Is physical dying?

[Himu]

Went to GameStop retail the other day and the place was a ghost town. This was in a mall too. Xbox series had only games from like the past year and the rack was pretty much empty. I've been going to game shops since 1995-1996 and I've never seen anything like this. Barely any Xbox One games (which are backwards compat with Series X and many current gen games have last gen releases), barely any used games (Gamestop's bread and butter). Back in the ps2 days there would be an entire rack of used games. It's shocking to see and even more, utterly saddening. I go to gamestop.com and search for a game and not a single Gamestop in a 50 mile radius has it. And this isn't a rare game. One copy of Hitman 1 is available in only one Gamestop in my area. What in the fuck.

I saw data that said for the first time ever digital oversold physical last year. Yet I can't really blame anyone. Even I, a physical diehard and almost absolutist, find digital too tempting these days. If retail doesn't have the games, and it's just easier to order and dl a game from your couch why not do it? Often they're cheaper these days too which didn't always used to be the case.

Maybe online is the way to go for physical these days but damn, Gamestop is a shell of itself. You could (and you would be right) to say this is just desserts for what they did to EB, Software ETC., FuncoLand;etc. but damn.

Is it physical that's dying? Or is this a retail problem? Or is it exclusively Gamestop?

[HardcoreRetro]

Yes.

But it's not an organic death. Some physical copies don't even hold the game, but are literally a code in a box. Some day 1 patches being a necessity for a game to even run well. If the value proposition of physical was still the same it used to be, I don't think digital'd be outselling physical just yet.

[Himu]

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2022/02/fewer-and-fewer-console-games-are-seeing-a-physical-release/

[Himu]

Yes.

But it's not an organic death. Some physical copies don't even hold the game, but are literally a code in a box. Some day 1 patches being a necessity for a game to even run well. If the value proposition of physical was still the same it used to be, I don't think digital'd be outselling physical just yet.

Plus you get a disc and it has to install anyways therefore negating one of the biggest benefits of physical: it was faster and allowed plug in and play.

[Svejk]

For me, physical died in 2014... Until Switch had to monkey wrench that, all thanks to Nintentards that still think it's ok to buy 5 year old games at full price (digitally) and are willing to pay for used shit at only 10% less than retail (hence the resell value). 

These are digital entities... let them be digital.  It's ok to let go. The games will always be there one way or the other, as long as you have internet access. (If you don't, maybe one should find a different hobby at this point) Besides Nintendo, there's plenty of sales with significant price drops for the digital versions all the time. And with stuff like GP, PS+, EGS freebies, there'll always be more than enough to play digitally.

[Himu]

Honestly if games are to go digital I think it's best to stick with Xbox console wise for the time being because they're the only one that cares about keeping their history.

[benjipwns]

I wonder if Gamestop would do better actually selling old games. Like, there's obviously the inventory cost to that, but I have to imagine they need to shut thousands of the stores sometime soon anyway.

[Skullfuckers Anonymous]

Physical games have no benefits these days…
Gotta use gas to drive to the store.
Gotta wait in a 5-10 minute line once you’re there to buy it.
Gotta say no to every upsell they try to do at the counter.
Gotta use gas to drive home.
Gotta wait for the game to install at slower speeds than just downloading it.
Gotta wait to download the updates.
Gotta remember to have the disc in to run the game.
Play game.

As opposed to digital…
Buy game and start download.
Go outside for a smoke break.
Play game.

Sure you can sell it if you don’t like it, but if you don’t want to deal with Craigslist the retail offers are insulting.

[chronovore]

If I went to a store and the physical game box, but opened it and found just a code, I would be really, really pissed off. At the very least, I can lend or give a disc to a friend if the game turns out to not be my thing.

Right now, I'd donate that POS Death Stranding to anyone who'd take it. As it was a $20 impulse purchase via digital, it's just a few flags on my account history.

I recently dropped the Monster Hunter World disc in to give it a whirl again, and realized I havent used the drive in my PS5 for months.

In contrast, if I buy an Xbox Series X I have a tonne of 360 discs that I'll still want to play via backwards compatibility.

[demi]

Honestly if games are to go digital I think it's best to stick with Xbox console wise for the time being because they're the only one that cares about keeping their history.

Choice quote, this just started making the rounds



IMO yes physical is dying.

I have no problem buying digital -- can't take it with you when you're dead anyway, but I enjoy having a library to browse on my wall

[Himu]

Honestly if games are to go digital I think it's best to stick with Xbox console wise for the time being because they're the only one that cares about keeping their history.

Choice quote, this just started making the rounds

(Image removed from quote.)

RIP

Thing is though, many of these are backward compat with Series X through physical, though. At least you have some option with Xbox. You have no options in Sony or Nintendo.

[benjipwns]

Physical games have no benefits these days…
Gotta use gas to drive to the store.
Gotta wait in a 5-10 minute line once you’re there to buy it.
Gotta say no to every upsell they try to do at the counter.
Gotta use gas to drive home.
Gotta wait for the game to install at slower speeds than just downloading it.
Gotta wait to download the updates.
Gotta remember to have the disc in to run the game.
Play game.

[Tasty]

By definition, if it's physical, it will die.

[Svejk]

By definition, if it's physical, it will die.

[Potato]

I would love to go all digital, but with the way retail is set up here, physical is often the more cost-effective choice, particularly if you are a day-one buyer.

Digital stores sell games at full RRP almost all of the time, but physical stores, particularly in the launch window, will be selling for 10-20% below RRP, especially Nintendo first party. In fact, Nintendo first party is usually $64-69 where digital is $80. Playstation is worse with retail for new games (PS4) often being $90-100 and digital being anywhere from $100-130.

If you are looking for games outside of their release window, you can often trawl the retail bottom shelves and get them at 50-80% lower than the digital price.

[Polident Hive]

Lack the introspection to know what came first, but along the way I stopped caring about physical releases and buying at release/full price. With very few exceptions, I’m buying digital when it’s $20 or less, or on gamepass. Talking almost exactly a year ago with Elden Ring.

Might feel different if I lived on a submarine. But I hear they have a product for that.

[Himu]

Yeah I rarely buy a game on day one these days unless top tier release that interests me.

[Coax]

Online digital isn't a drawback so long as it can be preserved without DRM for/in the future. The benefit of physical in the past was one could play a game even if only the disc was present—standalone from the internet. Itself preserving a copy into the future. Also being tradable and variously seeing steeper discounts.

Music already took this step. Games are a mix but one way or another generally get preserved except for online only components. Films still require DRM but it's bypassed both on disc and online, however physical remains the only way to obtain the best quality yet some content is kept on streaming services exclusively with less than ideal quality and no way to 'buy' the content even DRM'd.

[NekoFever]

I would love to go all digital, but with the way retail is set up here, physical is often the more cost-effective choice, particularly if you are a day-one buyer.

Digital stores sell games at full RRP almost all of the time, but physical stores, particularly in the launch window, will be selling for 10-20% below RRP, especially Nintendo first party. In fact, Nintendo first party is usually $64-69 where digital is $80. Playstation is worse with retail for new games (PS4) often being $90-100 and digital being anywhere from $100-130.

If you are looking for games outside of their release window, you can often trawl the retail bottom shelves and get them at 50-80% lower than the digital price.

Same here. Dead Space PS5, to pick a random new release, is £70 digitally on PSN, but looking at physical copies on various retailers I can get it for £65, £59, £54…

The other day I was looking on Amazon for Link’s Awakening on the Switch and they’ll sell you a physical copy for £40 or the download code for £50. It’s ridiculous.

It’s a business model that might work in the States where everyone charges the MSRP, but here where stores actually compete on price, it’s terrible value.

I like physical media but I’m not averse to buying games digitally. I’ll buy digitally when there’s a good sale or no physical option. I even quite like the convenience of having dozens of games on my Switch without messing with cards. But I’m not paying a 20-30% premium for something that costs the manufacturer less and gives me less control.

Other media got cheaper when it went digital. But for some reason people are all in on games doing the opposite.

[Svejk]

Physical games have no benefits these days…
Gotta use gas to drive to the store.
Gotta wait in a 5-10 minute line once you’re there to buy it.
Gotta say no to every upsell they try to do at the counter.
Gotta use gas to drive home.
Gotta wait for the game to install at slower speeds than just downloading it.
Gotta wait to download the updates.
Gotta remember to have the disc in to run the game.
Play game.

As opposed to digital…
Buy game and start download.
Go outside for a smoke break.
Play game.

Sure you can sell it if you don’t like it, but if you don’t want to deal with Craigslist the retail offers are insulting.

Seriously, who has time for this these days? 

To add to that,
Systems run louder with disc read whirring.. and possibly run hotter.
Buying used games - Chance of game not working because of a bad press or scratches/smudges.
Buying used games - People take them shits to bathroom, dawg... don't ask why.
Physical hardly ever provide manuals now too, not like the golden days where they had great tidbits and art included with it.

There's nothing premium about physical anymore, unless you get suckered into LR, LE or CE's.

[bork]

Physical games have no benefits these days…
Gotta use gas to drive to the store.
Gotta wait in a 5-10 minute line once you’re there to buy it.
Gotta say no to every upsell they try to do at the counter.
Gotta use gas to drive home.
Gotta wait for the game to install at slower speeds than just downloading it.
Gotta wait to download the updates.
Gotta remember to have the disc in to run the game.
Play game.

As opposed to digital…
Buy game and start download.
Go outside for a smoke break.
Play game.

Sure you can sell it if you don’t like it, but if you don’t want to deal with Craigslist the retail offers are insulting.

Seriously, who has time for this these days?

I sure don't- which is why I have games DELIVERED to my home.  It's a radical new concept! 

To add to that,
Systems run louder with disc read whirring.. and possibly run hotter.
Buying used games - Chance of game not working because of a bad press or scratches/smudges.
Buying used games - People take them shits to bathroom, dawg... don't ask why.
Physical hardly ever provide manuals now too, not like the golden days where they had great tidbits and art included with it.

There's nothing premium about physical anymore, unless you get suckered into LR, LE or CE's.

1. Pretty sure the discs aren't constantly being read on modern systems.  You're full-installing the games onto the system storage.
2. Is that really an issue anymore?  Playstation discs from PS3 onward have been made to be very resistant to scratches.  Never had a problem.  Never gotten a used game with any scratches, for that matter.
3. 
4. A number of the limited production run-type games provide manuals and other extras.  A lot of the mainline stuff does not though, yeah. 

[bork]

Went to GameStop retail the other day and the place was a ghost town. This was in a mall too. Xbox series had only games from like the past year and the rack was pretty much empty. I've been going to game shops since 1995-1996 and I've never seen anything like this. Barely any Xbox One games (which are backwards compat with Series X and many current gen games have last gen releases), barely any used games (Gamestop's bread and butter). Back in the ps2 days there would be an entire rack of used games. It's shocking to see and even more, utterly saddening. I go to gamestop.com and search for a game and not a single Gamestop in a 50 mile radius has it. And this isn't a rare game. One copy of Hitman 1 is available in only one Gamestop in my area. What in the fuck.

I saw data that said for the first time ever digital oversold physical last year. Yet I can't really blame anyone. Even I, a physical diehard and almost absolutist, find digital too tempting these days. If retail doesn't have the games, and it's just easier to order and dl a game from your couch why not do it? Often they're cheaper these days too which didn't always used to be the case.

Maybe online is the way to go for physical these days but damn, Gamestop is a shell of itself. You could (and you would be right) to say this is just desserts for what they did to EB, Software ETC., FuncoLand;etc. but damn.

Is it physical that's dying? Or is this a retail problem? Or is it exclusively Gamestop?

It's kind of everything you mentioned and is a yes and no question.  Gamestop is doing worse and they've closed stores/shifted to selling non-gaming stuff over the past few years.  The pandemic also killed foot traffic for a lot of retail stores.  A lot of malls are also dying.  And people are buying more and more online.

AFAIK both Sony and Microsoft would love to kill off physical media and I do think this will finally happen in another console gen or two.  But it's hard to say because there's a lot of places where people just don't have the bandwidth available to download large games- there's even still around two million people in the States on dial-up!  There are other regions where fast Internet just isn't as feasible due to issues with infrastructure, which is why Southeast Asia gets so many physical copies of games that aren't released elsewhere.  (They're released in English because the populations are too low for them to localize games for the native languages.)

From a practical standpoint, I don't see the point in buying physical copies of games for the Xbox and Playstation consoles, since the games full-install and generally are going to get patches and updates.  Sure, plenty of games are playable without all these patches, updates, and DLC, but at times these things can be pretty significant.  Gone are the days of physical releases being "complete" for the most part.  Physical makes more sense on the Switch, since you're playing the games on the carts, but even then there's plenty of updates, patches, and DLC too.

Most of the limited game indie publishers will claim that they are giving you complete games on disc/cart, which is why the releases tend to take longer, but you can't even trust these nowadays since games will get patches after these physical releases or new content will be announced.  Sometimes they also just fuck up and manufacture the games unpatched.  This just happened with Special Reserve Games' release of Gato Roboto.  (They're going to be giving customers fixed cart replacements to make up for it.)

But buying physical can mean lower prices, plus resale value, and some people just like to have the physical product on their shelves or collect.  Even though you might have to download updates, it can still be faster to pop a disc in for a reinstall than it can be to download it back to your console.  The way download speeds are though nowadays, I'm kinda unsure about that though, lol.

The only platform I trust to not go anywhere in the long-term is PC.  Steam in particular.  Even when something is delisted, when I own it, I own it- I can redownload that game on newer hardware later on and not worry about whether or not the next hardware will be backwards-compatible or if they just up and remove something from their digital storefront, even if it's just a demo (see: P.T.).

Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.

[bork]

Honestly if games are to go digital I think it's best to stick with Xbox console wise for the time being because they're the only one that cares about keeping their history.

Choice quote, this just started making the rounds

(Image removed from quote.)

IMO yes physical is dying.

I have no problem buying digital -- can't take it with you when you're dead anyway, but I enjoy having a library to browse on my wall

Not closing!

https://www.theverge.com/2023/2/2/23583699/xbox-360-marketplace-microsoft-not-shutting-closing-down

‘This message was posted in error and we can confirm the Xbox 360 marketplace will not close in May 2023.’

[bork]

I wonder if Gamestop would do better actually selling old games. Like, there's obviously the inventory cost to that, but I have to imagine they need to shut thousands of the stores sometime soon anyway.

They tried this with a new store concept. But this was back in 2019 or 2020 and probably isn't going to happen.

https://www.ign.com/articles/2019/09/16/gamestops-store-redesign-leaked

They also have a "Social" concept store that looks more like a Internet cafe than a shop.

[Svejk]

Went to GameStop retail the other day and the place was a ghost town. This was in a mall too. Xbox series had only games from like the past year and the rack was pretty much empty. I've been going to game shops since 1995-1996 and I've never seen anything like this. Barely any Xbox One games (which are backwards compat with Series X and many current gen games have last gen releases), barely any used games (Gamestop's bread and butter). Back in the ps2 days there would be an entire rack of used games. It's shocking to see and even more, utterly saddening. I go to gamestop.com and search for a game and not a single Gamestop in a 50 mile radius has it. And this isn't a rare game. One copy of Hitman 1 is available in only one Gamestop in my area. What in the fuck.

I saw data that said for the first time ever digital oversold physical last year. Yet I can't really blame anyone. Even I, a physical diehard and almost absolutist, find digital too tempting these days. If retail doesn't have the games, and it's just easier to order and dl a game from your couch why not do it? Often they're cheaper these days too which didn't always used to be the case.

Maybe online is the way to go for physical these days but damn, Gamestop is a shell of itself. You could (and you would be right) to say this is just desserts for what they did to EB, Software ETC., FuncoLand;etc. but damn.

Is it physical that's dying? Or is this a retail problem? Or is it exclusively Gamestop?

It's kind of everything you mentioned and is a yes and no question.  Gamestop is doing worse and they've closed stores/shifted to selling non-gaming stuff over the past few years.  The pandemic also killed foot traffic for a lot of retail stores.  A lot of malls are also dying.  And people are buying more and more online.

AFAIK both Sony and Microsoft would love to kill off physical media and I do think this will finally happen in another console gen or two.  But it's hard to say because there's a lot of places where people just don't have the bandwidth available to download large games- there's even still around two million people in the States on dial-up!  There are other regions where fast Internet just isn't as feasible due to issues with infrastructure, which is why Southeast Asia gets so many physical copies of games that aren't released elsewhere.  (They're released in English because the populations are too low for them to localize games for the native languages.)

From a practical standpoint, I don't see the point in buying physical copies of games for the Xbox and Playstation consoles, since the games full-install and generally are going to get patches and updates.  Sure, plenty of games are playable without all these patches, updates, and DLC, but at times these things can be pretty significant.  Gone are the days of physical releases being "complete" for the most part.  Physical makes more sense on the Switch, since you're playing the games on the carts, but even then there's plenty of updates, patches, and DLC too.

This is even a bigger nail in the coffin for physical.  More and more games are needing day 1 patches to be playable.. and if you don't have internet access, then what?  Honestly, when I think about it now, most Nintendo 1st party games come quite complete (except the Pokemans of late), with barely any patching needed (Mario Odyssey, BOTW, SSB).  Not sure if that justifies selling at MSRP 5 years later, but at least you're getting practically a "complete" digital game (in a plastic shell).  There were some games for Switch (can't remember specifically) that also were "a download code on a flash cart" too. (Want to say it was some RE game) With pre-patch era games though, with emulators that improve these older games in a multitude of ways, what's the point other than nostalgia?

For those that do want the brick and mortar experience and can look at the walls of choices, then ask a rep to pull a copy.. those days were fun back then, but the industry has killed any fun left in it, other than these Battle and Brew type "hang outs". 

I'm still suffering from PTSD from roaches crawling out of Scrumpy's PS2 back then. 

[demi]

Physical means I can still use my GameFly account

Been a member since 2008, playing all the latest releases within the first week

I've saved so much money from this alone

[Uncle]

I feel like the only digital storefront I can trust is steam, everything else is eventually killed off

I know in practical terms most people don't go back and play their old systems that much, but to me preservation is important

I like it when the "rights management" is simply whether you have the cartridge or not, no calling home

"whoops can't communicate with the server so we can't verify you own these games anymore so it doesn't matter that you kept them installed"

I don't care if most games have day 1 patches, if that means those games aren't playable post-shutdown, that's those devs' fault, their games will be forgotten while playable ones will live on

[Himu]

Honestly if games are to go digital I think it's best to stick with Xbox console wise for the time being because they're the only one that cares about keeping their history.

Choice quote, this just started making the rounds

(Image removed from quote.)

IMO yes physical is dying.

I have no problem buying digital -- can't take it with you when you're dead anyway, but I enjoy having a library to browse on my wall

https://twitter.com/gematsu/status/1621315018749878273

[paprikastaude]

I feel like the only digital storefront I can trust is steam, everything else is eventually killed off

I know in practical terms most people don't go back and play their old systems that much, but to me preservation is important

This. I know it's happening at some point, but I have yet to see one of my old discs break. Meanwhile, the last decade was full of digital stores shutting down, servers hacked, licences running out, etc.

Also, as someone keeping his consoles offline, I can confirm the below. If you only play yearly AAA western games, you might be screwed, but many singleplayer games are very polished day1 on the disc/cart, be it from all the platform holders, Capcom, From, Sega, etc

https://twitter.com/DoesItPlay1/status/1543259451339091968?t=r3xKKK3D21V5v-F28tDL8g&s=19

[Himu]

I feel like the only digital storefront I can trust is steam, everything else is eventually killed off

I know in practical terms most people don't go back and play their old systems that much, but to me preservation is important

This. I know it's happening at some point, but I have yet to see one of my old discs break. Meanwhile, the last decade was full of digital stores shutting down, servers hacked, licences running out, etc.

Also, as someone keeping his consoles offline, I can confirm the below. If you only play yearly AAA western games, you might be screwed, but many singleplayer games are very polished day1 on the disc/cart, be it from all the platform holders, Capcom, From, Sega, etc

https://twitter.com/DoesItPlay1/status/1543259451339091968

These people are doing God's work.

[demi]

Why would you keep your console offline? If you have the means [right now] to leverage online, why not use it?

[Tuckers Law]

Why would you keep your console offline? If you have the means [right now] to leverage online, why not use it?

Rockstar pushing updates to remove licensed songs is the big one for me.  If the disc still works, so should the fucking songs on it.  Assholes, you used to be cool!

[Uncle]

Why would you keep your console offline? If you have the means [right now] to leverage online, why not use it?

https://www.fanbyte.com/games/news/how-one-advance-wars-fan-accidentally-played-the-remake-early/

Just a few weeks ago, Nintendo made the rather abrupt decision to indefinitely delay their Advance Wars 1+2 remake for Switch, Re-Boot Camp. The platform holder stated that the delay was due to ongoing world events — likely Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the Russian military analogues found throughout both original Advance Wars games — but stayed away from any specifics such as when the game would actually release. For fans looking forward to the series which doesn’t get much attention from Nintendo at all these days, this was a crushing blow. That is, unless you were seemingly the one person in the world who got access to the game this week due to a preload glitch.

On April 8, a Tweet started going around of someone stating that they’re playing Advance Wars on Switch with a screenshot seemingly sent straight from the Switch’s share interface. Rachael Adamson bought a copy of the game months ago and was sent a code to enter on the eShop long before the delay. It only worked on her Switch Lite, which had a copy of the game preloaded from when she entered the code and suddenly went live on the day the game was supposed to release.

“It was just sitting there on my Switch for a couple of months unplayable,” Adamson told Fanbyte. “The game was there on the home screen but, like any game that hasn’t been released yet, it wouldn’t let me play it.” Just a few days ago, however, that changed. “I got a notification on my Switch saying it was ready to play. So I played it, thinking it had been released on schedule anyway. I never imagined that I was the only one (that I know of) that it was working for.”

Adamson tweeted a bit of the game here and there, showing off bits of the game that definitely had not been seen in Nintendo’s always carefully curated pre-release marketing. Her mentions meanwhile became a mix of people laughing at the absurdity of the issue and those accusing her of fakery, piracy, or some other malice against the game and Nintendo. For Adamson, though, she was content to simply enjoy the game and not care.

Eventually it seemed that Nintendo caught wind of this and took action to cut her off. It’s not clear exactly how the publisher found out; Adamson thinks enough big Twitter accounts retweeted her and put it on Nintendo’s radar — which, uh, maybe oops. However it happened, Nintendo didn’t waste time pulling her license.

“They sent out an email like ‘We’ve successfully received your return’ with the game listed as the item that was returned,” Adamson said. “The timing was so suspicious, it was the next day after the tweet. I thought there’s no way that was a coincidence.”

Suspecting this was going to go this direction anyway, Adamson had already placed her Switch into airplane mode, preventing it from going online at all. While the Switch needs to check for a valid license every 30 days, it conversely can’t confirm a newly-invalidated license without being online. That meant that, even though Nintendo pulled the game from her library, Adamson could still keep playing for about another month.

“I had it on airplane mode for a while when I received the email from them, I haven’t gone online since,” Adamson said, “so I have no clue if it’ll stop working if I do. I assume it will.”

Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp is not currently purchasable on the Nintendo eShop or preloadable and there has been no word on when either of these things will be rectified, though I imagine the latter will certainly be a while.

We reached out to Nintendo for comment on this story but had not heard back by time of publication.

[demi]

That's not at all a common scenario, and I believe it eventually has to contact home or it revokes the license anyway via an internal clock

[Uncle]

i know but it's fun

[Let's Cyber]

I know, right? I just want my Switch games to continue function while I'm in my bunker after WWIII breaks out in 2014, 2016, 2020 2021, 2022, 2023

[Nintex]

On PC all digital on Xbox mixed but on Switch there's something magical to those small cartridges. Especially combined with the steelboxes.

[paprikastaude]

Why would you keep your console offline? If you have the means [right now] to leverage online, why not use it?

I don't want to be bothered by notifications and updates I don't need

[Himu]

Went to best buy and it's the same. It seems to be the Xbox section exclusively. PS4 has a big section and PS5 does too. Then there's switch which is massive.

[benjipwns]

I feel like the only digital storefront I can trust is steam, everything else is eventually killed off

I'd trust GOG. At this point I'm mostly trusting of Origin and ubiwhateverthefuck too, especially since they're back on Steam now, even if ubi did just kill a bunch of DLC. One reason I'm fond of the Microsoft-Activision deal is they'd probably push stuff back over to Steam like they did with Bethesda.

When the Fortnite money runs out I could see Tencent shutting down the Epic Games Store though.

[Uncle]

Went to best buy and it's the same. It seems to be the Xbox section exclusively. PS4 has a big section and PS5 does too. Then there's switch which is massive.

I always thought it would be suicide to cede that physical space, the free advertising of just having a wall of games in stock, but people are going to stores less and less

[NekoFever]

Went to best buy and it's the same. It seems to be the Xbox section exclusively. PS4 has a big section and PS5 does too. Then there's switch which is massive.

I always thought it would be suicide to cede that physical space, the free advertising of just having a wall of games in stock, but people are going to stores less and less

I never thought of that but it’s an interesting point. Even if someone’s likely to buy all their games digitally, if they walk into Best Buy and see a wall of PlayStation games and a wall of Switch games, does that have a subconscious impact on how they perceive the Xbox?

Even if people aren’t buying those boxed games, seeing them on the shelves is like a big billboard for the variety of games on your system.

But then of course retailers aren’t going to want to keep all that shelf space for stuff that doesn’t sell, so it effectively becomes a paid advertising space if they’re having to subsidise them to keep it.

[Potato]

It definitely does have a psychological effect because even though people are buying software online, they are still buying hardware predominantly in retail stores.

[paprikastaude]

PlayStation's physical game revenues surge to new four-year high in holiday 2022
https://www.tweaktown.com/news/90399/playstations-physical-game-revenues-surge-to-new-four-year-high-in-holiday-2022/index.html




also, annectodal, but it feels like there's a strong subculture of collecting Switch physical.

[Nintex]

also, annectodal, but it feels like there's a strong subculture of collecting Switch physical.

Unless it's an obscure franchise like Bayonetta or Astral Chain, the Collectors Editions usually sell out instantly for games like Zelda and Fire Emblem.

[bork]

also, annectodal, but it feels like there's a strong subculture of collecting Switch physical.

Very much so.  It's nuts how many limited game publishers have popped up and keep going with so many Switch releases.  Some of them might release, say 999 PS4 copies of a game and 2500+ Switch copies, and the Switch copies will sell right out while the PS4 ones stay readily in stock.

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I'm at 810 physical Switch games right now

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And I know people with double that amount or more

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also, annectodal, but it feels like there's a strong subculture of collecting Switch physical.

Unless it's an obscure franchise like Bayonetta or Astral Chain, the Collectors Editions usually sell out instantly for games like Zelda and Fire Emblem.

Have you seen the prices those CEs go for?  Especially the Japanese Bayonetta Climax Edition.  LOL.