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

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.

PC gaming all digital is ok because it's not a closed ecosystem. I can install whatever platform I want, and buy games. And there are huge sales.

Also there are drm free shops like gog, a huge community with emulators, mods, and in the need pirated copies of the games I bought.

Trust is one thing, but monopolized market is another.

edit: today I found the List of DRM-free games that has many games that DRM free from many PC platforms (1867 games in Steam and 604 in Epic). Meaning that you can launch an installed game directly from the .exe and even make a zip the installed game as backup.

Leave PCs out of this console nonsense. On PC you can write whatever you want to whatever media you want by yourself, without kissing some Nintendo-Sony ass.

PC gamers accepted the inability to sell and loan games and to have extensive DRM on a large number of games. The console players are the last holds against this anti consumer practice. Just because PCs has multiple stores it doesn't change the fact Steam is a near monopoly and while its relatively consumer friendly we still don't own games on it, they can not be passed to others in any way legally. People have a weird love for Steam but the basic facts are the same, it uses DRM, you can't sell or loan games and you have a licence and don't own them, you can't pass them to someone else in a will. Steam is pretty anti consumer on the big items here compared to disks on the consoles.

I've been thinking about this since the announcement from Sony. I see alot of friends complaining when I fully know they have massive steam libraries and no optical drives.

And I think it comes down too we have Steam. Steam is run by Valve a non public company with no shareholders. And Valve not only says but does. They keep things open and accessible. Game removed from Steam, that's file you can still download it and play. Things like GoG where you can get an offline installer. And we can pirate probably fits in There some where

But console you only have the maker and not a single one can be trusted. Sony removed movies and TV shows a couple times at this point.

A few things.

One is that steam frequently has actually cheap games more readily than the console digital stores.

Another is that if I'm buying a digital entitlement anyway, I'll go with the ecosystem with the greatest track record for long term compatibility. A game purchased 20 years ago on steam is still generally playable in brand new system. A PlayStation game purchased then is not playable on a new Sony system. It is in fact only playable on PC through emulation, so PCs have been covering for console incompatibly.

Once upon a time, consoles brought some unique values. Easy to plug into TVs, consistent gamepad experience, and just turn on and play.

Nowadays PC operating systems and console operating systems act the same, tv output is just HDMI, gaming controllers are well supported on PCs... The last reason to bother with the console gaming was the physical media. So while sure, they can go digital only, but then why bother with a console at all? They've already lost every other advantage.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Yup. It’s always by design. Corporate bullshit has been playing the long game.

The only thing that would make them consider changing course is if a significant portion of gamers refused to buy games unless they come in a physical format. Sony knows that'll never happen. People will complain to their heart's content and then happily plonk down $80 for the next big digital only game release. Capitalism largely works the way it does because people don't want to go without.

Yeah the big advantage of disc is Sony can't randomly take it away. And given the fact that they have literally just done that with a bunch of movies it's kind of a problem.