The tipping point for downloads is nigh (1 Viewer)

[LeoA]

My Atari 2600 and several other consoles I regularly play are on the eve of their 40th birthday, so don't be so sure.

If I'm not enjoying my Blu-Ray's in 25 years, it's going to be because something tragic happened to me or the media's longevity was poor and my discs all died of disc rot.

And that's happened how many times?

In general, or to me personally?

Alas, it hardly has unaffected me. I've missed out on several release that I wanted since I don't have the budget to buy everything on day 1. Sometimes stuff has to wait.

And that bites me occasionally, such as with Microsoft's Game Room service where I had another 8 games that I wanted to add to my collection when I discovered it was gone. Sometimes I get lucky and I notice advance warning such as with the recent delisting of the Castle of Illusion remake or just blind luck like buying Sega Rally Online Arcade a week before it suddenly disappeared from online storefronts, but not always.

And really, with an active thread about the Atari 2600, does it really have to be argued that this is a negative? That console and its games would be lost today if it was setup with a model like you like. Heck, many of its games only exist because of us.

When Activision for example did Activision Anthology, they came to AtariAge for the rom set since they literally didn't even have that archived. Without cartridges unencumbered with heavy handed DRM, always online requirements, and so on, our community literally couldn't of even provided that.

Is it unimportant to you? Most likely, from the sounds of it. But is an issue for others? Definitely.

 

[Race Bannon]

I think physical media will always exist -- you can't always rely on a good high speed connection for every viewer around the world, in every context.

And hopefully they learned from the post-DVD format war not to position improved formats as something totally different. They seem to be marketing UHD disks as a something like a variant, with similar trade dress. It's taken us years to recover from the fact that most of the public consider's "DVD" synonymous with "movie."

I try to let it go, but it genuinuely bothers me how much of the market and shelf space is dedicated to DVD, and people buying DVD's without a moment's thought. In my opinion, they got a little greedy by presenting blu-ray as a much more expensive alternative at the time (trying to rake extra dollars). They should have focused more on making seamless upgrade easier to understand for people.

 

[Morgan Jolley]

I've read horror stories about people who have lost their 3DS with a boatload of digital games on it. Granted, Nintendo uses a system where games and media are tied to the hardware itself rather than a general account, whereas Sony and MS tie the rights to the account. Losing a 3DS means losing your digital games, while losing a PS Vita means having to sign into your account on a brand new PS Vita.

I'm a fan of not buying excessive crap for the sole purpose of collecting since, as you said, it all gets junked in the end. That's why I avoid special/collector's editions of games and movies that come with statues or art books. I bought into that stuff for maybe a year and realized it was a waste of money and space. In general, I only buy things that I'm getting value out of or I (read: my wife) buy things to decorate the house. I try to keep the two categories from crossing over too much.

There are multiple examples of digital games being removed from various online stores because the rights lapsed or a company went out of business. I know its a unique example, but PT on PS4 went from a free downloadable demo to be inaccessible for people who had already downloaded it and accidentally deleted it because the company making it (Konami) cancelled the project and wanted to erase its existence. I think The Beatles: Rock Band on PS3/360 no longer has any of its DLC songs available to purchase. Online storefronts on consoles are still kind of young, less than 10 years old, so these issues will pop up more in the future.

Physical media erodes over time and could easily be lost/misplaced. But I'm kind of okay with that if its my fault rather than because someone at a big company decides they want to make in unavailable.

Also, I have bought digital games before, but I only do so when its the only option for a game I really want to play (like The Witness) or its really cheap. Nintendo's Virtual Console games are in the $5-10 range so I've gladly re-bought games that I still have the cartridges and consoles for from the NES, SNES, and N64. If Nintendo goes bankrupt and those games are not available again, I'm kind of cool with having lost $5 on yet another copy of Super Mario Bros. But if they shut down their servers and I can't access the Super Deluxe Digital Edition of the newest (insert game here) that cost me $120, I'd be pretty pissed.

 

[DaveF]

I think physical media will always exist -- you can't always rely on a good high speed connection for every viewer around the world, in every context.

I don't know. Mobile devices (iOS and Android) have no physical media, are sold globally, and are the most profitable digital technology sold.

I've read horror stories about people who have lost their 3DS with a boatload of digital games on it. Granted, Nintendo uses a system where games and media are tied to the hardware itself rather than a general account, whereas Sony and MS tie the rights to the account. Losing a 3DS means losing your digital games, while losing a PS Vita means having to sign into your account on a brand new PS Vita.

I've read horror stories about people whose homes burned down or were burgled and they lost all their games for every system.

Nintendo is not an example of the problems with digital per se but the problem of a company treating digital media as if it's physical media.

If my computer crashes today, I'll have all my Audible books, Apple and Amazon music, and iOS apps downloaded anew tomorrow. If my home burns down, all my physical games are destroyed. But all my digital photos are securely backed up online.

Digital done right is safer than physical media.

 

[Rodney]

I would suggest that it isn't a matter of physical media or digital media; rather it is a matter of who controls the media. If I have to rely on a third party for access, I am not a happy camper. Too many decisions are being made about accessibility or decisions of censorship or "enhancement".
If we only relied on Disney/LucasFilm for access to the the Star Wars films, the Original Trilogy (in HD) would not be available. I am glad to have it, and it is digital media, but it is in my control on how I see it.

 

[Towergrove]

If my computer crashes today, I'll have all my Audible books, Apple and Amazon music, and iOS apps downloaded anew tomorrow. If my home burns down, all my physical games are destroyed. But all my digital photos are securely backed up online.

Digital done right is safer than physical media.

IF its done right yes. I prefer to store my data not online but off site. I always perfer to make two backups of what I own including my important documents. Cloud storage of personal photographs or important data in my opinion is not wise and "Secure" as you state. It can be hacked and compromised. Yahoo was compromised just this week. You may say but thats just Yahoo. Well they also own many other companies like Flickr. Yes my photos on Flickr were hacked and compromised during the recent Yahoo data breach so not sure i would call it "Securely backed up".

Congress has been working on a "Digital Bill of Rights" for consumers like us who purchase items and expect them to be there and safe when they need them. IF they do it right (does congress ever do?) then it will be a boon for the digital to own industry and a plus for the consumer.

We shall see.

 

[Towergrove]

I would suggest that it isn't a matter of physical media or digital media; rather it is a matter of who controls the media. If I have to rely on a third party for access, I am not a happy camper. Too many decisions are being made about accessibility or decisions of censorship or "enhancement".
If we only relied on Disney/LucasFilm for access to the the Star Wars films, the Original Trilogy (in HD) would not be available. I am glad to have it, and it is digital media, but it is in my control on how I see it.

I think in 2016 the consumer clearly controls the media. As far as what can and will be watched by the consumer. Physical and digital downloads and streams are available by many means (legally and not). Its a great time to be a consumer of digital video with so many choices.

 

[Sam Posten]

Wow I could not disagree with that more. We're still stuck with:
-Studios too cowardly to put out things like Song of the South
-Incompatible Walled Gardens for all studios except disney
-Incompatible with each other UV storefronts
-Overpriced media (especially 4K and DOUBLE especially 4K UV)
-Multiple inconpatible HDR formats

This is things getting better for the consumer? Really I'd say at this point we are resigned to putting up with the BS because we have little other choice, but this is not us in control.

If we were in control we'd be assured that media we bought on one storefront would work on all of our devices. The only world in which that works today is Disney's, and you've got to hand them all of your private details to spy on over all the front ends to get it.