid software update.]

 

Its usually some MUSIC licensing thing that causes classic games NOT to be remastered, or to no longer work as it originally did if it is a downloaded version.[The Music/Soundtrack can stop working]

 

And once they disappear from the PStore you will never see them again.

Not a problem with a Disc version, you'll always have the game as it originally came out, with the MUSIC.

 

Also DISC versions of a game get discounted WAY before you ever see them discounted at the PStore.

Yes, being Sony I don't expect any discounts/sales.

 

Unfortunately 😞

On 02/07/2024 at 4:17 PM, Tweaky said:

I don't buy that many games, but I also don't like paying the additional on average 20%  price premium charged by SONY on new releases from the PStore.

No Disc version means Sony would now totally control the price of all Playstation games.

 

If I preorder a Disc version I save money, and I have a actual physical copy that I won't have SONY turn around some time in the future and say, sorry, you now no longer own the download version, because of some change THEY have decided to bring about.[I lost all my PS+ games on my PS3 because of some stupid software update.]

 

Its usually some MUSIC licensing thing that causes classic games NOT to be remastered, or to no longer work as it originally did if it is a downloaded version.[The Music/Soundtrack can stop working]

 

And once they disappear from the PStore you will never see them again.

Not a problem with a Disc version, you'll always have the game as it originally came out, with the MUSIC.

 

Also DISC versions of a game get discounted WAY before you ever see them discounted at the PStore. Manufacturers, including Sony, are trying to increase their profits by controlling digital distribution. On the other hand, for fans of physical discs, this may be a disappointment. I know that there are many gamers who are collectors and their collections will stop growing. For example, I bought myself a version without a disc drive, a PS5. I would be too lazy to get up, take out the disc and insert a new one every time. So I played a few games, got bored, and quickly turned it off. I can also go to https://greeksonlinecasinos.com/casino/my-empire/ to read about bonuses and registration on a gambling platform. I don’t need anything else. And if there were discs, I would play 1 game and knowing that I want to play another game, I would just turn off the PlayStation because of laziness.

If this happened, then few people buy disks anymore and it's a loss. That's why the PS5 Pro came out without a disk drive.

5 hours ago, lorenaparas said:

If this happened, then few people buy disks anymore and it's a loss. That's why the PS5 Pro came out without a disk drive.

The PS5 Pro didn't come standard with a Disc Drive, but at least you can add one later, which a hell of a lot of people did, so much so, that the separate disc Drive was sold out for months.

I saw a very good argument in a discussion group on why Sony WON'T make playing Playstation games on discs obsolete, and that because of the many countries that don't have a PStore, and the many thousands of Military personnel around the world that have Playstations, and again no store to get games from.

In both of these situations, the owners can only source their games on Discs.

 

It won't stop Sony trying to edge people away from buying Discs's, there is far too much of a huge profit from doing so.

The same could be said for Streaming games.

 

Here's a interesting bit of Tech history for you.

Did you know that well before APPLE had iTunes, Sony started the world's first digital download Music store, and it was only in Australia.

It look pretty flash, but it had too major problems, the content was pretty much all artists signed to Sony owned record labels, and the prices they were charging for the downloads was absolutely ridiculous, they were about 50% more than what you could buy the CD for.

 

Needless to say that enterprise lasted about a year before iTunes started, and it was closed down.

If Sony hadn't had been so greedy with their pricing, it could of been a success.

 

But then again, I was going through some old PS1 games the other day that still had their price stickers on them, and saw they were priced at $90-$99, and that was back in 1997 😲.

Using an inflation calculator, that's equivalent to $205 today, it's a wonder the Playstation actually became as popular as it did with those prices.

Mind you, back then you bought a game and played it to death, now days you can buy a game, not even finish the first level, and then it ends up on your pile of shame.