Over 70% of all game sales in 2022 were digital downloads

[Tanooki | 4,936]

5 hours ago, Reed Rothchild said:

Maybe it's just people around me, but I feel like that's all the rage: making a home that's barren and feels like no one lives there.

Wifey has been acting this way the last few years and I'm fed up with it and started to push back some.  She feels my room is overly stuffed, it wasn't a few years back, close albeit on some shelves with the vintage things I had, but now I've got dramatically less, but it's still more busy than the rest of the house (other than hypocritically her room/office.)  SHe wants some nomadic like shit with it all minimalist, even food, don't keep stuff that won't be used within a month mentality.  Very annoying, get fed up with being called a hoarder when there's little of anything near a fraction of what would qualify as such about.  Some people just get triggered then take shit too far, then double down, that's what it is.

As to the media, I buy physical CDs still, then promptly get the home and make MP3s for my phone.

[AirVillain | 490]

We're about one generation away from all digital games. 

My prediction is there's a 50/50 chance the next console after Switch will be all digital, if not the one after that. Small chance it's the one after that.... small possibly, maybe could be after that. 

Personally, I'm looking forward to going all digital on Switch. I've got enough cool NES & SNES games that actually required to be physical at the time they were created.

There is no need right now, given the technology, to be buying a PHYSICAL COPY of a game. 

[RegularGuyGamer | 2,013]

52 minutes ago, Tanooki said:

SHe wants some nomadic like shit with it all minimalist, even food, don't keep stuff that won't be used within a month mentality

I'll never understand how that mentality became trendy. Minimalism is cool in art but in life? How is not having stuff attractive?

My friend who moved out west years ago was bragging about how few things he owns. I didn't even really know how to respond. Strange way to live if you ask me. 

[Tanooki | 4,936]

1 minute ago, RegularGuyGamer said:

I'll never understand how that mentality became trendy. Minimalism is cool in art but in life? How is not having stuff attractive?

My friend who moved out west years ago was bragging about how few things he owns. I didn't even really know how to respond. Strange way to live if you ask me. 

Yeah I mean I get it and I don't.  Less is more, but eventually too much less isn't more, it's stupid and boring.  When I offloaded stuff the last few years I peeled off from like 100 G1 Transformers down to 7, happier with the few I have.  I had many other vintage toys and antiques, moved them along locally and online over time, including a nice pedal car I restored some, and I like having more space and what's here means more than the rest.  It's not hard to cut a fine line between appropriate, inappropriate, deranged, and barren.

[AirVillain | 490]

1 hour ago, Tanooki said:

She feels my room is overly stuffed

Let's be honest with ourselves here.... you can do it. It's okay. It's okay to admit it's overly stuffed.  Some would be proud of that fact. 

 

1 minute ago, Tanooki said:

It's not hard to cut a fine line between appropriate, inappropriate, deranged, and barren.

Some people go far far over the line. 

I get what you're saying, but there are some "Game rooms" that are basically one step away from being on Hoarders. So I can understand it both ways. 

Personally, I like the look of a game room that IS minimalistic. Of course, that's not always achievable for some given their space.... but then I think "well why would you go out and buy all that stuff if you don't have the room for it"?

I think the best game rooms balance the appropriate, inappropriate, deranged, and barren just perfectly. 

[goldenpp72 | 1,234]

4 hours ago, Tulpa said:

Yeah, convenience is the main driving factor.

You buy a physical game which entails going to a store or waiting at least a day for Amazon or whoever to send. You pop it in, and what's the first thing that happens?

You have to download updates.

For the same money, you could just download the whole thing in one go at home.

For most consumers, it's really no contest.

 

For sure, plus not having to ever get up to swap games. While I am huge into physical media, I actually both buy physical and digital in a few instances, not many, but a few. I own Smash and Animal Crossing on Switch digitally just because I swap to them frequently enough, but for games I expect to play through once or devote my time to, no issue at all. 

People like to talk about preservation, but really, digital stuff isn't a threat to preservation, that comes down to accepting the cloud future as it were that many push. When no longer can you access the content at all, even with hacking or piracy, is when it will become a real issue.

[phart010 | 1,707]

2 hours ago, RegularGuyGamer said:

I'll never understand how that mentality became trendy. Minimalism is cool in art but in life? How is not having stuff attractive?

My friend who moved out west years ago was bragging about how few things he owns. I didn't even really know how to respond. Strange way to live if you ask me. 

The idea is you can decide to pack up and move anywhere at a whim. Works good for single people.

When you settle down, especially if your having kids, it’s minimalist is the opposite of what you are

[elprincipe | 142]

Quite a few physical games this generation aren't even really all there, since a lot of them need patches to work properly. I don't see the attraction in wanting a PS5 game in 10-15 years when they've turned off the servers to download the patches, although maybe there will be fan servers you can use.

Having recently moved, I certainly can understand those who want less things in their life.

[Kalista | 16]

Being a PC gamer by and large, this doesn't surprise me. The convenience of downloading a game versus physical media is almost impossible to beat. Sure, we might want physical media, but your average gamer? They don't give a damn. They want to play the games so digital downloads are their go to.

I built my current PC last year... and it has an optical drive. I never build PCs without one!

[LeatherRebel5150 | 1,056]

17 hours ago, Reed Rothchild said:

Maybe it's just people around me, but I feel like that's all the rage: making a home that's barren and feels like no one lives there.

 

16 hours ago, MrWunderful said:

Minimalism looks great on social media. 

It’s all the rage when everyone seems to look at living spaces as 5-7yr turn around investments instead of actual homes. It’s sad to me

[LeatherRebel5150 | 1,056]

I understand digital being about a certain amount of convenience. Not having to travel with games is an example.

Though when people use the example of not having to get up to change out carts. I consider that to be one of the laziest things ever. I don’t really care how you spin it, it comes off as lazy, and as much as I try not to be elistist/gatekeeper-y in this hobby, that is one thing I do scoff at.

What I don’t get is the willingness to give up ownership in exchange for  convenience. Ownership IS freedom in a sense, and to give that up just so you don’t have to wait an extra day for a game, or have to  choose which game or two to travel with, or physically get up to change a game, it’s baffling to me.

[Tanooki | 4,936]

10 hours ago, AirVillain said:

Let's be honest with ourselves here.... you can do it. It's okay. It's okay to admit it's overly stuffed.  Some would be proud of that fact. 

 

Some people go far far over the line. 

I get what you're saying, but there are some "Game rooms" that are basically one step away from being on Hoarders. So I can understand it both ways. 

Personally, I like the look of a game room that IS minimalistic. Of course, that's not always achievable for some given their space.... but then I think "well why would you go out and buy all that stuff if you don't have the room for it"?

I think the best game rooms balance the appropriate, inappropriate, deranged, and barren just perfectly. 

Oh no I agree I've seen plenty, including on this site, some very presentable but seems more like the hoard of books and media at a library, and others where it's ust thrown around, stacked, tubs of crap that get thrown in a corner or closet.

I'm not there, wasn't even close to there, not since 2005 when I lost a vast collection due to unemployment that was into the thousands (many of) just thousands of pieces.  Right now I don't have stuff on top of stuff or anything close to that, most the collection sits using up one wide/tall media shelf (21 moveable platforms DVD case deep.)  It uses maybe 2/3 of it, but if I pulled the other loose carts (handheld), and some PC CDs or bigboxes from elsewhere I could nearly load it up.

[Brickman | 3,993]

54 minutes ago, LeatherRebel5150 said:

I understand digital being about a certain amount of convenience. Not having to travel with games is an example.

Though when people use the example of not having to get up to change out carts. I consider that to be one of the laziest things ever. I don’t really care how you spin it, it comes off as lazy, and as much as I try not to be elistist/gatekeeper-y in this hobby, that is one thing I do scoff at.

What I don’t get is the willingness to give up ownership in exchange for  convenience. Ownership IS freedom in a sense, and to give that up just so you don’t have to wait an extra day for a game, or have to  choose which game or two to travel with, or physically get up to change a game, it’s baffling to me.

Agreed.

When I posted this article I actually didn’t expect the responses that some have posted.

I was expecting the majority to say they will always buy physical over digital, but it seems like a lot have already switched to mostly digital. 

Not sure if it makes me a hoarder but I like the flexibility physical games give me. I own the game and I can sell it if I need cash or stop enjoying it.

[Tulpa | 3,513]

3 hours ago, Brickman said:

I was expecting the majority to say they will always buy physical over digital, but it seems like a lot have already switched to mostly digital.
 

For new games. I mean, many physical games nowadays are either download codes or incomplete games that need a fuckton of updates just to get going.  Sure, the box it came in can sit on a shelf and look pretty, but I think many of us kind of see the magic of owning a physical copy isn't really there for newer stuff when you have to download stuff anyway.

For old games, I think most of us prefer having the gray plastic squares, rectangles and circles, though.

Edited December 30, 2022 by Tulpa

[Reed Rothchild | 9,547]

3 hours ago, Brickman said:

Agreed.

When I posted this article I actually didn’t expect the responses that some have posted.

I was expecting the majority to say they will always buy physical over digital, but it seems like a lot have already switched to mostly digital. 

Not sure if it makes me a hoarder but I like the flexibility physical games give me. I own the game and I can sell it if I need cash or stop enjoying it.

I'm 99% physical, but I also know I'm an extreme outlier in the scene. 

Plus I can't keep it up indefinitely.  I'm not doing $100+ orders for yet another limited release of River City Girls on the Switch 2 or PS6.

I'll get another 100 Switch and PS4/5 titles.  100 more retro titles.  Probably spread over another decade.  And then I'm capped, and out of shelf space.

[AirVillain | 490]

5 hours ago, Tanooki said:

Oh no I agree I've seen plenty, including on this site, some very presentable but seems more like the hoard of books and media at a library, and others where it's ust thrown around, stacked, tubs of crap that get thrown in a corner or closet.

I'm not there, wasn't even close to there, not since 2005 when I lost a vast collection due to unemployment that was into the thousands (many of) just thousands of pieces.  Right now I don't have stuff on top of stuff or anything close to that, most the collection sits using up one wide/tall media shelf (21 moveable platforms DVD case deep.)  It uses maybe 2/3 of it, but if I pulled the other loose carts (handheld), and some PC CDs or bigboxes from elsewhere I could nearly load it up.

There's a wwwwwiiiiiiiide range, haha. 

Sorry to hear about that, but glad you're doing your thing.

Well you've got your shelf situated. 2/3 sounds like a good ratio. 

[Pendragonx | 117]

good thing i have established a good library of physical games ... I'll have things to play for years if they ever stop making them

[Kalista | 16]

8 hours ago, LeatherRebel5150 said:

What I don’t get is the willingness to give up ownership in exchange for  convenience. Ownership IS freedom in a sense, and to give that up just so you don’t have to wait an extra day for a game, or have to  choose which game or two to travel with, or physically get up to change a game, it’s baffling to me.

This is more "laws haven't caught up to technology" than anything else. Governments are slow to change and you know digital distributors will fight this tooth and nail to stop it. However, I think it will eventually change but I don't believe it will be a 1:1 equivalence with physical products. I wouldn't say this is over and won't change. Might take a while but I'm certain it will eventually change.

[Brickman | 3,993]

3 hours ago, Tulpa said:

For new games. I mean, many physical games nowadays are either download codes or incomplete games that need a fuckton of updates just to get going.  Sure, the box it came in can sit on a shelf and look pretty, but I think many of us kind of see the magic of owning a physical copy isn't really there for newer stuff when you have to download stuff anyway.

For old games, I think most of us prefer having the gray plastic squares, rectangles and circles, though.

Maybe it’s the games I’m buying but I haven’t really noticed this, but I only own a Switch so it might be different for Xbox/ps5. The worst I see is there are optional patches to download. The majority of the time I’m not even connected to the Internet.

3 hours ago, Reed Rothchild said:

I'll get another 100 Switch and PS4/5 titles.  100 more retro titles.  Probably spread over another decade.  And then I'm capped, and out of shelf space.

Start saving now for a house extension 

[Reed Rothchild | 9,547]

4 minutes ago, Brickman said:

Start saving now for a house extension

Eventually my wife will be senile and then the basement family room is mine!

[Tulpa | 3,513]

2 hours ago, Brickman said:

Maybe it’s the games I’m buying but I haven’t really noticed this, but I only own a Switch so it might be different for Xbox/ps5. The worst I see is there are optional patches to download. The majority of the time I’m not even connected to the Internet.

Yeah, the Switch is probably the least affected by this, but the other two consoles it's so rampant it's gone beyond a running joke and has settled into the new normal for console gaming.

Hard to call it a physical copy when half of it has to come over your ethernet cable just to get it running.

[Tanooki | 4,936]

6 hours ago, AirVillain said:

There's a wwwwwiiiiiiiide range, haha. 

Sorry to hear about that, but glad you're doing your thing.

Well you've got your shelf situated. 2/3 sounds like a good ratio. 

Yeah I do, the other 1/3 is a mix of some vintage toys (related or not) and some anime blu rays largely.  A few other odds and ends and just some empty space.  Handheld stuff though I have put into another discrete piece of storage you'd not even realize it could be in there without checking.

[AirVillain | 490]

1 hour ago, Tanooki said:

Yeah I do, the other 1/3 is a mix of some vintage toys (related or not) and some anime blu rays largely.  A few other odds and ends and just some empty space.  Handheld stuff though I have put into another discrete piece of storage you'd not even realize it could be in there without checking.

Wwwwwaaaaaait a second here..... 

2/3's full of video games.... but 1/3 full of other stuff.... that's.... well... that's 3/3. 

That's pretty closer to the boderline of "overly stuffed". 

"Well, my shelf is 2/3's full of video games and 2/3's full of movies." 

Haha, jokes.... But if you've got stuff on TOP... then.... maybe.... 

Edited December 31, 2022 by AirVillain

[AirVillain | 490]

Double post/Accidental Quote. 

Edited December 31, 2022 by AirVillain
Double post...

[Reed Rothchild | 9,547]

8 hours ago, AirVillain said:

There's a wwwwwiiiiiiiide range, haha. 

Sorry to hear about that, but glad you're doing your thing.

Well you've got your shelf situated. 2/3 sounds like a good ratio. 

3/3 is the best ratio