Topic: Why PlayStation gets more flack than other platforms for killing physical discs

This is one of the questions I hear pop up a lot. Why other options get far less criticism than PlayStation does, and I thought I’d take the time to explain the reasons why.

Long story short, PlayStation is viewed as far more of a pillar in the hobby of game collecting than those two. Yes, PC used to have physical games, but they never worked the same way as console physical games did. They were never just plug in and play. Not to mention, when Steam did become the primary distributor for PC games, consoles were still almost entirely physical, so game collectors had a lot more options.

Why won’t Xbox get the same backlash as Sony? Game collectors as a whole don’t seem to care much about the platform. Xbox is notoriously far cheaper to collect for than Nintendo or PlayStation. Don’t believe me? Check the NTSC prices for Silent Hill 2 for PS2, then check the Xbox price.

Another reason why Xbox aren’t as prone to the backlash is simply because the platform isn’t as popular. Hard to get as much backlash if your platform isn’t as invested as the competition.

PlayStation by comparison is considered one of the holy grails of game collecting. It’s been around for a long time. For a while now, they’ve been great for collectors. Pretty much every game they’ve published made it onto disc, even live service games like Helldivers 2. Combine that with the Switch 2’s need for game keys, it’s not hard to see why collectors view PS5 as THE collector’s console.

That’s why PlayStation is held to a higher standard for physical media. Rightly or wrongly, it’s considered the primary platform for collectors. For them to be the first of the three consoles to officially kill physical media, it’s seen as a betrayal. That’s why people are so emotional at the moment.

@ShadowRJ
1. Nintendo gets because of the idiotic game key carts BUT they still have FULL physical releases.

2. Xbox are idiots that thought their console (started with the Xbox One) needed Internet connection to SET UP when you bought it AND a Microsoft account to function. And they still DO in the current generation. People are now used to their miserable crap and don't mind them.

3. PlayStation are ditching physical releases for good in 2028 when they were strictly supporting physical gaming since 1995 (technically 1994) and they were doing it beautifully every generation. Now the greed really shows off as they want to cash in on the following they generated up until now!

That is why they get the most hate now

Because the other companies arent stupid and announce it like Sony did. Yes it might be becoming an industry standard and the others will follow suit, however Sony was the dummies to open their big mouth.

It would be like if Coke announced hey we are getting rid of 2 liters of soda but charge you the same price for 1 liter as we do 2 liters due to being more cost efficient. While all the other like Pepsi see that its a good idea for them will slowly adopt it without saying anything.

Bottom line, Sony should have kept their mouth shut.

@ShadowRJ I think 90% of people don't really care but there are a lot of people who took the PS= DISCS and Sony made Blu-Ray to mean that they'd never get rid of them. I do think it mostly a vocal minority and a lot console war/PCMR bot nonsense. The petition is barely getting 1 or 2k signatures a day.

Overall, a lot of the negativity stems from the fact that PS leadership does not interact with the audience anymore. They've followed Nintendo in that regard but it people are still struggling to get used to it. Couple that with Sony withdrawing from most public events. The first parties have also been hit by covid and the Live Service push (also the PC push imo which hurt the prestige value of the brand A LOT).

Personally the lack of interaction doesn't bother me as much, we saw with XBox and the "we don't believe in generations" stuff that people will use anything as a gotcha when markets change plans.

Edit: I do think Nintendo is getting a lot more negativity now since the Switch 2 and the last few Directs were poor. Even there games seem to be getting more negativity than before. Again over here a lot of it was pushed by PC gamers who believed that they could crack the Switch 2 early or that PC handhelds would render Nintendo obsolete.

Xbox gets alot of negativity but most people just don't care about Xbox anymore.

I'll keep it short, another reason is visibility. Everywhere I go I see Sony advertising the PS5 and Pro. I've seen it in places you wouldn't expect even active warzones. They don't understand their customers (or going by shareholder's views, also see them as heavy users) but they do understand marketing and even if the PSN isn't available in that country they advertise the console. They think that getting the name out there is enough. I've noticed this offline too. If I buy a new Switch 2 it's 'is that a new Playstation kat?' if it's late at night and I'm awake playing the Steam Decks it's 'turn your Playstation off and get ready for bed'. It doesn't matter that it's even called a Playstation, the name itself is associated with so many consoles by so many (older People) That's all I'm touching on, I've discussed already and at length the ramifications to import/censorship/regional locks and quite frankly I went from one week of 'this is terrible the sky is falling' to 'this affecting my mood too much so now I care less'. I shifted from the preservation of games to the preservation of my own emotions and mental well-being.

I'll still preserve games where possible but Sony to me as a company will only exist as a platform to supply services like Plus+ which I depend on to find and choose games for me, it offers just the right amount of choice and discovery. Gaming for me is carte blanche, which might sound wonderful but it results in not knowing what to play. Th3solution, Ravix, Tjuz and some others recommended most of my recent games, Plus+ did the rest. When I started gaming I bought everything but sports game, I did it because I could and the accumulation of things and no limit shopping was normal. My attitude changed once I understood the industry, if I saw a company treating their staff horribly I'd avoid the purchase. I was no longer buying games just because I could, I became a collector but I collect many things, games are just one. As I said in other threads to you and others. I adore collecting but Sony aren't the only horse in the race and if they stop providing shiny things for me to pursue then I'll find a company who will.

@Th3solution That makes sense. Maybe because Rockstar announced that GTA VI was digital only and they got a bunch of bad reactions that if Sony backed them on it by saying yeah its ok GTA VI is digital because in a few years we are going all digital, people would have with gone oh ok that makes sense and not be as upset or they would just slip under the radar and the reaction wouldn't have been as bad.

@Tasuki I think that’s the best explanation I’ve heard for Sony’s actions. Afterall, in theory, a problem shared is a problem halved. But Sony could not have anticipated the backlash to be THIS loud. The interesting thing would be whether a GTA VI trailer would receive similar hate.

@ShadowRJ Well yeah of course they didnt anticipated the backlash to be this loud but they should have. The problem is these coroporate leaders are so out of touch with their consumers that its no wonder stuff like this happens, either that or they figure the masses will just blindly follow them with whatever they do.

The funny thing is Sony should have known that was what the reaction would be especially after what happened to MS with the Xbox One reveal. Yeah their numbers might so an overwhelming amount of digital purchases which is fine but whenever you make an announcement like this, in this day and age its going to be the vocal minority who speaks up and makes it look alot worst. The ones for it arent going to take to Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and the Internet as a whole to voice their their pleasure for it.

@Tasuki Mystic made a great video about it. There are some things that a spreadsheet can’t reflect, and I suspect Sony have fallen victim to that. This is a problem with “the chart says” kind of decisions.

I do wonder that there are so many people saying they'll be ditching console for PC. Not sarcastically, why?

Surely entry into gaming PC setups is more prohibitive than a console which is more or less plug-and-play in comparison?

I don't know, how much overlap is there in issues around subscription models, chip availability and ease of use between console and PC? I haven't built a PC from scratch in over a decade so don't know what it's like anymore.

And I hate Windows so don't see myself continuing with that much longer either.

Honestly I wonder, I might end up ditching consoles and PCs altogether once my current hardware dies lol. It's all too much to be fun anymore.

@DemonStar89 I got into PC gaming by buying a high end prebuilt from best buy back in 2022. It was easy to hook up and essentially a plug and play experience for me. The only thing i’ve done was add more RAM to it, which was just opening the door of my pc case and snapping it in. but, I say this, to say that PC gaming couldn’t be any easier to get into today.

@nomither6 what is the equivalent cost for a set up that can perform as well as a console? Obviously PCs can be built to surpass the computation and rendering power of a console, but what's the entry point like? A new PS5 is still almost $1000 here in Australia; is a PC that can run games as reliably around that price?

I ask because it's something that came up in conversation with my dad when he was talking about getting back into console gaming. We played a lot together back in the day but he left it behind after PS2.

@DemonStar89 i paid a couple thousand, roughly 2,200 to 2,500 back in 2022. i can’t remember the exact price, but it’s not cheap outright. Think of it like paying a lump sum; the amount you save comes afterward. Unfortunately i have no idea how much it would cost today. But, again, i aimed for a higher end when i bought my prebuilt. You could always get a mid gen PC, and considering how old the PS5 is now, a lower end PC might even do the trick and outperform it - so overall, i’d say around $1200 - 1400 (USD) & no less than that for a setup that can perform as well as the PS5.

@nomither6 ballpark estimates for a PC that performs as well as a PS5 put it at around $2000 (AUD) - if you were to start from scratch that doesn't include monitor and peripherals. I'm not trying to be belligerent, just considering the pros and cons of what it would take for someone to make that switch when they consider leaving the PlayStation format.

I have let my PS Plus lapse and honestly nothing has changed about how I game. So depending on what you want you'll need to account for that subscription. Then there's the purchase of games on either platform - as we've talked about before (maybe not this thread exactly) people have expressed concerns that digital only games will not come down in price as much or as often as physical disc sales, second hand and retail sales promotions notwithstanding.
Then the other thing to consider is the keeping up with the joneses thing. How long will that PC be able to play current release titles?

A PS5 can play PS5 games and that's that. Both platforms have always been about more and more and more and better and better and better so it won't be long before that rig becomes out of date, or in need of modification in order to keep up.

Then there's the question of OS and still being at the behest of the incompetence of a corporation bent on "making improvements" (Microsoft Copilot lol). Savvy people can run Linux or whatever, but you're not totally independent on either PC or PS5.

I'm not making an argument either way really, just thinking out loud about prospects.

@DemonStar89 Yeah, I forgot to mention the logistics and peripherals, my bad. Buying a monitor, speakers, and a desk (plus assembling it) can be taxing. But, again, it's all an initial setup/investment for long term benefit. As for digital games - they go on sale all of the time. PC has several storefronts to purchase games from, and digital prices (albeit not as cheap as physical bargain bin prices) do drop fairly low, it's just a matter of how long you're willing to wait. And about that whole "keeping up with the joneses thing," the only thing that matters is having a PC that's either better or on par with console, anything else is practically "extra." Though if you do get a "low end," you'll most likely have to upgrade something when the next console comes out. But, if you have a mid-gen or high-end PC, you won't have to upgrade for a very long time; you're at least an entire generation ahead of console. And the thing with PC upgrading is, it's ultimately cheaper than buying another next gen console, because you usually would only have to just upgrade a single part and can sell the old one. In my opinion, I believe console has basically plateaued, and if not now, then definitely with the PS6. I don't think they can push the constraints of it any further without going full blown PC. So, because of consoles diminishing returns, the longevity of a PC before upgrading is even longer.

As for the M$ debacle, I use Windows (11) and honestly am fine with it. Yes, there is a bug I have to deal with that force updates my PC and bricks it every time, so I have to occasionally boot in safe mode to uninstall it, but other than that single aspect - I'm fine with it. And, also, Windows 11 is great with games and seamless integration of other game services. As for independence on PC, I think you are. Every machine needs some sort of OS, but that can even be changed on PC, like you said. You try to do that on console, and you're slapped by a permaban with rubbing alcohol.

@nomither6 no all good - sorry I should have been clearer when talking about digital sales. You mentioned Steam sales and pricing but I was thinking of PS titles. PSN typically keeps prices fairly high, I guess in return PS Plus membership grants several free titles every month and that scales with membership levels too.

I tend to play devil's advocate a bit when discussing these topics. I don't want the queries I'm making to come across as an argument, just trying to pick the ideas apart really.

I know I would be fine to upgrade a PC as time goes on, from a technical standpoint. But part of me does put this issue as mixed on the pros and cons list. There are people who simply don't have the time or resources to invest in keeping a gaming PC up to standard, so that's I guess part of the appeal of a console. There are plenty as well who would not fel confident building a PC or upgrading it themselves - then their options become reliant on a retailer/PC workshop instead.

To flip what we said about peripherals on its head though, a console still needs a monitor and a stereo system/headphones, so the packages need to go through a cost benefit for the user, no matter which you end up going for.

@DemonStar89 I haven’t upgraded my pc yet, all I did was snap more ram into empty ram slots & from what i’ve been shown, it looks pretty simple to detach & attach a different GPU. It hasn’t costed me any time or resources at all. 4 years in, and no need to upgrade anything. I’m by no means tech savvy, so I know that if I can handle it, then virtually anyone can handle a PC. One of the main reasons I got into PC was because of how many other people I saw getting into it; my friends were moving on to it. As i’ve said before, I bought a prebuilt & a desk and everything else fell into place. PC is easier than ever to get into, & console relies on retailers as well. when a new console comes out, you have to buy it if you want the next gen games. whereas PC, chances are the need to upgrade will become more and more unnecessary because consoles are finite and will hit the limit if they haven’t already.

also, consoles are “trying” to catch up to pc - not the other way around. the fact that i purchased a higher end rig back then means that ive proactively extended the time i have until i truly have to upgrade, if i even have to. upgrading is not as common as you think it is. most pc users that upgrade do it because they simply want to. PC, regardless, is far more ahead than console as is.

@nomither6 to jump back into the conversation with another devil's advocate hat, why are so many people keen to jump onto PC following the discontinuation of discs, when most games on PC these days are digital as well?

Is it because tech-savvy users are more likely to be able to keep games running despite regional and licensing restrictions?

That's a big point of concern for me, that digital games have a finite lifespan. For different reasons than physical media, but finite nonetheless.

One example: both my partner and I have Age of Mythology installed on our PCs but only purchased on one account, so we're unable to play together at the same time. I contacted Steam to see if I could purchase another license but they stopped being available once they replaced the game with the remaster in their store. We can still play it separately, but just not at the same time.

I mean that's pretty niche but just one way it can cause difficulties.