It’s a good and valid point, there will be more players than the statistics suggest playing from a physical copy, by purchasing second hand, getting a loan or swapping games.
The trouble is, publishers don’t give much of a damn about that, unless the game is riddled with micro transactions, because they don’t make revenue from a second hand sale.
So the simple fact that over 90% of new games sold are digital is what makes publishers continue their push towards it.
Not that that excuses them from manufacturing a practically empty BluRay of course.
Totally agree. These days I’m in the habit of waiting and checking doesitplay to see if there’s an actual playable game of some kind on the disc before I purchase. With some exceptions such as Nintendo and Sony, who you can pretty much guarantee that first party games have a playable game on the media.
I have no objection to digital distribution, the benefits are quite obvious to publishers. But being an oldie, I’ve always appreciated and will always choose physical over digital whenever it’s an option.
License discs such as those mentioned though are a kick in the nuts to a physical collector, sure you have the option of selling, trading, or whatever. But to those of us who keep their collections, these are little more than coasters, completely and utterly pointless, I never have and never will buy them.
If you’re going to the trouble of putting out a physical product, there’s no good excuse, especially with discs, to not have a playable game on there, even if it is a bit buggy in places.
And before anyone points out that even if there’s a full game on a disc, you’re still technically just purchasing a license to play it. Yes, that’s very true and it is what the license agreement says.
The difference being that if a game is delisted from a store, it’s gone forever.
If you have a playable game on a disc, they’d have to come out to your house and break the disc to prevent you from using it.
I have to agree, key carts are actually a reasonably good way of providing us with a small degree of ownership over download only games. Sure it would be great if everything was on a cartridge without the need to download, but that’s not going to happen with very large games. And unlike codes in boxes that have existed for years now on all platforms, the key cartridge can at least be loaned/given/sold and purchased second hand and it’s no different to the discs on PS5/Xbox that are basically a key to download a game.
Is it perfect? No. But it won’t be all games and I’d rather have the possibility of selling/buying second hand than not.
And I thought my collection of 130TB (ish) of vintage games, source code, firmware updates, technical documents, user manuals, magazines and box covers for a vast range of systems and accessories was getting a bit excessive (read as, OCD). Clearly I have a good excuse now to prove to the wife that it’s a tiny amount and yes, I do need more bloody hard dives.
Comments 5
Re: Reaction: Game Key PS5 Discs Are a Disgrace, and Sony Should Put a Stop to Them
@YeoSprings
It’s a good and valid point, there will be more players than the statistics suggest playing from a physical copy, by purchasing second hand, getting a loan or swapping games.
The trouble is, publishers don’t give much of a damn about that, unless the game is riddled with micro transactions, because they don’t make revenue from a second hand sale.
So the simple fact that over 90% of new games sold are digital is what makes publishers continue their push towards it.
Not that that excuses them from manufacturing a practically empty BluRay of course.
Re: Reaction: Game Key PS5 Discs Are a Disgrace, and Sony Should Put a Stop to Them
@dskatter
Totally agree. These days I’m in the habit of waiting and checking doesitplay to see if there’s an actual playable game of some kind on the disc before I purchase. With some exceptions such as Nintendo and Sony, who you can pretty much guarantee that first party games have a playable game on the media.
Re: Reaction: Game Key PS5 Discs Are a Disgrace, and Sony Should Put a Stop to Them
I have no objection to digital distribution, the benefits are quite obvious to publishers. But being an oldie, I’ve always appreciated and will always choose physical over digital whenever it’s an option.
License discs such as those mentioned though are a kick in the nuts to a physical collector, sure you have the option of selling, trading, or whatever. But to those of us who keep their collections, these are little more than coasters, completely and utterly pointless, I never have and never will buy them.
If you’re going to the trouble of putting out a physical product, there’s no good excuse, especially with discs, to not have a playable game on there, even if it is a bit buggy in places.
And before anyone points out that even if there’s a full game on a disc, you’re still technically just purchasing a license to play it. Yes, that’s very true and it is what the license agreement says.
The difference being that if a game is delisted from a store, it’s gone forever.
If you have a playable game on a disc, they’d have to come out to your house and break the disc to prevent you from using it.
Re: Nintendo Is Displaying Hubris Which Would Make Even PS3 Era Sony Blush
@RoomWithaMoose
I have to agree, key carts are actually a reasonably good way of providing us with a small degree of ownership over download only games. Sure it would be great if everything was on a cartridge without the need to download, but that’s not going to happen with very large games.
And unlike codes in boxes that have existed for years now on all platforms, the key cartridge can at least be loaned/given/sold and purchased second hand and it’s no different to the discs on PS5/Xbox that are basically a key to download a game.
Is it perfect? No. But it won’t be all games and I’d rather have the possibility of selling/buying second hand than not.
Re: PlayStation Preservation Expert Has Safely Stored Over Half a Petabyte of Sony's Gaming History
And I thought my collection of 130TB (ish) of vintage games, source code, firmware updates, technical documents, user manuals, magazines and box covers for a vast range of systems and accessories was getting a bit excessive (read as, OCD). Clearly I have a good excuse now to prove to the wife that it’s a tiny amount and yes, I do need more bloody hard dives.