Technology

I'd be more fine with it if it translated to lower prices for the consumer but I have doubts the shareholders will allow for even the tiniest hit to their profit margins.

I’m not sure there’s a great argument for why it’s different that’s not just vibes but the case for owning a console is getting smaller.

A console is basically a single purpose computer. The reasons to own one are that they’re cheaper, plug and play, you can buy and trade physical games, and the exclusive games. Seems like they’re converging towards PCs to the point that the only real benefit next gen will be ease of use and exclusives. And both of those reasons are fragile. Steam has pretty much solved the barriers to getting games running.

Nintendo figured out how to sell consoles based on exclusives but I don’t know that Sony will be able to make the transition. Third party developers will just go elsewhere if Sony can’t sell the hardware. As a child of the 80s/90s, I like the excitement around consoles. The hardware is cool, having a shelf of games is fun, I like going to GameStop and trading in old games and finding weird used games to buy. But the kids now don’t have that nostalgia. They have a Nintendo Switch and a gaming PC.

Maybe I don’t understand the vision but it seems like Xbox tried the whole “it’s just a computer! Play on your computer too!” and people said “good idea, I don’t even need an Xbox.” I need a computer to do computer things but I don’t really need a second computer that doesn’t do computer things besides games. Maybe I’d consider if I could install Linux on the PlayStation 6.

But I think a lot of the backlash is from people who like to buy consoles and remember how fun it was to own an N64 or PS1. Are consoles fun anymore? It feels like they get a bit worse every generation. Maybe the master plan is to ruin the business so they get out of making the PS 9 with the butterflies that fly in your ear, if anyone remembers those commercials.

PC hardware is not vendor controlled. They can't delete your game because sales of the sequel are low or a license agreement ran out. Buying is owning on a pc where the game can be backed up, reinstalled on new machine etc. without any need for the agreement or permission of the publisher. You bought it. Can't do any of that on console. Cant back up to your own systems, cant copy and if the console vendor decides to withdraw it from your library and delete from your device, you cant stop them (short of never connecting the device to the internet again) Historically console physical media has had a good second hand market, no such thing without physical media.

You'll hand your money over, own nothing and have no recourse.

The arguments are all over the place but in quick. You can't resell digital games. Also PC is an open platform, Xbox and Playstation are not. Steam might feel like a monopoly but they have to keep in mind the competitors like Epic and can't rip you off too much.

Maybe it's ok, because it is not "Everything is through steam". I have digital copies from different stores. It's basically the same fight against closed platforms in the mobile ecosystems. And I am really curious whether the EU will force Sony to open up their platform as well.

Push back but won't boycott. Tread on me harder daddy.

I hate Nintendo as much as the next guy, but I'm pretty sure they were the last to adopt $70 games. Then you had Mario Kart World at 80, which is indeed dumb. Not as dumb as shitty yearly sports titles being $70.

Yeah if they aren't ready we would see GTA 6 flop hard. Personally I'm not getting it until pc release, and even then we'll see if I have to buy on their shitty launcher.

Yeah, I can't think of the last time I bought a physical copy of a game. Hell, I haven't had a PC in over a decade that could load a physical CD/DVD any longer.

It's probably more accurate to say Sony is misrepresenting the data.

The vast majority of games that get released these days are digital-only, indies, or semi-indies that never get a physical release in the first place. And it's not reasonable to trust that Sony isn't including these purchases in their reported stats. If they were giving us figures that included only games that got a physical and digital release, I imagine the narrative would be different.

The gaming industry wants licensing to be universal and ownership to be a thing of the past so it's easier to price-gouge as they like.

Lol, never going to happen.

Both Microsoft and Sony had this exact infrastructure built ready to go for Xbox One and PS4 prior to launch.

We were going to get full digital collections with a marketplace that would allow entitlement sales AND the ability to loan entitlements to friends for set periods of time.

When Microsoft announced the plans at E3 2013, a whiny minority of "core gamers" kicked up such a fuss that Microsofts stock tanked and they backpedalled... Sony hadn't made any announcements yet and presented the EXACT opposite of Microsoft's plan literally 8 hours later despite the fact that their existing hardware DevKits and system software functioned exactly as Microsoft had described. Sony got to look like the "hero" while both of them then scrambled to completely reengineer their hardware and system software prior to launch...

We lost a bright future that day.

Isn't it easier to turn it on and simply select the thing you want to play?

I don't want to make digital seem better, but for this argument it is... you don't even need the disc, you just turn on the console and select the game. All from the comfort of your sofa. Hell, you don't even need to go to a store or wait for a delivery in the first place, all those bytes just come to you.

I think something to realize here is that A.) The above is why the majority of people just use digital at this point, and B.) Inserting a brand new game disc into your console still requires downloads, installing and often being online to do so anyway. Modern games rarely even fit on one disc, so the disc is less useful that it was in the XBox OG and PS1 days. It's more like what Nintendo is doing with the Game Key Carts.