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[THE DUCK]

This is pathetic.

Don't do this to yourself. Your internet street cred can't survive this.

As a multiplatform gamer who buys every console (and has played more steam deck and ps5 than anything this gen), I think my street cred can handle it. You can bet good money on Sony moving faster towards all digital is they are the only game in town, it just makes business sense.
I personally wouldn't care or call them evil for it.
All media is moving in this direction, like a freight train.

 

[Beechos]

Can you blame them 10% of their sales are physical.

 

[rofif]

Again... most physical games work offline. At least on ps4 and 5

DoesItPlay? - Home

Working to ensure games remain accessible now and always!

www.doesitplay.org

 

[CityHunter1981]

I'm wondering if Microsoft is abandoning their retail presence for Xbox entirely at this point.

Honestly I feel like they are not only abandon their retail presence, but the XBOX itself.
I think we are near a point where it is more profitable for them to focus on GP and software sales without having to also make their own console. There are so many steam deck like devices now and they also bring in money for Microsoft, because they don’t care if you buy on XBOX or PC.

 

[twilo99]

Didn’t PC prove that digital is the way forward over decade ago now? I just don’t understand what’s taking so long for consoles to do the same, I understand that they are generally behind the curve but this is simply taking way too long.

 

[jroc74]

Ah yes, here we go with the tiny amount of units they sent to the data centers vs what they shipped overall to consumers bs again. It was like 5% for a very short period of time.

The revision of series X makes perfect sense as it cuts costs and by most accounts Xbox customers where buying games digital already.

Make no mistake, Sony focused heavily on the disc version because it cost them $30 more to make and they were selling it for $100 more. It allowed them to advertise the ps5 at a lower point while building hardly any stock. The digital was a unicorn for a long time for a reason.

People turning on Sony for activation of the drive isn't the same thing at all as taking it away completely, and they happily got over it in 5 mins.

MS made decisions that led to Xbox physical games selling less.
Sony made decisions that didnt for PlayStation physical games.

Yeah...if Sony had done the exact same thing it might be happening right now to SonyToo....lol But they didnt.

Just accept that decisions have consequences. Like with everything in life.

Didn’t PC prove that digital is the way forward over decade ago now? I just don’t understand what’s taking so long for consoles to do the same, I understand that they are generally behind the curve but this is simply taking way too long.

I would not be shocked if it was forced on PC. On a side note one thing I give MS credit for is the adoption rate of 64 bit OS's. MS had to basically force that.

And...it seems like you (and some others) are anxious for physical games to go away on consoles. What do you get out of it? You can be all digital right now, like I am.

 

[Ar¢tos]

Wonder what everyone is going to do when sony reveals the real.master plan on the detachable optical drive, shipping only units without out it. Then, a couple years later, phases out the optical drive. Will everyone turn in sony?

Also this talk about "another" console company to come in and "save" us from the evil ms, just exactly what exclusive games would they have to compete with sony?
I mean if Apple, Google, and Amazon where to join forces and unleash the best console the earth has ever seen, it would still have zero exclusive games and die a slow painful death.

Never go full retard...

You realize that the disc drive allows people to also play Blu-ray movies? (that sony gets a royalty from each disc sold)

Is Sony going to completely stop printing Blu-ray disc movies too?

Is this desperate form of whataboutism the new script?

 

[twilo99]

MS made decisions that led to Xbox physical games selling less.
Sony made decisions that didnt for PlayStation physical games.

Yeah...if Sony had done the exact same thing it might be happening right now to SonyToo....lol But they didnt.

Just accept that decisions have consequences. Like with everything in live.


I would not be shocked if it was forced on PC. One a side note one thing I give MS credit for is the adoption rate of 64 bit OS's. MS had to basically force that.

And...it seems like you (and some others) are anxious for physical games to go away on consoles. What do you get out of it? You can be all digital right now, like I am.

I just don’t think we should be adding to the already enormous plastic waste we produce annually when we have a perfectly functional alternative that doesn’t require the extra plastic..

 

[Killjoy-NL]

Didn’t PC prove that digital is the way forward over decade ago now? I just don’t understand what’s taking so long for consoles to do the same, I understand that they are generally behind the curve but this is simply taking way too long.

Maybe because the PC and console demographics are quite different?

It's like PC-gamers can't wrap their heads around this simple fact.

 

[twilo99]

Maybe because the PC and console demographics are quite different?

It's like PC-gamers can't wrap their heads around this simple fact.

I understand that very well, I meant it from a practical standpoint it has been working fine on PC for a very long time and no one is complaining.

If Sony forced digital only what do you think will happen? There will be a few boomer cries for a year or two and then everyone will forget and we can move on from this archaic nonsense.

 

[THE DUCK]

Never go full retard...

You realize that the disc drive allows people to also play Blu-ray movies? (that sony gets a royalty from each disc sold)

Is Sony going to completely stop printing Blu-ray disc movies too?

Is this desperate form of whataboutism the new script?

Your denial of what's happening in terms of physical disks doesn't change the facts you happen to notice best buy is no longer going to carry blue ray movies? Massive declines in sales year after year and you imply I'm silly? Please. Of course they are going to stop printing blue rays, duh. You have a year or 2 at most.

This was a year and a half ago, the market keeps shrinking massively.

DVD and Blu-ray sales continue to nosedive

More proof that streaming is the future?

www.whathifi.com

 

[Killjoy-NL]

I understand that very well, I meant it from a practical standpoint it has been working fine on PC for a very long time and no one is complaining.

If Sony forced digital only what do you think will happen? There will be a few boomer cries for a year or two and then everyone will forget and we can move on from this archaic nonsense.

It doesn't matter if it works well on PC.
Consoles have a different demographic, thus require a different approach.
It has been pointed out that Sony 1st party sales still favor physical sales, or at least 50/50-ish, so Sony seems to either keep physical sales alive, or are making the move to digital-only organically at the pace set by the console demographic.

MS is brute-forcing the transition, currently out of necessity, and it's not working.
We only have to look at the ceiling that GP has hit to see that it isn't working.

Even PS+ has a ceiling of about ~48M, when the PS4 installbase is 117M and PS5 50+M.

Sub services aren't going to replace seperate releases and digital vs physical, at least as far as Sony goes, are still pretty even.
Even going by that article that has been shared showing a 67/33 split, favoring digital for Q2 2023, shows that there still is a significant chunck of players that prefers physical (also, PS5 Disc is outselling Digital by far).

But this discussion is going in circles.
It all boils down to Xbox fans projecting MS' issues onto Sony.

 

[Astray]

Yeah, Sony, who are also in the entertainment industry, are just going to throw away having the largest install base of Blu-ray players by far...

People don't realize that Sony makes a higher margin than one would think on physical because they control the blu-ray standard. So they get paid two different ways.

The biggest failure of the XB360 is that it did not manage to make HD-DVD a thing, which kinda paved the way for a lot of MS's bad decisions when it comes to DRM and Digital v Physical.

 

[Taycan77]

I understand that very well, I meant it from a practical standpoint it has been working fine on PC for a very long time and no one is complaining.

If Sony forced digital only what do you think will happen? There will be a few boomer cries for a year or two and then everyone will forget and we can move on from this archaic nonsense.

No sensible company is going to cut off 60% of their customers and hinder growth in areas with less developed internet connectivity. Even if that share diminishes to 20% in the coming years it's still worth supporting with the optional disc drive. Not to mention collectors who will pay a premium for special editions as in the music & movie industry.

The issue with Microsoft is they've killed demand for Xbox physical games and have little interest expanding into emerging markets. Now we're at a point were major retailers in the UK and mainland Europe are reducing (even removing) Xbox's retail presence. That space will be given to PlayStation & Nintendo - who incidentally - also continue to grow their digital presence and options.

I've only owned one Xbox console in the past with the 360 but would be quite willing to get a Series X if I believed in the brand and their upcoming slate of titles. Microsoft's actions have convinced me their titles will be coming to PlayStation - so I'm willing to hold out and pick them up there. I expect a steady stream of releases on PS5 - then day and date on PS6. If that's not Microsoft's plan they need to improve their communications because I'm certainly not investing in an Xbox console at this point.

 

[Heisenberg007]

Your denial of what's happening in terms of physical disks doesn't change the facts you happen to notice best buy is no longer going to carry blue ray movies? Massive declines in sales year after year and you imply I'm silly? Please. Of course they are going to stop printing blue rays, duh. You have a year or 2 at most.

This was a year and a half ago, the market keeps shrinking massively.

DVD and Blu-ray sales continue to nosedive

More proof that streaming is the future?

www.whathifi.com

What is happening with physical discs?

PlayStation sold 40% physical games of their games sold in the US, and Nintendo sold 50% physical game copies. What's the issue?

 

[Ar¢tos]

What is happening with physical discs?

PlayStation sold 40% physical games of their games sold in the US, and Nintendo sold 50% physical game copies. What's the issue?

He's just spreading FUD, trying to get a #Sonytoo rolling here to divert attention from the bad Xbox news.

When Blu-ray actually is phased out (not in 2 years like he is saying) he'll be all:

 

[THE DUCK]

What is happening with physical discs?

PlayStation sold 40% physical games of their games sold in the US, and Nintendo sold 50% physical game copies. What's the issue?

He was talking specifically about Blu ray movies and how sony will care so much about the drives for movie sales.

A newer article, down to 754 million in sales in 2023. Sales have dropped well over 80% in 4 years. They aren't going to care, they won't even sell movies on disk soon.

Best Buy will sell DVDs through the holiday season, then discontinue sales

Best Buy has decided to stop selling DVDs in its 1,129 locations with 969 in the U.S. The company will still sell video games.

www.usatoday.com

 

[THE DUCK]

He's just spreading FUD, trying to get a #Sonytoo rolling here to divert attention from the bad Xbox news.

When Blu-ray actually is phased out (not in 2 years like he is saying) he'll be all:

There's no fud at all, it's all but guaranteed at this point.

 

[LordCBH]

He's just spreading FUD, trying to get a #Sonytoo rolling here to divert attention from the bad Xbox news.

When Blu-ray actually is phased out (not in 2 years like he is saying) he'll be all:

Maybe Phil will sleep with them if they try hard enough.

 

[Topher]

Your denial of what's happening in terms of physical disks doesn't change the facts you happen to notice best buy is no longer going to carry blue ray movies? Massive declines in sales year after year and you imply I'm silly? Please. Of course they are going to stop printing blue rays, duh. You have a year or 2 at most.

This was a year and a half ago, the market keeps shrinking massively.

DVD and Blu-ray sales continue to nosedive

More proof that streaming is the future?

www.whathifi.com

Physical media doesn't have to dominate the market for it still to be a viable source of income. Look at vinyl and CD sales. According to your logic, they should not exist at all and yet they are very much alive. Those sales are a low percentage of the overall music industry. So that tells us that business is going to continue to deliver products if there is enough demand, even if a small fraction of the overall industry.

 

[Ar¢tos]

There's no fud at all, it's all but guaranteed at this point.

You know vinyl still exists, right?

 

[Esppiral]

If all this is true, and it looks like it, well.... Fuck Xbox, bye bye, sayonara, adios.

 

[THE DUCK]

Physical media doesn't have to dominate the market for it still to be a viable source of income. Look at vinyl and CD sales. According to your logic, they should not exist at all and yet they are very much alive. Those sales are a low percentage of the overall music industry. So that tells us that business is going to continue to deliver products if there is enough demand, even if a small fraction of the overall industry.

Even if Blu rays magically survive (i wish really since the high bit rates look better), the market will be so small sony won't care in terms of keeping the optical drive around or not. The increased margins on games and decreased distribution costs will far outweight any reason to keep it.

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

Even if Blu rays magically survive (i wish really since the high bit rates look better), the market will be so small sony won't care in terms of keeping the optical drive around or not. The increased margins on games and decreased distribution costs will far outweight any reason to keep it.

They'll care because the digital to physical ratio split isn't lopsided enough to justify cutting production.

You've come out with so many delusional takes in such a short time it's almost impressive

 

[Gambit2483]

What is happening with physical discs?

PlayStation sold 40% physical games of their games sold in the US, and Nintendo sold 50% physical game copies. What's the issue?

The issue is it doesn't fit his/their narrative

 

[Kazekage1981]

I didn't read the entire responses on this thread, but Ultra-Blu Ray Disks has its limitations, and costs as a storage medium.

They can do external ultra Blu-ray disk drive if you want to continue to play physical ultra-Blu-ray, Blu-ray, and DVD games on future Xbox platforms, it doesn't sound all that doom and gloom.

They may possibly ultilize SD-Cards with SD Express 8.0 speeds or USB 4.0 for another type of storage medium. The ultra-blu ray disk is outdated in my opinion.

 

[jroc74]

Seems to me that some just don't MS standing by themselves with this right now, lol.

Sometimes...it is what it is.

Your denial of what's happening in terms of physical disks doesn't change the facts you happen to notice best buy is no longer going to carry blue ray movies? Massive declines in sales year after year and you imply I'm silly? Please. Of course they are going to stop printing blue rays, duh. You have a year or 2 at most.

This was a year and a half ago, the market keeps shrinking massively.

DVD and Blu-ray sales continue to nosedive

More proof that streaming is the future?

www.whathifi.com

This is also in that same article:


"With Best Buy's departure, Walmart, Amazon, and Target are now the top retailers for DVDs and Blu-ray discs. However, Redbox, which is owned by Chicken Soup for Soul Entertainment and has a nationwide network of approximately 29,000 DVD rental kiosks, remains a strong competitor in the physical disc business.

According to Variety, over the summer, Media Play News reported that Walmart has been in discussions with Studio Distribution Services, a joint venture of Universal Pictures and Warner Bros., to manage a portion of its physical media operations."

So yeah its shrinking but its not to the point that every one is jumping ship....except MS. Because its a sinking ship for them right now.

Whats happening is basically this with some Xbox folks, good video on the subject:

 

[THE DUCK]

They'll care because the digital to physical ratio split isn't lopsided enough to justify cutting production.

You've come out with so many delusional takes in such a short time it's almost impressive

You do realize that was in response to Blu ray movies only, right? Reading comprehension is difficult.

 

[jroc74]

You do realize that was in response to Blu ray movies only, right? Reading comprehension is difficult.

And what exactly is this thread topic about?

 

[THE DUCK]

Seems to me that some just don't MS standing by themselves with this right now, lol.

Sometimes...it is what it is.



This is also in that same article:


"With Best Buy's departure, Walmart, Amazon, and Target are now the top retailers for DVDs and Blu-ray discs. However, Redbox, which is owned by Chicken Soup for Soul Entertainment and has a nationwide network of approximately 29,000 DVD rental kiosks, remains a strong competitor in the physical disc business.

According to Variety, over the summer, Media Play News reported that Walmart has been in discussions with Studio Distribution Services, a joint venture of Universal Pictures and Warner Bros., to manage a portion of its physical media operations."

So yeah its shrinking but its not to the point that every one is jumping ship....except MS. Because its a sinking ship for them right now.

Whats happening is basically this with some Xbox folks, good video on the subject:

Again just talking about Blu ray movies here, when the countries biggest electronics retailer stops carrying something, you are at the end of it mattering any more. If it survives or not, it's a small market of little consequence to if console makers keep optical drives for games or not.

 

[Astray]

It's deeply hilarious watching weirdos defend a decision that actively reduces their choice.

In a few years we will see the same names telling us how amazing COD is and how it never ever fell off.

Never change Microsoft.

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

Even if Blu rays magically survive (i wish really since the high bit rates look better), the market will be so small sony won't care in terms of keeping the optical drive around or not. The increased margins on games and decreased distribution costs will far outweight any reason to keep it.

You do realize that was in response to Blu ray movies only, right? Reading comprehension is difficult.

How can you comprehend our words when you can't even comprehend your own?

 

[MrA]

I just don’t think we should be adding to the already enormous plastic waste we produce annually when we have a perfectly functional alternative that doesn’t require the extra plastic..

Do I assume you always buy the least power hungry graphics card and keep it for 7 years or so to minimize environmental, also I assume you use the lowest power consuming 720p monitor you can. Or you're an absolute hypocrit. The material and power used on high end devices is way more wasteful than physical media.


Also pc digital only is only tolerable because of valve and Gabe Newell, anything happens to him enjoy you're denuvo everywhere future. (Side note I wish Gabe Newell nothing but long life and good health because he seem to be such a great guy)

You seem to forget rampant piracy on pc made physical copies just as restricted as digital due to draconian drm,

 

[THE DUCK]

And what exactly is this thread topic about?

Wait, you are not allowed to talk about something someone specifically said would affect the gaming decisions of Sony? Oh I'm so sorry I broke your rules.

 

[Topher]

Even if Blu rays magically survive (i wish really since the high bit rates look better), the market will be so small sony won't care in terms of keeping the optical drive around or not. The increased margins on games and decreased distribution costs will far outweight any reason to keep it.

Well....that's been the argument for all forms of media for quite some time. Still waiting......

 

[THE DUCK]

How can you comprehend our words when you can't even comprehend your own?

Try reading it again. To simplify for you, sony's decision to keep the optical drive or not, will not be driven by blue ray movie sales, as they are too small to matter. It will be driven by games alone. Simple enough for you now?

 

[jroc74]

Wait, you are not allowed to talk about something someone specifically said would affect the gaming decisions of Sony? Oh I'm so sorry I broke your rules.

Ok, this is getting beyond silly now....

Are you actually reading what...you...posted?

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

Try reading it again. To simplify for you, sony's decision to keep the optical drive or not, will not be driven by blue ray movie sales, as they are too small to matter. Simple enough for you now?

Holy fuck go back to school jesus christ

 

[THE DUCK]

Sony warriors out in full force today. Can't even talk about blue ray movies being down.
Pathetic.

 

[PharaoTutAnchAmun]

Is Sony doing the digital cards as well now? Didn't know that, but I'm never in store anymore #partoftheproblemLOL.

The only cards what i see in the stores are for PS essential extra and premium i have never seen any digital cards for games...like never....

 

[Heisenberg007]

Sony warriors out in full force today. Can't even talk about blue ray movies being down.
Pathetic.

But why, in the first place, does anyone need to talk about the blu-ray market and Sony's potential interest in that in a thread that is about Xbox shutting down physical retail departments and potentially abandoning physical games sales completely?

 

[Papa_Wisdom]

Seems to me that some just don't MS standing by themselves with this right now, lol.

Sometimes...it is what it is.



This is also in that same article:


"With Best Buy's departure, Walmart, Amazon, and Target are now the top retailers for DVDs and Blu-ray discs. However, Redbox, which is owned by Chicken Soup for Soul Entertainment and has a nationwide network of approximately 29,000 DVD rental kiosks, remains a strong competitor in the physical disc business.

According to Variety, over the summer, Media Play News reported that Walmart has been in discussions with Studio Distribution Services, a joint venture of Universal Pictures and Warner Bros., to manage a portion of its physical media operations."

So yeah its shrinking but its not to the point that every one is jumping ship....except MS. Because its a sinking ship for them right now.

Whats happening is basically this with some Xbox folks, good video on the subject:

All this means to me is that ms (and Sony) will not get full retail payment from me in an all digital future, I’ve said before but £20 is the max I will pay for a digital release. I don’t have a sense of fomo and am more than happy to wait in price reductions. I still haven’t bought resi evil 4 and when I do that will be on disk and an eventual digital copy when it meets a price I’m comfortable paying.

 

[Kazekage1981]

What other physical storage medium can MS use to sell physical games besides optical disks (such as Ultra Blu Ray Disk) if consumers want to continue to purchase games in a physical storage medium?

What if MS wants to genuinely overcome the technical limitations of the current Ultra Blu Ray Disk Drive:

-Getting rid of the diode and internal hardware components of the Ultra Blu Ray Disk drive to reduce costs and make room for other things such as:
-Increase internal hardware storage space from 1 Terabyte to 2 TB+?
-Increase the amount of physical storage medium size (current limitation of Ultra Blu Ray Disk Size: 33GB-100GB) so game developers and publishers are not constraint on the content they want to put in the game for story, replay value etc.
-Get closer to cartridge like instantaneous loading

 

[DaGwaphics]

The only cards what i see in the stores are for PS essential extra and premium i have never seen any digital cards for games...like never....

That's what I had thought. Most of the retailers don't even advertise the extra or premium cards (just the dollar value cards), Sony wants the retailers out of the digital picture.

@ Kazekage1981 , physical media with no install required is the ultimate. It makes it worth it. With the disks that require installs it's just easier to do digital since you can't pick any game in your collection and just play it on a whim anyway. Unfortunatly, it seems like the flash memory at the speeds and sizes needed by a series console would be extremely prohibitive.

 

[Toons]

Is Sony going to completely stop printing Blu-ray disc movies too?

Yes lol

Yall really talking about friggin blu rays? Every gd movie that releases is already on a streaming platform. No one gives af about blu rays. We already are seeing best buy and co dump em. They'll be in landfills soon enough.

Discs are going the way of CDs for music. How many of you bought an actual CD to listen to music on in the last 5 years? How many of you know people that did? No, most just stream their music like everyone else.

The few holdouts aren't nearly big enough to secure a major space for disc media long term. That guy you were responding to may be a bit overzealous but I dont think he's entirely wrong. Would not be surprised in the next ps6 is all digital or close to it.

We can talk about the ramifications of that but its happening. If not next gen then the one after, the third world countries will simply be forced to catch up like what happens every few gens. If you dont think these convos are beign had behind closed doors hoe to being them the same streaming media as we in the US have you're naive.

 

[ScHlAuChi]

I just don’t think we should be adding to the already enormous plastic waste we produce annually when we have a perfectly functional alternative that doesn’t require the extra plastic..

How is printing a plastic disc that can be reused thousands of times worse than cloud computing that has to keep the game available at all times?

The Staggering Ecological Impacts of Computation and the Cloud

Anthropologist Steven Gonzalez Monserrate draws on five years of research and ethnographic fieldwork in server farms to illustrate some of the diverse environmental impacts of data storage.

thereader.mitpress.mit.edu

"The Cloud now has a greater carbon footprint than the airline industry. A single data center can consume the equivalent electricity of 50,000 homes."

 

[Ar¢tos]

But why, in the first place, does anyone need to talk about the blu-ray market and Sony's potential interest in that in a thread that is about Xbox shutting down physical retail departments and potentially abandoning physical games sales completely?

I guess so he could say Xbox dropped physical, but it was Sony that was planning to do it first?

If Sony really had short term plans to drop physical, I'm sure there would be something about it in the Insomniac leaks, since it's one of their major studios.

What other physical storage medium can MS use to sell physical games besides optical disks (such as Ultra Blu Ray Disk) if consumers want to continue to purchase games in a physical storage medium?

What if MS wants to genuinely overcome the technical limitations of the current Ultra Blu Ray Disk Drive:

-Getting rid of the diode and internal hardware components of the Ultra Blu Ray Disk drive to reduce costs and make room for other things such as:
-Increase internal hardware storage space from 1 Terabyte to 2 TB+?
-Increase the amount of physical storage medium size (current limitation of Ultra Blu Ray Disk Size: 33GB-100GB) so game developers and publishers are not constraint on the content they want to put in the game for story, replay value etc.
-Get closer to cartridge like instantaneous loading

There are a few other formats, but all are worse (for gaming) and way more expensive.
Blu-ray currently holds 128gb (not used for gaming, but it is used for movies),
It can hold up to 300gb, but becomes prohibitively expensive.
Outside of SD based cartridges, the options are made for archival purposes (Archival Disc, HVD), not meant for mass production for distribution.

Blu-ray is currently, and for the foreseeable future, the cheapest and most reliable option to distribute games in a physical format.

 

[Papa_Wisdom]

This is my Xbox physical collection. If Xbox decide to go all digital they will have lost a long time customer.

 

[Astray]

What if MS wants to genuinely overcome the technical limitations of the current Ultra Blu Ray Disk Drive:

-Getting rid of the diode and internal hardware components of the Ultra Blu Ray Disk drive to reduce costs and make room for other things such as:
-Increase internal hardware storage space from 1 Terabyte to 2 TB+?
-Increase the amount of physical storage medium size (current limitation of Ultra Blu Ray Disk Size: 33GB-100GB) so game developers and publishers are not constraint on the content they want to put in the game for story, replay value etc.
-Get closer to cartridge like instantaneous loading

I mean we've already seen what they'd do if they remove physical drives: Create proprietary formats for storage expansion like what happened with the Series S|X.

Why are we acting like this is a mystery?

 

[LordCBH]

This is my Xbox physical collection. If Xbox decide to go all digital they will have lost a long time customer.

Side note, how is the Zone of the Enders HD set? I’ve been buying lots of BC 360 titles since I got my Xbox last year and have been tempted by that one a few times.