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[Victor Omega]

How do you think Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo will justify going fully digital and reducing backwards compatibility in the future?

Who will likely be the first?

Who will be the most successful?

 

[killatopak]

Fuck em. Any justification is trash.

MS as we've seen in their leaks.

Hopefully none of them. Will not support a digital exclusive console. I support choice. Whether you like digital exclusively is not my problem as long as I get to have my physical as an option.

 

[Portugeezer]

Well MS will be doing it first, balls deep no lube, with their leaked Series X revision being "adorable". Series S is already all digital.

Sony is currently applying lube in gamers' anus' with a detachable drive; PS6 will probably all be digital with option disc drive add on.

Nintendo will do whatever. It won't be all digital but with small cartridges a lot of third party cartridges will probably require downloading. BC will be included if it's possible but they won't go out of their way.

 

[Doom85]

Nintendo definitely isn’t going all digital anytime soon.

 

[Famipan]

They will justify it by mentioning gaming on PC being digital aswell as video and music streaming etc.

”Having an all digital solution allows us to deliver and support new exciting games smoothly”

They might want to avoid mentioning the question of BC-support because that’s something not profitable but if they do mention it:
Supporting older consoles on newer consoles with physical media is not that easy considering different optic reader lasers for CD-ROM, DVD and BR, (and for Nintendo different types of cartridges).

 

[AV]

How will they justify it? Try "we're losing money on this shit".

If they don't think they are, they won't make the move. It's literally that simple.

 

[S0ULZB0URNE]

Who will be the most successful?

Will be the one or ones that still support physical media and backwards compatibility /thread

 

[StueyDuck]

How do you think Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo will justify going fully digital and reducing backwards compatibility in the future?

Who will likely be the first?

Who will be the most successful?

As market leaders Sony has to go first, whether they'll be successful, who knows, they aren't great at wording shit.

 

[Daneel Elijah]

When you want to kill your dog, accuse him of having rabies. If Microsoft and others companies want to end physical games and backward compatibility, they need to first make us fear it somehow. Or make digital a lot cheaper than physical, but I doubt it.
Nintendo will not stop physical, and since the Wii U sold a lot of Amiboo so they will continue for the foreseeable future I think.
Sony is ambivalent for me, they can do both and it would depend of their control of the market for the PS6. I can see them having a carrot and stick approach to it for the PS6 launch: the disc has been proven as a weakness in the system, helpe people hack the PS5 and can't be used for the PS6. We need a new format, that will cost a lot for some reason(because it is so awesome!) and we go ARM for the PS6 so no backward compatibility! you have to buy all your games again!
Xbox want to do it, but we already have the adorably digital meme so who knows?

 

[ReBurn]

I don't think they'll try to justify it. They'll just do it when the physical/digital sales ratio reaches the point of diminishing returns for them. People will get on board or they won't and the people who won't will just be written off because there won't be enough of them to matter.

 

[Tsaki]

Nintendo Switch 3 will be 2030+ and it will have physical media. BC remains to be seen by what they do with Switch 2.
PS6 will have a disk add-on on launch day like they will do now with the "slim". Full BC with PS5/4.
MS will not offer any physical media next-gen. Your physical copies of games will not be supported. Full digital BC with Series/One.

 

[ungalo]

Only Microsoft is going to do it for the next gen.

 

[Mowcno]

I don't even want to imagine the PR they put out. Microsoft is the most likely to do it first as the leaked series X refresh is digital only, but plans can change, we will find out in 2024 if they go through with it or not.

The company that will be the most successful at phasing out physical will be whoever is the last one to do it. The first company to do it will be damaged the most by it.

 

[IDKFA]

Well MS will be doing it first, balls deep no lube, with their leaked Series X revision being "adorable". Series S is already all digital.

Sony is currently applying lube in gamers' anus' with a detachable drive; PS6 will probably all be digital with option disc drive add on.

Nintendo will do whatever. It won't be all digital but with small cartridges a lot of third party cartridges will probably require downloading. BC will be included if it's possible but they won't go out of their way.

Microsoft will go one further. After they've gone all digital they'll lead the way for Gamepass only

They'll make it that you can still access your purchase your digital library with a tiny, peppercorn payment of say £1 per month (they'll call it Gamepass Legacy or something), but to play new games and games you don't purchase before they nuke the store you'll need that GP sub. Probably come in 5-6 different levels as well.

Sony and Nintendo will soon follow with their own sub only models.

 

[fart town usa]

I think PS6 will have a disc option, so will Switch 2.

If the leaks are true, Xbox is the only one forcing all digital.

At this point the only solution is to full on dog pile the green rat machine once it goes full digital. If we as a collection of gamers can destroy xbox via lack of sales then the message will be load and clear; give us physical media.

Alright everyone, on the count of 3 say it with me now. 1...2...3!

DEATH TO XBOX

 

[Black_Stride]

I think PS6 will have a disc option, so will Switch 2.

I highly doubt the Switch 2/SuperSwitch will have a disc option.




MS is likely going to go full digital......and they will be crucified for it, even if everyone who currently has a Series X doesnt actually use the disk drive.
I dont see any of the companies ditching BC for nextgen though.

 

[fart town usa]

I highly doubt the Switch 2/SuperSwitch will have a disc option.




MS is likely going to go full digital......and they will be crucified for it, even if everyone who currently has a Series X doesnt actually use the disk drive.
I dont see any of the companies ditching BC for nextgen though.

Really, you think Switch 2 is gonna be all digital?

I guess I wouldn't be that surprised if it is but I'd still be surprised all the same. I feel like Nintendo is not ready for something like that and has bred zero confidence in their digital marketplace. The transition from Wii to WiiU was trash and legit took all your shit and wouldn't let you have it back on the Wii. I'm under the impression that there was zero digital transition from WiiU to Switch.

 

[Black_Stride]

Really, you think Switch 2 is gonna be all digital?

Nah I think they are gonna use cartridge's to be BC with the current Switch.

 

[kiphalfton]

Only Microsoft is going to do it for the next gen.

Microsoft needs to check their ego. The Xbox is the least popular of the three consoles, dumping physical is too big of a transition, and it could screw them if they don't pull it off.

They're not Apple, who set the status quo.

 

[Topher]

Neither will reduce backward compatibility. They will stick with AMD tech so there is no point.

Microsoft has more incentive to drop physical games than Sony with their approach focused more on services.

 

[Trogdor1123]

I’m all digital and I’m not a fan of it being the only option. There needs to be a way to solve this. Steam does it already but it’s not as closed at all. It’s a tough spot as I understand the drive to go all digital and most people are already.

How much more does it cost to include a physical media format when designing a console and factoring in the supply chain? If it was removed totally (from start to finish, not just the cost of the physical drive) what would the savings be? If any? I’m only referring to actual costs, not game preservation type costs (although those are certainly legit, just not what I’m talking about).

 

[Rocco Schiavone]

No disc drive in the PS6 means I'm going PC only.

 

[TheUsual]

Something, something, we're holding the medium back by focusing on physical media and/or worrying about backward compatibility.

 

[Black_Stride]

Microsoft needs to check their ego. The Xbox is the least popular of the three consoles, dumping physical is too big of a transition, and it could screw them if they don't pull it off.

They're not Apple, who set the status quo.

With the amount of software they are gonna be putting out, I doubt they much care about being in third place on console sales.
Thats just a bonus.
Something like 20% of game sales are physical......their multiplat games likely make up the dollar difference they've lost and some.







Apple setting the status quo?

 

[kingwingin]

Either they will offer no BC and it will be its own gen or there will be a separate drive you can plug in.

I can see them offering BC and screwing over loyal customers with shelves full of discs

 

[Crayon]

You are going to get an overwhelming push from the ms social markieting complex. Unfortunately, these can beat the path for sony to quietly follow.

 

[Saber]

You guys might bow to whatever the crap they spit, but I will not agree with any justification they would give to me. I stay with physical and if they end up giving up for whatever stupid reason(honestly I believe only MS is stupid enough to do so) then thats goodbye for me.

 

[intheinbetween]

So, the company which has put more effort into backwards compatibility since 10 years ago is the one that wouldn't be releasing a separate disc drive and forcing customers into going full digital only because the leaked plans doesn't mention a built-in disc drive? ok

 

[nikos]

I couldn't care less about physical games anymore.

There's no reason for it. Other types of physical media usually provide some kind of benefit. For example, films are way better quality on disc and music sounds better on vinyl. For video games, and for the vast majority of the population, there is no real benefit to physical.

Physical media is a waste of time, space, resources, etc. especially on disc.
Installing a disc takes longer than downloading a game and most games require a download anyway.
Digital games on PC are discounted day one via various legitimate websites. Advocating for third party console key sites should be more of a priority than advocating for physical media.
I never buy used games and haven't sold my own games in about ten years.

 

[Magic Carpet]

I hope all companies raise the price of physical games 300% to subsidize all the Neogaf threads on this subject.

 

[MiguelItUp]

No disc drive in the PS6 means I'm going PC only.

Yeah, especially since Sony titles are coming to PC, it'll be an easy switch.

If anything I'll just own a Nintendo console, and stick to PC primarily.

 

[ahtlas7]

It’s an artistic choice.

 

[rofif]

I couldn't care less about physical games anymore.

There's no reason for it. Other types of physical media usually provide some kind of benefit. For example, films are way better quality on disc and music sounds better on vinyl. For video games, and for the vast majority of the population, there is no real benefit to physical.

Physical media is a waste of time, space, resources, etc. especially on disc.
Installing a disc takes longer than downloading a game and most games require a download anyway.
Digital games on PC are discounted day one via various legitimate websites. Advocating for third party console key sites should be more of a priority than advocating for physical media.
I never buy used games and haven't sold my own games in about ten years.

Let me counter you on some points you made:
"Physical media is a waste of time, space, resources, etc. especially on disc." - wrong. Installs might be faster than shitty psn, Games are in your hands and in comparison - server farms are a waste. You need to power them and constantly add space, ac and so on.
"Installing a disc takes longer than downloading a game and most games require a download anyway." - I have 600mbit internet. Steam is way faster but psn is shit city

Things that I agree but that don't fit:
"Digital games on PC are discounted day one via various legitimate websites. Advocating for third party console key sites should be more of a priority than advocating for physical media." - Pc gaming doesn't even equate in this conversation. It's an open platform with multiple stores and cd keys resellers competing for prices. You get to choose where and how to buy a key, copy your files or modiy them. On consoles? digital only? Hell with none of that.
"I never buy used games and haven't sold my own games in about ten years." - I don't see how is that a con. You can do that. You not doing it is anecdotal.

In general - at least on consoles, discs give you every same option as digital + way more. for a better price. On pc no. Of course not. It's an open market

 

[ShadyAcshuns]

If Sony or Nintendo go digital-only next gen, I won't buy their systems.

 

[yurinka]

How do you think Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo will justify going fully digital and reducing backwards compatibility in the future?

Who will likely be the first?

Who will be the most successful?

People is gradually buying less physical console games and buying more digital games, as happened before in PC.

They won't need any justification, they'll simply follow the market trend and will stop making physical games once its market becomes too small to be worth it.

I think the first will be MS because it's the one who sells less games for their consoles, so less physical games too, and the one with the biggest interest on going digital only due to their Gamepass focus.

Sony is the one who sells more games for their consoles and can't remember their percent of digital game sales but I'd say were something like around 66-70% and growing. Way higher percent than Nintendo, and the percent for MS is unknown. So I think Sony will continue being the most successful games after moving to digital only.

I think Sony will keep an approach in PS6 similar to the one we saw in the new PS5 SKU: a digital only console with a detachable disk reader mostly for BC. PS5 can't emulate PS3, but it would be cool if they design PS6 hardware to be fully BC with PS1, PS2, PS3, PS4, PS5, PSP and Vita including reading original CD/DVD/BDs.

 

[rofif]

People is gradually buying less physical console games and buying more digital games, as happened before in PC.

They won't need any justification, they'll simply follow the market trend and will stop making physical games once its market becomes too small to be worth it.

I think the first will be MS because it's the one who sells less games for their consoles, so less physical games too, and the one with the biggest interest on going digital only due to their Gamepass focus.

Sony is the one who sells more games for their consoles and can't remember their percent of digital game sales but I'd say were something like around 66-70% and growing. Way higher percent than Nintendo, and the percent for MS is unknown. So I think Sony will continue being the most successful games after moving to digital only.

I think Sony will keep an approach in PS6 similar to the one we saw in the new PS5 SKU: a digital only console with a detachable disk reader mostly for BC. PS5 can't emulate PS3, but it would be cool if they design PS6 hardware to be fully BC with PS1, PS2, PS3, PS4, PS5, PSP and Vita including reading original CD/DVD/BDs.

but people are stupid.
And yeah, they buy less physical games? mabye? They for sure buy more digital because it's an option that didn't exist before

 

[recursive]

You are going to get an overwhelming push from the ms social markieting complex. Unfortunately, these can beat the path for sony to quietly follow.

 

[Crayon]

I just got an idea for a variation of a jesus camp gif. Damn I should learn how to make those things.

 

[Drew1440]

Will probably hear something similar to Apple when they dropped the headphone jack, on how it took courage to drop physical media.

 

[Beechos]

They won't have to spin anything the people have already chosen. The majority of game sales are already digital.

 

[64bitmodels]

For example, films are way better quality on disc and music sounds better on CD.

Fixed.

 

[StereoVsn]

Fixed.

Music can be had with Flac lossless encoding which is basically same quality as CD. It’s also a lot smaller overall vs say full on 4K BluRay disk at high bitrate.

 

[64bitmodels]

Music can be had with Flac lossless encoding which is basically same quality as CD.

well yeah. I was gonna add that but then i thought it'd be unnecessary. You can quite easily rip a CD to FLAC quality on PC.

Point is that CD is the best (physical) media for listening to music and it's why it's the defacto standard, while Vinyl is still sort of a collectors item. Not to shame Vinyl, its still a cool way of collecting music.

 

[StereoVsn]

well yeah. I was gonna add that but then i thought it'd be unnecessary. You can quite easily rip a CD to FLAC quality on PC.

Point is that CD is the best (physical) media for listening to music and it's why it's the defacto standard, while Vinyl is still sort of a collectors item. Not to shame Vinyl, it’s still a cool way of collecting music.

You can actually buy flax quality music for download now days still.

But yeah, Vinyl is for collectors and aficionados, but it’s surprisingly decent sized niche. Although I think what’s helping partially is cool former for artwork for vinyl jackets.

But the point is that for movies it’s harder due to size so I think 4K BluRay will stick around for a while.

Same with physical and games, at least on Nintendo and PS6 will have they as well. Although that’s less size and more the factor in some of the territories Sony and Nintendo sell well. Plus price is a big factor with physical being cheaper in quite a few places vs digital.

 

[nikos]

well yeah. I was gonna add that but then i thought it'd be unnecessary. You can quite easily rip a CD to FLAC quality on PC.

Point is that CD is the best (physical) media for listening to music and it's why it's the defacto standard, while Vinyl is still sort of a collectors item. Not to shame Vinyl, its still a cool way of collecting music.

A good vinyl pressing sounds better than CD on a good setup but I suppose that could be subjective.

CD is 16 bit 44.1 KHz. Digital can be higher in both bit depth and sample rate. CDs, like physical games, offer no quality benefits over their digital counterparts whereas vinyl does.

 

[tr1p1ex]

don't care myself. It's more about the price. I'd go digital if resale value wasn't so good.

 

[Edgelord79]

If Sony went full digital next generation there will be a lot of complaining from consumers.

Then Sony would proceed to sell a gajillion consoles like they always do.

In other words, I don’t believe there needs to be major damage control. It’s not like Microsoft is tearing it up and people are going to flock to them.

Nintendo also would not lose customers. People will just rebut the same game over and over like they already do.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

Sony and Nintendo ain't going full digital despite the wet dreams of fanboys who hate their consumer rights in the US

Backwards compatibility isn't nearly as important as the tiny minority of gamers on GAF seems to think, every company has broken backwards compatibility chains at least once in their time in the market and it has had zero long term impact on who's 1st-2nd-3rd

 

[ArtHands]

Sony will use the same justification they used for hiking PS+ price

 

[tr1p1ex]

and don't care about b/c either. I buy the next gen system for next gen games. If I wanted to play old games I wouldn't get the new system. Or I would keep the old system around and I mostly don't even do that.

For the most part, when it comes to old games, I feel like my time with them has passed and I've moved on.


But maybe b/c is mainly about price for many like digital vs physical is for me. I mean if you don't have to keep your old system around to play old games, you can put its trade-in or resale value towards the new system which saves folks $$$$.