I Would Love To Own The Stuff I Buy

You know, I still own a PlayStation 4 for one reason: PT My PS4 is never going to be connected to a network again, because I'm terrified of some arbitrary update just vanishing that game off my harddrive. I only plug in the console when I want to play PT and then I put it away with the care of someone handling nitroglycerin. It's a terrible waste of space to have a massive, chunky system for one purpose, but I really don't want to lose something I love. And good news: That's about to become everything from now on! Finally, all of our purchases will follow the same pattern as beloved free demos that Konami wants to drown in a bathtub.

Here's something I used to do in my life without any problem. I would visit stores, both in person and online, and through an exchange of money, I received a product or service. Those stores were usually pretty clear on whether I was getting said product or the aforementioned service. I'm not a big GameStop fan, but I've never given them $60 and received a note that said, “We can take this dumb toy away from you whenever we want because this was secretly a service.”

And before a decade ago, that wasn't an overwhelming concern for me, even with digital sales. I was always pretty sure that I could pay for a game and own the game, which used to be the agreed upon deal with publishers. But now between content being completely digitally removed from consoles (not a new problem at all but a growing one) and the last of the disc format being consigned to the retro bin of history, I'm thinking… I would love to own the stuff I buy.

Nothing Beats The Feeling Of A Physical Copy

That might sound nuts, the concept of getting to keep the thing you told me was added to a “shopping cart,” a formerly common vehicle to move products from store shelf to register. Wild for me to expect that when shopping, the thing I buy is a thing I keep. It wasn't even until a few years ago that states and countries forced these companies to say, basically, “We're only selling you a license. What that entails is up to us because, what are you gonna do, play the two thousand games you already have? Shut up, a-hole.” The language is a bit nicer than that, but the end result is basically the same. Still, it's not like they're shouting that language to the heavens and it's not like customers are focused on that when they have literally no other way to get Grand Theft Auto 6.

I know this isn't a new argument. This has been a discussion since people bought music on iTunes. Probably before, but I'm stupid. Let me know if I'm wrong angrily in the comments below! For, like, twenty years, the concept of digital content and ownership has been a pretty big issue. And for, like, twenty years, we've refused to solve this issue in a way that doesn't consistently lean towards “the customer deserves to burn in hell.”

We've now reached a point in which physical editions of albums and movies are almost exclusively expensive special editions meant for super fans. Which makes sense, because a lot of more casual people just want to hear some music, play some games, or watch some TV without any friction. Not everyone is a collector. Some people treat entertainment like fast food – they're not going to focus on what happens to it after they're done eating.

A lot of customers probably don't see the problem with the trade-off. I'll be honest, I've been one of those people when the convenience has suited me. The only thing I've ever been consistent about is my hypocrisy. But I do get it. Digital content is instant and, as someone who lives in New York City, I know that shelf space in a lot of homes is limited. Or maybe you don't want people coming over and seeing you own every game from the Ys series because then you'd have to explain what Ys is to them. No, it's not like Dragon Quest or Final Fantasy. It's more action oriented. Eh, I guess sorta like Legend of Zelda? But very different? Forget it.

Digital Does Simply Not Hit Different

Whether you prefer digital or not, it sucks to totally lose the option of a disc or cartridge or memory card. It sucks to lose the ability to keep an archive of your own content. It sucks to have a future where all “retro games” you can buy used at a convention will stop at the year 2024. I know some PC storefronts do allow you to download backups, and I love them for that. But let's not kid ourselves here: That's not what's going to happen on consoles.

And don't tell me we can't create physical media that fits an entire game: Memory cards exist with more storage than any computer I owned before 2016. Of course, computer components are getting more expensive. I get that. Literally every type of gaming-related thing is going to get more expensive because of AI. But the size of games isn't enough of a reason to ditch physical media either.

The worst part is the consistent proof that companies are more than happy to take the content you bought back from them. This would be a smaller problem if buying a piece of media online didn't often cost the exact same price as physical media. Customers will likely just sign up for more and more gaming services that somehow don't bring in enough money for companies to be practical but still cost enough to feel completely annoying. I'm being facetious, but a lot of people already have that mindset. That's their right! But it would be nice if alongside that right, we had the right to own the things we bought. Just because you're fine renting a game for a temporary period of time doesn't mean that's how I want my entire library to work from this point on.

It really sucks that we're losing that physical media when we need it most. That itself might sound a bit exaggerated, but a lot of companies are getting uncomfortably comfortable with the idea that you'll never own anything. You like it when old games have famous music stripped out by a downloaded update? Good news: That'll be EVERYTHING from now on, baby! Oops, that copyright holder of that game you bought doesn't want you to play it anymore. No refund. You got a couple years with it, maybe you should've finished it. Oh no, we decided to completely remove that mode that only you enjoyed. If only you got some friends to play! One more time for the back, I know this is all crap happening now, but it's going to get so much worse.

I want to own the things I buy. I want to know that I can flip through a book of CDs or memory cards ten years from now and re-discover something I love. I want to be able to buy an old, used console in the distant future and still be able to play some classics that might not be available for purchase anymore because they took the store down. Maybe it's “old man shouts at clouds” crap. I'm sure people won't really care after a console generation or two, perhaps even finding it hilariously quaint. Or perhaps there will be a revival for physical media the way we've seen with cassettes and vinyl: A passing phase of people nostalgic for a different time.