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

[AirVillain | 490]

16 minutes ago, Reed Rothchild said:

3/3 is the best ratio 

Unless it's books. 

[Reed Rothchild | 9,547]

2 minutes ago, AirVillain said:

Unless it's books. 

 

[AirVillain | 490]

1 minute ago, Reed Rothchild said:

 

Okay... from a symmetrical and aesthetic point of view, I certainly misspoke.  That looks great. 3/3 is a great ratio for books. 

Mostly I "make fun" of books online to cover up for my own insecurity because I feel so uneducated by not reading more books. I'll one day read some that I want to.... IT... Jurassic Park. Some other true literary works of art I'm sure. 

[Brickman | 3,994]

I go one further. Books, blu rays, video games and vinyl 

I’m pretty sure minimalist would break into a cold sweat walking into Reed’s and my house 

[AirVillain | 490]

5 hours ago, Brickman said:

I go one further. Books, blu rays, video games and vinyl 

I’m pretty sure minimalist would break into a cold sweat walking into Reed’s and my house 

I've got me some vinyl, mostly stemming from classics from parents. 

Now let's not get started with fine china....




 

[LeatherRebel5150 | 1,056]

24 minutes ago, AirVillain said:

I've got me some vinyl, mostly stemming from classics from parents. 

Now let's not get started with fine china....




 

Ive always wondered what womens  fascination is with fine china. I guess guys could be into it too, Ive just haven’t known any. 

Ive worked in an auction house for a few years and we did a lot of estate auctions and almost every one of them had some kind of “fancy” china that grandma had that was supposed to be passed down to the grand/daughter. But people inheriting it never had any interest and it barely ever sold. 

I guess that could be said of any collectible left to family, it’s just that “fine china” has been a thing for seemingly hundreds of years and yet no one really seems to care about it yet every family has a set. There has only ever been one family Ive ever actually seen use the stuff too.

[Teh_Lurv | 254]

7 hours ago, LeatherRebel5150 said:

Ive worked in an auction house for a few years and we did a lot of estate auctions and almost every one of them had some kind of “fancy” china that grandma had that was supposed to be passed down to the grand/daughter. But people inheriting it never had any interest and it barely ever sold. 

I think the waning interest in Fine China has to do with the decline of long-term home ownership. A couple regularly moving to follow job opportunities or simply living in an apartment/condo isn't going to want the hassle of storing/moving boxes of china. Plus society has grown more casual; people aren't hosting formal dinner parties much to justify owning china.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,547]

On 12/31/2022 at 4:41 AM, Brickman said:

I go one further. Books, blu rays, video games and vinyl 

I’m pretty sure minimalist would break into a cold sweat walking into Reed’s and my house 

Oh, most of my house is low key.  But the man cave and LEGO/kids library rooms tucked away in the corners... yeah... 

[GPX | 1,370]

Personally, I don't see this being a major issue at all. If and when everything becomes digital, cheaper and more convenient for the gamers, good for them! And if you want to collect physical, there's like 25,000 games or more you can spend some cash on (rough numbers according to the current Guinness World Records).

[Tanooki | 4,936]

Cheaper is a myth though, but agree otherwise.  When there's no rental/resale/trading competition left they will have no reason to drop prices, have good sales, or give anyone on the standard MRSP any kind of a break.  Remove the competition and it will just be open season to see how much they can bleed out of gamers until it breaks.  They've said for years the so called keep the prices up because of all the problems not having games tied to one system causes on top of the cost of printing stuff, but I think it's just a hoax.  History shows, you create a monopoly/monopoly like enough system, the consumer loses.

[DoctorEncore | 3,691]

This is not surprising and it will continue until we hit peak saturation of digital content. There has been a generational shift in how media is consumed and the gaming industry is not an exception. We've all witnessed the birth of mp3s, efficient video codecs, and the transition to streaming services for music, movies, and television. In the United States, and much of the developing world, the internet is reliable and widely available. Younger people consider digital ownership (or renting) to be acceptable, or even preferable, and owning a physical piece of media has become an abstract concept. As a personal example, my 6 year old son will often choose to play a less desirable digital game that is already downloaded to a console rather than get up and change a disc/cartridge. Call it lazy or call it efficient use of energy, but ease of access is an important concept in marketing and a key tenet of digital media.

In an economy plagued by inflation, stagnating wages, and lack of upward mobility, this transition makes perfect sense. You may argue that buying physical is cheaper, and in general you would be right. However, subscription services offer tremendous value and allow people to play more games than ever.  They also indoctrinate consumers to a world where we own nothing. Ease of access was already allowing digital media to grow rapidly, but the introduction of instant streaming of a huge variety of content has been the kicker.

Lastly, there is a hidden cost of physical media: the actual storage space required to house the items. Real estate has become prohibitively expensive for much of our society. More young adults than ever are living with their parents or sharing tiny apartments with roommates which means they have essentially no personal space to keep these items. In a world where a consumer has one small bedroom to store the entirety of their possessions, the physical cost of ownership may outweigh the actual cost of digital access.

You could write a whole thesis on the transition from physical to digital media (and I'm sure many grad students have), but the bottom line is that it will continue until physical media is a niche sideshow for collectors and enthusiasts.