We are finally at the end. It’ll start with entertainment, such as sports (already there) and soon video games. They’ve done it with software controls in vehicles. Retailers are started working with Creditors so you can do it for Computers and TVs, but the beginning of the end is upon us.
We are now entering the beginning steps of a new era, where You will own nothing, rent or lease, or subscribe to everything, and you will enjoy it because you have no choice.
To be truthful, when the game wasn’t fully on the disk or required day one patches is when I stopped taking consoles seriously. One of the benefits of console was a little loading and you’re good to go. That’s long gone now for even some indie games.
Mind expanding on this a bit? A PS5 will load the largest of games with in a few seconds. Baldur’s Gate 3 for example, loads the entire game inside of 30 seconds.
Or am I way off what you are talking about?
I think they’re talking about the initial loading. Not having to download gigabytes of data just to start up the game.
Aye, you have to install the game, download any updates, let it update, then start it up again typically because of day 1 patches. Used to be you just put in the disk and played it after a load.
Without physical disk I might as well get a Gabecube instead.
At least once the next Gabecube “2” comes out, the old one won’t become a paperweight and could become my parents next computer.Well what’s the point then. Might as well go over to PC gaming. The only real reason to stay with consoles was the physical disks.
Everything else about consoles is terrible compared to PC, no mods, limited games, limited sales, if any, (looking at you Nintendo), limited control scheme options, can only play games so device doesn’t have a lot of utility, you have to pay for internet access even though you already pay for internet access, no private servers, limited community tools.
The one thing you could say for consoles was that you owned the game. Now that’s gone.
The other advantages were lower price for hardware and not requiring tinkering to get games to run properly. While the price is still lower, it’s a smaller gap than it used to be since everything is ass-expensive now, so less benefit there. The last advantage isn’t even remotely worth all the downsides at this point.
To expand on your point about no tinkering required, the overall UI is also geared for a couch experience. So many people want to just plug in an HDMI cable and go, and consoles make that possible. And I get the desire; I have no regrets about going the PC route but I absolutely understand the whole “I don’t want to sit at a desk when I get home from work” argument. And before anyone talks about putting a PC on the TV, yes it’s possible but it’s not optimized for that kind of experience out of the box.
Very true, and that was also a big reason why I never tried just putting a PC under the TV. Docking the Steam Deck to the TV has shown me that Steam’s Big Picture Mode does a great job giving a console-like experience completely via a controller, though, so that’s where I’m going to be heading once support for PS5 ends.
This is my last console Gen, 30 years deep.
Owning a console means owning your game—being able to share it, save it, display it, sell it, and trade it.
It’s been an amazing, wild ride. But Sony, I’m out.
It really is an end of an era. I won’t buy an all digital console. I already have a PC for that and it plays everything better in 4k. Nintendo is truly the last console maker with great first party, physical media, and console gimmicks that interest me.
Even then they’re putting access codes into boxes instead of physical media. They’ll pivot away from it as well. Because it’ll save money just not for the consumer.
Due to licensing agreements expiring with publishers, 500 titles of your digital games will no longer be available. We are also shutting down our digital storefront for this generation’s console next year, after which you will no longer be able to download any other titles onto your puny price inflated ssd. Please consider upgrading to the PS7 to continue paying to play online, where you can pay to purchase your games again. Thank you for your business.
I’m out. I would never buy a console without physical media.
Realistically, with half-finished games on launch and mandatory day one patches, this won’t be a meaningful shift in how much you actually “own” your games, but dropping this 2 days after they deleted 550 movies that folks had bought and paid for and ostensibly “owned” from the ecosystem is a real bad look.
They’re dropping this news now so people forget about it in a few days when they all pick up their pitchforks and go after Microsoft for the upcoming layoffs.
The funny thing is the main people going after MS will be people that want Xbox to die anyway, leaving Sony free to do things like this.
The problem with discs vs. digital never was how much of the game you own or the fact that you can play the same disc 20 years down the road. It boils down to the fact that you can no longer sell the game you own after finishing it.
Or even just lend it to a friend. When I was a kid everyone in my group would get a different game and share them. We barely would have been able to play anything if we didn’t share
See, this is the real problem. Anybody with an MBA is going to look at your statement and think about all the money they didn’t get because they’re too fucking stupid to realize that you would not have bought more games if you had to buy multiple copies. It’s the same thing with like pirating music they used to talk about how much money they’ve lost, and I used to think no I just wouldn’t have bought that album. So they’ve spent all this time trying to figure out how to chase down dollars they never would’ve gotten to begin with.
Yeah the reality is I would have just read (more) books from the library and played fewer video games
I don’t think reselling is the big issue to me; just ownership. Some high-guarantee method of both retaining and controlling the product in question, which is often failed by our technical measures and server checks.
I’m fine with digital, even when it prevents reselling. I’m just less fine with it when license holders have the right to say “No, I’m done!” and pull their side of the contract.
yeah but the way they “release” games the disc is just a series of wget requests for patch files and if they take that endpoint down the disc is worthless.
Yes, it’s less than ideal, but still preferable to having NO way to sell or trade a license while the servers are still up. Games are becoming too big to fit on a single Bluray anyway.
true indeed.
We used to finish games. No update bullshit. A game was done when it was done. Humans can do this shit. Capitalism erodes our skills and our brains.
Just look at crash on ps1. Amazing.
I would rather a game that is supported for years with new content, updates, and fixes over one that isn’t. This thinking that “games were done back in the olden days, now they’re not” is dumb. They were just smaller, and they often had lots of bugs that could never be fixed.
Nah. I’ll take a finished game with a few bugs over a "weekly update ".
Also, game updates aren’t even bug fixes a lot of the time, its doing some idiotic menu reorganizing or adding a new loot box. Games dont need any of that. They just have to be good.
And also, your game that is "supported for years " with its weekly updates is dead in the water after 5 years often when its no longer "profitable " and with bugs still unfixed. So does it really make sense ?
Again, I can throw crash in my ps1 and play through it with 0 issue and 0 internet. Can The Crew do that? Can any game do that in 30 years? No.
So you are against updates just in principle lol. You’d rather games not get better because of a misguided idea that updates being a thing mean games aren’t “finished” at release.
You also seem to think that only online-only games get frequent updates. That’s not true. Take a game like vampire survivors for example. It must have had a hundred updates by now, and it’s a single player offline game (though they also recently added online multiplayer in a free update). That game will be playable in 30 years time too. Why wouldn’t it?
You are mistaking games that require a persistent online connection as “games that get updates”.
Basically yes, because many are unnecessary updates. I don’t care about them. Its actually cringe for me when I open a game and see “gahhh NOW what did they fricken change ??”. For many games, its usually not a good thing either, just from games I’ve played. Thats of course not always true. A bug fix here and there isnt the worst. But it rarely stops there.
"Constant updates " and "required online for single player " are often (usually) tied together. They can be separate yes, and those examples exist and are fine.
I still stand by the fact that there were millions of games made before constant internet and updates were a thing, and maaaaany of them are very good. I mean, I also hate when software devs think moving around all our menu buttons and shit (also introducing more bugs) and re releasing a product makes it “better” when it worked just fine for years. Its like they feel the need to change unnessesary shit, probably because the CEO told their boss it needs to be done so line go up. Who knows. Changing stuff for the sake of change does nothing.
Yes, but also no… For instance there were definitely bugs in Mario 64 that were corrected in later editions of Mario 64 like Mario 64DD and the one that came out on the DS. One very famous bug that’s been corrected is the ability to backwards long jump up the stairs in the upper section of the castle before having enough stars to climb the stairs.
Obviously these weren’t game breaking bugs in the same way that day one patches are fixing things, but it’s also not exactly correct to say it didn’t happen in the before time.
Right, it happened, but Usually they were small bugs.
I’m referring more to unnessecary updating every week . i hate that shit
I’m with you, this is an insanely ballsy move. One of the biggest pros of a console is that you could still buy physical games and trade it with friends or sell it used to someone else. If everything is going digital, what’s the point?
Here we even have a local chain that rents you physical games for a week at a time…
It’s not ballsy at all. They’ve basically got no competition in the high-end console space, and the overwhelming majority of console buyers only buy digital already.
An exorbitant entry level price for consoles has never been tested at current prices, because all of them had sane prices for years and so have install bases that got them at those prices. How will it go if the minimum buy-in is over $1000 with no way to mitigate the cost later on with used games? We’re gonna find out!
Again though - if you want a game console you’ll buy a PlayStation because it’s the only real option, and it’ll be cheaper than an Xbox.
Bu the time it comes out, people will be well accustomed to paying exorbitant prices for these things. It sucks but it’ll be the norm by then. Prices are never going back down, because history has shown us they never do.
It’s not a matter of them wanting it, the issue is whether a large number of people will be able to actually afford it at that price. Consoles thrive on accessibility.
They will, because it’s the only option and is “the” gaming brand.
I’ll be watching the number of consoles sold a year after launch with interest. It will of course sell out at launch regardless of price.
For me it’s called a library.
On a side note, while I very much understand people’s general hate of DRM, I am curious if there’d be interest in a digital library service that lets people borrow video games to download with lite-DRM systems attached (something small, to make certain people don’t borrow the whole catalog, and then crack them on the spot)
I’m sure it’s easy for people to come up with gripes about such a system, or any use of DRM, and would express their preference for physical, but: Physical games prioritize/benefit consoles over PCs, and prioritize AAA games for which the costs of large disc printing runs make more sense. You’re not likely to find many copies of Mina the Hollower at libraries.
We finally made it here. They been making digital only consoles for years now.
Why get into consoles now? One of the best reasons to get a console is gone.
Remember when XB1 was going to be digital-only and Sony roasted it so badly Microsoft had to walk it back?
Sad thing is, I always figured this was going to be inevitable. I just didn’t think it would happen this soon.
Hilariously still up on their YT, and rightfully getting roasted in the comments
Remember that while it was digital only, it had all the benefits of physical. It had digital re-selling and trading. It was groundbreaking and pro-consumer, yet luddites and Sony fanboys, along with the Sony favouring video game “journalists”, all piled on them because of stupidity and ignorance.
This is what they get. Enjoy it.
That is why you need a strong competition. Unfortunately Sony doesn’t have one, so they can do whatever they want.
Microsoft has the chance to do the funniest thing.
They won’t, of course. They’d rather shoot themselves in the foot than do something smart.
The next Xbox is a PC, it’s already 99% digital only.
PlayStation players are already basically digital only, have been for years.
The people complaining are the vocal extreme minority.
I just didn’t think it would happen this soon.
I hate to be the one to tell you this but…
That was 13 years ago. That announcement is almost high school aged.
And 13 years before that announcement was the start of the PS2 era.
What?
What the fuck?
They are just going to let Nintendo be the last physical game producer?
Physical copies are about to cost so much, fuck them!
Microsoft still allow physical copies?
So you’re just hoping Microsoft also get rid of discs because you don’t want them to still sell them if Sony doesn’t. Gotcha.
Articles were going around yesterday talking about Microsoft’s next console being digital only.
The current Xbox is going to be supported for another 10+ years at this rate. They’re going to keep selling games on disc for it.
The next Xbox is a pc, which is already all digital.
I sympathize with people huffing copium with “but XBOX!” regarding physical games, but they need to think about what they’re saying. It’s Microsoft!
Until yesterday you no doubt thought Sony would never do what they just announced. Maybe don’t “Xbox too” just because you want Xbox to.
The next XBOX won’t have a disc drive.
Sure, because it’s a PC where everyone has been all digital for a decade, but Sonys change doesn’t just apply to their next console. You think Xbox will stop devs releasing physical games for the series s and x?
I’ll be surprised if they don’t, but they might surprise me!
Nintendo: Game key cards don’t seem so bad now, huh??
Microsoft: our Xbox one “physical as digital” plan doesn’t seem so bad now, huh?
Consoles now cost nearly as much as a PCs, digital purchases are being revoked, and now discs are going away and you’re being locked into one storefront where Sony can charge whatever they want. I’ve enjoyed owning consoles for my entire life but they don’t make sense anymore. Somehow, Sony just made the the Steam Machine look like a smart purchase.
They’re not locking purchases to only the PS store. Retail can still sell codes in boxes, just no discs that don’t contain a playable game anyway like currently.
…codes which can only be redeemed through the PS Store.
Why does that matter if you can buy them anywhere?
I’ve never seen digital codes at discount prices from official sellers.
Because retail has never sold digital copies before.
Well that’s not true - you can buy digital codes for some Xbox games at retail, or at least you could, and they often went on sale.
They have and do sell digital codes.
they often went on sale.
Not just to match whatever they were on the digital store? If the retail store can actually choose to lower the digital price themselves that’s slightly better than nothing.
Maybe not the Steam Machine itself, but a dedicated PC plugged into the TV using SteamOS, certainly. That’s going to be my “console” going forward after this gen.
That’s not going to be an option for most people on account of SteamOS not betting able to play all of the biggest, most popular games.
The only ones I can think of that don’t work are online ones that use Anti-Cheat. They can use Windows instead, then.
Yeah, and that’s 99 of the top 100 most popular games.
Try selling someone a pc in 2026 that will never be able to play GTA6 lol.
To be fair, i’d say the Steam Machine is relatively cost competitive with other PC pre-builds. DIY will save you money but you’ll never end up with a system that’s as small or quiet, and you have to really know what you’re doing.
The Steam Machine is not such a bad deal really, aside from the fact that every PC is a bad deal in 2026.
You can totally build a system as small and as quiet. You really have to be experienced to do it, for sure, but it can be done. My last build was a shoebox sized mini itx. It was 1" taller and one 1.5" longer than the top of the line video card I put in it. It had 4 SSDs and a full size PSU.
It was whisper quiet until you asked for the absolute maximum output. It was always silent doing anything a console could do.
I get what you’re saying, but it’s worth mentioning that even a Mini ITX board has a larger foot print (6.7" squared) than the Steam Machine’s absolutely tiny 6" cubic form factor. It’s really a very small device!
FWIW, I’ve always found that small form factor parts are a little more expensive too.
It’s not upgradable, it’s a bad deal. One of the main reasons to play on pc is upgradable hardware, which the Steam machine doesn’t have.
The Steam Machine is a good value for its form factor. Some people prioritize form factor. Some people don’t. That’s really the main factor in whether someone would want a Steam Machine. I feel like both sides of the argument are ignoring that.
Giving up every other reason to buy a PC just for the form factor is ridiculous.
Right now it’s way too expensive for me, but that’s because I currently have a PS5, Steam Deck, Switch 2, and PC that was mid-range in late 2021 that were bought when prices were reasonable. Once games I want to play come out that I can’t play on my current hardware, we’ll see where the market’s at and what makes sense, price-wise. I might have to go without high-end games for a while or even for good if prices never become sane again. Hoping I can squeeze several more years out of what I have now.
If someone had no way to play games and wanted to start gaming on the TV now without having to build something, a Steam Machine still would be a hard recommendation when the Switch 2 exists at a decent price, with the added benefit of being portable. The Steam Machine’s only worth it at its current price for people who like to tinker.
Is there any reason not to be on PC? Larger libraries, open source, better graphics, larger communities, no extra sub on top of your internet to play with friends.
If we can’t have discs, in my opinion, why have consoles? If you want a console-like experience you can even use distros like SteamOS or Bazzite.
But absolutely fuck Sony and Rockstar and everyone trying to remove our physical media and games. If it weren’t against IP laws and such, I’d love to work for a physical production company who re-makes discs, cartridges, etc to preserve games. I know there are some who do limited runs for indie titles, giving them physical releases they otherwise wouldn’t have.
We need a more chill, less capitalist world.
PCs are (or at least, were) a bit more expensive, they seem more single player focused (in terms of local players) and, let’s face it, owning a gaming PC is a much bigger commitment of time and effort than a console.
Consoles really shined when you could go over to a friend’s house, plug in one box, a few controllers, and have a 4 person couch gaming experience going in less than 5 minutes.
Those were the days…
Now, multiple controllers can be recognized on pc, making local play rather easy.
Streaming options exist through Moonlight, etc, if you don’t want to move your PC to your TV (or fiber optic display cables for lengthy runs)
And with Steam Big Picture or now Bazzite and other distros, you can have a plug and play console-like experience. You can even set up emulators to play classic and arcade games that are no longer available or just aren’t released on console digital storefronts.
If you really get into it, you can even connect fight sticks, arcade controls, even light guns and instrument controllers (r/CloneHero has guides/suggestions) with some recent modern revisions.
Basically, while the closed source platforms kill off usability and titles, the open platform of PC is keeping things alive in some ways.
There’s also a number of outlets reporting that the PlayStation 6 will likely be over $1000
Considering the current price of the Pro and RAM and storage prices predicted to continue rising for years to come, that’s a given.
How much you bet that it will be some cloud computing genAI slop?
Guess it’ll make the steam machine pricing more attractive 🙃
The current PS5 is more powerful and half the price of a Steam machine.
Totally worth not owning my library and having it taken away at will and remaining on a closed ecosystem.
I’m assuming you’ll go buy some more fifa slot rolls eh?
You think you own your steam games? 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
I’m assuming you’ll go buy some more TF2 hats or loot crates in CS eh?
I never said I did Sony fanboy.
However, there are DRM free games on steam, which you will own forever so long as you have the installer.
Same for GOG games.
And steam keeps the download files available even when a game is pulled from the storefront. I can still download games in my library that can’t be purchased anymore.
Stop trying to push a narrative you cuck, I’m talking about more than just Steam, but Steam alone is still a better value than Sony. And Sony raising their prices and removing content from users libraries just makes it all the more worth it.
Cope more.
Sony fanboy? 🤣 I think Sony are a terrible company, and PlayStation is anti-consumer with terrible hardware and games. I’m a pc and Xbox player. Haven’t owned a PS since the PS3, and stopped using it a few years after release.
Both PlayStation and Xbox allow you to download games that have been delisted if you own them. Have since forever. You should do a bit more research before you speak.
There are a surprising amount of DRM free games on steam, is valve perfect? Fuck no, at the end of the day they are a company that only want money, and as much as they made my favorite games from my childhood, they did have a gigantic hand in normalizing loot crates. But with that list in combination with my GOG library, if I back up the install files I’m golden.
You can back up your Xbox game files too. PlayStation as well I’m pretty sure.
Previously, the reason to not be on PC was a lower upfront cost, being able to sell and trade games, and not having to mess around to get games working. The first one still applies, but much less than in the past, and the second one is being killed outright. Consoles really don’t make much sense over PC any more. If price and not being tech-savvy are big enough issues, just game on a phone.
Also on pc we have DRM Free games on gog that include goodies like soundtracks, manuals , wallpapers and more. Gog is now my favorite store…
Gog is great and all, but it has virtually zero recent major games.
Yeah i hope they improve that, i still buy games on steam if they are newer.
They can’t really improve it though, because publishers and devs don’t want to make their game available for free, which is essentially what putting it on gog does.
💯
Someone at Sony is feeling very smart and modern right now, totally unaware that PlayStation is now a dead brand walking.
They are a strong brand, but that’s not going to be enough to justify a definitely-$1k+ PS6 compared to increasing handheld and console-like gaming options that are not locked down ecosystems. Their exclusives likely can’t save them, they have been dying out already.
Physical media was one of the few remaining differentiators for hardcore collectors and loyalists. Even if I’m sure it’s a greatly diminished part of their bottom line, it’s a psychological anchor that justifies the existence of a console. Now their console will be just another extremely handicapped and uncompetitive digital box, even if (as recently reported) they copy the Switch dockable format.
I guarantee that you’re wrong. The PS6 will sell every unit they produce for years, even at the $1200+ it will be. Why? A few reasons:
- It’s PlayStation. PlayStation has a gigantic “Sony can do no wrong and we want all their competition to die, and we’ll buy whatever they release no matter how garbage it is” fan base in the tens of millions.
- there will be no alternative.
- 85%+ of all games sold on PlayStation currently are digital. This change affects a tiny fraction of the user base.
For me, the locked ecosystem of consoles was justified by a lower price for the hardware and the option to sell or trade the software. Now that neither is going to be a thing any more, my 40+ years of console gaming will be ending after this gen. It’s gonna be dedicated PCs plugged into the TV from here on out.
I’ve always been a PC gamer, but for a long time there, consoles were affordable enough to put in for just a few exclusives. Then I gradually went from a couple consoles to one, and then I started skipping generations and now it’s at the point where my last participation in the console market was getting a used PS3 at the far end of its life and getting a Switch gifted to me a couple years ago. I was expecting to skip PS4 and get a PS5 after the price dropped, but yeahhhhh. I’m definitely still interested in exclusives (the Shadow of the Colossus remake, The Last Guardian, Bloodborne, and now Intergalactic), but at this point, there’s no viable scenario were I’m in the Sony ecosystem in the foreseeable future. Fumito Ueda’s next game being announced for PC was shocking to me.
Even if we’re talking marginal cost differential for used games, a lot of consumer psychology is just feeling like they are getting a good deal. PC gaming is on the rise–and I don’t mean that in a cute, Lemmy Linux gaming sort of way, it’s genuinely a market shift shown across multiple indicators–there’s growing hostility towards walled-garden ecosystems, and Nintendo’s still going strong. Sony needs some sort of carrot, sheesh. Woof.
that’s not going to be enough to justify a definitely-$1k+ PS6
I’m inclined to agree. They might be able to sweeten that with a one year PSN voucher or something. Otherwise, you’re just paying for access to exclusive content, access to PSN, and the ability to say “I have a Sony.”
Imagine if you will, they released a new ps2 with ps1 backward compatibility and optional discs.
I’d pay $500 right now.
Just use an emulator, even PS3 emulation has gotten pretty good.
But thats an emulator, yes 99.9% the same but not “real”.
Pretty much all 3D PS2 games can be played in widescreen via emulation. They’re better than the original.
Sorry boss, I only play mine on a CRT in 4:3 the way it was intended 😁
Playing on emulator is fine, but like everything in today’s world, its fake, and not as visceral of an experience.
You can still play on a CRT in 4:3 via an emulator if you like. You just have more options if wanted.
I know there are many who swear by original hardware only, though, which is fine if you have the luxury of obtaining and maintaining them. Many don’t.
Yep totally
It just works on pc btw
You can buy a used PS2 right now that has that for way less? Even if you demand an hdmi mod, it’s way less than that
This is the way to go. Make sure to get the drive serviced so it doesn’t crap out prematurely. There are so many PS2s out there, you can probably still get one cheap.
Of course, but someday they will all be gone. I dread those days. Caps dont last and its very very hard to repair smc ones.
Considering that Sony are practically a monopoly in the disc market, this could be interpreted as exiting blu-ray entirely. If they’re not behind it, nobody is.
This is games only, nothing to do with movies.
Also physical movies have been dead for years anyway, no one buys them. Even less people buy them than physical games, and barely anyone buys them.
10000% of nothing is still nothing.
Guess who’s getting rid of movies you bought on Playstation?
