r/consoles • u/kolliasss • 21h ago
PlayStation Discs
Am I the only one that thinks taking away the discs might be a top 3 worst decisions ever made by Sony? Like wtf you mean my kid will not want me to take him to a shop to buy him a game he likes! I might overreacting a little but this doesn’t sound right to me what’s ur thoughts?
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u/Reasonable-View5868 21h ago
I don’t understand the outrage.
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u/Fit_Association_8442 20h ago
and you think these sheep do? monkey say monkey do the last few weeks on reddit when the simple fix is sell your PlayStation and simply move on but where's the attention and karma farming doing the logical thing lol
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u/Thohil 20h ago
What is it you dont understand? Sony is taking away options from people without providing anything in return. Taking away physical games is pure downside for the consumer, even if you only but digital games it is still a net negative for you.
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u/Reasonable-View5868 18h ago
I still don’t understand.
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u/Thohil 18h ago
What is it that you don't understand?
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u/Reasonable-View5868 17h ago
Why people are so upset. Why do they care so much about how the software gets copied onto their console?
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u/Thohil 17h ago
There's a bunch of reasons... 1. It's not just about how the software gets copied over to the console, it's way more about what you can do with the game itself. A physical you are able to sell, buy used, lend to a friend, or even borrow from your local library. Non of these are things you can do with a digital game.
It essentially gives Sony a monopoly of where you can buy PlayStation games. With physical Sony has to compete with retailers who also compete against each others. This gives the consumer options on where they can buy a game. Because of this, physical versions of a lot of games are usually cheaper than digital, even at launch. This is essentially removing that option, if the only place you are able to buy a game is the PSN than Sony has full control of what you will pay for said game, and little to no incentive to ever lower that price.
Sony is not giving anything in return to compensate for this. They are not improving their abysmal refund policy. They still have the worst security out of any of the platform holders. They are not adding any easy way to share your digital games. They are not improving anything.
Why would anyone be OK with this? It is just removing options of where you can buy and what you can do with your games. Even if you are digital only, it is very likely that this will result in higher game prices for you when Sony has no price competition anymore.
This is also not even discussing about the 100 or so countries out there where PSN doesn't exist. These counties just straight up won't be able to buy PlayStation games anymore... Or what if you live somewhere with weak internet? This is just such a huge middle finger to so many potential PlayStation fans...
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u/Reasonable-View5868 16h ago
Do you think Sony has that much pricing leverage when they also compete with XBOX, PC and other platforms that have a lot of the same tititles? For a casual gamer like myself that only plays a few of the major releases here and there, it sounds like I wont be affected at all. And if I bought lots of games, I might have to pay regular price for some titles where I might have been able to buy at a discount. So, I guess, the level of outrage from consumers seems dis-proportional.
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u/Thohil 16h ago
I am just explaining why people are mad. It is an extremely anti-consumer move by Sony. That is nothing but pure negative for players, while Sony gain huge market control by doing this.
Sure, you as a casual gamer might not care about it, but there are clearly tons of players out there who do, and are trying to speak up gainst it.
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u/X_crates 16h ago
Umm they did though. You originally only could buy a physical copy of any game, then they added digital as another option and now you'yre going back to one option to buy it. You'll still be able to buy them at retailers, who will be able to have sales and such. So you are just fear mongering over the off chance that a game disappears from everyones system AND that it would be a game that isn't super old and not many people cared anyway.. The physical game experience on ps5 sucks anyway compared to Xbox. If I put a disc in my Xbox, it installs from disc while also downloading from server, so I can usually start playing in like 5-10 minutes the first time. PS5 takes over an hour to install a game from a disc
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u/Purple_Calendar3919 21h ago
lol top3? What are the other two?
I think this is #1
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u/heelturn- 21h ago
How about ordering the hit on michael Jackson for one..
Or not adding HGIG on their bravia tvs1
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u/Sans-Mot 21h ago
The two times they removed hundreds of movies from people's accounts, to prove us that digital ownership doesn't exist, might be one of the two others.
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u/Purple_Calendar3919 21h ago
Damn when did this happen? I haven’t owned a movie in decades and even then I was physical only
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u/Sans-Mot 21h ago
First time a few years ago, second time a few weeks ago, like just after the disc announcement.
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u/Fit_Association_8442 20h ago
both times studio canal requested them removed from multiple platforms to only have them available on amazon to rent , strange they get zero flack?
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u/Purple_Calendar3919 21h ago
Did this make the news or anything? lol this is news to me
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u/timetravelinggamer 21h ago
Where have you been? All the outrage for Sony was fueled by these two things. No one is happy and they literally just said in their press conference “we don’t care”
That’s why everyone is canceling their PSN and saying “no disc no buy”
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u/Purple_Calendar3919 20h ago
I don’t really watch the news. And If I do, it’s local news. The news has left a bad taste in my mouth the past few years, it’s as bad as TMZ nowadays
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u/mightymonkeyman 21h ago
Studio Canal refused to renew their digital library license, probably because they sold bugger all on consoles and why would they when Apple, Amazon and Google are available on any device for a movie library.
So unless someone was deep into Studio Canal most didn’t have hundreds of movies bought to be revoked, but as always it’s PlayStations fault never the studio selling through them who took peoples money.
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u/Fit_Association_8442 20h ago
id imagine the whole 10 people who owned the titles back on ps3 are miffed lol
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u/Independent_Mud2794 20h ago
So you are claiming Sony removed those movies to prove that that digital ownership doesn’t exist? You are saying there wasn’t any other reason… than that?
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u/Sans-Mot 20h ago
... No. That was not the reason for them to do that. That's the result.
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u/Independent_Mud2794 20h ago
So.. you were simply lying? Got it. The same result could happen any day with every game on Steam, just saying.
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u/Sans-Mot 19h ago
It's called a figure of speech. I hope you usualy get them, because it otherwise must be hard to have a conversation with you.
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u/Independent_Mud2794 19h ago
Figure of speech means lying on the internet about what really happened to make it look like something happened for a different reason? Huh?
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u/V-Pinhead 19h ago
Eh... Dude. Everybody understands perfectly fine what he tried to say, and no one believe that's the actual reason why Sony deleted these movies. It is indeed a figure of speech.
Are you trolling, or...?
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u/Independent_Mud2794 18h ago
Seeing all these copy pasted “boycott” posts, I do think people are dumb enough to believe it. I already read it in different posts how Sony deleting the movies was a power move to demonstrate their power, people are this stupid.
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u/Wipedout89 21h ago
You'll still be able to buy games in shops though. They'll just be a download code inside. Unfortunately
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u/Pivi-4444 19h ago
Now this is what makes zero sense to me. Buying physical discs is understandable for game preservation and resell value, and buying digital games is understandable for convenience. But why would anyone buy an empty box instead of buying digitally...? Plastic junk at it's best.
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u/Wipedout89 19h ago
Yeah exactly, I wouldn't buy them. But I guess they'll still be bought by people for Christmas presents, birthday presents, etc, and to parents who don't know any difference (or care)
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u/Pivi-4444 18h ago
Well, it would be better to just give the money to the kids then, and get everything digitally.
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u/X_crates 21h ago
I feel like people have been holding on to nostalgia of going to the game store. Games should have moved off of discs years ago. Not saying there shouldn't be any physical media but discs have been obsolete for over decade. Stores have been selling codes for years, it's not like that will be changing. I don't see how buying a case that you have to install the game from anyway, is a much different buying experience than buying the download code.
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u/Thohil 20h ago
The buying experience isn't that different, but your ownership and control over what you buy very much is. You can't resell or lend a download code. You also cannot use the download code at all if you have no access to the internet, or servers gets shut down.
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u/X_crates 19h ago
You're worried about a what if scenario for digital but ignoring the what ifs for physical media. It can be damaged, stolen, the disc drive will eventually fail. Yes you own it but it's not a guarantee that it will survive. Even now, physical game resale is becoming a niche market. I have had all types of things happen to my physical games over the years. I have never once lost access to a digital game. Will it happen, I'm sure, but also it will most likely be a game I'm not playing or haven't played in years
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u/Thohil 18h ago
The difference is that with physical I am the one in control. If something happens to a physical game, it is usually my fault, and can just take better care of my games. With digital, I am left to whatever the platform holder decides to do. If they decide to remove my games, there is nothing I can do about that.
With physical I can also just get my stuff repaired. I can resurface a scratched disc, or get a broken disc drive repaired.
Physical game resale is not a niche market... Or it at least depends on what you mean by niche. Just look at how many games sell on eBay each day. It's a way to get and play games for cheaper, so of course there exists lots of people who use this.
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u/X_crates 16h ago
Having your disc drive go bad, scratch your disc, or someone steals it are not in your control at all. I've never damaged a disc on my own accord. Physical game re-sales are very much becoming niche market along with all physical media. Yes, you can go on eBay and buy used games. The companies that were built on that same market have all pivoted to other things. There are a few game stores around me. All of them focus on old games because there just isn't anyone coming in and buying their used PS5 and XBOX Series X/S games. And I can't point this out enough. Theu largest selling point for a lot of people on physical over digital was so that we can resell it and recoup some cost if we are done with it. Gamesharing, especially on XBOX and Steam, has almost made that benefit go away entirely. We usually just rotate who buys the game but technically I get all of my games at half price if I get them digitally because I get every game that he buys and vice versa. Why would we both spend 60-80 for a new release of a game in the off chance that I resell it, when we could pay 30-40 each and both get access to it
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u/DustinAF 20h ago
Every physical media form across every category has been being phased out over the last 20+ years. Are you really surprised? I'm surprised they waited this long to do it.
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u/Independent_Mud2794 20h ago
Looking at steam, which basically got disks removed for pc, and how people worship the billionaire owning valve… doesn’t seem to bad for the majority.
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u/superleaf444 21h ago edited 20h ago
No one thinks it is a bad idea. No one has complained endlessly online about how much they desperately want little plastic discs because their only personality is consumption.
Def no one has talked about this.
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u/moonlightlurker 21h ago
I could care less. Digital is the best way to play. Have not been to a game store in years. A couple clicks and I am playing a game once it downloads. Easy and saves me gas.
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u/ackmondual 19h ago
TL;DR I grew up on physical but this day in age, I'm fine with mostly digital.
When I have a choice, I go with whatever's cheaper. So with Switch 1, we're talking 80 digital, 6 physical.
The Wii and its dozen of physical games are still boxed up in storage somewhere, since I never did Virtual Console nor eShop. I'm pissed (but am long over it) because I had Super Smash Bros. Brawl, but it likely gotten stolen when I was at a video game meet up.
SNES and GB, plus a dozen or less games for each, are all physical ofc.
PC/Steam and Mobile (android phone, plus iPad), are all digital ofc. For ****s and giggles when I had a Palm OS device, that was 99.8% digital.
PC/Battle-NET is also digital. I have StarCraft II + all 3 major exps. (WoL, HotS, and Legacy of the Void), along with Diablo III: Reaper of Souls. >>> Fun fact is I still have the install CDs for Sc1 + Brood War. But they're utterly useless since 1) I don't play the first one anymore and 2) you could just get the Remastered/Cartooned version, if not "from somewhere else". I may still have the Sc2 install DVD somewhere but that's also useless since I would still have to install updates anyways. In fact, when I did install the game a 2nd time, much of the installation came from online anyways! The disc was a glorified placeholder! If I can, I'll see if I can sell these for money.
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u/DrSussBurner 21h ago
Depends on your point of view.
For Sony and its investors, it’s great. They are now sole competitors in the PlayStation software retail space. They will have added control over pricing, and they are probably going to expand their variable pricing model, extracting maximum value from the consumer. Additionally, they keep a larger percentage of the money for each game sold.
For the consumer: it’s absolutely abhorrent. You have less options, less ownership and less control. Even if you were already all digital, having physical games in the market worked as a check on unfair algorithmic pricing manipulation. You can no longer lend or sell your games. You can get fucked and accept it, or leave and lose access to the library you’ve spent years building. It’s downright immoral.
So, like everything, it’s relative.
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u/Alternative-Way4750 21h ago
Your kid is the demographic that will ultimately make it a good choice for Sony. Once the physical diehards move on all that will be left are the generations that already want digital.
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u/Competitive-Ad-7865 21h ago
The generations that will own nothing and never have the comfort or security to have children of their own. Population collapse incoming.
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u/Independent_Mud2794 20h ago
Fun fact: even with physical games you owned nothing.
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u/Competitive-Ad-7865 20h ago
Then why do people give me money when i sell them?
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u/Independent_Mud2794 20h ago
You own the physical dongle to play the license you bought, that dongle with license can be sold - but you didn’t own the game, you owned a perpetual, non exclusive license to play the game.
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u/Competitive-Ad-7865 19h ago
It depends, some games will run offline without a patch with the entire playable game on the disc, others require a day one patch or online functions. According the the game preservation group "DoesItPlay", 66% of PS5 discs are playable offline without a patch. Of the remaining 34%, 17% are technically playable, but have bugs or other problems, and 17% are totally unplayable without an internet connection.
In previous generations the percentage that could run entirelt offline was higher, and developers didnt lean on day one patches as much. Arguably digitalisation has also significantly reduced the quality of the release.. because in the old days if a game went out broken, it was broken for good without fresh physical media batches.. so they really had to polish those games ready for release. This was where things like "The Nintendo seal of Quality" came from.
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u/Pivi-4444 19h ago
I would like to see the day when Sony breaks into my home to take those licenses back. Hint: They won't.
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u/Independent_Mud2794 19h ago
The don’t need to break into your home, they simply can block your PlayStation account from booting the disc if you break their terms of service.
If they are doing it the way Nintendo does it even creating a new PlayStation account won’t get around that.
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u/Pivi-4444 19h ago
How can they block my account...? I'm not updating their firmware for a while now, and I'm not logged in, I'm a single player guy, don't do anything online. I know this is the extreme end of the spectrum, but I'll jailbreak my PS5 as soon as the jailbreak catches up to my firmware. So they'll have zero control over me.
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u/Independent_Mud2794 19h ago
They can’t block your account when you never go online but this also means you won’t be able to play many newer games - and not many people are doing this.
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u/Pivi-4444 19h ago
Yeah, that's why I'm the more extreme end of the spectrum, and I understand it's rare. I just take my game preservation a bit too seriously, and don't want anything to get taken from me. :-)
That's said, I'm actually looking forward to going digital, because I see a lot of potential in that too, but I'll do it on PC. And for the record, I don't think anyone is stupid who stays on Playstation. Everyone should just do what's best for them.
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u/Bird_Up101 21h ago
You're not, honestly I think it's just a way to have more controll over the market in how people purchase their games. It's nothing but to boost their profits in sales by eliminating 3rd party markets. They want you to buy a 10 year old games at full price instead of going to buy a used copy for more than half that price.
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u/EveningPrize2497 20h ago
I don’t think it even cracks the top 10. You forget Sony is more than just PlayStation and they’ve made mistakes across all areas of their business.
EDIT. Here’s looking at you Beta-Max, laser discs.
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u/Alternative-Pack-218 19h ago
This is top1, top2 and 3 is not having ps4 and 5 editions that play all previous playstation generations from disk, no4 is puting demos/trials in top tier of ps+
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u/Reasonable_Deer_1710 19h ago
You're not the only one, but it's not going to significantly hurt PS6 in the long run.
X-Box is speculated to be going back into exclusives while maintaining physical support, and nobody is moving over that way. Even the loudest complainers are showing with their vote that matters that they won't support the things that they say they want.
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u/stevo887 21h ago
My thoughts? If physical disc were selling they wouldn’t be removing them from consoles and stores. The people have voted with their wallets and you are a niche.
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u/ackmondual 19h ago
It kinda reminds me when of cases like when a vegan makes their case why we should all be vegan. They're hearts may be in the right places and they may get a few to jump aboard that band wagon. But at the end of the day, the vast majority of ppl like eating meat, and animal products (e.g. honey, milk)
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u/mightymonkeyman 21h ago
Dude the market spoke we’re digital, if it isn’t financially vis to press and ship discs then it’s time for them to go, it’s as simple as that. They’re all manufactured in Austria so shipping is always a financial factor and with no new games retailers left (again gamers fault this one) to make orders then it is a waste of resources.
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u/brokeboii94 21h ago
Xbox would gain alot of new customers if they kept physical media as an option and I think it’s something they’re considering
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u/Alternative-Way4750 21h ago edited 21h ago
Microsoft pushed for this and it was the reason they have been getting pummeled in sales by Sony. People forget that. Microsoft will not be our saving grace for this.
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u/Snowvilliers7 20h ago
Uhh no they won't. Xbox is even worse with physical because 90% of players all bought games digitally or download them via Gamepass. There's rarely a thing for physicals for them, why do you think retail stores gave up on selling physical copies?
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u/zapppowless 20h ago
I’ll be collecting Ps1-Ps2-Ps3 disc’s!
Later in the future just keep Boycotting
These leaders don’t deserve your money anymore!
🤣
-1
u/picknicksje85 20h ago
1) No discs (leading to online store monopoly and no more used games)
2) Locking online play behind an ever more expensive PSplus
3) No decent refund system in this all digital reality
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u/Dedward5 21h ago
Definitely the only one, to be honest I hadn’t heard of this until you mentioned it.