You could even go further back, towards the time when EA really meant what their company name says. You'd get so much stuff in a gamebox. The so called feelies. I really miss those things. They were awesome.
I remember in 1992 or 3 buying TF1942 on the pc and not only did it come with a physical map but also a ship identification book and a book about the Pacific War!
Especially sitting on the toilet. Especially those 90s instructions manuals. It would have all the enemy types, guns etc etc. And also Magazines. I remember I could go to any store & gas station and get a video game magazine.
I remember as a kid, going to Target and seeing row after row of pristine shrink wrapped NES games. This was before every game was behind locked glass and you could hold the game in your hand and read the box and enjoy the artwork before deciding to buy. The good old days.
Sadly there are thieves and shoplifters on the rise who would be selfish to steal products from the store and cause prices to rise especially video games. I would never steal from a store, I will always be honest and pay for what I buy. I don't want to get in trouble with the police or the law.
@@GamingOffTheGrid When Nintendo 64 was out I remember that I needed Mario Kar 64 and it was like at Target I think and My Mother bought it for me or for my Birthday or a Christmas Gift.
Here is something most people are not realizing. Starting last year Nintendo changed their billing practices. We have bought a few games as Digital Download for a couple of years now using Paypal. Starting in January 2022, Nintendo, changed their billing code to show their billing out of a foreign country. For the last 4 purchases, I have been seeing these "foreign transaction fees" on my charge card bill. Come to find out Nintendo is coding these transactions as coming from the Singapore. The billing used to show Washington. I got some of my fees reimbursed but then Nintendo stopped refusing to do that. So digital downloads are actually costing more than a physical copy. Depending on how much of a gaming family you are, these fees can start adding up. We have gone back to ordering physical copies and giving business back to gamestop. Best of luck and watch those fees.
Well you can combat that by making ur console different region and using vpn for that country and buy eshop games that way. They sell them way cheaper in other territories. Just do a google search. It’s some third world country. It’s essentially the same thing Nintendo is doing, it’s cheaper for them to do from another country then the USA but they are still enjoying charging USA prices.
That might be a PayPal thing. I either buy eShop cards at my local store because they give extra store points for gift cards, or I use my credit card directly in the eShop. I never see any extra fees.
I never used PayPal. I use my debit to buy games on the eShop. Not to say that I dislike PayPal. I do have a bandcamp account, after all; but that was a scummy thing to do
✅ I hear you about being a 90’s kid!!! I’ve resisted the digital offensive and refuse anything past the psp!!! I’m happy enough playing Skyrim on the last system I’ll ever buy which is the PS3.
Cds, DVDs sinking..... Digital media is new wave and a game doesn't cost $50 it cost $200 with all the add ons. Hate it or love it. I'm curious do you still carry cold hard cash? 🤕
That's cause people let themselves get sucked in to all the crap around nowadays. Especially the young generation they are part of everything disappearing cause they keep consuming what we dont want.
@@GamingOffTheGrid It's funny. Capitalists always claimed socialism would be disownment, now capitalism actually disowns people of their entire cultural capital. Digitalisation is madness.
Which is also why some people not buying into typical things like the housing market. If you live with next to nothing. Then there nothing to tie you to a place.
me too...the second that gaming companies go all digital is the second they lose my business frankly...I see no actual value in an all digital ecosystem for the consumer.
So what are you doing besides bitching about it on social media, are you leading the campaign? Or are you gonna let these companies troll and teabag you
@jamesnguyen7069 your the type that would take the mark of the beast and pledge allegiance to the antichrist and Satan just to get your digital copy so the boomers rule because we can see the future of where this digital content is headed.
The big advantage of physical copies is that it is immune to changes. When video game companies do remakes, companies sometimes take out content that is "unacceptable" in modern times.
The physical copy will also last longer than the digital copy. The digital copy will last no longer than the console it's installed on, and they never last that long before they crap out. If you take care of a physical copy on the other hand... I still have NES games, where well over half my ps3 library got wiped out when they removed ps3 from psn and the ps3 took a shit. Still got my hard copies though.
@@unicorntomboy9736 throughout history the OP comment is true. 10 years from now , most of the stuff today will be deemed immoral, that’s how it works with subjectivism
It's concerning...digital purchases are licenses that can be removed without notice and we would not get refunded. No more owning anything, just allowing us to play until we can't
Just because you haven't personally seen it does not negate the fact it can or has happened. I have had some that I've seen on my devices that have affected my library. If it is installed, then sure you may not lose it, but what about people who have it digitally and the shop closes like the 3DS. Or that I have my XBox 360 with games I've purchased and when I go to re-download a game from my purchase history it says that I have a purchase but it is unavailable. Or the Steam users who get a notification that a producer has removed a product from Steam and it subsequently was removed from my Steam account too.
As long as there is a demand for physical media, I think there will always be small companies like Evercade that will produce products for this niche market. Make sure we keep supporting them!
I think physical media will make a huge comeback in the next few years. Because people will get (and are) tired of being ripped off. Sorry. I'm t 29. I have never bought a digital game,movie, comic, or streaming service. And I never will. I'm more than willing to go out of my way and pay more for physically media. Because I like owning what I pay for.
I have gone mostly the other way. As a DJ, I either have to miss out on music or could be waiting 6-8 months for something to hit a vinyl release (which, for me is less fun than using a digital version due to its restrictions and sensitivity) if I stay on physical media. I have a bunch of Drum & Bass records from the mid to late 2000s because I already own them and a small curated LP collection. I want to curate my D&B vinyl collection with better copies of tunes I love, and flesh out bits that I missed out due to budgetary constraints of being in my early-mid 20s. For general listening I prefer Spotify due to its ability to use your tastes to help you find similar music that you may have overlooked when it came out (or explore new genres) due to the expense of buying an album for €15-20 to maybe get 2 songs you want. Again, if I feel like I need it, Bandcamp exists. For movies its the same. I have some highlights on DVD or Blu Ray - mostly films that I have a connection with - but I much prefer having access to a wide library of movies and shows to either broaden my horizons of genres or have seamless access to the things I love. For games I do have a Switch with a small library, but seeing as I mostly game on PC my library has been digital since 2017. Technical problems with physical media and gaming has meant an all-digital future has been coming for some time to a point where basically game discs are just installers and physical DRM from the PS4 era onwards anyway (that optical media read/write speed limitation). With consoles being a closed system it makes community mods and post server shutdown support far more difficult, which is why the only console I own is a Switch.
I remember how proud I was when I bought Lunar SSSC, and Lunar Eternal Blue on the PS1. They were brand new, and came with a soundtrack, a making of video, a map, and a beautiful colored instruction booklet. Hell, it even came with a necklace inside! Try to get memories like that through a digital download. I miss the 80's and 90's for gaming....It's a time that is nearly gone, and it saddens me that my 13 year old will never experience the type of joy that I did.
Those two were top of the line RPG, and a load of fun, can already tell you that you got a big fish out there, I bought it too when it had just been originally released in the stores and played it extensively around 20 years ago, all the goodies you mentioned were there alright, but I lost the neckless because I've been moving a few times...
My current fear is having a huge digital library and then with these ever expanding and vauge terms of service you break a rule, you get banned and you lose your library. Many platforms are adopting terms of service where your off platform behavior can result in bans, discord, twitter and twitch all do this, theres less and less we can say and joke about these days. there will come a time where you will have to keep your mouth shut in fear of losing your games, movies or even bank account
Then you have to sue them to get access to your Account again. Here in Germany someone got their amazon Account suspended because he is a seller and there were some issues with amazon so they closed his. BUT he bought stuff on it which he couldnt access anymore and sued amazon. The result was that amazon needs to find a way to block his seller Account while still giving him access to everything he legaly bought. If they cant do it, they cant block his Account. Basically they cant take stuff away you payed for. But thats of course a country by country issue.
The rules are very clear and easy to follow. Don’t be a douchedick and you won’t get banned. How hard is that? It’s not a huge disadvantage, Inhad a buddy that got banned from Steam for saying a meme racist term as a joke. Lesson to be learned don’t say anything racist. That fucking simple.
@Brian Price this wasn't directed at Amazon but at every company that sells you digital goods. Especially since their ToS or EULA have so many parts in there that are illegal and cant be applied. Just for example Sony states that if your Account gets banned, every money you still got in there, They wont pay it back to you in their ToS/EULA. The german company Telekom (you may know them in america as T-mobile), they stated that after some time the money you charged on your Account isnt usable anymore after some time if you didn't use it. A judge slammed that part and said that part in the ToS is illegal therefore it cant be applied in Germany. A similar case was in Austria just last year but this time it was directly with Playstations ToS/EULA, where their court decided that a bunch of their stuff they wrote in there is not legal.
This applies as well to owning vinyl records. Just to hold that large piece of cardboard in your hands and admiring the picture or graphic illustration you're starting at, it was pure magic!
The thing is, with movies and music, there is a huge replayability factor. So getting a physical copy is without because you want to listen or watch multiple times. Unlike a game, that if finished, might not get touched again in years. Sure games can be very played for hours, but that's most likely one or two at a time. You can consume music and movies more at a time. Which makes collecting physical for those media types better.
Another thing to think about is the fact that the government cannot track and trace which games you are playing, and when, if you are playing stand alone console games. If you have to go online and log in to play, then they can control when, if, or how long you can play. Just look at what happened to the truckers in Canada. They were protesting the government, and the government decided that they would just shut off their bank accounts. This happens all the time in China, North Korea, etc.
I agree 1,000% with you guys about keeping the physical games alive. The thing is guys our age especially me I have fond memories off going to Toy R Us or GameStop to buy some games, and the fact that I can buy a game without leaving my house is not really a memorable experience. Great Episodes guys
Physical games are going to just fall into the hands of Indie developers. You know there are plenty of hacked games and games that are created now for older consoles that are not originasl. Might seem like a far fetch but I'd be willing to buy some of those games If I had the consoles to go with them. Lots of really cool Dreamcast are Saturn games.
Back in the PS1 era I used to get paid on a Friday afternoon, buy something in my lunch break (I worked in town) eagerly read the manual & clock watch as I counted down the hours before I could get home & play.
Yes but kids nowadays prefer the instant gratification of getting the game digital and just playing rather than taking the time to leave the house, go to the store, buy the game, come back, install the game then play it.
Some of my greatest memories was going to the mall in the early 90s and late 80s. Going straight to the store that had only movies, music and video games and nothing else. Endless shelves of fun.
@@Mr_Mcfeely have you tried going there lately? Sure, they still have those things, but the space has definitely shrunk considerably. Nowadays, most of their shelf space is 4 Funko Pop and other products
@@dsmoothb yup idk about yours but my closest FYE still has a great physical media section for movies and music, they even have ramped up their vinyl selection over the past few year's. They do indeed have a massive wall of POPs too, you're not wrong about that but collectibles are entertainment so it fits with their brand. They were never really a big game store but for that these days I always seek out mom and pop game shops
Fuel the out of control prices. Been collecting for years… and it’s getting out of hand. People listing things 200% over it’s value. Pricecharting isn’t helping either. As eBay is only one avenue of the market, but it’s starting to set the standard.
I mostly buy games online because I'm a bargain shopper. I've noticed the prices of physical games rarely come down like they've traditionally always done. Used to be almost every game I purchased was a physical copy because you could get that cheaper than the digital version outside of a massive sale. Now, because these companies are putting out far fewer copies, those discounts are rarely there due to there being so many fewer copies in the wild. Most of the time it's much cheaper to wait for a steep discount on the PlayStation store now. And that sucks cuz I prefer the physical copies, but I'm not gonna over pay. These video game companies want everything to be digital so that they can control the price and maximize profits. That's why you see games not getting physical releases much more often now and less copies being made when they do. It's being forced upon us slowly. We all see it, and it sucks
We totally agree and been telling people this! If they can get people to buy the same game multiple consoles they win by makin thay extra money and cut there cost! Cheers!
This is an interesting discussion. I was born in 1988 so I also have the nostalgia of opening physical games and consoles and being so excited over it. I grew up playing my brother's NES, but my first console was the N64. My niece and nephew are both under 12 now and their perception of gaming is so different. They only want ipad-like games. We had gotten them 2ds' a few years ago and they played each game we got them for all of 5 minutes before declaring "I'm done!" because they don't understand the appeal of playing a game for 40+ hours to experience a story. They want a "quick fix" 5 minutes of gameplay before moving on to something else. Now my nephew does love the switch he received for Christmas last year, but he doesn't care about physical games, he only wanted a fortnight card for in-game purchases. New gamers are being raised completely differently now and "quick fix" games are all they care about because their attention span is gone. That plus the "subscription for everything!" models leave people with too much choice to really appreciate what they're actually playing.
So true. Back in the old days we got one or two games for christmas and that's what we played for the rest of the year. Maybe traded a few around with friends, but that was it.
Reading through the instruction manual and seeing the artwork for Adventure of Link, as a kid, gave me a lot more appreciation for the game and really helped set the entire tone for the game. The instruction booklet provided the story for the game and presented a much darker setting than the game lets on. That shaped my view of the game and made me enjoy it a lot more. I likely wouldn't have enjoyed it as much if I hadn't. Just getting an eShop points gift card would be extremely depressing.
I feel like I don't actually own the game when I buy digital. Its the same with music. I grew up with buying physical games from Atari 2600 to NES, and so on. Its very sad seeing all of this happening. Thank you for your videos. Take care.
This is not just a feeling. Basically, you just buy the right to play a game. With physical media, at least you own the CD or cartridge. Physical games can be given away, sold, lent or inherited. With digital games you can't do all that, you can play the game as long as it's available. You are also dependent on the seller. If a platform is closed down completely, all games are lost.
I couldn't agree more. I would say that most of my games that I own are physical games. I own (?) maybe 10 digital games vs. hundreds of physical games. Nothing will ever compare to playing the physical games on the actual consoles with the original game controllers. The look, the feel, the smell of the physical games is all part of the experience. The same with physical music albums. At 51 years of age, I seriously feel sad for the future of gaming (and music). Denying the future generations of this whole awesome experience.
@@AlonsoFan2023 You also own the storage medium the digital download is stored on, its basically the same thing as "physical", just that the storage medium can store more than one game on it.
I was watching this on my TV while working and had to log on to my PC to comment. MAN! I cannot agree more with you guys. It makes me so sad to see the traditional gaming style we grew up with, vanish before our very eyes. I'm an 80's boy and this is heart-wrenching. I am glad I never became co-dependent with online gaming/mmo/drm garbage because I can easily just fire up any of my consoles and play my single player adventures without feeling a single lick of bother. Great content guys keep it up!
So happy you made this. So many RUclipsrs are selling collections and giving in to digital. There is nothing weird or strange about your hobby. Any smart person with half a brain would never trust digital. My best buy was fully stocked then just like y’all holidays came and went and they have barley restocked…I haven’t had any issues getting every game I want physical this far, but when it becomes an all digital landscape I’m done. I’ll buy maybe a game or two a year that are essential, and just collect old games…I’m in the northeast, same nightmare here :(
To be honest, I would never, EVER, sell ANY of my physical versions, whether it's VHS tapes, TV Show Discs, Consoles, anything, as long as they are working. If they're broken though, then that's more of if you're willing to find a place to store it and hopefully get it fixed someday, even if it's very unlikely that anyone can fix a second generation console like the Intellivision. When my mom threw out our Pikachu N64 console, It wasn't until years later that I realized, I wanted it back. But by that time 2007 came along, it was too little too late. To this day I'm still trying to get a Pikachu N64 console off of ebay, just that I'm waiting for the right time to get it whenever I can.
Gebs!!!! Yes, it's up to us old school folks to keep it alive as long as possible. Who would have thought we'd be the "old school" crowd. Holy hell, where does time go. Cheers!
Definitely on the Xbox side of things. Physical is healthier for Playstation and Switch consoles, but it's gotten pretty bad for Xbox. Granted, for someone like me who likes physical, the physical copies of Xbox versions of games drop a lot faster in price than Playstation and Switch (I own all the consoles and take this to my advantage) but the reason why Xbox versions have their prices drop faster is because most Xbox owners use Gamepass only.
I notice that as well. But I recently went to Japan and it felt like I was a kid again. From all the option available physically I was shocked I wanted to buy everything. It’s so sad that all this stores in the us are so empty. I’m the type of person that don’t like digital I need a physical copy.
But most so called physical copies of game these day rarely contain the entire game or even any of game on the disc at all the disc you buy basically contain the license that authorizes you to play the download and if the developer stops supporting and or pulls a game from a platform even with the disc the game won’t work or have limited functionality because severs required to download, authorize and play will be inaccessible or nonexistent
No we don’t. Physical media isn’t needed when we can buy a multitude of ssd’s & hard drives to store every game we have purchased. Just keep the console or pc you played the games on & you’re good. Why have a room full of dvds when you can save space with ssd’s?
@@stellarhyme3because there will always be the charm of owning that physical copy of the product that you used your money to buy. The PS3 games I have are real, they take up space, and the space they take up makes up for the space I made in my bank account to get them. Those games will work as long as my console does, there is nothing anyone anywhere can to to change that , barring the online multiplayer aspects. They won't expire or be shut off. They can't be corrupted like a flash drive or crash like a hard drive. They can't sell it to me again at half the price because it's a classic and they want me to pay twice for it.
@@marcusclarkson2657 the charm to these things are in large part due to nostalgia and emotional attachment of experiencing buying the physical game or dvd. And the nostalgia can be a fun novelty, like if there is a random video store in a small town it would be cool to visit it. But the average person is not gonna change their consumers habits for a fun novelty long term. Yeah it’ll be fun to visit a blockbuster, but that doesn’t mean they prefer video rentals to the convenience of streaming. And tho there are many pros to physical media, the cons hugely outweigh the pros.
The gaming golden age where you’d find Ocarina of Time or F-Zero GX under the tree or at the birthday party are long gone. We’re lucky to have those memories!
I remember specifically getting Mario Kart 64 and Mario Golf under the tree…just ecstatic. Been trying to get physical copies for my 8 y/o nephew to keep that alive! My local Best Buy is a ghost town for physical games :(
Everybody is hoarding the physicals, because it's trendy to mark them up for resale. As long as people are paying outrageous prices for these games in the aftermarkets, this trend is going to continue.
Eh. a bunch of physical copies selling on eBay have been cheap. Haven’t seen any price increases on popular Xbox/Playstaiton/wii/etc. items. But definitely something to keep in mind for the future
In Germany, I have not yet noticed this to such an extent. The gaming department has become smaller in recent years, but you can still find numerous games in supermarkets. Then we also have a large electronics chain with Media Markt and Saturn. They don't always have all the games in their local stores, but you can check the local stock online and have the game you want delivered to your local store. You can usually get the popular games right on the spot, indie games or niche Japanese games usually have to be ordered first and are then prepared for pickup at the store.
Searching for a older PS4 game yesterday online and in the shops at the next bigger city I have to slightly disagree, not even Saturn only Media Markt I would call a descent selection (like 3+ years ago) the stock/games they listed online are strangely even less than what was available at site. At the end of the day I had to resort to Ebay and buy it used, for the same price as the digital version plus a addition for shipping. But because I prefer physical (happily) paid it.
Even gamestop is lacking physical games! They have more action figures, t-shirts, and accessories than actual videogames. That said, I have been buying most of my physical copies on Amazon, and on occasion Walmart and ebay.
I think most people who buy physical copies buy them on online places like Amazon and Ebay,this kinda also happened with the blu-ray sections in stores after streaming services like Netflix blew up
We believe thats a factor but with Amazon There is a known factor on some new or newer games of long delays getting it or out of stocks! We think they are slowly making less! Cheers!
Where I am there is a place called Sunrise Records which seems to be the place for physical Blu Ray movies over other retailers these days...that and physical music media.
I personally want to add that the economical situation right now is rough and there is a chip shortage hence why many people couldn't get PS5. Also where I currently live (Germany) there are a lot of physical games in stores. PS4 games are starting to disappear due to no longer being in print and are replaced with PS5 ones. Back in my country PC gaming is way bigger which means that most games are on Steam or Epic with combination of people being poor so there is a weak console culture. However there are still physical and e-store aside of Amazon and E-bay that distribute games for consoles. Furthermore combine it with the fact video game quality have dropped significantly for some time (just look at how many live service games are DOA lately) and it is likely that piracy will likely increase more. People rather put their money for their food, bills and rent than 700$-1500$ GPUs or 70$ games while their salaries stay the same and inflation increases. Believe me people like to collect stuff and don't trust companies like Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony who try to pull the rug bellow their feet the first chance they get. Covid however sure made a mess we will be cleaning a decade.
That tangible experience is EXACTLY what makes people feel nostalgic. The memory of opening that box/case, taking that cart/disc out… reading the manual (when we had manuals)… it makes me wonder if people who will grow up on nothing but digital games will even have that same nostalgia years from now?
I've noticed a lot of empty shelves at Target and Walmart, but if you ask about the game they have them in the back. They don't stock the shelves a lot of time because of theft or because they are short of workers. That said, they also have a lot less copies than they used to.
Wow that’s crazy that a digital copy would cost more then a physical copy. Interesting to see how different things are in different parts of the world.
This is happening in the UK too. Most of the major supermarkets have massively reduced their game sections if not removed them entirely. It's really depressing!
Games nowadays are absolutely garbage, no one is buying them. If they only had older games in there still but very cheap, they probably would have more sales. But modern gaming is trash, who's going out into stores to buy these games.
I remember the time, Morrison's sold cheap games like mr mosquito, etc. Good luck getting them cheap now. Gaming is becoming a niche, expensive market now.
I've noticed this myself as a switch collector. I ONLY buy physical when I can unless I'm not going to open something so I get it digitally also. There's plenty of people who still want physical games. I just don't fell like I really own a game digitally and you can't sell a digital copy if the game sucks. There's nothing like having a case with a cartridge in your hand or taking the plastic off a brand new game. While we are on this subject can we get physical game manuals back? Man do I miss flipping through those! Thanks to the publishers that still have them what a shame...
Manuals were amazing tutorials, tips, lore.... so cool. But so many ungrateful people would throw them directly into the garbage with the box. It's why some manuals outprice their games.
My Walmart today actually had quite a few copies of games today. My issue was finding an employee to open the case to buy Metroid Prime. I took me 15 minutes to do so. No wonder most sales today are digital.
That’s pretty much the case (pun intended) with any products that are locked in a shelf; I have to wait around the same time when I want to get a can of spraypaint
The only retail store I’ve consistently seen physical games at locally is Walmart. Target and Best Buy have been a depressing ghost town for the last year or so. However unlikely I hope in the future we look back on this time as a temporary, dark period in gaming that left as quickly as it came on besides the physical resurgence. I miss the hell out of video rental stores as well but I realize I’m in the minority.
We miss them too man. Some of the best memories was hanging at my local rental store in Norwalk, IA which was also a card shop. It was heaven in the 90's. Cheers!
Patches make it harder too if you love physical. The ideal physical copy is that later-released reprint or Complete Edition, which may include some DLC, but crucially the version of the game with the launch bugs fixed. Cos you know those patches won't be available forever.
True or some small developers with the love of retro games make full complete physical games! There not household titles but we have found so really great games that are hidden gems this way! Cheers!
If you think about it, this is just another route corporations are taking to turning younger generations in to renters. Blackstone, and Blackrock have been doing that to houses since 2008, iTunes is doing it to music, and now it’s movies and video games. We rent the digital until they discontinue it or change it. Just wait, vinyl has made a comeback, so are CDs, physical copies or things from the 90’s and older, are coming back. We will have the last laugh. Edit: I so remember those wrestlers pillows!
Anytime I mentioned that Gamestop could possibly suffer the same fate as Blockbuster and Hollywood video I'm always met with "No it won't gaming is too profitable etc for that to happen" okay well....explain this?
its not that it isnt profitable, distribution methods are changing. its like movies.....the movie industry does numbers but once streaming dropped the game changed
Physical will always have a place because: 1) You can resell the game if you want to like on ebay 2) You can let your friend borrow it. 3) Its yours no matter what and nobody can take it away from you 4) You can put it on your shelf and display it
The real issue is that have easy access to physical copies in a timely manner is going to become harder. Much of the upcoming games will become digital only or will have to be shipped to your house and will be increasingly more vulnerable to scalpers.
I really miss the days when the games had manuals that were practically strategy guides-I remember getting Desert Strike for my Genesis, and that manual had a breakdown of all the items, ammo, enemies, etc.
The ps2 version didnt even run past 30fps.. the GC did.. i feel bad for any blind person who says the ps2 version looked better.. I have always been a sony fan over a nintendo fan but the GC version was way better in performance and visuals.. just like how the ps2 version of scarface had better visuals than the xbox version but gta shined on the xbox
If physical games go away, i would just stop buying games as there won't be any point of doing that anymore. It doesn't make sense to pay money for just a licence to play a game instead of buying a game. If gaming goes all digital and i really want to play a game, i would just pirate it as i feel like even piracy is better than buying games digitally
Greedy bean counters running video game companies hate it because they can't financially exploit gamers with used games like they can with DRM-infested digital copy games right now.
This might be due to the fact that people who buy physical games tend to buy them online and have them delivered. We might start to see places like target start keeping their games in warehouses instead of taking up space in stores. Amazon is a huge one too. I make a lot of game purchases on Amazon. I'm really hoping it isn't just that they are manufacturing less discs.
@@OutofTime.. it's the average consumer who doesnt want to waste gas money just to buy one game who is ruining the industry. It's not amazons fault people prefer to buy things online.
For me at least that's accurate. Over the past 5 years or so i can count the amount of games ive bought in person on one hand, most of the physical games ive bought have been through Amazon. Thought that's still probably not full proof, one of the games i bought last year had problems with physical stock because the company didn't realize there was such a demand for physical copies.
@@geezus7833 That, at least, I'll agree. Though I like browsing a proper gamestory from time to time, I suspect that itch will be scratched in the future by more general 'second hand media' shops like Book Off, assuming physical media retains some popularity.
@@geezus7833 so you rather wait for days to come to your house rather than getting it now? You only want to pay things online because your too lazy to get out of your house and see all the stuff in stores so you can pay it immediately.
Here in MD there’s a lot of physical still at my Target, Walmart and Best Buy. The biggest challenge is actually finding someone at Walmart or Target to actually open the case so you can get the game you want.
Lol yeah we experience that! Sometimes we have to walk up to the cashiers until we see someone and they dont like being asked if they can get someone! Cheers!
This is not happening at my Walmart, Target, etc… YET!! It’s weird because I remember a few years ago, my BestBuy’s DVD/Blu-ray section turned into a ghost town in like a week. But now, at the same Bestbuy, that section looks healthy again. So I wonder if it’s just momentarily for your area. I’d like to hear an update on your stores a few months from now.
Maybe people are deciding to actually buy games again. That could be a possibility and maybe 2023 is the year that people are buying more games and DVDs because my local Walmart has tons of DVDs and games but they did shortened the CD section. Probably because CDs aren't selling as well the same thing happens at my local Target. They decided to make the DVD section a lot smaller last year so they don't sell as many but they kept the video game section the same and I always see tons of video games at target
My local target, gamestop and Walmart look healthy with physical copies but really they are keeping the bare minimum. They look like Fry's electronic stores a few years before they closed. All their inventory is already on the shelfs and none is at the back.
There's going to be less variation of physical games on shelves anyway as the cost and time of making games goes up so there's a lot less AAA games on shelves like there were in the GameCube/Xbox/PlayStation 2 era. Many indie devs simply cannot afford to create physical copies but sometimes they do upon release and others become physical if they sell really well like Shovel Knight
I noticed this probably 15 years ago with big box PC games. You used to be able to find a PC game section anywhere you went. All through the 90s and early 2000s, then the mid 2000s hit and all the PC games starting drying up. That was because digital distribution was starting to take off (Steam). The consoles seemed unaffected at the time (but I think Microsoft was pushing for subscription/digital as back as far as the xbox 360).Anyway, yes, Nintendo is probably the only console/software publisher that has fought hard to stay physical, but even they're starting to go to online services. Anyway, all this is to say, I guess it's inevitable, as Thanos says.
Stores here have pc section which is odd for me as most laptops and pcs made today don’t have a cd drive. I’d have to get a usb cd drive to play physical games.
I've been buying alot of physical stuff lately as I'm kinda against digital for similar reasons you have, but I also goes alot further than just gaming and entertainment. There's a saying floating around "you will own nothing and be happy"
I noticed this recently. My local stores aren’t wiped like yours, but the selection at my GameStop was incredibly threadbare compared to what it was 10 years ago. The Nintendo switch shelves were incredibly small and there just wasn’t that many games. I asked if they had Metroid prime remastered and the guy said he only had 1 copy and it sold the day before. I then went to my local Walmart. They had a much better selection, but still no Metroid prime. I asked the guy if they had it in the back or something. He said the same thing. He said they are receiving much less from the suppliers and they will only received 1 copy of Metroid prime. I’m hoping it is a supply issue. The game companies definitely want physical to go away, but I think if it does, the market as a whole will rebound 10 years from now. The value of physical will shoot through the roof, whereas your digital copies have absolutely no value. As soon as companies get lazy and start removing games en masse and people start losing access to games they thought they owned, the industry will change again. Just like everything else, the oblivious normies have to wake up before anything changes. I’ve already lost access to a digital game I paid full price for and it changed my entire mindset. Let it happen to a bunch of people, and things will change
@@captaindestruction9332 Except for Apple, that’s mostly true. I’ve had iOS games completely pulled from my account on two or three occasions. Steam has been rock solid though. Nintendo, not so much - On the Wii channel of my Wii U I had purchased a couple Wii games that are no longer on my account.
@@captaindestruction9332 mostly true, but not entirely correct. I’ve already lost access to 2 digital games that I “owned”, Alan wake and too human. I’m pretty sure there are more but I own so many it is hard to keep straight
@@Socherbal A lease that never ends, as my digital games/roms can be quite legally backed up and restored at any time. Your physical media on the other hand eventually will come to an end, and then what? Now, cloud gaming is another story and something I refuse to support.
Here in Los Angeles none of the stores have any physical games. Been like this for a good while. I am also concerned about this since owning a digital copy at the end of the day means you don't own anything .
I think all stores are pushing online ordering or a store pickup. The shop doesn’t have to stock a large inventory and can ship it next day or same day for pickup.
As a filmmaker who works in the industry I feel the same with movies. More and more we’re seeing movies released for streaming and not in cinema…. It’s so sad.
Directors are fearing that there new movies will no longer be shown in theatres because of streaming. We might see movie theatres go bye bye to streaming. Sounds crazy but if someone told me Blockbuster would never shut down I’d believe them.
My buddy is a huge film buff, he dedicated most of his house to bookshelves of physical copies from floor to ceiling, all cataloged, it warms my heart when I go by.
I’ve never noticed that where I live in Florida. I usually don’t shop at Target. Their video game section is very limited. Best Buy and Walmart seem to be fine as far as video games.
It's the same here on the East Coast. I've been having many internal debates on moving to digitals. Digital games now come with more in game perks and are downloaded/installed 2 days early, so you don't waste hours on release day. As someone who values collecting steelbooks, this has been driving me absolutely insane. I hope companies make steelbooks or physical collectors items purchasable seperately one day.
I go through the same debate. If it's a game that I really don't care about. I'll buy it digitally, which is rare tho. If a sale on a game is dirt cheap that I don't really want to play, but to have just to be there on a rainy day. I'll buy it. But yes. I actually just got into steel books. Always been into strategy guides tho. They still make those. I saw a Forspoken strategy guide at Barnes and noble, and I was like yyeah I'm buying this. I love strategy guides haha.
Shockingly, GameStop still has physical copies. But they have less in my stores, by sometimes not having certain PS5 games on shelf. Somedays I don't see Returnal, Demon's Souls, Requiem 2, or MW2. It's crazy
@@resiefan3258 Those games are very popular, I work for a company who manufactures physical media, and Demon Souls is a very high demanding game wanted physically, as well as Returnal and the other title he mentioned as well.
Absolutely. It’s sad . Even the recent re4 remake went out of my way to buy physical copy , but the case is soulless … nothing in it but cd . You go to target , Best Buy , it’s sad . When my kids and I walk through the isle I always reminisce and tell them how packed the isles were of games at one time … it’s sad…
Again, we knew it would come to this but seeing it person in aisles that look like they are from the Walking Dead is weird to see. Crazy times. Thanks for watching. Cheers!
I spent many years painting on canvas with brushes, but when I got an iPad, I found drawing and painting on it incredibly convenient. However, I still have a deep-seated preference for the tactile experience of painting on canvas, which I find more enjoyable. My primary concern with digital platforms, particularly gaming, is the possibility of them shifting to a subscription-based model similar to Netflix. While this may offer cost savings initially, the thought of not owning any games after several years of subscription worries me. In my country, physical copies like DVDs and Blu-rays have become nearly obsolete, leaving platforms like the Apple Store or Netflix as the sole options. Additionally, the potential risk of account hacking or being banned raises further concerns about the security and longevity of digital ownership.
Physical copies are indeed vanishing off the shelves here where I live. I kind of miss the days where you could try out the games at the stores and buy them if you enjoyed them.
My local Walmart has like tons of games. No one's buying them apparently. It's shocking that some Walmarts don't even carry that many games. That could mean everybody's buying it or that can mean It's not being made anymore or as much but I do notice when you go into GameStop I see so many games that are on clearance for PlayStation switch and Xbox because they're not selling as well
@@NSG_UK We need more demo disks!! When I got my original playstation when it came out the only game I had was Crash Bandicoot and the demo disk. I played the crap out of that demo disk once crash got boring.
I absolutely hate the pricing of digital vs physical media. IMO, digital should be at least 5-10 bucks cheaper. Which leads me to say...thank you Steam, I love your amazing sales! Side note, that gameboy carrying case in the back. I so wish I still had mine. I loved that thing.
I was told this wasn’t true for the US, but here in the UK, physical games are always cheaper.. by a lot… day one release games are £50-60 digital, physical day one can easily be £40. Then there’s sales… so physical here is often about saving money. After a few months, games that are still £50 digitally can be £10 in stores
Here is Canadia Digital is hella cheap after a year or so, hence the "Netflix Tax". I used to get more for my dollar then the "Netflix Tax" happened when I could get an extra game or a Dlc Costume or something now you can forget about it.
I absolutely love collecting disks. Games… movies… it feels way cooler to pop in CD. I knew this was gonna happen so I’ve been collecting!! Also… you can trade games with friends, let them borrow, and bring the games with you everywhere. When it’s virtual.. you’re kinda stuck.. ughhhh they better not stop printing disks. Or make less….
I prefer physical copies of games, but when they started being $60+ a piece and the used games market started going downhill, I haven’t been able to afford many games brand new. So I have to wait for an online sale or something in order to get them. Which is why I only have like 7 or 8 Switch games even after 5 years of having the console because Nintendo is so bad at having sales on games. Almost 10 years with my PS4 and I only have a dozen or so physical discs as well (granted I had more that I traded into GameStop years ago to put towards others). I love being a small collector of the games/franchises I love, but it’s sad how increasingly difficult it’s becoming. My kids will probably be growing up on my old ps2 and ps3 consoles until they hit middle school.
Not to sound bias but we think they will enjoy those consoles more lol! But yeah we fully understand where you are coming from! Its frustrating! Cheers!
I'll never forget getting my SNES Christmas of '92. It was bundled with Super Mario World. The manual was so magical that I use to carry it with me to church and read through it like a book while in attendance lol. I miss those days. The art work, the tips, etc was all in the manual.
Those were definitely the days! I can remember all those experiences of the 90s going to get games or getting them for birthdays and Christmas! That cant be duplicated! Some of the younger gen will never experience that! Cheers!
i bought a snes a few years ago an a saga genesis my nostalgia went cold once i realized the games had a hard time staying clean. i also realized the games were outrageous prices so digital is much more reasonable. their are even sales in winter and summer wene i buy most of my games. the exception would be games like final fantasy 7 remake witch i bought for full price as i rely like the game.
There's nothing like having a physical copy with my video games and books. I feel when I hold a physical copy of a video game or book, I can appreciate that person's hard work. I support the small business retro video game stores. The memories of my first console which was the Sega Genesis, I can still remember and I still have it to this day. It's happening out here in California too. I went to Target and the shelves were empty. I have my collection of NES, Genesis, N64, PS1, PS2, Dreamcast, and GameCube.
Well said! Glad you have your old consoles and games and alot more people will go more retro if they arent already when that happens because too many people want physical! Cheers!
This is the most important subject RIGHT NOW. It isn't just games. You will never retire, you will never own a house. You will own NOTHING and YOU WILL BE HAPPY.
Good video! It is disappointing to see physical copies of games becoming a thing of the past, but it does make sense that digital game stores are more popular in this day and age. I think we all knew it was inevitable that physical copies of games would be phased out, but still is disappointing. If you grew up with some of the "retro" consoles as a kid, you knew how exciting it was to have a boxed copy of a game (sometimes with a full-color manual filled with art). There was just something special about having a physical copy and your games collection displayed on your shelf.
This video hit me right in the seeds. I knew it was coming but it seems to be gathering pace. Part of the gaming experience for me is the awesome box art, the way the spines look on my shelf, the manuals…but most importantly the memories attached to those games, the people you played those games with. So sad.
@@undefined7141I was all about it during the 360 days, but when my hardrives fried and I tried to redownload all of my games back I noticed a bunch were unavailable. Never again.
It's happening in England too. My local Tesco, Asda and Morrison's all have reduced the size of their gaming sections. I'm pretty sure HMV have stopped selling games. CEX and GAME are still the same but there's definitely a shift coming.
Car companies are now charging subscription fees for things like using the heated seats in your car... that you already paid for and were already installed when you bought it. They are moving the "live service model" from games to physical products. Eventually, they want us to "own nothing" and have to rent absolutely everything we use. So when I hear you say that "you aren't buying the game but rather RENTING IT for a set period" you are SPOT ON. There are a lot of dirty things going on in the video game and in general tech that they plan to export to physical items. This is a very deep rabbit hole to go down, especially when you realize that most of the initial funding for social media and tech companies has connections that glow or are connected to DoD. Through Musk's leaks we found out that the "control of information" TIME referred to extends to our intel agencies. Then the tech companies happen to sell the very same items they use to spy on us. Critiques have rightly stated that these act as another branch of government, and this parallels what we learned in a congressional investigation in 1975 (Church committee; I can't type name of Op or comment gets buried). Needless to say there is reason to believe the infiltration of MSM never ended, and this explains much of what we see today. When it really starts to get crazy is when you understand that the lead the media buried about the island where children were taken was that couple had connections to multiple different intel agencies... including ones that are ENEMIES and we are currently in a proxy war with. It was clear to every party that everyone else was aware of the honey pot and its purpose was blackmail... so why would they go ahead with it for decades? The only solution that makes sense is collusion. In fact, many nations now share every bit of information with one another without any omission or censoring of information (FIVE EYES). Which sounds absurd until you look very closely into the creation of all of these intel agencies as well as question the "blowback" that led to this enemy intel agency. The initial funding is quite telling, and the family names are not coincidental. And this itself sounds absurd until you read things like Dr. Anthony C. Sutton's "Wall Street and the Bolshevik Revolution" and "Wall Street and the Rise of Hitler." TLDR: the same people funded both communism and fascism and either profited off aid to the supposed enemy or funded both sides. We know that these intel agencies do not answer to even presidents. They get to determine what information the president has access to, have been proven to act against sitting presidents and influence the result of presidential elections, and considering they are clearly tied to an assassination of a president that is strong evidence in favor. In fact, one of their main objectives is to have blackmail on anyone who gets high up in politics, and it has been admitted this applied to presidents as well. So the question then is, who do they answer to? And if not the same types of families who want to create "a more connected world" that funded them... then who? And what other explanation could explain collusion but this?
I used to be all for physical until I realized that the disc can run the risk of being damaged and unplayable. This happened with me with the original Modern Warfare when my disc got scratched up and had to buy another 60 dollar copy
A lot of modern games need day 1 patches and don't even launch with all the content on the disk. There's DLC as well, but then you'd have eliteists like "I don't care about playing DLC for a game when it's 20 years old" but then they'll miss out on extra Super Smash Bros characters and stages and big expansion packs like TES IV Oblivion's Shivering Isles DLC or any Borderlands DLC which adds so much content to the game
I get my physicals off of Amazon because the stores never have anything. I recently went to stores in the hopes of finding Metroid Prime remastered because Amazon preorders were overwhelmed, and Nintendo seemed to only make like 3 copies for the entire planet because they were nowhere to be found. I eventually got the physical copy available on Amazon an entire month after the physical version was “Released”.
There's definitely good and bad on both sides when it comes to physical versus digital. On PC, physical games mostly completely disappeared years ago. Where I live, both Walmart and Best Buy especially have shrunk their physical game selection but Walmart is still pretty decent overall. The vast majority of their games are locked behind a glass cabinet with the side of the cases showing, not the front covers.
I remember scoring physical media at Electronic Boutique, Babbages, Circuit City and Radio Shack…I’m so old 😂 The experience of buying consoles and games in person should not go away.
I remember most of those! Babbages is the one i dont recognize! I feel you on the old thing! Yes buying physical in person should never go away! Cheers!
I miss baggages. I used to sit and watch the tvs with game trailers every time I went to the mall. Last game I bought there was knights into dreams on the saturn before they closed . Then funco land opened
I thought I was the only one noticing this. If you dont preorder games these days they wont be in stock. Amazon has been my go to for physical games because retail stores are not keeping up the stock of physical games at all
PSA about Best Buy. They are cutting their store staff to save money. So they aren't keeping games out on the shelf. So if you go into the Playstation section there are no games out there. They are worried people will steal them and there isn't staff there to prevent it. I went to the register and they had TONS of copies behind the register for all systems.
at both of the local walmarts near us , not only is it exactly like you guys have described it, BUT ...they also decreased the amount of shelf space dedicated to physical games. so that means the length / aisle size has shrunk down to maybe half or slightly bigger than half.i still pre order my games physically from various stores (including but not limited to Amazon, Bestbuy, etc etc) and yeah there may be a slight delay , but i'll take the delay over buying the digital. i've bought a few digital games here and there , but 99% of my collection is physical.. i'm a physical gamer, it's like you said the memories, the ability to go back whenever and replay the games, etc
Watching 2 different neighbors challenge each other to beat OOT and having one of them beg me to tell him how the other one got into the well when I was 6 years old and me caving because he said he would let me borrow it after is peak 90s nostalgia.
Also, not ALL sorts of digital cards are "plumb-full" at stores. At my local Target, for instance, they seem to have stopped carrying Steam Gift Cards; and yet, Sam's Club still carries those... including the $100 Steam Gift Cards that I hadn't seen in Target in YEARS. The gaming gift cards I've seen at Target the most lately have been mobile gacha-game-related ones... such as Google Play Store Gift Cards, Fortnite Gift Cards, Roblox Gift Cards, and Apple App Store Gift Cards.
@@bimmer8602 I've an idea of WHICH type of scam: one in which the perp scratches that foil substance off the back of some Steam cards, writes down the codes that are revealed, cover these codes back up, and then puts them back in the store display. Then, when some people buy the tampered cards and then the cashier activates them, the perp will enter the compromised Steam Wallet Codes and thus adds funds to his or her own Steam Wallet at the expense of the buyers, who now find themselves with invalid Steam Wallet Codes; and thus: worthless Steam Cards.
I think Target isn’t selling Steam cards anymore because of scams. Any place that still carries them is always sold out too. As someone who uses gift cards to buy games on Steam, this is extremely annoying.
Physical games are being made, it’s the US market that is being conditioned to digital only because the big companies know we’ll shell out money to buy the same thing over and over again.
That is why I try and support my local mom n pop video game store. Here in IA. Amazon gets physical copies but the last 3 I have bought ( pre ordered like a month before release) show up 3 days later.
This video is important. I wish awareness like this went viral. I share your passion, fellas. So in honor of my day off, I’m getting my fat ass off my couch and going to my local video game store to buy more physical media. Key term, “local.” #SupportSmallBusiness UPDATE : After watching this video, I went and spent $130 at my local game shop, but also went to both my local Walmart stores to check their gaming inventory and the shelves were PACKED full of games for PS4/5, Xbox and Switch. They also had a massive clearance bin that I got 3 games sealed for $2.97 a piece! I guess the same issues isn’t going on here in West Virginia, maybe it’s a region thing?
I knew something was wrong in this video. Throughout the whole beginning, not once did these guys ask an employee if there were any issues with stocking.
Shelves at my local Target and Best Buy are completely empty in mid-Michigan...asked an employee and he said yeah it's always like this. I asked him why and he said he didn't know. & yes I asked the guy who worked in the electronics department.
I’m very disappointed to hear about this. The younger generation of today has clearly been conditioned to buy into the all digital future where you will own nothing and “Be Happy.” Unfortunately they will influence the market in a bad way for everyone…
Man, this video hit me right in the feels. I'm in Columbus, OH and don't check out retailers too much, but at the Best Buy and Meijer I've frequented they didn't seem to be as bare as by you guys. But it's definitely not what it used to be. I'll be physical for life. At least as long as they let me. At that point I think I'll just be a retro gamer. Even with the PS4 era. I can still play those games offline if I want. I also make sure to always install games when I get them and then back up the hard drive so I have patches installed so I can hopefully enjoy these games when I go back to them (because I know I will one day). Also, like you guys, still loving old school zombies. I think Black Ops III zombies gameplay is fantastic, but Black Ops 1 and World at War are phenomenal and the OG. Hard to top those two.
Og zombies is so much fun. But what sucks is that Activision gready ass still charges full price for DLC maps after 15 years. And the PC version of BOII is still $60 and that's just for the base game. Multiplayer doesn't even work for the older cods which is sad. And the Halo serves shut down for good. All we got left are LAN parties
I'm also in Columbus, and I second that. Retailers like Best Buy, Target, Walmart, etc are pretty barren. Not totally empty like the video but it's pretty close.
Best Buy has really changed. Went in a couple weeks ago after a couple years of not & it’s a completely different place. Half the store is appliances. No movies or music at all. Hell the PC section shrunk too.
I'm a big fan of physical game copies,because if you download a game on a newer console,your gonna run out of storage space in your gaming console,and your gonna have to delete some of your digital games for more space for your digital game that your working on. So why would you get digital games,if you can play physical games that you deleted without repaying the price of your deleted games??? It's kinda like movie apps,why are you paying twenty five dollars a month when you can buy a DVD once,and have the movie forever without paying for it every month. It doesn't make sense to me on people just wasting their hard earned money for repaying.
Damn this video is blowing up! Great job guys. Only thing I've noticed physically lately is that my Walmart doesnt seem to want to carry clearance games anymore.
It's not just physical copies, it started with game manuals I loved flipping through them
You could even go further back, towards the time when EA really meant what their company name says. You'd get so much stuff in a gamebox. The so called feelies. I really miss those things. They were awesome.
I remember in 1992 or 3 buying TF1942 on the pc and not only did it come with a physical map but also a ship identification book and a book about the Pacific War!
there are Super Rare Games and Limited Run making physical copies with manuals and whatnot
And maps too.
Especially sitting on the toilet. Especially those 90s instructions manuals. It would have all the enemy types, guns etc etc. And also Magazines. I remember I could go to any store & gas station and get a video game magazine.
I remember as a kid, going to Target and seeing row after row of pristine shrink wrapped NES games. This was before every game was behind locked glass and you could hold the game in your hand and read the box and enjoy the artwork before deciding to buy. The good old days.
Yeah I remember those days as a kid! They really were the good ole days! We didnt realize how good they were in the time! Cheers!
Sadly there are thieves and shoplifters on the rise who would be selfish to steal products from the store and cause prices to rise especially video games. I would never steal from a store, I will always be honest and pay for what I buy. I don't want to get in trouble with the police or the law.
Yeah its unfortunate people do that!
@@GamingOffTheGrid When Nintendo 64 was out I remember that I needed Mario Kar 64 and it was like at Target I think and My Mother bought it for me or for my Birthday or a Christmas Gift.
I have no memory of going to Target before they kept games behind a glass door. I used to just go to Kay Bee Toys and Toys R Us.
Here is something most people are not realizing. Starting last year Nintendo changed their billing practices. We have bought a few games as Digital Download for a couple of years now using Paypal. Starting in January 2022, Nintendo, changed their billing code to show their billing out of a foreign country. For the last 4 purchases, I have been seeing these "foreign transaction fees" on my charge card bill. Come to find out Nintendo is coding these transactions as coming from the Singapore. The billing used to show Washington. I got some of my fees reimbursed but then Nintendo stopped refusing to do that. So digital downloads are actually costing more than a physical copy. Depending on how much of a gaming family you are, these fees can start adding up. We have gone back to ordering physical copies and giving business back to gamestop. Best of luck and watch those fees.
Thats crazy and doesnt seem right! That should more of a reason for people to go physical ovee digital! Cheers!
Well you can combat that by making ur console different region and using vpn for that country and buy eshop games that way. They sell them way cheaper in other territories. Just do a google search. It’s some third world country. It’s essentially the same thing Nintendo is doing, it’s cheaper for them to do from another country then the USA but they are still enjoying charging USA prices.
That might be a PayPal thing. I either buy eShop cards at my local store because they give extra store points for gift cards, or I use my credit card directly in the eShop. I never see any extra fees.
A fellow GameStop patron. Glad to know there are others
I never used PayPal. I use my debit to buy games on the eShop. Not to say that I dislike PayPal. I do have a bandcamp account, after all; but that was a scummy thing to do
I mainly collect physical games, when I’m forced to buy digital, I sometimes forget I even own the game. It’s really annoying. 90s kid problems 😂
Definitely man we do that sometimes also! So frustrating! Cheers!
Same, got like 280 ps plus games on my ps that I haven’t even played
✅ I hear you about being a 90’s kid!!! I’ve resisted the digital offensive and refuse anything past the psp!!! I’m happy enough playing Skyrim on the last system I’ll ever buy which is the PS3.
You don't own the game. You possess a license that can be revoked for any reason at any time.
@@officerminiwheats facts
This is a serious problem for gamers. I only buy physical games, if possible. My only exceptions are when certain games are exclusively digital.
Same here! And we really have to want it too! Cheers!
I bought the disk version of PS5. Because I still had ps 4 games. Disc can be cheaper you get them used or in the bargain bin
Not even physical games are actual physical games. Most have a massive install. The disc is just a license to play it.
thought of sailing the high seas? a pirate's life is a free life unchained by greedy corpos
@@OHCAM5 today, so true. But back in the day, full games were on the discs. Old-school is the way to go. Retro gaming all the way.
This isn't an isolated trend that only effects gaming. We are being conditioned to let go of the the things we hold dearly. LOOK AROUND!
Definitely man! We know its happening in other aspects of life but we are a gaming channel so we talk about gaming! Cheers!
Cds, DVDs sinking.....
Digital media is new wave and a game doesn't cost $50 it cost $200 with all the add ons.
Hate it or love it.
I'm curious do you still carry cold hard cash? 🤕
That's cause people let themselves get sucked in to all the crap around nowadays. Especially the young generation they are part of everything disappearing cause they keep consuming what we dont want.
@@GamingOffTheGrid It's funny. Capitalists always claimed socialism would be disownment, now capitalism actually disowns people of their entire cultural capital. Digitalisation is madness.
Which is also why some people not buying into typical things like the housing market. If you live with next to nothing. Then there nothing to tie you to a place.
I’ve always been a physical over digital media and some of my stores have been doing this lately and its very concerning
I don't like the fact that I won't be able to buy used AAA games at some point but that just means more indies and fewer AAA games in my library.
me too...the second that gaming companies go all digital is the second they lose my business frankly...I see no actual value in an all digital ecosystem for the consumer.
So what are you doing besides bitching about it on social media, are you leading the campaign? Or are you gonna let these companies troll and teabag you
👍💥🎮🕹️👾
Yeah man its very concerning! Cheers!
I’m so sick of physical media disappearing man it’s honestly ridiculous.
We completely agree with you on this! Cheers!
Evolve or die
boomer
@@jamesnguyen7069 clown
@jamesnguyen7069 your the type that would take the mark of the beast and pledge allegiance to the antichrist and Satan just to get your digital copy so the boomers rule because we can see the future of where this digital content is headed.
The big advantage of physical copies is that it is immune to changes. When video game companies do remakes, companies sometimes take out content that is "unacceptable" in modern times.
Cars to explain some examples? Or is this just right wing dog whistling?
@@unicorntomboy9736 wtf does this have to do with gaming??? Stfu wanna be intellectual savior
The physical copy will also last longer than the digital copy. The digital copy will last no longer than the console it's installed on, and they never last that long before they crap out. If you take care of a physical copy on the other hand... I still have NES games, where well over half my ps3 library got wiped out when they removed ps3 from psn and the ps3 took a shit. Still got my hard copies though.
Well for the most part you can mod that content back in like Ashley's skirt is RE4 remake
@@unicorntomboy9736 throughout history the OP comment is true. 10 years from now , most of the stuff today will be deemed immoral, that’s how it works with subjectivism
It's concerning...digital purchases are licenses that can be removed without notice and we would not get refunded. No more owning anything, just allowing us to play until we can't
That completely false I have digital games over 10 years old. You say that but have never seen it happen
Just because you haven't personally seen it does not negate the fact it can or has happened. I have had some that I've seen on my devices that have affected my library.
If it is installed, then sure you may not lose it, but what about people who have it digitally and the shop closes like the 3DS. Or that I have my XBox 360 with games I've purchased and when I go to re-download a game from my purchase history it says that I have a purchase but it is unavailable.
Or the Steam users who get a notification that a producer has removed a product from Steam and it subsequently was removed from my Steam account too.
@@jrit12389 I have several games that were taken off Steam years ago. They were never removed from my account and I can still redownload them.
@@tgreg9542 Shut up
@@jrit12389 trust me dude physical media for video games are never going away digital it's just another choice
As long as there is a demand for physical media, I think there will always be small companies like Evercade that will produce products for this niche market.
Make sure we keep supporting them!
For sure those companies will keep pushing games out for sure! Cheers!
Not if Biden can help it.
@@Airik1111bibles bruh..
@Airik-tc7dh Biden has no say on it you fool.
I agree but they are expensive compared to normal retail.
I think physical media will make a huge comeback in the next few years. Because people will get (and are) tired of being ripped off. Sorry. I'm t
29. I have never bought a digital game,movie, comic, or streaming service. And I never will. I'm more than willing to go out of my way and pay more for physically media. Because I like owning what I pay for.
We are fullt with you on this! To us we think the difference between the two are huge! Cheers!
I have gone mostly the other way.
As a DJ, I either have to miss out on music or could be waiting 6-8 months for something to hit a vinyl release (which, for me is less fun than using a digital version due to its restrictions and sensitivity) if I stay on physical media. I have a bunch of Drum & Bass records from the mid to late 2000s because I already own them and a small curated LP collection. I want to curate my D&B vinyl collection with better copies of tunes I love, and flesh out bits that I missed out due to budgetary constraints of being in my early-mid 20s.
For general listening I prefer Spotify due to its ability to use your tastes to help you find similar music that you may have overlooked when it came out (or explore new genres) due to the expense of buying an album for €15-20 to maybe get 2 songs you want. Again, if I feel like I need it, Bandcamp exists.
For movies its the same. I have some highlights on DVD or Blu Ray - mostly films that I have a connection with - but I much prefer having access to a wide library of movies and shows to either broaden my horizons of genres or have seamless access to the things I love.
For games I do have a Switch with a small library, but seeing as I mostly game on PC my library has been digital since 2017. Technical problems with physical media and gaming has meant an all-digital future has been coming for some time to a point where basically game discs are just installers and physical DRM from the PS4 era onwards anyway (that optical media read/write speed limitation). With consoles being a closed system it makes community mods and post server shutdown support far more difficult, which is why the only console I own is a Switch.
I remember how proud I was when I bought Lunar SSSC, and Lunar Eternal Blue on the PS1. They were brand new, and came with a soundtrack, a making of video, a map, and a beautiful colored instruction booklet. Hell, it even came with a necklace inside! Try to get memories like that through a digital download. I miss the 80's and 90's for gaming....It's a time that is nearly gone, and it saddens me that my 13 year old will never experience the type of joy that I did.
Ah man thats awesome! Yeah so many kids have and will miss out on making experiences they can go back to when there older! Its really sad! Cheers!
Ahh, a person of culture, I see!
why never? google "Super Rare Games" and "Limited Run", you'll be pleasantly surprised!
Major facts!! Those were the best days of gaming
Those two were top of the line RPG, and a load of fun, can already tell you that you got a big fish out there, I bought it too when it had just been originally released in the stores and played it extensively around 20 years ago, all the goodies you mentioned were there alright, but I lost the neckless because I've been moving a few times...
My current fear is having a huge digital library and then with these ever expanding and vauge terms of service you break a rule, you get banned and you lose your library. Many platforms are adopting terms of service where your off platform behavior can result in bans, discord, twitter and twitch all do this, theres less and less we can say and joke about these days. there will come a time where you will have to keep your mouth shut in fear of losing your games, movies or even bank account
Yeah thats a huge fear in the limited digital games we own! Huge disadvantage of digital! Cheers!
Then you have to sue them to get access to your Account again. Here in Germany someone got their amazon Account suspended because he is a seller and there were some issues with amazon so they closed his. BUT he bought stuff on it which he couldnt access anymore and sued amazon.
The result was that amazon needs to find a way to block his seller Account while still giving him access to everything he legaly bought. If they cant do it, they cant block his Account. Basically they cant take stuff away you payed for. But thats of course a country by country issue.
The rules are very clear and easy to follow.
Don’t be a douchedick and you won’t get banned. How hard is that?
It’s not a huge disadvantage, Inhad a buddy that got banned from Steam for saying a meme racist term as a joke.
Lesson to be learned don’t say anything racist.
That fucking simple.
@Brian Price this wasn't directed at Amazon but at every company that sells you digital goods. Especially since their ToS or EULA have so many parts in there that are illegal and cant be applied. Just for example Sony states that if your Account gets banned, every money you still got in there, They wont pay it back to you in their ToS/EULA. The german company Telekom (you may know them in america as T-mobile), they stated that after some time the money you charged on your Account isnt usable anymore after some time if you didn't use it. A judge slammed that part and said that part in the ToS is illegal therefore it cant be applied in Germany. A similar case was in Austria just last year but this time it was directly with Playstations ToS/EULA, where their court decided that a bunch of their stuff they wrote in there is not legal.
Will definitely happen in the future. "You will own nothing and be happy."
This applies as well to owning vinyl records. Just to hold that large piece of cardboard in your hands and admiring the picture or graphic illustration you're starting at, it was pure magic!
The funny thing about this is vinyl records are making a huge comeback and I see hundreds of new releases at Walmart and target each year
@@paralysis_demon_hunter yup, vinyl, and even shockingly, cassette tape sales have steadily been on the rise for a few years now.
The thing is, with movies and music, there is a huge replayability factor. So getting a physical copy is without because you want to listen or watch multiple times. Unlike a game, that if finished, might not get touched again in years. Sure games can be very played for hours, but that's most likely one or two at a time. You can consume music and movies more at a time. Which makes collecting physical for those media types better.
@@GrayWolf5000 that's a great way to look at it too! Even VHS sleeves were cool to look at!
True
Another thing to think about is the fact that the government cannot track and trace which games you are playing, and when, if you are playing stand alone console games. If you have to go online and log in to play, then they can control when, if, or how long you can play. Just look at what happened to the truckers in Canada. They were protesting the government, and the government decided that they would just shut off their bank accounts. This happens all the time in China, North Korea, etc.
That doesnt sound good! But your probably right! Cheers!
In china their so anti video game that they control everything and have digital id for gaming your not allowed to have fun in commie countries ha
I agree 1,000% with you guys about keeping the physical games alive. The thing is guys our age especially me I have fond memories off going to Toy R Us or GameStop to buy some games, and the fact that I can buy a game without leaving my house is not really a memorable experience. Great Episodes guys
Yeah and we know how special those experiences were and there will be some kids that never experience that and thats a shame! Cheers!
Especially the ride home and reading the manual and the back of the case too see everything!
Physical games are going to just fall into the hands of Indie developers. You know there are plenty of hacked games and games that are created now for older consoles that are not originasl. Might seem like a far fetch but I'd be willing to buy some of those games If I had the consoles to go with them. Lots of really cool Dreamcast are Saturn games.
Back in the PS1 era I used to get paid on a Friday afternoon, buy something in my lunch break (I worked in town) eagerly read the manual & clock watch as I counted down the hours before I could get home & play.
Yes but kids nowadays prefer the instant gratification of getting the game digital and just playing rather than taking the time to leave the house, go to the store, buy the game, come back, install the game then play it.
Some of my greatest memories was going to the mall in the early 90s and late 80s. Going straight to the store that had only movies, music and video games and nothing else. Endless shelves of fun.
It's called FYE these days and they're still around. 👍
I don’t know if they had it where you lived, but I had place called Saturday Matinee … so dope for movies!!
Software etc,Babages,and gamestop✔️
@@Mr_Mcfeely have you tried going there lately? Sure, they still have those things, but the space has definitely shrunk considerably. Nowadays, most of their shelf space is 4 Funko Pop and other products
@@dsmoothb yup idk about yours but my closest FYE still has a great physical media section for movies and music, they even have ramped up their vinyl selection over the past few year's. They do indeed have a massive wall of POPs too, you're not wrong about that but collectibles are entertainment so it fits with their brand. They were never really a big game store but for that these days I always seek out mom and pop game shops
I think this is helping to fuel the retro game industry.
It definitely is and those games will go up because physical collectors will buy more retro games! Cheers!
If you see the price of n64 and ps1 games, retro game industry is only for people with big pockets 😢
At this point some of us just collect roms instead of physical games since its a million dollars cheaper lol..
Fuel the out of control prices. Been collecting for years… and it’s getting out of hand. People listing things 200% over it’s value. Pricecharting isn’t helping either. As eBay is only one avenue of the market, but it’s starting to set the standard.
I mostly buy games online because I'm a bargain shopper. I've noticed the prices of physical games rarely come down like they've traditionally always done. Used to be almost every game I purchased was a physical copy because you could get that cheaper than the digital version outside of a massive sale. Now, because these companies are putting out far fewer copies, those discounts are rarely there due to there being so many fewer copies in the wild. Most of the time it's much cheaper to wait for a steep discount on the PlayStation store now. And that sucks cuz I prefer the physical copies, but I'm not gonna over pay. These video game companies want everything to be digital so that they can control the price and maximize profits. That's why you see games not getting physical releases much more often now and less copies being made when they do. It's being forced upon us slowly. We all see it, and it sucks
We totally agree and been telling people this! If they can get people to buy the same game multiple consoles they win by makin thay extra money and cut there cost! Cheers!
Like I've stated many times on my own channel defending physical games,
"If a game is worth playing, it's worth re-playing & owning in a collection!"
This is an interesting discussion. I was born in 1988 so I also have the nostalgia of opening physical games and consoles and being so excited over it. I grew up playing my brother's NES, but my first console was the N64.
My niece and nephew are both under 12 now and their perception of gaming is so different. They only want ipad-like games. We had gotten them 2ds' a few years ago and they played each game we got them for all of 5 minutes before declaring "I'm done!" because they don't understand the appeal of playing a game for 40+ hours to experience a story. They want a "quick fix" 5 minutes of gameplay before moving on to something else. Now my nephew does love the switch he received for Christmas last year, but he doesn't care about physical games, he only wanted a fortnight card for in-game purchases.
New gamers are being raised completely differently now and "quick fix" games are all they care about because their attention span is gone. That plus the "subscription for everything!" models leave people with too much choice to really appreciate what they're actually playing.
Yeah they are going to miss out on all the experiences we had and thats a shame! Cheers!
So true. Back in the old days we got one or two games for christmas and that's what we played for the rest of the year. Maybe traded a few around with friends, but that was it.
Reading through the instruction manual and seeing the artwork for Adventure of Link, as a kid, gave me a lot more appreciation for the game and really helped set the entire tone for the game. The instruction booklet provided the story for the game and presented a much darker setting than the game lets on. That shaped my view of the game and made me enjoy it a lot more. I likely wouldn't have enjoyed it as much if I hadn't. Just getting an eShop points gift card would be extremely depressing.
Yeah it definitely lowered the level of games when they stopped giving those! Some companies still did but it was really rare! Cheers!
Just scan the qr code dude 😂
I feel like I don't actually own the game when I buy digital. Its the same with music. I grew up with buying physical games from Atari 2600 to NES, and so on. Its very sad seeing all of this happening. Thank you for your videos. Take care.
This is not just a feeling. Basically, you just buy the right to play a game. With physical media, at least you own the CD or cartridge. Physical games can be given away, sold, lent or inherited. With digital games you can't do all that, you can play the game as long as it's available. You are also dependent on the seller. If a platform is closed down completely, all games are lost.
I couldn't agree more. I would say that most of my games that I own are physical games. I own (?) maybe 10 digital games vs. hundreds of physical games. Nothing will ever compare to playing the physical games on the actual consoles with the original game controllers. The look, the feel, the smell of the physical games is all part of the experience. The same with physical music albums. At 51 years of age, I seriously feel sad for the future of gaming (and music). Denying the future generations of this whole awesome experience.
You dont own the game! Its at the discretion of the company who made it! They decide to shut it down you lose the game forever! Cheers!
Crazy times. Thanks for your replies. Take care.
@@AlonsoFan2023 You also own the storage medium the digital download is stored on, its basically the same thing as "physical", just that the storage medium can store more than one game on it.
I was watching this on my TV while working and had to log on to my PC to comment. MAN! I cannot agree more with you guys. It makes me so sad to see the traditional gaming style we grew up with, vanish before our very eyes. I'm an 80's boy and this is heart-wrenching. I am glad I never became co-dependent with online gaming/mmo/drm garbage because I can easily just fire up any of my consoles and play my single player adventures without feeling a single lick of bother. Great content guys keep it up!
So happy you made this. So many RUclipsrs are selling collections and giving in to digital. There is nothing weird or strange about your hobby. Any smart person with half a brain would never trust digital. My best buy was fully stocked then just like y’all holidays came and went and they have barley restocked…I haven’t had any issues getting every game I want physical this far, but when it becomes an all digital landscape I’m done. I’ll buy maybe a game or two a year that are essential, and just collect old games…I’m in the northeast, same nightmare here :(
Yeah there might be a day where we play only retro games! We are prepared for it but dont want to think about it yet! Cheers!
To be honest, I would never, EVER, sell ANY of my physical versions, whether it's VHS tapes, TV Show Discs, Consoles, anything, as long as they are working. If they're broken though, then that's more of if you're willing to find a place to store it and hopefully get it fixed someday, even if it's very unlikely that anyone can fix a second generation console like the Intellivision. When my mom threw out our Pikachu N64 console, It wasn't until years later that I realized, I wanted it back. But by that time 2007 came along, it was too little too late. To this day I'm still trying to get a Pikachu N64 console off of ebay, just that I'm waiting for the right time to get it whenever I can.
@@SuperFlashDriver You can't fix VHS tape decay and CD/DVD disc rot. Eventually, it will all disappear.
@@jonmc6573 Yes that's true, but I at least still have them in my collection, even if they don't work anymore.
@@SuperFlashDriver do you really though?
Let’s keep physical alive 😊 It’s crazy to see the decline in physical media though. Game Pass really killed it off
Gebs!!!! Yes, it's up to us old school folks to keep it alive as long as possible. Who would have thought we'd be the "old school" crowd. Holy hell, where does time go. Cheers!
To hell with game pass.
Definitely on the Xbox side of things. Physical is healthier for Playstation and Switch consoles, but it's gotten pretty bad for Xbox. Granted, for someone like me who likes physical, the physical copies of Xbox versions of games drop a lot faster in price than Playstation and Switch (I own all the consoles and take this to my advantage) but the reason why Xbox versions have their prices drop faster is because most Xbox owners use Gamepass only.
Love physical movies and games, and I buy them still. Keep the love alive for them!
For Xbox maybe, but not on switch or ps4. Xbox sucks anyway.
I notice that as well. But I recently went to Japan and it felt like I was a kid again. From all the option available physically I was shocked I wanted to buy everything. It’s so sad that all this stores in the us are so empty. I’m the type of person that don’t like digital I need a physical copy.
Japan seems to know whats up! Nice to see them plentful there! Cheers!
We need to keep the physical medium of gaming alive!
But most so called physical copies of game these day rarely contain the entire game or even any of game on the disc at all the disc you buy basically contain the license that authorizes you to play the download and if the developer stops supporting and or pulls a game from a platform even with the disc the game won’t work or have limited functionality because severs required to download, authorize and play will be inaccessible or nonexistent
No we don’t. Physical media isn’t needed when we can buy a multitude of ssd’s & hard drives to store every game we have purchased. Just keep the console or pc you played the games on & you’re good. Why have a room full of dvds when you can save space with ssd’s?
@@stellarhyme3 no then we don't need theaters and physical media will never go away digital it's just there for a option
@@stellarhyme3because there will always be the charm of owning that physical copy of the product that you used your money to buy. The PS3 games I have are real, they take up space, and the space they take up makes up for the space I made in my bank account to get them. Those games will work as long as my console does, there is nothing anyone anywhere can to to change that , barring the online multiplayer aspects. They won't expire or be shut off. They can't be corrupted like a flash drive or crash like a hard drive. They can't sell it to me again at half the price because it's a classic and they want me to pay twice for it.
@@marcusclarkson2657 the charm to these things are in large part due to nostalgia and emotional attachment of experiencing buying the physical game or dvd. And the nostalgia can be a fun novelty, like if there is a random video store in a small town it would be cool to visit it. But the average person is not gonna change their consumers habits for a fun novelty long term. Yeah it’ll be fun to visit a blockbuster, but that doesn’t mean they prefer video rentals to the convenience of streaming. And tho there are many pros to physical media, the cons hugely outweigh the pros.
The gaming golden age where you’d find Ocarina of Time or F-Zero GX under the tree or at the birthday party are long gone. We’re lucky to have those memories!
Except that literally still happens all the time. You just don’t interact with kids
I remember specifically getting Mario Kart 64 and Mario Golf under the tree…just ecstatic. Been trying to get physical copies for my 8 y/o nephew to keep that alive!
My local Best Buy is a ghost town for physical games :(
All you have to do is make more games for the older consoles and do it via physical games.
Everybody is hoarding the physicals, because it's trendy to mark them up for resale. As long as people are paying outrageous prices for these games in the aftermarkets, this trend is going to continue.
Interesting and something we didn't really consider. I'm sure that is a contributing factor. Cheers!
Eh. a bunch of physical copies selling on eBay have been cheap. Haven’t seen any price increases on popular Xbox/Playstaiton/wii/etc. items. But definitely something to keep in mind for the future
Companies like Limited Run are turning physical into a premium commodity instead of just "the norm" 😢
Yup I saw a dude selling the RE remake for 80 dollars and before that, i saw a dude selling Howard's legacy for 120.
Is crazy
You can only do that with certain games. You can’t go just buy call of duty and then go home and resell it for more lol
In Germany, I have not yet noticed this to such an extent. The gaming department has become smaller in recent years, but you can still find numerous games in supermarkets. Then we also have a large electronics chain with Media Markt and Saturn. They don't always have all the games in their local stores, but you can check the local stock online and have the game you want delivered to your local store. You can usually get the popular games right on the spot, indie games or niche Japanese games usually have to be ordered first and are then prepared for pickup at the store.
I love you
Hope that last where you live! Enjoy it while you can! Cheers!
Much love!
Searching for a older PS4 game yesterday online and in the shops at the next bigger city I have to slightly disagree, not even Saturn only Media Markt I would call a descent selection (like 3+ years ago) the stock/games they listed online are strangely even less than what was available at site.
At the end of the day I had to resort to Ebay and buy it used, for the same price as the digital version plus a addition for shipping. But because I prefer physical (happily) paid it.
Even gamestop is lacking physical games! They have more action figures, t-shirts, and accessories than actual videogames. That said, I have been buying most of my physical copies on Amazon, and on occasion Walmart and ebay.
Yeah gamestop is barely hanging on in our opinions! Cheers!
I think most people who buy physical copies buy them on online places like Amazon and Ebay,this kinda also happened with the blu-ray sections in stores after streaming services like Netflix blew up
We believe thats a factor but with Amazon There is a known factor on some new or newer games of long delays getting it or out of stocks! We think they are slowly making less! Cheers!
Where I am there is a place called Sunrise Records which seems to be the place for physical Blu Ray movies over other retailers these days...that and physical music media.
I personally want to add that the economical situation right now is rough and there is a chip shortage hence why many people couldn't get PS5. Also where I currently live (Germany) there are a lot of physical games in stores. PS4 games are starting to disappear due to no longer being in print and are replaced with PS5 ones.
Back in my country PC gaming is way bigger which means that most games are on Steam or Epic with combination of people being poor so there is a weak console culture. However there are still physical and e-store aside of Amazon and E-bay that distribute games for consoles.
Furthermore combine it with the fact video game quality have dropped significantly for some time (just look at how many live service games are DOA lately) and it is likely that piracy will likely increase more. People rather put their money for their food, bills and rent than 700$-1500$ GPUs or 70$ games while their salaries stay the same and inflation increases.
Believe me people like to collect stuff and don't trust companies like Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony who try to pull the rug bellow their feet the first chance they get. Covid however sure made a mess we will be cleaning a decade.
That tangible experience is EXACTLY what makes people feel nostalgic. The memory of opening that box/case, taking that cart/disc out… reading the manual (when we had manuals)… it makes me wonder if people who will grow up on nothing but digital games will even have that same nostalgia years from now?
Nope. There are 18 years old now that have only know the ps3/360 gen up. Alot of them go to PC long term.
"So anyways kids, i entered the code and the game download began. Watching the bar fill up was a rush." Ehh. Just doesn't sound as memorable, does it?
Arcade games that you actually put a quarter into inside of game rooms will always be the ultimate fun experience.
Heck yeah! We love arcades! We go to a place called uptown in our area a Huge arcade all the time! Cheers!
I've noticed a lot of empty shelves at Target and Walmart, but if you ask about the game they have them in the back. They don't stock the shelves a lot of time because of theft or because they are short of workers. That said, they also have a lot less copies than they used to.
In our area they have glass cases so theft would be really tough! Yeah we think there are alot of factors involved! Cheers!
Here in Australia, physical triple A games costs around $70 and digital counterparts always costs more like $100.
And you can sell your physical copy when you'r done with it. That lower the price even more.
how high are prices of used copies in Australia tho?
Wow that’s crazy that a digital copy would cost more then a physical copy. Interesting to see how different things are in different parts of the world.
Yeah thats absolutely ridiculous! Cheers!
This is happening in the UK too. Most of the major supermarkets have massively reduced their game sections if not removed them entirely. It's really depressing!
Yeah it is! So tough to see as Physical media collectors! Cheers!
Supermarkets carrying games?
That's... really weird to me lol
@@Klonoahedgehog I mean Walmart is technically a supermarket
Games nowadays are absolutely garbage, no one is buying them. If they only had older games in there still but very cheap, they probably would have more sales.
But modern gaming is trash, who's going out into stores to buy these games.
I remember the time, Morrison's sold cheap games like mr mosquito, etc. Good luck getting them cheap now. Gaming is becoming a niche, expensive market now.
I've noticed this myself as a switch collector. I ONLY buy physical when I can unless I'm not going to open something so I get it digitally also. There's plenty of people who still want physical games. I just don't fell like I really own a game digitally and you can't sell a digital copy if the game sucks. There's nothing like having a case with a cartridge in your hand or taking the plastic off a brand new game. While we are on this subject can we get physical game manuals back? Man do I miss flipping through those! Thanks to the publishers that still have them what a shame...
Love this comment so much! You said everything we think! Cheers!
Manuals were amazing tutorials, tips, lore.... so cool. But so many ungrateful people would throw them directly into the garbage with the box. It's why some manuals outprice their games.
My Walmart today actually had quite a few copies of games today. My issue was finding an employee to open the case to buy Metroid Prime. I took me 15 minutes to do so. No wonder most sales today are digital.
That’s pretty much the case (pun intended) with any products that are locked in a shelf; I have to wait around the same time when I want to get a can of spraypaint
I waited 20 mins for a box of condoms at Walmart 🙄
The only retail store I’ve consistently seen physical games at locally is Walmart. Target and Best Buy have been a depressing ghost town for the last year or so. However unlikely I hope in the future we look back on this time as a temporary, dark period in gaming that left as quickly as it came on besides the physical resurgence. I miss the hell out of video rental stores as well but I realize I’m in the minority.
We miss them too man. Some of the best memories was hanging at my local rental store in Norwalk, IA which was also a card shop. It was heaven in the 90's. Cheers!
Patches make it harder too if you love physical. The ideal physical copy is that later-released reprint or Complete Edition, which may include some DLC, but crucially the version of the game with the launch bugs fixed. Cos you know those patches won't be available forever.
True or some small developers with the love of retro games make full complete physical games! There not household titles but we have found so really great games that are hidden gems this way! Cheers!
If you think about it, this is just another route corporations are taking to turning younger generations in to renters. Blackstone, and Blackrock have been doing that to houses since 2008, iTunes is doing it to music, and now it’s movies and video games. We rent the digital until they discontinue it or change it.
Just wait, vinyl has made a comeback, so are CDs, physical copies or things from the 90’s and older, are coming back. We will have the last laugh.
Edit: I so remember those wrestlers pillows!
Hope so! Worst comes to worst there is retro gaming stores and we can play retro! Cheers!
Anytime I mentioned that Gamestop could possibly suffer the same fate as Blockbuster and Hollywood video I'm always met with "No it won't gaming is too profitable etc for that to happen" okay well....explain this?
No your spot on! People just like to doubt people! We deal with it daily! Ganestop was kinda struggling before this become such an issue also! Cheers!
I always answered if they doing so well why they swap to a spencer's model of becoming an overall geek T-shirt plush store over a gaming store?
blockbuster is coming back actually.
the distribution method changes, but not the media itself, will it crash? that's probably coming in a bit given what's happening...
its not that it isnt profitable, distribution methods are changing. its like movies.....the movie industry does numbers but once streaming dropped the game changed
Physical will always have a place because:
1) You can resell the game if you want to like on ebay
2) You can let your friend borrow it.
3) Its yours no matter what and nobody can take it away from you
4) You can put it on your shelf and display it
Love this comment! Basically described why we love physical media so much! Cheers!
We have issue of over 1500 games and no way to display. Maybe we need to have a gaming museum so gamers can rejoice and play old games again
The real issue is that have easy access to physical copies in a timely manner is going to become harder. Much of the upcoming games will become digital only or will have to be shipped to your house and will be increasingly more vulnerable to scalpers.
@@NSG_UK dare I say... a rental store lol There probably is a place for that in the future, once physical gets really difficult to find.
Not unless Sony and Microsoft adopt what Steam is doing by trading games digitally
I really miss the days when the games had manuals that were practically strategy guides-I remember getting Desert Strike for my Genesis, and that manual had a breakdown of all the items, ammo, enemies, etc.
The ps2 version didnt even run past 30fps.. the GC did.. i feel bad for any blind person who says the ps2 version looked better.. I have always been a sony fan over a nintendo fan but the GC version was way better in performance and visuals.. just like how the ps2 version of scarface had better visuals than the xbox version but gta shined on the xbox
If physical games go away, i would just stop buying games as there won't be any point of doing that anymore. It doesn't make sense to pay money for just a licence to play a game instead of buying a game. If gaming goes all digital and i really want to play a game, i would just pirate it as i feel like even piracy is better than buying games digitally
They wanted this a decade ago, because companies hate the concept of used games being sold.
Yes they do! How dare us making money off there games! Cheers!
Greedy bean counters running video game companies hate it because they can't financially exploit gamers with used games like they can with DRM-infested digital copy games right now.
This might be due to the fact that people who buy physical games tend to buy them online and have them delivered. We might start to see places like target start keeping their games in warehouses instead of taking up space in stores. Amazon is a huge one too. I make a lot of game purchases on Amazon. I'm really hoping it isn't just that they are manufacturing less discs.
So once again it's Amazon ruining an industry.
@@OutofTime.. it's the average consumer who doesnt want to waste gas money just to buy one game who is ruining the industry. It's not amazons fault people prefer to buy things online.
For me at least that's accurate.
Over the past 5 years or so i can count the amount of games ive bought in person on one hand, most of the physical games ive bought have been through Amazon.
Thought that's still probably not full proof, one of the games i bought last year had problems with physical stock because the company didn't realize there was such a demand for physical copies.
@@geezus7833 That, at least, I'll agree. Though I like browsing a proper gamestory from time to time, I suspect that itch will be scratched in the future by more general 'second hand media' shops like Book Off, assuming physical media retains some popularity.
@@geezus7833 so you rather wait for days to come to your house rather than getting it now? You only want to pay things online because your too lazy to get out of your house and see all the stuff in stores so you can pay it immediately.
Here in MD there’s a lot of physical still at my Target, Walmart and Best Buy. The biggest challenge is actually finding someone at Walmart or Target to actually open the case so you can get the game you want.
Lol yeah we experience that! Sometimes we have to walk up to the cashiers until we see someone and they dont like being asked if they can get someone! Cheers!
Can confirm
facts, there’a been a handful of times i’ve been in a hurry and just said the hell with it and not get anything out of the case
If you buy digital copies, there should be an option to get a physical copy mailed to you.
That would be a cool concept because you could preserve your physical copy! Cheers!
This
This is not happening at my Walmart, Target, etc… YET!! It’s weird because I remember a few years ago, my BestBuy’s DVD/Blu-ray section turned into a ghost town in like a week. But now, at the same Bestbuy, that section looks healthy again. So I wonder if it’s just momentarily for your area. I’d like to hear an update on your stores a few months from now.
Maybe people are deciding to actually buy games again. That could be a possibility and maybe 2023 is the year that people are buying more games and DVDs because my local Walmart has tons of DVDs and games but they did shortened the CD section. Probably because CDs aren't selling as well the same thing happens at my local Target. They decided to make the DVD section a lot smaller last year so they don't sell as many but they kept the video game section the same and I always see tons of video games at target
My local target, gamestop and Walmart look healthy with physical copies but really they are keeping the bare minimum. They look like Fry's electronic stores a few years before they closed. All their inventory is already on the shelfs and none is at the back.
There's going to be less variation of physical games on shelves anyway as the cost and time of making games goes up so there's a lot less AAA games on shelves like there were in the GameCube/Xbox/PlayStation 2 era. Many indie devs simply cannot afford to create physical copies but sometimes they do upon release and others become physical if they sell really well like Shovel Knight
@@jamesm47766 I sure as heck hope you are right.
@@finkamain1621 I think you are right about that.
If 74%+ purechases are digital, we already lost.
Sad but true. Thanks for watching. Cheers!
I noticed this probably 15 years ago with big box PC games. You used to be able to find a PC game section anywhere you went. All through the 90s and early 2000s, then the mid 2000s hit and all the PC games starting drying up. That was because digital distribution was starting to take off (Steam). The consoles seemed unaffected at the time (but I think Microsoft was pushing for subscription/digital as back as far as the xbox 360).Anyway, yes, Nintendo is probably the only console/software publisher that has fought hard to stay physical, but even they're starting to go to online services. Anyway, all this is to say, I guess it's inevitable, as Thanos says.
Stores here have pc section which is odd for me as most laptops and pcs made today don’t have a cd drive. I’d have to get a usb cd drive to play physical games.
valve is secretly killing any physcial media.
Yeah we knew it was inevitable but was hoping we would have alot more time! Cheers!
Really? Thats odd!
They are all doing it!
I've been buying alot of physical stuff lately as I'm kinda against digital for similar reasons you have, but I also goes alot further than just gaming and entertainment.
There's a saying floating around "you will own nothing and be happy"
Yes it is! Very popular saying for this video 😂! Cheers!
It's why I fight again game streaming services so hard. You don't even have the HARDWARE in your possession. It's an extremely slippery slope.
I noticed this recently. My local stores aren’t wiped like yours, but the selection at my GameStop was incredibly threadbare compared to what it was 10 years ago. The Nintendo switch shelves were incredibly small and there just wasn’t that many games. I asked if they had Metroid prime remastered and the guy said he only had 1 copy and it sold the day before. I then went to my local Walmart. They had a much better selection, but still no Metroid prime. I asked the guy if they had it in the back or something. He said the same thing. He said they are receiving much less from the suppliers and they will only received 1 copy of Metroid prime. I’m hoping it is a supply issue. The game companies definitely want physical to go away, but I think if it does, the market as a whole will rebound 10 years from now. The value of physical will shoot through the roof, whereas your digital copies have absolutely no value. As soon as companies get lazy and start removing games en masse and people start losing access to games they thought they owned, the industry will change again. Just like everything else, the oblivious normies have to wake up before anything changes. I’ve already lost access to a digital game I paid full price for and it changed my entire mindset. Let it happen to a bunch of people, and things will change
@@captaindestruction9332 Except for Apple, that’s mostly true. I’ve had iOS games completely pulled from my account on two or three occasions. Steam has been rock solid though. Nintendo, not so much - On the Wii channel of my Wii U I had purchased a couple Wii games that are no longer on my account.
My digital games won't bit-rot at least, and I don't have to pay a 200% markup on any particular game since nothing is "rare" in the digital world.
@@ogre706 they aren’t “your” games. You are leasing them
@@captaindestruction9332 mostly true, but not entirely correct. I’ve already lost access to 2 digital games that I “owned”, Alan wake and too human. I’m pretty sure there are more but I own so many it is hard to keep straight
@@Socherbal A lease that never ends, as my digital games/roms can be quite legally backed up and restored at any time. Your physical media on the other hand eventually will come to an end, and then what?
Now, cloud gaming is another story and something I refuse to support.
“Are you buying the game? Or are you renting it long-term at full price” They got us by the balls, man!
Here in Los Angeles none of the stores have any physical games. Been like this for a good while.
I am also concerned about this since owning a digital copy at the end of the day means you don't own anything .
That is spot on and its scares us also! We even consider going 100% retro if it happens! Cheers!
I think all stores are pushing online ordering or a store pickup. The shop doesn’t have to stock a large inventory and can ship it next day or same day for pickup.
I just bought an OLED switch from a local target and was able to get same day with 2 games.
Yeah I have been ordering my games online now for the past couple of yrs from BB, 🎯 & amazon.🤔
As a filmmaker who works in the industry I feel the same with movies. More and more we’re seeing movies released for streaming and not in cinema…. It’s so sad.
Both of those are digital though.
Directors are fearing that there new movies will no longer be shown in theatres because of streaming. We might see movie theatres go bye bye to streaming. Sounds crazy but if someone told me Blockbuster would never shut down I’d believe them.
@@ancientflames that is not the point my man
My buddy is a huge film buff, he dedicated most of his house to bookshelves of physical copies from floor to ceiling, all cataloged, it warms my heart when I go by.
Making shitty 40 second “short films” doesn’t mean you’re in the the industry.
I’ve never noticed that where I live in Florida. I usually don’t shop at Target. Their video game section is very limited. Best Buy and Walmart seem to be fine as far as video games.
Glad to hear your area is still doing well! Cheers!
It's the same here on the East Coast. I've been having many internal debates on moving to digitals. Digital games now come with more in game perks and are downloaded/installed 2 days early, so you don't waste hours on release day.
As someone who values collecting steelbooks, this has been driving me absolutely insane. I hope companies make steelbooks or physical collectors items purchasable seperately one day.
We love steelbooks also! That would be a good idea! Cheers!
I go through the same debate. If it's a game that I really don't care about. I'll buy it digitally, which is rare tho. If a sale on a game is dirt cheap that I don't really want to play, but to have just to be there on a rainy day. I'll buy it.
But yes. I actually just got into steel books. Always been into strategy guides tho. They still make those. I saw a Forspoken strategy guide at Barnes and noble, and I was like yyeah I'm buying this. I love strategy guides haha.
Shockingly, GameStop still has physical copies. But they have less in my stores, by sometimes not having certain PS5 games on shelf. Somedays I don't see Returnal, Demon's Souls, Requiem 2, or MW2. It's crazy
Those games where never realy popular anyway.
@@resiefan3258 Those games are very popular, I work for a company who manufactures physical media, and Demon Souls is a very high demanding game wanted physically, as well as Returnal and the other title he mentioned as well.
@@resiefan3258 if you don't like something, it doesn't mean it's not popular.
Yeah our has games but its very low also! Cheers!
Absolutely. It’s sad . Even the recent re4 remake went out of my way to buy physical copy , but the case is soulless … nothing in it but cd . You go to target , Best Buy , it’s sad . When my kids and I walk through the isle I always reminisce and tell them how packed the isles were of games at one time … it’s sad…
Again, we knew it would come to this but seeing it person in aisles that look like they are from the Walking Dead is weird to see. Crazy times. Thanks for watching. Cheers!
At least the Xbox disc for RE4 has the entire game on it! It sucks when the disc has 10 Mb 😂
I went to best buy last week to pick up a ps5 and there was maybe only 20 games with all 3 consoles. It is sad
Lol yeah .
Toys r Us.... KB toys...
"You will own nothing, and you will be happy". Unfortunately many bought into this lie. The all digital age will be a depressing time to live in.
Yeah thats unfortunately where they are pushing us into! Cheers!
- WEF klaus schwab.
Its basically communism
I spent many years painting on canvas with brushes, but when I got an iPad, I found drawing and painting on it incredibly convenient. However, I still have a deep-seated preference for the tactile experience of painting on canvas, which I find more enjoyable. My primary concern with digital platforms, particularly gaming, is the possibility of them shifting to a subscription-based model similar to Netflix. While this may offer cost savings initially, the thought of not owning any games after several years of subscription worries me. In my country, physical copies like DVDs and Blu-rays have become nearly obsolete, leaving platforms like the Apple Store or Netflix as the sole options. Additionally, the potential risk of account hacking or being banned raises further concerns about the security and longevity of digital ownership.
Physical copies are indeed vanishing off the shelves here where I live. I kind of miss the days where you could try out the games at the stores and buy them if you enjoyed them.
Yeah its becoming a thing of the past! Cheers!
How ironic you talk about things of the past while wearing an MTV shirt.
My local Walmart has like tons of games. No one's buying them apparently. It's shocking that some Walmarts don't even carry that many games. That could mean everybody's buying it or that can mean It's not being made anymore or as much but I do notice when you go into GameStop I see so many games that are on clearance for PlayStation switch and Xbox because they're not selling as well
We miss the old ps1 demo discs
@@NSG_UK We need more demo disks!! When I got my original playstation when it came out the only game I had was Crash Bandicoot and the demo disk. I played the crap out of that demo disk once crash got boring.
I absolutely hate the pricing of digital vs physical media. IMO, digital should be at least 5-10 bucks cheaper. Which leads me to say...thank you Steam, I love your amazing sales! Side note, that gameboy carrying case in the back. I so wish I still had mine. I loved that thing.
They definitely should be! Less cost! Yeah we love that case! Cheers!
The stores are the ones keeping the prices lower. Look at d4
I was told this wasn’t true for the US, but here in the UK, physical games are always cheaper.. by a lot… day one release games are £50-60 digital, physical day one can easily be £40. Then there’s sales… so physical here is often about saving money. After a few months, games that are still £50 digitally can be £10 in stores
Here is Canadia Digital is hella cheap after a year or so, hence the "Netflix Tax".
I used to get more for my dollar then the "Netflix Tax" happened when I could get an extra game or a Dlc Costume or something now you can forget about it.
I absolutely love collecting disks. Games… movies… it feels way cooler to pop in CD. I knew this was gonna happen so I’ve been collecting!! Also… you can trade games with friends, let them borrow, and bring the games with you everywhere. When it’s virtual.. you’re kinda stuck.. ughhhh they better not stop printing disks. Or make less….
You are completely correct! Physical will always be the best form of buying media! Yeah unfortunately we think they will! Cheers!
I prefer physical copies of games, but when they started being $60+ a piece and the used games market started going downhill, I haven’t been able to afford many games brand new. So I have to wait for an online sale or something in order to get them. Which is why I only have like 7 or 8 Switch games even after 5 years of having the console because Nintendo is so bad at having sales on games. Almost 10 years with my PS4 and I only have a dozen or so physical discs as well (granted I had more that I traded into GameStop years ago to put towards others). I love being a small collector of the games/franchises I love, but it’s sad how increasingly difficult it’s becoming. My kids will probably be growing up on my old ps2 and ps3 consoles until they hit middle school.
Not to sound bias but we think they will enjoy those consoles more lol! But yeah we fully understand where you are coming from! Its frustrating! Cheers!
I'll never forget getting my SNES Christmas of '92. It was bundled with Super Mario World. The manual was so magical that I use to carry it with me to church and read through it like a book while in attendance lol. I miss those days. The art work, the tips, etc was all in the manual.
Those were definitely the days! I can remember all those experiences of the 90s going to get games or getting them for birthdays and Christmas! That cant be duplicated! Some of the younger gen will never experience that! Cheers!
That excitable, tangible feel was real. Created memories
i bought a snes a few years ago an a saga genesis my nostalgia went cold once i realized the games had a hard time staying clean. i also realized the games were outrageous prices so digital is much more reasonable. their are even sales in winter and summer wene i buy most of my games. the exception would be games like final fantasy 7 remake witch i bought for full price as i rely like the game.
There's nothing like having a physical copy with my video games and books. I feel when I hold a physical copy of a video game or book, I can appreciate that person's hard work. I support the small business retro video game stores. The memories of my first console which was the Sega Genesis, I can still remember and I still have it to this day. It's happening out here in California too. I went to Target and the shelves were empty. I have my collection of NES, Genesis, N64, PS1, PS2, Dreamcast, and GameCube.
Well said! Glad you have your old consoles and games and alot more people will go more retro if they arent already when that happens because too many people want physical! Cheers!
This is the most important subject RIGHT NOW. It isn't just games. You will never retire, you will never own a house. You will own NOTHING and YOU WILL BE HAPPY.
Good video! It is disappointing to see physical copies of games becoming a thing of the past, but it does make sense that digital game stores are more popular in this day and age. I think we all knew it was inevitable that physical copies of games would be phased out, but still is disappointing.
If you grew up with some of the "retro" consoles as a kid, you knew how exciting it was to have a boxed copy of a game (sometimes with a full-color manual filled with art). There was just something special about having a physical copy and your games collection displayed on your shelf.
I was in Best Buy yesterday and it was really depressing. Very few games, empty shelves, and no one was in the store.
Most of the time bestbuy keeps the games up at the front behind the counter. But the stores do be pretty empty these days.
Yeah man its so tough to go into these stores and see that! Cheers!
When we ask they say they dont but all stores are different!
My small town Walmart is still fully stocked with physical copies. For stores with faster moving inventory I can see this being a thing.
Here in Australia every store is basically stacked
I'm so glad someone is covering this. Best buy target Walmart all the games are gone.
Yeah its tough to see this is the eay things are going! Cheers!
You mean the physical ones right?
This video hit me right in the seeds. I knew it was coming but it seems to be gathering pace. Part of the gaming experience for me is the awesome box art, the way the spines look on my shelf, the manuals…but most importantly the memories attached to those games, the people you played those games with. So sad.
Makes perfect sense. Why travel to buy a game, when you can get it instantly.
@@undefined7141I was all about it during the 360 days, but when my hardrives fried and I tried to redownload all of my games back I noticed a bunch were unavailable. Never again.
@@undefined7141cause digital downloads suck
@@undefined7141explained in the video.
It's happening in England too. My local Tesco, Asda and Morrison's all have reduced the size of their gaming sections. I'm pretty sure HMV have stopped selling games. CEX and GAME are still the same but there's definitely a shift coming.
Yeah we see it happening everywhere sooner than later! Big shift coming! Cheers!
Avoid CEX, they will rob you blind.
Morrisons still sells games?
The difference is the US has good discounts on physical game's. The rest of the world you have to pay way more.
I went into target last week and experienced this exact same thing. I just figured people got their tax checks and bought them.
😁😁😁😅🤣
Yeah man we wish that was it and who knows maybe it did happen in your area! Cheers!
Car companies are now charging subscription fees for things like using the heated seats in your car... that you already paid for and were already installed when you bought it. They are moving the "live service model" from games to physical products. Eventually, they want us to "own nothing" and have to rent absolutely everything we use. So when I hear you say that "you aren't buying the game but rather RENTING IT for a set period" you are SPOT ON. There are a lot of dirty things going on in the video game and in general tech that they plan to export to physical items.
This is a very deep rabbit hole to go down, especially when you realize that most of the initial funding for social media and tech companies has connections that glow or are connected to DoD. Through Musk's leaks we found out that the "control of information" TIME referred to extends to our intel agencies. Then the tech companies happen to sell the very same items they use to spy on us. Critiques have rightly stated that these act as another branch of government, and this parallels what we learned in a congressional investigation in 1975 (Church committee; I can't type name of Op or comment gets buried). Needless to say there is reason to believe the infiltration of MSM never ended, and this explains much of what we see today.
When it really starts to get crazy is when you understand that the lead the media buried about the island where children were taken was that couple had connections to multiple different intel agencies... including ones that are ENEMIES and we are currently in a proxy war with. It was clear to every party that everyone else was aware of the honey pot and its purpose was blackmail... so why would they go ahead with it for decades? The only solution that makes sense is collusion. In fact, many nations now share every bit of information with one another without any omission or censoring of information (FIVE EYES).
Which sounds absurd until you look very closely into the creation of all of these intel agencies as well as question the "blowback" that led to this enemy intel agency. The initial funding is quite telling, and the family names are not coincidental. And this itself sounds absurd until you read things like Dr. Anthony C. Sutton's "Wall Street and the Bolshevik Revolution" and "Wall Street and the Rise of Hitler." TLDR: the same people funded both communism and fascism and either profited off aid to the supposed enemy or funded both sides.
We know that these intel agencies do not answer to even presidents. They get to determine what information the president has access to, have been proven to act against sitting presidents and influence the result of presidential elections, and considering they are clearly tied to an assassination of a president that is strong evidence in favor. In fact, one of their main objectives is to have blackmail on anyone who gets high up in politics, and it has been admitted this applied to presidents as well. So the question then is, who do they answer to? And if not the same types of families who want to create "a more connected world" that funded them... then who? And what other explanation could explain collusion but this?
Yeah the future in every aspect is kinda scary at the moment! Cheers!
I used to be all for physical until I realized that the disc can run the risk of being damaged and unplayable. This happened with me with the original Modern Warfare when my disc got scratched up and had to buy another 60 dollar copy
A lot of modern games need day 1 patches and don't even launch with all the content on the disk. There's DLC as well, but then you'd have eliteists like "I don't care about playing DLC for a game when it's 20 years old" but then they'll miss out on extra Super Smash Bros characters and stages and big expansion packs like TES IV Oblivion's Shivering Isles DLC or any Borderlands DLC which adds so much content to the game
I always check the physical price on eBay and Amazon before buying digital.
I'm not opposed to digital but it needs to be significantly discounted.
Buy classic game 200$
Or buy 20tb hard drive and back up a full library of game's for 200$.
I get my physicals off of Amazon because the stores never have anything. I recently went to stores in the hopes of finding Metroid Prime remastered because Amazon preorders were overwhelmed, and Nintendo seemed to only make like 3 copies for the entire planet because they were nowhere to be found. I eventually got the physical copy available on Amazon an entire month after the physical version was “Released”.
Yeah online orders can be that way and it sucks! Cheers!
I agree, digital games shouldn't cost as much as the physical games.
They definitely shouldnt! Way less cost in producing! Cheers!
There's definitely good and bad on both sides when it comes to physical versus digital. On PC, physical games mostly completely disappeared years ago. Where I live, both Walmart and Best Buy especially have shrunk their physical game selection but Walmart is still pretty decent overall. The vast majority of their games are locked behind a glass cabinet with the side of the cases showing, not the front covers.
I remember scoring physical media at Electronic Boutique, Babbages, Circuit City and Radio Shack…I’m so old 😂
The experience of buying consoles and games in person should not go away.
I remember most of those! Babbages is the one i dont recognize! I feel you on the old thing! Yes buying physical in person should never go away! Cheers!
Babbages was my spot as a kid. Toys 'R' Us, Sears, and the others you mentioned, too.
Circuit City was my very first job when I turned 18. Was the best place I worked at until they went non-commission.
I miss baggages. I used to sit and watch the tvs with game trailers every time I went to the mall. Last game I bought there was knights into dreams on the saturn before they closed . Then funco land opened
I thought I was the only one noticing this. If you dont preorder games these days they wont be in stock. Amazon has been my go to for physical games because retail stores are not keeping up the stock of physical games at all
PSA about Best Buy. They are cutting their store staff to save money. So they aren't keeping games out on the shelf. So if you go into the Playstation section there are no games out there. They are worried people will steal them and there isn't staff there to prevent it. I went to the register and they had TONS of copies behind the register for all systems.
In our area its glass cases and whn we ask they say they dont have the games! Cheers!
at both of the local walmarts near us , not only is it exactly like you guys have described it, BUT ...they also decreased the amount of shelf space dedicated to physical games. so that means the length / aisle size has shrunk down to maybe half or slightly bigger than half.i still pre order my games physically from various stores (including but not limited to Amazon, Bestbuy, etc etc) and yeah there may be a slight delay , but i'll take the delay over buying the digital. i've bought a few digital games here and there , but 99% of my collection is physical.. i'm a physical gamer, it's like you said the memories, the ability to go back whenever and replay the games, etc
Watching 2 different neighbors challenge each other to beat OOT and having one of them beg me to tell him how the other one got into the well when I was 6 years old and me caving because he said he would let me borrow it after is peak 90s nostalgia.
Also, not ALL sorts of digital cards are "plumb-full" at stores. At my local Target, for instance, they seem to have stopped carrying Steam Gift Cards; and yet, Sam's Club still carries those... including the $100 Steam Gift Cards that I hadn't seen in Target in YEARS. The gaming gift cards I've seen at Target the most lately have been mobile gacha-game-related ones... such as Google Play Store Gift Cards, Fortnite Gift Cards, Roblox Gift Cards, and Apple App Store Gift Cards.
Same at my local gamestop. Steam cards were gone for a few months because of some type of scam. Even then only the $100 one is in stock.
@@bimmer8602 I've an idea of WHICH type of scam: one in which the perp scratches that foil substance off the back of some Steam cards, writes down the codes that are revealed, cover these codes back up, and then puts them back in the store display. Then, when some people buy the tampered cards and then the cashier activates them, the perp will enter the compromised Steam Wallet Codes and thus adds funds to his or her own Steam Wallet at the expense of the buyers, who now find themselves with invalid Steam Wallet Codes; and thus: worthless Steam Cards.
I think Target isn’t selling Steam cards anymore because of scams. Any place that still carries them is always sold out too. As someone who uses gift cards to buy games on Steam, this is extremely annoying.
That is probably true! We just meant gift cards in general not any specific one! Cheers!
Physical games are being made, it’s the US market that is being conditioned to digital only because the big companies know we’ll shell out money to buy the same thing over and over again.
Yeah we dont understand why people want it to be the way of buying the game multiple times! Its a money pit! Cheers!
That is why I try and support my local mom n pop video game store. Here in IA. Amazon gets physical copies but the last 3 I have bought ( pre ordered like a month before release) show up 3 days later.
This video is important. I wish awareness like this went viral. I share your passion, fellas. So in honor of my day off, I’m getting my fat ass off my couch and going to my local video game store to buy more physical media. Key term, “local.” #SupportSmallBusiness
UPDATE : After watching this video, I went and spent $130 at my local game shop, but also went to both my local Walmart stores to check their gaming inventory and the shelves were PACKED full of games for PS4/5, Xbox and Switch. They also had a massive clearance bin that I got 3 games sealed for $2.97 a piece! I guess the same issues isn’t going on here in West Virginia, maybe it’s a region thing?
I knew something was wrong in this video. Throughout the whole beginning, not once did these guys ask an employee if there were any issues with stocking.
Shelves at my local Target and Best Buy are completely empty in mid-Michigan...asked an employee and he said yeah it's always like this. I asked him why and he said he didn't know. & yes I asked the guy who worked in the electronics department.
@@LoliconSamalik We asked an employees at each store we stopped into. Not everyone is seeing this same issue but many are.
MD here, empty shelves all over.
I’m very disappointed to hear about this. The younger generation of today has clearly been conditioned to buy into the all digital future where you will own nothing and “Be Happy.” Unfortunately they will influence the market in a bad way for everyone…
Man, this video hit me right in the feels.
I'm in Columbus, OH and don't check out retailers too much, but at the Best Buy and Meijer I've frequented they didn't seem to be as bare as by you guys. But it's definitely not what it used to be.
I'll be physical for life. At least as long as they let me. At that point I think I'll just be a retro gamer. Even with the PS4 era. I can still play those games offline if I want. I also make sure to always install games when I get them and then back up the hard drive so I have patches installed so I can hopefully enjoy these games when I go back to them (because I know I will one day).
Also, like you guys, still loving old school zombies. I think Black Ops III zombies gameplay is fantastic, but Black Ops 1 and World at War are phenomenal and the OG. Hard to top those two.
Og zombies is so much fun. But what sucks is that Activision gready ass still charges full price for DLC maps after 15 years. And the PC version of BOII is still $60 and that's just for the base game. Multiplayer doesn't even work for the older cods which is sad. And the Halo serves shut down for good. All we got left are LAN parties
I'm also in Columbus, and I second that. Retailers like Best Buy, Target, Walmart, etc are pretty barren. Not totally empty like the video but it's pretty close.
Best Buy has really changed. Went in a couple weeks ago after a couple years of not & it’s a completely different place. Half the store is appliances. No movies or music at all. Hell the PC section shrunk too.
I'm on the outskirts of Columbus, I usually go to Walmart or target or gamestop for physical games.
I'm a big fan of physical game copies,because if you download a game on a newer console,your gonna run out of storage space in your gaming console,and your gonna have to delete some of your digital games for more space for your digital game that your working on. So why would you get digital games,if you can play physical games that you deleted without repaying the price of your deleted games??? It's kinda like movie apps,why are you paying twenty five dollars a month when you can buy a DVD once,and have the movie forever without paying for it every month. It doesn't make sense to me on people just wasting their hard earned money for repaying.
Very solid points! Its a money pit! Cheers!
Damn this video is blowing up! Great job guys. Only thing I've noticed physically lately is that my Walmart doesnt seem to want to carry clearance games anymore.
Yeah it is! We can never figure out what we do differently! Yeah they arent here either! Cheers!