I’m out. I would never buy a console without physical media.
Consoles now cost nearly as much as a PCs, digital purchases are being revoked, and now discs are going away and you’re being locked into one storefront where Sony can charge whatever they want. I’ve enjoyed owning consoles for my entire life but they don’t make sense anymore. Somehow, Sony just made the the Steam Machine look like a smart purchase.
Maybe not the Steam Machine itself, but a dedicated PC plugged into the TV using SteamOS, certainly. That’s going to be my “console” going forward after this gen.
That’s not going to be an option for most people on account of SteamOS not betting able to play all of the biggest, most popular games.
The only ones I can think of that don’t work are online ones that use Anti-Cheat. They can use Windows instead, then.
Yeah, and that’s 99 of the top 100 most popular games.
Try selling someone a pc in 2026 that will never be able to play GTA6 lol.
As I said, if those games matter to them, they can simply use Steam’s Big Picture Mode in Windows. This is a non-issue.
So install windows on the steam machine?
You could, but it would be easier to just plug in any computer with Windows already on it to the TV instead.
They’re not locking purchases to only the PS store. Retail can still sell codes in boxes, just no discs that don’t contain a playable game anyway like currently.
…codes which can only be redeemed through the PS Store.
Why does that matter if you can buy them anywhere?
I’ve never seen digital codes at discount prices from official sellers.
Because retail has never sold digital copies before.
Well that’s not true - you can buy digital codes for some Xbox games at retail, or at least you could, and they often went on sale.
They have and do sell digital codes.
they often went on sale.
Not just to match whatever they were on the digital store? If the retail store can actually choose to lower the digital price themselves that’s slightly better than nothing.
Someone at Sony is feeling very smart and modern right now, totally unaware that PlayStation is now a dead brand walking.
They are a strong brand, but that’s not going to be enough to justify a definitely-$1k+ PS6 compared to increasing handheld and console-like gaming options that are not locked down ecosystems. Their exclusives likely can’t save them, they have been dying out already.
Physical media was one of the few remaining differentiators for hardcore collectors and loyalists. Even if I’m sure it’s a greatly diminished part of their bottom line, it’s a psychological anchor that justifies the existence of a console. Now their console will be just another extremely handicapped and uncompetitive digital box, even if (as recently reported) they copy the Switch dockable format.
For me, the locked ecosystem of consoles was justified by a lower price for the hardware and the option to sell or trade the software. Now that neither is going to be a thing any more, my 40+ years of console gaming will be ending after this gen. It’s gonna be dedicated PCs plugged into the TV from here on out.
that’s not going to be enough to justify a definitely-$1k+ PS6
I’m inclined to agree. They might be able to sweeten that with a one year PSN voucher or something. Otherwise, you’re just paying for access to exclusive content, access to PSN, and the ability to say “I have a Sony.”
I guarantee that you’re wrong. The PS6 will sell every unit they produce for years, even at the $1200+ it will be. Why? A few reasons:
- It’s PlayStation. PlayStation has a gigantic “Sony can do no wrong and we want all their competition to die, and we’ll buy whatever they release no matter how garbage it is” fan base in the tens of millions.
- there will be no alternative.
- 85%+ of all games sold on PlayStation currently are digital. This change affects a tiny fraction of the user base.
Imagine if you will, they released a new ps2 with ps1 backward compatibility and optional discs.
I’d pay $500 right now.
Just use an emulator, even PS3 emulation has gotten pretty good.
But thats an emulator, yes 99.9% the same but not “real”.
Pretty much all 3D PS2 games can be played in widescreen via emulation. They’re better than the original.
Sorry boss, I only play mine on a CRT in 4:3 the way it was intended 😁
Playing on emulator is fine, but like everything in today’s world, its fake, and not as visceral of an experience.
You can still play on a CRT in 4:3 via an emulator if you like. You just have more options if wanted.
I know there are many who swear by original hardware only, though, which is fine if you have the luxury of obtaining and maintaining them. Many don’t.
Yep totally
It just works on pc btw
You can buy a used PS2 right now that has that for way less? Even if you demand an hdmi mod, it’s way less than that
This is the way to go. Make sure to get the drive serviced so it doesn’t crap out prematurely. There are so many PS2s out there, you can probably still get one cheap.
Of course, but someday they will all be gone. I dread those days. Caps dont last and its very very hard to repair smc ones.
I get if they reduced disc output but fully ending is nasty work and stripping away consumer choice. There tons of factors of why people have been going digital lately and I still do a mix of both. I don’t trust the big 3 with a digital only landscape even Switch’s 2 gamekey cards still have issues. I guess the good times are slowly ending.
I would argue that DRM-free has always been what we really need rather than the physical media, particularly in the era of patching.
I’m with you on that which is why I love GOG’s efforts.
The issue, normies dont understand DRM free digital media. Once its digital its like its invisible. A disc or a tape, is so easy to understand, you just HAVE it and it works.
My tapes from the 80s/90s just work when I put them in. Does a disc game or digital game from even 2018 do that? Likely not.
Does a disc game or digital game from even 2018 do that?
Yes. When it comes to Sony, any PS4 game (so from 2013 and on) will work on a PS4 or PS5 with a disc drive.
I meant for PC, sorry
Ah, with PC it varies. There can definitely be issues when you go back to games made for Windows 7 and earlier, for example. If a game is popular enough, it’s almost guaranteed to have fan-made patches to work on modern hardware, at least.
Normies figure it out on a lag, but they get there, with enough exposure to nerds like us.
It’s going to make companies like Limited Run and Video Games Plus more important. You’ll end up waiting a LONG time for a physical release, though.
Since it’s guaranteed the next gen of consoles won’t have disc drives, they’re going to be gone as well.
Guess I’ve purchased my last Sony Console
Shipping a rootkit on a music CD didn’t do it for you already? And the 50 things they did after that?
What?
What the fuck?
They are just going to let Nintendo be the last physical game producer?
Physical copies are about to cost so much, fuck them!
Nintendo: Game key cards don’t seem so bad now, huh??
Microsoft: our Xbox one “physical as digital” plan doesn’t seem so bad now, huh?
Microsoft still allow physical copies?
Articles were going around yesterday talking about Microsoft’s next console being digital only.
I sympathize with people huffing copium with “but XBOX!” regarding physical games, but they need to think about what they’re saying. It’s Microsoft!
Until yesterday you no doubt thought Sony would never do what they just announced. Maybe don’t “Xbox too” just because you want Xbox to.
The next XBOX won’t have a disc drive.
Sure, because it’s a PC where everyone has been all digital for a decade, but Sonys change doesn’t just apply to their next console. You think Xbox will stop devs releasing physical games for the series x?
I’ll be surprised if they don’t, but they might surprise me!
The current Xbox is going to be supported for another 10+ years at this rate. They’re going to keep selling games on disc for it.
The next Xbox is a pc, which is already all digital.
So you’re just hoping Microsoft also get rid of discs because you don’t want them to still sell them if Sony doesn’t. Gotcha.
Microsoft tried to make their consoles digital only years ago. They only
added the disc drive backallowed reusing discs because Sony’s marketing of the PS4.Now that Sony’s out, MS will gleefully follow
What are you talking about?
At E3 in 2013, Microsoft announced that all games, including physical copies, would be electronically bound to your Microsoft account, making “physical” copies just keys for their digital network.
Sony famously made fun of them, and forced Microsoft to change course for the Xbox One/PS4 era
https://www.vice.com/en/article/one-of-playstations-most-iconic-ads-has-backfired-after-13-years/
OK good that you at least edited your statement about the disk drive out, because that was wrong.
In to the Xbox One announcement, you’re leaving out very important information - the fact that they were allowing trading/re-selling and loaning of said digital games. All the benefits of physical games bright to digital copies.
Once per
purchasedisc, at participating retailers, meaning it still killed the resale market if it can’t keep getting tradedOf course you can only re-sell your purchase once 🤣
Due to licensing agreements expiring with publishers, 500 titles of your digital games will no longer be available. We are also shutting down our digital storefront for this generation’s console next year, after which you will no longer be able to download any other titles onto your puny price inflated ssd. Please consider upgrading to the PS7 to continue paying to play online, where you can pay to purchase your games again. Thank you for your business.
This is my last console Gen, 30 years deep.
Owning a console means owning your game—being able to share it, save it, display it, sell it, and trade it.
It’s been an amazing, wild ride. But Sony, I’m out.
So their prices drop like Steam games too, right? Riiiight?
Yeah, they’ve got competition just like Steam does. If you don’t buy from Sony’s store, you can buy from…er…okay, I see the problem.
On top of all that Sony is known to actually mass delete content from customer accounts, never to be installed again. No refunds. Something Steam hasn‘t done as far as I know. It just looks like a really bad deal.
Then again I expect Sony to go full cloud gaming so that alone is already bad enough to keep me away.
To be truthful, when the game wasn’t fully on the disk or required day one patches is when I stopped taking consoles seriously. One of the benefits of console was a little loading and you’re good to go. That’s long gone now for even some indie games.
Mind expanding on this a bit? A PS5 will load the largest of games with in a few seconds. Baldur’s Gate 3 for example, loads the entire game inside of 30 seconds.
Or am I way off what you are talking about?
I think they’re talking about the initial loading. Not having to download gigabytes of data just to start up the game.
Aye, you have to install the game, download any updates, let it update, then start it up again typically because of day 1 patches. Used to be you just put in the disk and played it after a load.
Yes. When games were not on a Blu-Ray disc and were only 5GB in size.
Games are now an average of 50GB or more (up to 100GB for some). Larger games require a data disc now. It’s been like this for 20 years.
I am aware of that, I’m saying that was, to me at least, the biggest advantage consoles had over PC games.
More talking how you just put in a disc, quick load and play the game. There’s no patches, no installation, just play it. I considered that one of the biggest benefits of consoles we lost.
So… a PS2?
I’m more likely to bite the bullet on the cost of a Steam Machine then over a PS6.
Even without games on disc I use it for my movies on disc all the time. I will not be replacing my PS5 with something without a disc drive.
Isn’t a PS5 more powerful than the steam machine?
No. They’re about equal, and OS updates since the reviews were made have bumped up the SM’s performance
We finally made it here. They been making digital only consoles for years now.
Why get into consoles now? One of the best reasons to get a console is gone.
Guess who’s getting rid of movies you bought on Playstation?
I wonder how much longer we’ll be able to buy 4K Blu-rays then…
There is no GOG or Steam for movies. “Digital copies” are just extended rentals for TV and movies, so anyone revolting against streaming price increases are either pirating or moving to physical, because it’s all that’s left. It pushed me back to physical, for sure, so there’s still money to be made there.
Maybe if they got rid of DRM. It sounds like Blu-Ray, especially UHD would be too much pain on Linux. And anyway, all the solutions are just based around usage of leaked keys (which will keep getting revoked).
How come CDs don’t need DRM? Perhaps they didn’t think of it in the past (before CD-R), but I’d say it keeps proving itself useless over the years.
CDs just work, and will just work.
Leaked Blu-Ray player keys can and will eventually get revoked. So the best bet is to just rip it to a HDD/NAS ASAP.
But at that point it’s just unnecessary steps to obtain same result as torrenting what someone else already ripped.Blu Rays are a pain on Linux, but MakeMKV rips these discs pretty universally. It sucks that it has to be done this way, but I still get my videos in full quality, well above what streaming services send me, and they can’t take it from me. In my experience, though I don’t pirate much anymore, seeders don’t have much desire to seed the full uncompressed video, let alone the special features. And you’re correct; CDs didn’t have DRM, because the invention of the format predated their desire to make DRM. DVDs had very basic DRM, but it’s now been thoroughly broken wide open.
I’m pretty sure the RIAA tried going after people for ripping CDs to PC, and failed
Maybe for a while longer? Depends on what consumers do.
“Ps5 sales drop another 30%. Sony execs are flabbergasted”
I don’t think the sales are going to be that affected. Hell, most of the people complaining probably were never going to buy a new console at all.
Well, the same could have been said about the last price increase the ps5 had. And even so, sales dropped significantly.
I can see consumers being a lot more sensitive to prove increases than the removal of discs.
This also likely affect prices for games.
No resell/used option is significant, but I have no doubt that digital sales will become less frequent when there’s no risk of Amazon or Target selling the physical copies with a discount.
I think it will depend on the studio. Not every studio is going to take the Nintendo approach.
It’s more like the removal of alternative option of purchase and true ownership.
I understand the argument you’re making. What I’m saying is that those who care about your argument are likely in a tiny minority of current players as most would have already left the market by now due to other actions made by console companies.
Fine, it won’t be as much as 30% (that was an hyperbolic bad joke anyway), but there will be an effect in the market, as there isn’t any real good reason to have a console over a PC. If everything is Digital, you’re better off having a Steam library.
Yeah, but we’re already at a point of subscription multiplayer, significant DLC, and major patching already. There may be a market still for discs, but physical rental is mostly dead.
We’re already at a point where the physical space to sell media in stores has shrunk substantially over the past decade. We just might be at a point where it is small enough to no longer be worth supporting it.
