Digital content has solidified its dominance in media consumption and convenience. While this is great, a crucial thing these big corporations leave out is that even though you pay for it, you don’t own it. The world is getting so comfortable with the subscription model that even major retailers like Best Buy have announced they will no longer carry DVDs and Blu-rays in-store. (Video Games excluded)
How Purchasing Digital Media Works:
When you buy something like a movie or a video game online you would think you own the game forever right? Wrong! When you buy a game from companies like Valve, Sony, and Microsoft they are giving you a license to play the game, but what they don’t tell you up front is that it can be revoked at any time. For games you buy today, it’s not an issue because the licenses are still active. However, these licenses can expire which results in the software being pulled from the market. An example of this happening is with The Legend of Korra game, where it was sold but eventually was delisted because the license was not renewed. Now the only way to play this game now is to purchase a very expensive license key from a 3rd party like G2A or piracy. The expiration of licenses for digital content is slowly erasing media history and without the ability to have physical media, this content could be lost forever.
Perks of Physical Media:
Physical media can be inconvenient at times because you have to get up and change the disc or have to physically store it somewhere, but it also has its perks. Physical media is yours to own and it’s very unlikely a company can stop you from using it unless it’s a game that requires the internet. If there is any sort of licensing dispute for any sort of media, the company won’t be able to take all of the discs back from buyers nor will they want to. Also, physical media can retain its value or even exceed its retail value. An example of this would be the older Pokemon games like Emerald. These games are highly sought after because there is no legal way to play them.
Licensing issues are usually the culprit for recalling digital media. An example of this is when Sony planned to pull Warner Bros. Discovery content from its users because of a licensing issue. This was content that users fully paid for, and it was being ripped from their fingertips with no refund or anything. Luckily Discovery and Sony eventually worked it out, but it was still a reminder that they can do this at any time, and you will be powerless to stop it unless you have it on physical media. Another example is Forza Horizon 4 being delisted December 15th. It will no longer be purchasable along with any DLCs because of licensing disputes. The only way to obtain this game after it is delisted is through owning the physical copy.
Quality:
While many streaming services advertise crystal clear 4K resolution with their apps, none of them will be able to look as good as a 4K Blu-ray playing locally. When you stream a movie or even a game the media is compressed so that it requires less bandwidth which allows content to be streamed more efficiently. The trade-off for this is a lower bitrate which negatively impacts how content is consumed. If you stream a game on services like Xbox Cloud or PlayStation Network Premium tier you will immediately notice how these games not only look worse but feel slower as well. Physical and local media can retain their quality because it’s not bottlenecked by a user’s internet connection.
Cons of Physical Media:
Physical media may have better quality and you can retain ownership of it most of the time, there are still some drawbacks to it. As mentioned before, physical media can retain its value which is good for those who own it. However, it can be a nightmare for those trying to purchase it. For example, a PS2 game like Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 3 is over 150 dollars in some cases. It can go even further with other games costing $300+. This is not very convenient for people just wanting to play the game. Also, a subscription like Xbox Game Pass is a great value because you get a plethora of games for $9.99 a month (PC Tier) which is way more affordable than spending $70+ on new games.
In addition to the cost, having to change the disc every time can be very tedious for individuals who want to change games or movies. The ease of just clicking a few buttons to switch content is very attractive to most consumers especially when they just had a long day at work or school.
Modernizing Physical Media:
Many people assume that because physical media is considered “old” that means it’s outdated. That is simply not true, you can make physical media easy to use just like streaming services with applications like Plex. Plex is basically a streaming service where you have to upload your own content and it runs on your computer. All you have to do to get started is to make an account, download the app, and load your content. It is worth noting that if you want to stream to a mobile device you will have to buy a license or Plex pass to stream more than 10 minutes at a time, but if you want to stream to a TV you can do so for free. If you want to take it a step further Plex even allows you to set up streaming from anywhere in the world as long as you properly port-forward. Plex takes the perks of physical media and combines them with the convenience of digital media making it a great solution.
Conclusion:
Physical media is very important because we need to stand up for our ownership rights. It’s not right for these corporations to sell us a “lifetime” license to a product only to strip it away whenever they desire. I understand that live service games like Hell Divers 2 will eventually stop working even if the disc is owned but there are still a great many games that have an offline mode that can still be enjoyed. Movies and TV shows can still be enjoyed offline and even with better quality than the best streaming services. Consumers must not be complacent in allowing these corporations to dictate how or when we use the content we buy with our hard-earned money.