Matt Piscatella thinks PlayStation has one more gen of physical retail games and Nintendo two. Xbox obviously is already killing physical.

[Zzero]

I moved from physical in 2018... I don't see why anyone would buy them outside of special/collectors editions. putting a disk in to play a game.... sorry bro but you are trapped in the 90s/00s

You can recoup 3/4ths of the cost of buying a used game on ebay by re-selling on ebay yourself after you are done with it, or half of the cost by selling that game to Gamestop, or a quarter of the cost by buying new from Gamestop and then selling back to them when done.

I mean, I am a collector and don't do that, but none the less, its an option.

edit: And speaking of which, without used games to compete with, a lot of publishers will stop dropping prices. Obviously some (*cough*Ubisoft*cough*) live quarter to quarter and will still drop theirs but no physical would make Nintendo even more likely to keep everything at launch price, and they're far from the only ones, Square hate dropping prices too, Bandai seems to keep theirs high and I am sure I could find more if I actually bothered to look.

 

[voke]

You can recoup 3/4ths of the cost of buying a used game on ebay by re-selling on ebay yourself after you are done with it, or half of the cost by selling that game to Gamestop, or a quarter of the cost by buying new from Gamestop and then selling back to them when done.

I mean, I am a collector and don't do that, but none the less, its an option.

edit: And speaking of which, without used games to compete with, a lot of publishers will stop dropping prices. Obviously some (*cough*Ubisoft*cough*) live quarter to quarter and will still drop theirs but no physical would make Nintendo even more likely to keep everything at launch price, and they're far from the only ones, Square hate dropping prices too, Bandai seems to keep theirs high and I am sure I could find more if I actually bothered to look.

When you put it this way, makes a lot more sense.

I have a brother that I gameshare with, so I essentially get every game for half off. If I didn't have that option I'd be waaaaaay more selective with what I buy.

 

[TrishaCat]

also "game preservation" is a buzzword for oldheads to feel important. digital is the isn't the future, is the present

HISS

 

[TrishaCat]

If i could buy games physically on pc I would
unfortunately I can't, so I just buy all my console games physically instead. The reason being is that I don't want corporations to be able to take away my games. I want full control over the games I play and when and how I can play them, and I want to be able to play them without ever needing to connect to the internet. I also do not want to be dependent on servers from game publishers being up.
If I was an Xbox gamer I would be like "I will never get used to this" but as the only xbox console I own is a 360, all I can say is that a digital only future would be hell, and a future where only Limited Run Games is the publisher for physical games would be even more hellish. Screw their artificial scarcity "we only do one print of games because our customers want to own something rare" bullshit.

This doesn't just apply to games either. I also prefer to own all my favorite movies and tv shows on bluray and dvd.

 

[Yurinka]

The percent of game purchases in console that are digital highly increased during this and the previous generation. On top of that, F2P also got highly popular.

As a result, paid physical games became a pretty small percentage of the total game revenue, so if the trend continues yes, maybe the next gen may be the last one for Sony and MS. Or maybe even the current one.

The percent of physical games is higher in Switch, so makes sense to expect it to be longer, maybe a generation more.

I assume they may always get there some physical edition for some games, at least big sellers, maybe one of these collector editions that only includes codes and some physical extras like a booklet, a figurine or the OST.

 

[Zzero]

The percent of game purchases in console that are digital highly increased during this and the previous generation. On top of that, F2P also got highly popular.

As a result, paid physical games became a pretty small percentage of the total, so if the trend continues yes, maybe the next gen may be the last one for Sony and MS. Or maybe even the current one.

The percent of physical games is higher in Switch, so makes sense to expect it to be longer, maybe a generation more.

My worry is that Nintendo will look at the same factors I put in my post about used game sales, add in the costs of making and shipping physical games and conclude that all digital is something they want to do right now. They would lose the in store marketting that shelves of game boxes gives them, plus the gifting grannies, plus hurt their relationship with retailers. But they also have spent 20 years marching to the beat of their own drum, have much smaller download sizes than the other two and a higher portion of their sales are in markets with good internet. They really could do it next year. Its an option.

 

[Gamernyc78]

Nothing like getting a nice physical copy and opening it up. I use to love Gane manuals thy stopped making ages ago

 

[On Demand]

When doing that usual misleading digital percentage ratio, you have to take into account it includes things that are exclusively digital. DLC/add on and games that are only available digitally. Physical media is only available one way.

Physical media still has a large percentage of the market. Sony first party games can get over 50% physical share.

 

[AllBizness]

Seriously, plus free online and BC for life. Also perpetually upgradeable.

But every upgrade is well over 1k, you gotta do CPU, motherboard, GPU, system RAM at least if you want to beat the latest console with PC. Sure, you can upgrade only 1 of these components at a time here or there but your rig will fall behind a base PlayStation in no time.

 

[Gamernyc78]

But every upgrade is well over 1k, you gotta do CPU, motherboard, GPU, system RAM at least if you want to beat the latest console with PC. Sure, you can upgrade only 1 of these components at a time here or there but your rig will fall behind a base PlayStation in no time.

Thts part of the hassle I don't want hence why I'm still console gaming.

 

[Dr Bass]

But PC is all digital

If it was the day PS doesn't sell physical I will stop to play games... that makes sense.
But moving from a platform because it is digital to another that is digital feels weird to me.

None of it makes sense to me personally. Saying you're going to quit this or that because of a format change that is inevitable just says to me you don't even like the hobby that much to begin with.

 

[ethomaz]

None of it makes sense to me personally. Saying you're going to quit this or that because of a format change that is inevitable just says to me you don't even like the hobby that much to begin with.

Exactly.

But the first at least I can understand as "I don't like to play games anymore" or "I lost the interest in videogames"... that is all fine imo... you don't need to like something for the rest of your life... you can chance.
So the end of physical being the trigger to stop to play games makes sense to me.

But when you say you will move from a platform because it is going all digital but the other platform you are moving into is all digital too... to me makes the point weak.
Maybe it that feeling people had like "the grass is always greener on the other side" lol
But you saying you are changing for the same thing.

I like the UI, my friends are there, I like mouse/kb, there are games I can't find on consoles, etc are all valid points to move to PC.
But "I'm moving to PC because PS5 is all digital" not.

 

[2spooky5me]

Matty boy likes to pretend to be a neutral, but he's been on quite a few Xbox-centric podcasts in the past.
He probably would be all-in for digital, since it's way easier to track (and, of course, since he wants Xbox to succeed with their digital-only plans).

@On Demand
100%.

 

[Nhomnhom]

Matt boy like to pretend to be a neutral, but he's been on quite a few Xbox-centric podcasts in the past.
He probably would be all-in for digital, since it's way easier to track (and, of course, since he wants Xbox to succeed with their digital-only plans).

@On Demand
100%.

It always boils down to people making excuses for Xbox so they look good, as if they were ahead of of the curve instead of simply failing again.

 

[Johnic]

Fuck that. PC being an open platform that allows you to back your games up is one thing, but a closed console platform that has everything you "own" tied to your account? Screw that.

 

[Englishy]

Matt boy like to pretend to be a neutral, but he's been on quite a few Xbox-centric podcasts in the past.
He probably would be all-in for digital, since it's way easier to track (and, of course, since he wants Xbox to succeed with their digital-only plans).

@On Demand
100%.

He's the most cowardly analyst in the industry. Waaaaaaay worse than Chris Dring and that Japanese guy at Bloomberg that has questionable anger management.

 

[Englishy]

But every upgrade is well over 1k, you gotta do CPU, motherboard, GPU, system RAM at least if you want to beat the latest console with PC. Sure, you can upgrade only 1 of these components at a time here or there but your rig will fall behind a base PlayStation in no time.

PC is pricier, and it's only going to get worse thanks to the ongoing A.I. shenanigans that has all PC part makers salivating at the mouth.

But you can't beat the peace of mind that comes with having the best platform for game preservation and game availability. If both Microsoft and Sony go all digital with no option for physical media (be it Blu-ray discs or some other high capacity solution), then they need to be super extra clear on how they intend to preserve and make their past and present games available on future platforms. It should never be a question whether a PS5 digital download will work or be available on a PS6.

 

[laynelane]

People have been dooming about physical games for years now. As well, Matt is not an authority nor does he have knowledge on future business decisions by Sony or Nintendo. It's been strange seeing all these opinions that the two successful platforms are definitely, absolutely going to follow Xbox's downward trajectory. Physical is dead, consoles are dead, exclusives are dead, etc. For me, all this has definitely confirmed that the Twitter bubble is not reflective of reality and a lot of people on there frame their opinions as facts.

 

[Infinity]

People have been dooming about physical games for years now. As well, Matt is not an authority nor does he have knowledge on future business decisions by Sony or Nintendo. It's been strange seeing all these opinions that the two successful platforms are definitely, absolutely going to follow Xbox's downward trajectory. Physical is dead, consoles are dead, exclusives are dead, etc. For me, all this has definitely confirmed that the Twitter bubble is not reflective of reality and a lot of people on there frame their opinions as facts.

Physical media is on its way out. PlayStation might have 1 more gen of physical copies. Digital only will be reality whether you like it or not.

 

[laynelane]

Physical media is on its way out. PlayStation might have 1 more gen of physical copies. Digital only will be reality whether you like it or not.

Speaking of people who frame their opinions as facts. I have even less reason to listen to you than Matt.