Physical Media VS Digital

SoulBlazerFan · Tue May 12, 2026 9:37 pm

I've always been a big believer in physical Media over digital personally. I own about 1k DVDs and about 300 blu rays. Most in storage ATM.
My question is this: what are your thoughts as of now with dwindling support for physical releases?

I was a big enjoyer of special features, which rarely exist now due to digital releases. In fact, some private labels don't even have the budget to spend on new bonus materials, even something as simple as recording audio commentaries because the money just isnt there.

I also believe there is the lost art of DVD menus. I remember animated menus like my first blu ray, Ghostbusters. There was also Easter eggs and hidden stuff. I remember for the first release of a Nightmare on Elm Street there was a bonus disc that was an actual maze game, where you unlocked the ability to view alternate endings to the first movie.

What say you, do you find the ease of streaking or renting or purchasing digital easier, or do you prefer having something tangible in hand?

psychokind · Posted: Wed May 13, 2026 4:01 am Post subject:

I can understand where you're coming from since I sometimes (as you might know from my posts) buy physical stuff for Terranigma and I like to have some things as decoration in my room.

that being said, I grew up being a hardcore napster and file sharing fan and I don't like to pay for anything that is functionally digital like games, music and movies/TV series.

I download my mp3s from youtube, use adfree youtube pirate apps, watch series from filehosting sites and buy keys from key resellers or pirate games. I am also a huge emulation fan and have all existing games from older consoles readily available on my retroarch setup. I never paid for windows or other microsoft products and I haven't seen ads anywhere in decades.

so for me personally, I love the move to digital releases since it saved me thousands of euros over the years. sometimes I buy movies out of convenience because my wife and kids can't pirate everything like I do. I don't like the recent developements in the streaming world however where you can't buy movies or series and keep them forever. that should be illegal.
in the end - I prefer pirating everything!

Miss Prime Blue · Posted: Sun May 17, 2026 3:26 pm Post subject:

I'm someone who's always been into physical over digital - I just like owning my games and media.

However, unfortunately disk rot is a thing, so to protect most of my games I had to transfer mostly all of my older gaming collection to digital (I have a modded wii U for legacy games), except for the newer switch games, most of my gaming collection is digital.

But, physical games are better imo and I like displaying everything on my shelf.

Posted: Tue May 19, 2026 5:25 am Post subject:

Physical for sure, it's nice to be able to look at things and to hold them sometimes!

Disk rot is a very real fear, I try to keep digital copies of things I can with backup strategy 3-2-1. Not always feasible but I do what I can.

For games I want to test the waters with, I'll likely buy a digital version first and if I really like it I'll also get a physical one. For indies that put their heart and soul into a physical release, I'll always get the physical one right away!

I'm remembering an interesting conversation I had with a former colleague when Spotify was just becoming an thing on how he though it was stupid that I still bought CDs... I didn't feel stupid at the time and now I think I can laugh all the way to my backup bank

Posted: Fri May 22, 2026 1:02 am Post subject:

Unless something is specifically digital only (and some games have been released in the US as digital only, whereas places like the EU get a physical release too), I prefer to have a copy of it in my hands. I like physical soundtracks if I can buy them. Sure, I downloaded music and I stream music and Netflix and all that, but if I get the chance to buy the media I want? I will. For some of my games though, I have 100% made isos of them. I own the game, so the emulation is above board and all, but it means if something happens to the discs over time, I can still play them.

Posted: Fri Jul 03, 2026 8:09 am Post subject:

*Sony joined the chat*
*Sony left the chat*

Whelp

Blade · Posted: Fri Jul 03, 2026 10:51 am Post subject:

eFlare wrote:*Sony joined the chat*
*Sony left the chat*

Whelp

my thoughts exaclty

SoulBlazerFan · Posted: Wed Jul 08, 2026 11:26 pm Post subject:

Blade wrote:
eFlare wrote:*Sony joined the chat*
*Sony left the chat*

Whelp
Funny how a random thought can suddenly become such a topical conversation.

I'm not surprised this happened at all. Sony and Microsoft have long wanted to go fully digital. Buying habits with pre-orders allowing you to pre download some guys to play at exactly midnight... this was always where things were going.

Next step is the entire death of blu ray since Sony owns and licenses it out. I'm expecting the format to be dead by 2030 at this point.

You will own nothing now and be happy for it.

Sony also just ended a contacted with a studio and 551 films people digitally purchased are all now gone from their libraries. No refunds or any way to make up for it. Just gone forever.

my thoughts exaclty

EverPhoenix · Posted: Thu Jul 09, 2026 3:00 pm Post subject:

I generally prefer digital over physical, but this always-online, license-based "ownership" is bullshit.

That being said some physical releases look absolutely gorgeous and I'd totally have it on my shelf. But if the option is a digital download or another flimsy plastic box for a tiny cartridge I have to keep swapping out whenever I switch games, I'll take the download. Same for books - I switched over to Kindle because pretty hardcovers are pricy, and paperbacks take up a surprising amount of space.

Flamez · Posted: Fri Jul 10, 2026 11:32 am Post subject:

I love my physical games collections, but I have accepted that they are going to be a thing of the past. I have gone from being a pirate in my youth, and now I find myself starting to pirate everything again just so I can have the collection of media I want that can't be taken from me on the whim of a company.

My DS games, 3DS and switch are all going to die due to flash memory. My DVDS are going to die from disc rot. Ironically, my N64 and SNES games will outlast it all the newer things by decades.

Got myself a Steam Machine, love having my digital steam collection available on basically a console; with the potential to add pretty much anything else I want to it.

Jason Tandro · Posted: Sat Jul 11, 2026 2:46 pm Post subject:

It's an... interesting time to run an LGS. Most of our money is made through retro stuff and TCG; new stuff generally we break even on. We've been discussing stop taking in new games after this all becomes official.

Obviously, I prefer physical media. I've been replaying a lot of the old classics that I own and wondering if maybe this isn't just a sign of what's been apparent for the past two generations. Gaming peaked in 2007 and we're never going back.

There are exceptions to every rule, of course. I like several modern games and I certainly don't think this is the end of gaming. But it may be the end of my relationship with it.

Miss Prime Blue · Posted: Sun Jul 12, 2026 12:17 pm Post subject:

I have some digital games, but i'm pretty old school, like the physical games, they look good on my bookshelf.

Jason Tandro · Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2026 12:42 am Post subject:

Miss Prime Blue wrote:I have some digital games, but i'm pretty old school, like the physical games, they look good on my bookshelf.

Honestly, yeah, this too. What are games if not cute books that come with colorful trinkets for us to display? My pride and joy is the Lunar 2 Eternal Blue Collector's Edition and that is a gorgeous shelf piece!