Why Digital Only Consoles For The Future Are A Bad Idea (Tech4Gamers)

[Andrew]

An article on the possibility of an all-digital future for gaming, and arguments in favour of physical releases: https://tech4gamers.com/digital-only-consoles-bad-idea/

I'm still dismayed at the decline of physical releases, for the reasons that Shaheer Zahid outlines in that article. From the second-hand market to retro collecting to some semblance of a sense of ownership, they have some advantages over the convenience of digital releases. The point about going on sale sooner and more frequently is also a salient one for anyone who wants to be a savvy consumer.

[zz21]

The older I've gotten the more I've really felt like a doomer about digital media rights and the fact that in however many years Amazon could just implement something that completely wipes whatever library you have. It's actually made me buy a Blu-ray player . It's also why I've been purposely shying away from getting anything that isn't exclusive on my PS5 as of recent. Who's to say in 15 years when the PS5 is being sunset you'll just be locked out of every PS4 and PS5 game ever purchased digitally.

[Andrew]

Definitely. And it's easy to say right now that nostalgia is an "old head thing" and everyone will move on and not want to play the games of today when they're retro, but I'm not so sure about that. If nothing else though, I'd like the option. Questionable digital ownership rights raises the possibility of them all getting yanked from our libraries.