you usually don’t own your games, you just own a license; they can’t take away a console disk, but they can revoke a digital license
I agree with the rest, and here’s a few more:
games are typically cheaper because of #4
lots of form factors - can use controller, kb+m, handheld PC, etc
repairs are easy - if my PS5 breaks, I need PS5-specific parts; if my PC breaks, I can get anything off the shelf
streaming is easy peasy (related to your #3) - I don’t stream, but on PC, you just install something and click “go,” on console, you need hardware capture cards and whatnot
storage is a non-issue - can have multiple TB of space and store every game I own if I want to, whereas I’m stuck with whatever capacity the console comes with
All in all, it’s a way better experience for me, though it is a bit more complicated. It’s hard to beat “plug and play” like with a console.
Technically not but you still only own a license and those walled garden platforms of consoles can easily be used to block you from using that disk for anything meaningful.
One thing GOG doesn’t do is allow me to sell older games. I can do that just fine with physical media on a console. AFAIK, it’s also legal to make physical backups of physical media you own, so it can theoretically live forever (not sure if you can sell backups if the original dies though).
That said, I’m still almost 100% on PC. Cheaper games and being able to upgrade on my schedule is way better than the overall experience on consoles.
Idk, Switch games hold their value pretty well. I buy mostly used, and it’s rare to find anything under $30. If I wasn’t so lazy, I’d be able to play for just the cost of shipping.
The version that shipped with the disk? It’s not 2005 anymore gramps.
Either there’s no disk but a redeemable code (for a license), or there’s a disk but without even the day 1 patch (which requires a license and the game probably runs like shit without it).
Piracy is WAY superior in those aspects. At least a repack had all the game updates bundled in.
Pretty much every game released on console, even today, can be completed just using the disk. Check out the Someordinarygamers YouTube video about playing Cyberpunk 2077 all the way through on the disk version, and that game was “literally unplayable.”
Yeah, you could probably get the full pirated version for most games, but with physical media, you at least know you can play that version of the game. There’s value there.
That said, I mostly play on PC because I trust Steam enough.
No, you don’t own a license if you have physical media. This is a myth that’s totally unfounded and needs to die.
When you buy a physical book, you don’t have a license to read that book.
When you buy a physical movie, you don’t have a license to watch that movie.
When you buy a physical game, you don’t have a license to play the game.
In all cases you have a copy of the copywritten work that you can use under the copyright agreement, you can resell it, you can use it as many times as you like, they can’t take it away from you. This is all enshrined in various copyright protections throughout the years in every juristicion.
You own a physical production that is a copy of a copywritten work. It can’t be taken away.
Aren’t there games where the physical disc doesn’t have the entire game on it or won’t even run without a patch? Wouldn’t that effectively be the same thing if they decide to stop providing the patch?
I agree with the rest, and here’s a few more:
All in all, it’s a way better experience for me, though it is a bit more complicated. It’s hard to beat “plug and play” like with a console.
Technically not but you still only own a license and those walled garden platforms of consoles can easily be used to block you from using that disk for anything meaningful.
You can always play the version shipped with the disk with the game unplugged from the internet.
On PC, you’d have to pirate if a game is taken down.
On PC, you could pirate, but you could also buy DRM free games from GOG.com and keep a copy locally backed up.
It’s also worth noting that optical media will delaminate over time, rendering them unusable.
One thing GOG doesn’t do is allow me to sell older games. I can do that just fine with physical media on a console. AFAIK, it’s also legal to make physical backups of physical media you own, so it can theoretically live forever (not sure if you can sell backups if the original dies though).
That said, I’m still almost 100% on PC. Cheaper games and being able to upgrade on my schedule is way better than the overall experience on consoles.
I suppose not but every time I went to sell console games the prices were insultingly low at every store and not much better selling it online.
Idk, Switch games hold their value pretty well. I buy mostly used, and it’s rare to find anything under $30. If I wasn’t so lazy, I’d be able to play for just the cost of shipping.
Hmm, I should sell my Switch games. I haven’t played since I bought my Steam Deck.
deleted by creator
The version that shipped with the disk? It’s not 2005 anymore gramps.
Either there’s no disk but a redeemable code (for a license), or there’s a disk but without even the day 1 patch (which requires a license and the game probably runs like shit without it).
Piracy is WAY superior in those aspects. At least a repack had all the game updates bundled in.
Pretty much every game released on console, even today, can be completed just using the disk. Check out the Someordinarygamers YouTube video about playing Cyberpunk 2077 all the way through on the disk version, and that game was “literally unplayable.”
Yeah, you could probably get the full pirated version for most games, but with physical media, you at least know you can play that version of the game. There’s value there.
That said, I mostly play on PC because I trust Steam enough.
No, you don’t own a license if you have physical media. This is a myth that’s totally unfounded and needs to die.
When you buy a physical book, you don’t have a license to read that book.
When you buy a physical movie, you don’t have a license to watch that movie.
When you buy a physical game, you don’t have a license to play the game.
In all cases you have a copy of the copywritten work that you can use under the copyright agreement, you can resell it, you can use it as many times as you like, they can’t take it away from you. This is all enshrined in various copyright protections throughout the years in every juristicion.
You own a physical production that is a copy of a copywritten work. It can’t be taken away.
Aren’t there games where the physical disc doesn’t have the entire game on it or won’t even run without a patch? Wouldn’t that effectively be the same thing if they decide to stop providing the patch?
The only one I can think of was the Spyro trilogy remaster, which had games 2 and 3 as downloads.
In any case I think there’s more chance of Valve going bust than Sony or Microsoft…
If you buy DRM free games. you effectively “own” them not in a legal sense, but in a practical sense.
Sure, and that’s only mostly true if you back them up.
That said, I can’t sell a DRM free game, so I don’t really own it like I do with physical media.
Nothing’s stopping you from copying the game onto a flashdrive and selling it to a friend
What are you talking about selling it? We share our games with friends.
So you’re going to put your USB stick on eBay? Because that’s what I do with old console games