15 days ago in a comment on another thread here, I wrote:
Physicality is fast disappearing - gone are the days of cases, manuals, and, growingly, even discs - indeed, most PlayStation 4 games did not contain a manual, and the PlayStation 5 is already split between models that have and do not have a disc drive, foreshadowing a soon-to-be discless future.
It now appears that, at least for Sony, this time is coming sooner than I anticipated: 2028.
One wonders how companies like EB Games will survive over the coming decades, left with little more than the consoles themselves, along with merchandise and perhaps a few other things I'm not thinking about. My estimation is that the question is largely rhetorical: they plain and simply won't.
One also wonders how long it will be before Sony's rivals in the video gaming world follow suit? My estimation is that they will be swift to follow suit, all viewing this as desirable whilst also all being too cautious to be the first to proceed with it. There is no way that they have not been discussing it over the past few years, however. Nevertheless, Sony's announcement will probably trigger a domino effect, rapidly leading to a situation in which no version of any next-generation console will have any physical media whatsoever.
Nintendo probably holds out a while since they are a bit of a newer piece of hardware and not discs, and it just seems a bit Nintendo to do so. They are already going towards code on cartridge anyway, so give them until closer to whatever system they put out next, or if there's value in a Switch 2 Lite with no cartridge slot, etc.
I'm half shocked Microsoft still makes discs anyway. They probably quietly just quit without an announcement like Sony did and just wait for someone to notice.
I'm more concerned with what they do with digital libraries. I don't have any PlayStation, but I have an Xbox One X that I'd like to be us-able for the long term, and I just have a feeling it's getting way too close to the "we are shutting everything down" update, and they aren't hacked yet, so there's no way to keep all that.
15 days ago in a comment on another thread here, I wrote:
It now appears that, at least for Sony, this time is coming sooner than I anticipated: 2028.
One wonders how companies like EB Games will survive over the coming decades, left with little more than the consoles themselves, along with merchandise and perhaps a few other things I'm not thinking about. My estimation is that the question is largely rhetorical: they plain and simply won't.
One also wonders how long it will be before Sony's rivals in the video gaming world follow suit? My estimation is that they will be swift to follow suit, all viewing this as desirable whilst also all being too cautious to be the first to proceed with it. There is no way that they have not been discussing it over the past few years, however. Nevertheless, Sony's announcement will probably trigger a domino effect, rapidly leading to a situation in which no version of any next-generation console will have any physical media whatsoever.
Nintendo probably holds out a while since they are a bit of a newer piece of hardware and not discs, and it just seems a bit Nintendo to do so. They are already going towards code on cartridge anyway, so give them until closer to whatever system they put out next, or if there's value in a Switch 2 Lite with no cartridge slot, etc.
I'm half shocked Microsoft still makes discs anyway. They probably quietly just quit without an announcement like Sony did and just wait for someone to notice.
I'm more concerned with what they do with digital libraries. I don't have any PlayStation, but I have an Xbox One X that I'd like to be us-able for the long term, and I just have a feeling it's getting way too close to the "we are shutting everything down" update, and they aren't hacked yet, so there's no way to keep all that.