Limited Run Games

[cartman | 195]

20 hours ago, avatar! said:

We're talking about SRG, not LRG
But, I'm not saying you're wrong, nor am I saying you're right. Still, I can't help but feel this is more likely related to copyright than demand. As for "LRG's place is slowly becoming less relevant to the hobby." that I can't agree with. If anything, I feel they're more relevant today simply by the fact that they now also publish a ton of merchandise, have their own amazon and best-buy stores, etc. Many of their games still command high second-hand prices, not all of course, but many. Ultimately, I feel they are still very relevant because they still publish many titles you simply can not get physically otherwise. Yes, Play-Asia also publish physical copies that sometimes overlap with LRG, but for the most LRG publishes far more than Play-Asia and the vast majority of titles published by LRG do not make it to Play-Asia's "exclusive" physical editions.

Well digital is pushing physical out every day so even if LRG wanted to keep releasing discs, one day there will be no new console to do it for. Just like on PC.

They can still push pre-PS5/6/whatever releases, but i don't see much new blood that will enter, and for every oldhead dropping out it will just add to a steady but sure overall decline.

And i don't think LRG will be around just for a tiny fraction of enthusiasts. It's just that as of now the pool is big enough.

 

[Tanooki | 4,934]

That's true.  My 8+year old gaming laptop is now showing increasing levels of what seems like dementia so a new machine is on the horizon anytime now.  In looking, it seems no one wants to supply optical drives in the systems anymore, so you need to hunt down an external USB based drive which stinks, same with a module to work with SD cards as well.  Both those are used commonly (extensively optical) on this old machine so that stung having to figure out the added hoops.  Until I hit a point where I don't care about my old boxed up PC media, running DVD and Blu Ray discs and all that, I will keep a drive handy somehow.  Same goes with sd to mini/micro sd cards for flash kits and other objects too.

[avatar! | 1,811]

There have been some 116 million PS4 systems sold, and currently although PS5 digital games are more popular than physical discs (they are also typically cheaper), the number of games purchased digitally decreased in the second half of 2022.

https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/tech/ps5-digital-vs-disc

I think there is basically a 0% chance that physical games are going to go away. LRG will still be around 10 years from now, probably stronger than ever, and hey, anyone that's not a fan absolutely does not have to purchase from them. Oh, and LRG always started out with the intention of catering only to a small niche group of gamers, but clearly, demand far exceeded expectations.

[cartman | 195]

12 hours ago, avatar! said:

There have been some 116 million PS4 systems sold, and currently although PS5 digital games are more popular than physical discs (they are also typically cheaper), the number of games purchased digitally decreased in the second half of 2022.

https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/tech/ps5-digital-vs-disc

I think there is basically a 0% chance that physical games are going to go away. LRG will still be around 10 years from now, probably stronger than ever, and hey, anyone that's not a fan absolutely does not have to purchase from them. Oh, and LRG always started out with the intention of catering only to a small niche group of gamers, but clearly, demand far exceeded expectations.

It decreased from an overwhelmingly dominant position to a still comfortably dominant one going by those numbers... hardly reassuring stuff.

From what i've noticed digital games can get away with having the same prices as physical. The idea used to be that forgoing materials, printing, storage and transportation would ultimately mean the buyer could get the game cheaper but instead it will be the companies just pocket the added profit for themselves and keep the higher prices.

Also remember that the digital only PS5 comes from a previously nonexistant position to take marketshares so any gain is bad news. It's not like physical is winning if 80% of PS4's sold have a discdrive it's a loss to that 20% extent.

As Playstation goes they also mandate that physical games are avilable digitally too the reverse ofcourse doesn't apply.

 

[Sumez | 2,957]

People usually get really confused when I talk about buying video games physically. Brick and mortar video game stores have all but died out. 

Yeah I'd say digital is definitely winning big time

[Tanooki | 4,934]

Well if digital wins, consoles are utterly dead to me.  I'll stick to a non-closed format I can roll stuff over with to keep control of it, which is the PC.  Digital only will be relegated to the budget basement of free/freemium to maybe 10 tops on my mobile device or something similar.  I can't see paying to get stuck on a format that dies every few years to then be suckered into losing it or buying again.  At least with GoG/Steam on PC I can still use decades old stuff with an ease of use to grab it off the non-real shelf it sits.

[avatar! | 1,811]

I'm trying to remember the first time I heard about the "death of physical this or that because it's all going digital" and I honestly don't remember! So many years ago... and yet, here we are. Not only are AAA games still released physically, today numerous indie games, far more than anyone can even keep up with, are released physically for major consoles as well as the Evercade, and let's not forget we're even seeing new physical games for the NES, SNES, Genesis, etc 
Doesn't look so dead to me

[Sumez | 2,957]

Not yet for sure. The death will be slow and painful, and LRG is proof enough there's a strong enough niche for physical releases to at least keep some going. 

It will require a platform for them going forward, however. Physical media stopped being a thing for PC many years ago, and though consoles have held out a lot longer than I expected, it's definitely on its way out.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,533]

1 hour ago, avatar! said:

I'm trying to remember the first time I heard about the "death of physical this or that because it's all going digital" and I honestly don't remember! So many years ago... and yet, here we are. Not only are AAA games still released physically, today numerous indie games, far more than anyone can even keep up with, are released physically for major consoles as well as the Evercade, and let's not forget we're even seeing new physical games for the NES, SNES, Genesis, etc 
Doesn't look so dead to me

Depends on if the disc drives or cartridge slots exist on the PS6, Switch 2, and Xbox Series One.

[avatar! | 1,811]

1 minute ago, Reed Rothchild said:

Depends on if the disc drives or cartridge slots exist on the PS6, Switch 2, and Xbox Series One.

I recall these exact same words when people were discussing the PS3, PS4, and PS5
Does anyone really think Nintendo will not continue to produce cartridges? They love their cartridges! Sony will absolutely continue to release disc consoles, they've invested a ton into their blu-rays. As for Xbox, don't know. They attempted to have a digital-only console after the 360, and that backfired on their asses so hard it was beautiful.

[avatar! | 1,811]

45 minutes ago, Sumez said:

Not yet for sure. The death will be slow and painful, and LRG is proof enough there's a strong enough niche for physical releases to at least keep some going. 

It will require a platform for them going forward, however. Physical media stopped being a thing for PC many years ago, and though consoles have held out a lot longer than I expected, it's definitely on its way out.

I see no evidence for "it's definitely on its way out" and have heard that physical games are "definitely on their way out" for the past... 20 to 30 years or so! Just like today, you will not find a single book that is not digital - nope, definitely can't find that
There will ALWAYS be physical copies of games. Always. If Nintendo or Sony were ever dumb enough to release just a digital console, which I don't believe they will, then some competitor will jump in and produce their own console, and in fact the Evercade is basically that console. While the Evercade can not play exclusive games, it can certainly support the vast majority of indie games, and ultimately regardless of whatever happens physical media will never stop being a thing.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,533]

12 minutes ago, avatar! said:

I recall these exact same words when people were discussing the PS3, PS4, and PS5
Does anyone really think Nintendo will not continue to produce cartridges? They love their cartridges! Sony will absolutely continue to release disc consoles, they've invested a ton into their blu-rays. As for Xbox, don't know. They attempted to have a digital-only console after the 360, and that backfired on their asses so hard it was beautiful.

Never say never.  "Progress" is inevitable because people like us are the growing minority.

If the physical market share went from 100% to 70% to 30% (or whatever the PS5 is selling at), then it IS going to eventually happen.

[cartman | 195]

2 hours ago, Reed Rothchild said:

Never say never.  "Progress" is inevitable because people like us are the growing minority.

If the physical market share went from 100% to 70% to 30% (or whatever the PS5 is selling at), then it IS going to eventually happen.

That's the key factor. We see this in just about everything where an item has a main and secondary function (the main here ofcourse is being able to play the game).

It can be done without going anywhere and without having a bookshelf filled with stuff. Most people will jump on that. They don't even have an emotional connection involved because they never did anything but streamed services.

[avatar! | 1,811]

3 hours ago, Reed Rothchild said:

Never say never.  "Progress" is inevitable because people like us are the growing minority.

If the physical market share went from 100% to 70% to 30% (or whatever the PS5 is selling at), then it IS going to eventually happen.

I'm confident the answer is never, because there will always be enough demand that if major companies like Nintendo and Sony dropped physical media, another company will jump in and reap the benefits. Depending on the poll you read, digital is now somewhere between 70-90% of sales. Considering the video game industry is some $55 billion, a "mere" 10% is still nearly $6 billion and I can't see how Sony or Nintendo do not want a slice of that pie. And once again, if they decide it's not worth their time, other companies will happily jump in.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,533]

18 minutes ago, avatar! said:

I'm confident the answer is never, because there will always be enough demand that if major companies like Nintendo and Sony dropped physical media, another company will jump in and reap the benefits. Depending on the poll you read, digital is now somewhere between 70-90% of sales. Considering the video game industry is some $55 billion, a "mere" 10% is still nearly $6 billion and I can't see how Sony or Nintendo do not want a slice of that pie. And once again, if they decide it's not worth their time, other companies will happily jump in.

If those 10% physical purchases no longer had the option to buy physical, how many would turn around and get digital instead?  I'm guessing most or all of them.

[LeatherRebel5150 | 1,056]

56 minutes ago, Reed Rothchild said:

If those 10% physical purchases no longer had the option to buy physical, how many would turn around and get digital instead?  I'm guessing most or all of them.

Almost certainly most, but definitely not all. But that hold out portion is so small and will most likely just be old timers screaming at clouds. I say that being one of those future old timers

[RegularGuyGamer | 2,013]

1 hour ago, LeatherRebel5150 said:

Almost certainly most, but definitely not all. But that hold out portion is so small and will most likely just be old timers screaming at clouds. I say that being one of those future old timers

It's mostly people without high speed internet access. Imagine downloading a game with a 200kbs connection, or only having a hotspot that has a 10-20gb/man limit.  Disc sales are largely to people with no or limited internet access. Maybe for US sales, that doesnt come into that much but for global sales it plays a big role. 

[Sumez | 2,957]

I thought the US was one of the biggest markets for physical sales because there's still a lot of areas there without any really solid internet connections? (and probably more conservative people in general, when it comes to these kinds of things)

Japan surprisingly has a lot of people without great internet too, I've heard many Japanese devs talk about not wanting to rely on post-release patches for that reason.

But in Europe people will look at you weird for not preferring the digital option 

Edited April 8, 2023 by Sumez

[Reed Rothchild | 9,533]

5 minutes ago, Sumez said:

I thought the US was one of the biggest markets for physical sales because there's still a lot of areas there without any really solid internet connections? (and probably more conservative people in general, when it comes to these kinds of things)

Japan surprisingly has a lot of people without great internet too, I've heard many Japanese devs talk about not wanting to rely on post-release patches for that reason.

But in Europe people will look at you weird for not preferring the digital option 

I dunno, looks like a lot of rural counties, larger low-population Western state areas, and Alaska.  Not areas that would drive game sales imo

https://www.fcc.gov/reports-research/maps/connect2health/#ll=38.134557,-116.015625&z=3&t=broadband&bbm=fixed_access&dmf=none&zlt=county

[Code Monkey | 2,011]

54 minutes ago, Sumez said:

I thought the US was one of the biggest markets for physical sales because there's still a lot of areas there without any really solid internet connections? (and probably more conservative people in general, when it comes to these kinds of things)

Japan surprisingly has a lot of people without great internet too, I've heard many Japanese devs talk about not wanting to rely on post-release patches for that reason.

But in Europe people will look at you weird for not preferring the digital option 

Not anymore. That was the reason there were so many Blockbusters in certain areas like Alaaka but  now the internet has gotten fast enough and wide enough, even those have shut down.

[Tabonga | 2,318]

 A twin pack of these two games on the switch is going to be released by LRG:

 

[TDIRunner | 2,740]

On 4/8/2023 at 10:03 AM, Sumez said:

I thought the US was one of the biggest markets for physical sales because there's still a lot of areas there without any really solid internet connections? (and probably more conservative people in general, when it comes to these kinds of things)

Japan surprisingly has a lot of people without great internet too, I've heard many Japanese devs talk about not wanting to rely on post-release patches for that reason.

But in Europe people will look at you weird for not preferring the digital option 

I remember when the PS4 and Xbox One were released, there was already talk of going digital only and requiring internet connections at all times during play.  This was eventually dropped due to public backlash and I specifically remember Microsoft citing that some markets didn't have fast enough internet to justify going all digital.  

The current generation seems to still have strong physical sales, but this is also the first generation to have the option for digital only consoles that completely lack a disc reader.  Each generation is getting one step closer to a digital only world.  We will get there eventually whether we like it or not.  

[avatar! | 1,811]

3 hours ago, TDIRunner said:

Each generation is getting one step closer to a digital only world.  We will get there eventually whether we like it or not.  

I remember over a decade ago people talking about the end of the book. Yup, in just a few years, everything would be digital, and there would be no more physical books... they said decades ago. Always hilarious how wrong prestigiators often are

[Tabonga | 2,318]

This is pretty awesome!

https://limitedrungames.com/blogs/news/trip-world-dx-press-release?utm_source=Klaviyo&utm_medium=campaign&_kx=aZPbAoH_AZiqtKIZza-1jxA3-xTUsktsDwAAvQxtAwk%3D.UsXyyC

[Sumez | 2,957]

An upgraded(??) version of Trip World is something I'd never expected to see. Can't really pass over this one