If I purchase the digital game and they remove access do I get a refund?

I think the issue is PC style forward compability. Back in the PS2 days we could play PS1 games. But this was mostly due to hardware comability. When Microsoft introduced software backwards compability with the Xbox 360 it eventually forced Sony to do the same. The gen 8 came around and switch over to x86 architecture. While the Playstation is not quite a PC, this prompted forward compability. Of cause this was not instant. It wasn´t untill the 8½ generation this become something that was used, and that was not really a big issue at the time. When the 9th generation came around all the games was forward compatible with PS5. The diffrance between backwards and forward compability, is that in backwards compability the hardware can emulate or in some case adopt to older software. With forward compability the software have the ability to expand performance with future faster hardware. This have been the case on PC since basically the dawn of PC games. The concept of having a old game on new hardware with greater performance have always been a norm. But for consoles it was sort of a death blow Se this from the developers side. In the PS1-2 days, a developer could ether make a game for PS1 and have worse graphics, or PS2 and have lower install base. Or you spend more money and do both. In the PS4 and 5 days. Developers can simply make the game for PS4, make it forward compatible, say higher resolution and/or frame rate. There is hardly any point in making the game PS5 specific. Hence the PS5 (and xbox equivalent) is a ghost town. While they have the features of faster load time, this is really more utilized as a GRAM saving measure

I'll always prefer Physical games over Digital any day. last month I got myself a Physical copy of Shantae and the seven sirens through Amazon and when it arrived it actually had a gaming manual. I was so happy when I saw that since games never come with it anymore. so I'm all for Physical games. its just better.

If the consumer stopped buying digital completely, this problem won't exist Laziness has a price to pay, and that is your ownership

Trashes like you are part of the problem. No physical No buy dorkie.

WOW it’s good that I didn’t sell my platinum ds when I started collecting psp games and now I know how expensive Pokémon is now😂

I posted something like this on the PS5 Subreddit in 2021 and got the thread locked because people were to fragile to hear the truth back then. Now it is just common knowledge that this generation is just Gen 8.5.

I don’t trust companies to preserve their games. They can easily delist or no longer maintain the servers that hold the games. I love digital but I don’t put any faith in companies to do right by the consumer. 😂😂😂😂

The phasing out of physical media is one of the reasons I play older games exclusively now. I used to buy 10+ brand new games every year but note I only buy 1 or 2.

9:18 for sure they’ll stick with physical because how easy it is to lose your game card when traveling, but once they change to a home console then i would expect them to focus mostly digital

If I've said it before I've said it a hundred times, but the moment the game industry abandons physical media is the moment I stop supporting them. I'll have decades worth of great games on physical I can still enjoy for the rest of my life. I'd also like to add that the great irony of all of this is that even though we all rightfully complain about issues game industry's terrible business practices and worry about things like game preservation, most people willingly, even gleefully, gave up their property rights by going all-digital. Never underestimate the average consumer's willingness to value convenience above all else. You do a good job of summarizing the many severe drawbacks of digital media, so I won't reiterate those here, but needless to say there's a reason why so many megacorps across so many sectors of the economy are trying to move as much as possible to a subscription-based service. It's not just the entertainment industry. It's everything from appliances to farm equipment to even certain features in cars that keep having optional or even essential features tied to a subscription. Capital is testing the waters to see if they can move literally everything to a rental-based system, where they continue to get guaranteed stream of revenue for their customers. If we aren't mindful we might be getting our cyberpunk dystopia sooner or later, just one without any of the cool stuff like robotic limbs and big floating Atari holograms.

I believe sony wants nothing more than to have everyone go digital in order to mimic the netflix model. Can you imagine a revolving list of games due to a subscription?!

You look like the guy from no country for old man.

Ever heard of Nintendo Switch cartridges ?

It's not dying anytime soon but when it does is the day my money also dies to the companies and my bank accounts will grow even more! I'm a big spender on physical games , media and hardware i will never support digital because i don't hand out free money !! Never buy anything that don't hold value folks !! Take it from a millionaire.

Just popped in to say I been hearing your fear mongering for 10 years, I'm sure I'll hear it another 10, while i build my Playstation collection PS1 - PS5. Maybe if you have an xbox and thought you were buying Hellblade instead of leasing it, then I could see your concern. Or maybe if you have a Nintendo with Alien Iso or Resident Evil or Hellblade digital copies, I could see your concern. 22% of Playstation sales were physical copies in 2024.

Biggest fear. That’s why I collect physical media.

The American dream has been turned into a subscription service.

Lol you worms are stilling donating money to virtual platforms for things youll never own? Goofy guys.

Well, I went with the PS5 digital because 90% of my games during the PS4 were digital. It's very convenient for me and now if I want to replay a game, I just use the app on my phone to download it and by the time I am back from work, I have the chosen game ready to play. Whenever I go at my friends place, I just log in with my account on their PS5 and have all my library available. I don't care about reselling games because I don't want to sell the games I bought. One of the big reasons I went for PS5 digital is because games cannot longer be played directly from the disc. Understandable because modern games require SSD. But I don't want to insert the disc and wait for the game to install while not being able to play another game because the disc drive is occupied already. And then wait even for the update to download. Too much hassle. With my Switch however, I do buy physical because the cartridges are plug and play, no need to wait for instal. And even if there is an update, it's usually just couple of hundred MBs. As for ownership and future availability. I don't think PS4 games will go away from the store because from that generation onward, all consoles will be backwards compatible with PS4 titles. Also, forgot to write that physical discs can break or scratch and the disc drive of the console can also malfunction. And if the drive breaks, the physical games become inaccessible

Change the thumbnail to something that isn't AI-generated, and then I'll watch the video

I prefer my old retro games from my childhood in the 80s and 90s. The PS4 is where I stopped getting consoles. I haven't even beaten any of the games on that system because I find them boring. I may sell it in the near future. I have no desire for a regular PS5 or the Pro. All Sony does is remakes and remasters and reboots instead of making new games anyway. Digital only games can go away even of you pay for them, so that is a big no for me as a consumer. Digital only games are just for little kids still living with mom and dad and spending their money or people living in a storage shed (and even then, something like a raspberry pi with retropie is a better option). The PSP is my favorite handheld to mod. Modern gaming just isn't fun. It's either all battle royale games or pay to play or it's unfinished so you have to get DLC and talking to toxic 10 year olds on the headset just sucks and if a server goes down, so does your digital only game. Modern gaming can go pound sand.

I will not be buying a console straight out the gate if they become digital only. Im not paying £60 to licence a game.

If the next generation of playstation, Xbox or Nintendo consoles is digital only. I will not buy consoles anymore and buy games on PC. If you buy a game digitally, might as well buy it on PC cersion where you can play in highest resolution & framerate and mod the game. A console loses it's appeal when it's digital only.

subscription is the future you will own nothing.

The only worth of a Console is if it plays Offline Physical Games without any DRM for first party Games. If the PS6 goes the same route as the PS5 with souless UI and no Browser then its not for me rather upgrade a Pc with thus or Steam OS

The day physical media dies is the day i retire from modern gaming. I will simply play my old consoles and emulators.

U don’t own digital & can’t sell/trade it

Once it goes digital only, that is when I am done with consoles.

Future Topics: 1. the evolution of the D-pad 2. the evolution of the analog stick (hall effect, psp + ps vita, switch) 3. history of emulators

Think ill go HDD !!!

Long live old school disc 💪 u cant own digital, i can delete an clear out my storage because i can always load the original again

I like to go to the store to buy games. It's better than just sitting on the couch and I get a physical thing for my money. not just a license to some bits from cyberspace

I'm slowly disconnecting myself from modern gaming. I still play old games and some new ones but I haven't bought more than maybe ten new games in the past five years. And they are physical games.

Xbox and Playstation will be the first to go "all digital" - Nintendo will follow suit - eventually...

yes!!!!!!!!!!! Best console ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ps2 was not the weakest😂😂😂ps 2 was more powerfull compared to dreamcast. 32mb compared to dreamcasts 16. PS2 has 47% faster cpu and more powerfull gpu. 1.4 gigaflops cmpared to ps2 6.2 gigaflops.So how can be ps2 weakest console?

Without physical media, there would be no reason to own a console.

The big lie is the convenience factor. No one actually complained about having to change games out or hold onto a physical case. No one complained. I think everyone's got poo tinted glasses on about the past because it's only been a top down narrative pushing this idea

I still remember my clear purple GBC from back in the day

Switch 2 will have physical games. Xbox is dead, PS is not the same as it was before the California shit.

The PS2, XBox and GameCube era was truly the peak of gaming's golden age The Switch (and soon Switch 2) is probably the only console trying to bring it back

As controversial as it is to say, it must be said that piracy is one of the best ways of preserving games especially classics

A digital-only system would become less usable in the future. For example, the digital stores for Xbox 360 & PlayStation Portable have been closed. Sony also originally intended to close the PS3 & PS Vita stores, but reversed their decision thanks to backlash from users. Physical media does not suffer from the risk of functionality breaking due to server-side updates.

I actually invested quite a bit in physical media last few years. Not games. I mostly have those digital now. Even when I prefer physical: Most modern PC games are no longer available on DVD-ROM or BD-ROM. But CD's, DVD's and Blyu-rays. I like my music and video's to be able to be played offline. And I like the box/album art of a physical release.

GOG has digital distribution and you still own your games. Own, as you can download an offline installer and own an irrevocable license to use the software.

I got into switch collecting because most games get a physical release, and I'm really happy the Switch 2 will be backwards compatible with the cartridges.

the only people digital games are convenient for us pot heads and people who barely leave their house the rest of us it doesnt benefit us, it benefits the peeps reaping the profits. Old games on the store still $40-50 while its physical counter part is $10 in the store/ebay. Thats literally all you need to know for the formula right there...right there that is it its about profits. Yeah some people buy digital but that doesnt speak for all of us, they just literally stopping production of physical games, look what they did to music? now movies, then games. Get smart pack rat your favorite stuff now before like the retro gaming market all these scalpers and hoarders take everything off the market

Physical games make up 60% of 1st party unit sales for Sony, for games like Death Stranding (PS5) and Uncharted 4 physical sales are more than 80%. Even recently when God of War Ragnarok came out the majority of sales were physical. The problem with these stats is the majority of smaller/indie games don't even have a physical release. So stats like 80% of games are digital doesn't account for the fact that probably 80% of games don't even have a physical option. Also physical is still massive in Japan (half of the market still) so Nintendo will be physical even for the generation after the Switch 2. There's a reason Japan has physical releases for so many games that are physical only here. When people are buying a bunch of $5-10 games on sale during the holidays it's massively skewing the numbers, but the fact is the majority of big single player AAA games sell more physically. There's a reason the regular PS5 is outselling the digital console by a huge margin. If the PS6 doesn't have physical media then I'll just play on my gaming PC and my Switch 2. Xbox is definitely going all digital next gen but I can still see the PS6 having an optional Bluray drive since Sony owns the technology and their first party games sell the most physically.

For everything 7th gen (PS3/360) and backwards, I completely agree. Physical all the way. But since then a lot of games require some kind of Internet connection or a day 1 patch that without, makes the game almost unplayable that I think digital in the modern age is fine.