In case you somehow missed it, Rockstar, the videogame developers behind the Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead series, announced that the highly anticipated upcoming release Grand Theft Auto 6, will be a digital-only release.
The internet has done what the internet does best and immediately formed into factions of far-opposing opinions and echochambers of relentless attacks on the other group. I do my best to avoid any of these conversations and seek out the rare nuanced takes that are actually cohesive and based in fact. Here are my thoughts on the topic:
I really appreciate physical media of all kinds. My house is covered in racks and shelves of DVDs, records, cassetes, CDs, books, magazines and videogames. Holding a real object in your hands and knowing that it's yours forever is satisfying. I also love the art and freebies included with the medium. Collector editions or limited runs of these items feel even more special to own.
PC, Nintendo, Xbox, Playstation, new, retro, handheld you name it. Most genres, too. I was a console gamer from ages threeish to twenty-two and then spent 2 years only gaming on my PC. I didn't love it. I just preferred the console experience. Branding, console feel, exclusive games, etc. And a huge part of that experience: my videogame collection.
Seems like most items I publish on this site have a common theme if you've poked around here enough: ownership. Whether that ownership comes in the form of digital files (that you own) on a computer (that you also own) or from physical media. A huge benefit that people preach when it comes to this stuff is ownership. These are your things that can't be taken away from you, deactivated, or wiped off a server that you don't own. They're yours.
It's true that that's a huge benefit. And arguably the most important one. However, I want to also mention my favorite one: curation. Music is my favorite example of this. I stream music, but I stream music that I own from a home server that I also own; it's mine. This pool of music on my server accompanyed by records, CDs, and cassettes that I personally picked out and meticulously placed around my home is my collection. It's a reflection of me. Having a bunch of digital games and/or a game service like XBOX's GamePass can be convenient, but it's not the healthiest or most intentional way to consume media. I think this is crucial for healthy technology usage. I feel infinitely more connected to my Videogame disc and cartridge collection next to my T.V. and my server full of music that I purchased and store way more than I'd feel connected to an all-digital PlayStation or a Spotify subscription.
It's no secret that everything is getting rapidly more expensive. Along with this, cost cuttings for the companies that make the keys to ownership (videogame discs, blu-ray, DVDs, etc.) are high-prioity. Those cuts come from the consumer, and the digital-only alternatives while convenient, have an expiration date along with weakened consumer rights.