Note 1): Alan Wake 2 physical edition has since been announced for all the physical media enjoyers out there; Note 2): Some people have rightly pointed out that the graphic I show on screen when mentioning FFIV’s free trial gives the impression I’m saying it’s got a time limit. That’s not what I meant to convey at all and will make a point to better match graphics with what I’m saying in the future. The point being made there is that free trials could get more restrictive over time by any means, whether that be time, content, abilities, etc; FFIV is meant to be the reference point, not the target of that particular criticism. When that part comes up just close your eyes and listen to my soothing succulent voice instead lol. Will do better next time 🤙🏻
Some great recent movies with sound effects I've discovered that most people do not mention: - Superman in 4k 5 disc collection - Amazing Spiderman 1 and 2 - Legend of Hercules - Legend of Tarzan - Life - Kong skull island - Sonic the Hedgehog 1 and 2 - Ghost Rider / Ghost Rider Spirit of Vengeance - xXx: Return Of Xander Cage - Gladiator/Braveheart 2-Movie Collection (4K Ultra HD + Digital) - Bumblebee,Transformers - The Revenant Top Blu-Ray: - Grand Prix (starring James Garner) - House of Flying Daggers - Need for Speed - Wyatt Earp (1994) - John Carter ==== Best music streaming = Apple Music lossless
I Really Want Physical Media To Still Happen For More Than Just Years...But Also Decades. Christopher Nolan Supports It, But Sadily, No One Else Has All because of greed...
@@555Gamingandproductions Yes and No. I only buy physical discs for a great action movie soundtrack to make me want to rewatch a movie, otherwise I'm only going to see it once so streaming is the way to go. Best streaming picture quality and sound is Apple TV+
Correction: digital media with DRM is awful, if it were not for that, being able to make your own backups would make it even superior to physical in terms of preservation
@@csolisr In my experience, piracy is the only valid means of digital preservation. When digital storefronts became a thing with Gen 7, many advocates claimed that it meant fewer games would be lost to the ravages of time. It didn't take long for people to be disabused of that notion.
And this is why piracy is seeming more and more appealing every day. Being able to own your media, while having the convenience that comes digital files, and not buying into the garbage terms of online purchases.. *For legal reasons, I do not endorse nor participate in piracy.
This is why I always tell people to just buy a physical copy, if you know you are going to watch a movie or play a game over and over just drop the money for the physical. There is no sense in spending hundreds on multiple streaming services when you really only watch 2-3 series all year.
Game Companies as well as streaming services now spend an unhealthy amount of time trying to swindle consumers in a market where purchasing power has gone down and trust is falling. Only a few Triple A games turn a profit and the industry is shrinking. It's a complete death spiral. We're witnessing the erosion of quality for newer releases as development time that could have gone to delivering a better product is now spent chopping up games or inserting new ways to charge you money.
I’m still making sure Amazon is not ignoring all my media purchases recently. I went full physical media to be absolutely sure I vote with my wallet. Any PC games I’ve bought for the past two years on GOG.
@@creatorsfreedom6734 You can burn them to a disc, not sure if that's allowed as part of their T&C but as long as you don't distribute them you should be OK
@@creatorsfreedom6734 GoG usually offers full digital downloads that can be backed up etc without DRM, but they are just as susceptible to it. They've removed games and licenses before as well. You also cannot legally trade, sell or give away that digital copy like you can physical games.
@@creatorsfreedom6734 No, just the fact that GOG offers games DRM free (can play the game without the launcher and can download the offline-install files so that you can install/uninstall the games whenever you want, GOG are on a mission for their customers to be able to preserve single player games from old to new)
@@creatorsfreedom6734 I think GOG offers a download copy of the game, not like steam or epic g, you download the game on their website and it's in your pc, that's it But I don't know how this works with online games
Funny how Steam says if the Steam platform goes down they'll switch on a button letting you download the games you bought from their store. But you mentioned in the video, even Valve says you just get the license to use the games.
Yeah that’s a big concern for me too - especially when someone inevitably has to succeed Gabe and/or if Valve goes public. Gonna be a blood bath if things go downhill for Valve.
Isn’t it interesting how when Xbox One tried to restrict re-use of physical games, everyone lost their minds, but now the same thing is happening everywhere with digital media and people don’t seem to mind
The opposite is true also. You can be terrorised by things you don’t own and didn't pay for through digital download. Anyone else remember a U2 album suddenly appearing on their iTunes library *completely downloaded* ? I sure as hell do. I was on my regular commute and the automatic playlist I had set up to put the most recently purchased songs jumpscare'd me with U2. Thankfully it was free, the correct price for that slop. But I still intend to sue Apple for damages to my ears. Hahaa!
One of the many, many reasons why I've been boycotting Big Media altogether for about a decade. If they're so insistent in making their works unavailable then fine, I'll go on with my life as if they were indeed unavailable
Word. This is why I didn't start going full digital until I got a ps5. Digital is a means of control. Not convenience. Also: really dig the MIB reference and appropriate scene. 😎
I'm very happy that i noticed the problem right from the start with digital media. Right from the beginning i have seen digital media as renting instead of buying. I don't mind spending more on physical media. I only buy digital media for like $5 max...because i know that i will lose it later on.
Thanks for the video on this topic. I've also seen this trend emerging over the years, and I'm disappointed that our government has been negligent on addressing this new space of consumer protections. In fairness, keeping hardware (and the people who support it) online for older games can be an unnecessary expense. The idea of temporary availability can work IF the consumer is made aware of it at the time of purchase. For example, clearly stating the minimum supported service end date. That way, players can make a judgment call on whether they want to spend their money on a game. Additionally, there could be business models that revolve around support for older games that the original publisher no longer supports. The player still wouldn't own anything, but they wouldn't lose access to it. What's needed most right now, though, is proper legislation that protects the consumers from devious and dishonest business practices that essentially rob consumers of their purchases. Edit: we really need to be thinking about digitally downloaded and online games as services, rather than products. The nature of many games these days really does fit a service model more than a product one.
Physical is dead when it comes to games. When was the last time you popped a new game DISC into your console and it DIDN'T say, update available? Granted, some of them are small fixes while others are bugs they didn’t catch in time. But this still means that the data on the disc is either incomplete or when it comes to AAA titles, can't be played without that update. Also, with the rise of the cancer known as DRM, the % of piracy of new and old games is up. Not sure about movies and shows, but I wouldn't be surprised if that number is rising as well. If people have a favorite film or show, they better get their hands on the disc version fast.
Around 80~90% of physical games are fully playable through physical cart with no downloads. The majority of patches are just QoL changes or small bug fixes most won't notice or run into. Granted there are a few publishers that are pushing this harder (Xbox, Ubisoft, Activision), and may get worse if people keep buying their games.
@@shaggysweetness Thanks for the info. Yeah I probably mostly think of the BIG publisher. Will make an edit ✍️ But disc based games are still a shadow of its former self most of the time. Which is sad 😔
And people wonder why the phrase "The rich get richer, the poor get poorer" exists. I wonder why. I have argued for years that 'Economic S1av3ry' exists, and no one wanted to listen to me. Well, I wonder if anyone believes me now?
This video essay, and especially the ending half, asking "what happens now," is exactly mirroring the scenario that is played in They Live by John Carpenter. Where because of how we rely on digital media, we're pretty much letting the aliens, that we only see with sunglasses, control and own our entertainment, as a whole.
When dune part one came out on hbo max there was a mass outage that shut down our internet for days. By the time I was able to watch it hbo pulled the movie from streaming and I had to wait 3 months to buy the 4k disc. On that note I watched the movie on disc and through streaming in 4k and the disc looked so much better even with a wired connection. Moral of the story: internet can and will fail. But as long as you have power you can put a disc in anytime you want
When it comes to digital video, resolution isn't the only deciding factor for picture quality. Bitrate also plays a huge role and streaming movies have much lower bitrates.
@@AmartharDrakestone maybe you could help me with something then: why is the bitrate for blu rays so much higher on HDR? I bought a 4k player not long ago and I noticed how smoother the blu rays I watched are than the 4k discs. Is it something to do with the settings or am I missing something?
@@nhlcbj The bitrate of a video isn't something that changes depending on the player. But higher resolutions and HDR require more processing power. Maybe your player just can't handle 4K and HDR at the same time?
The problem is, they are slowly, but relentlessly increasing subscription prices. Eventually you can bet they will attempt to remove "digital perpetual purchase" as a whole like professional softwares did few years ago so that we won't have any alternatives other than... "Arrr." Laws should change to call these online "purchases" as "rental". As it is, by fact, not a purchase. Also, if even half your prediction becomes true (so far my prediction of ragingly greedy gaming companies is becoming real), I think I'll drop gaming as a whole. I already dropped AAA, blacklisted most of such publishers and with last 6 months, got burnt from Early access games that get abandoned/closed by their own publishers soon after buying. I'm just playing older games. If they take those away, I'll just move to a completely different hobby as a whole.
In the years 2001-2010, I developed my own collection of 'backup' DVDs that I made, at least as quickly as I was able to get new DVDs thru the Blockbuster & Netflix mail subs! I got it up to 1200+ movies & 300+ TV series, all in paper sleeves, that I passed on to a family member once I got into collecting my backups on portable HDDs. It's up to 6TB of movies now... The joys of being too poor to afford a nice collection. But I for dang sure got me a set of the ULTIMATE LORD OF THE RINGS EXTENDED EDITION DVDS, because it's the idol of DVD collectors! 👌😎
6:01 In the US, you're covered under the First Sale Doctrine for physical purchases. You cannot copy and resell, but you can resell the original product or do whatever you see fit for profit. Not the case with digital. There are currently no protection under US law for digital products of any kind. The companies can pretty much do whatever they want with your purchases at any time and leave you with no legal recourse. However, some online storefronts like Amazon are working with publishers to skirt this protection and do not allow you to list games on their storefront without registering as a "distributor". I'm surprised no one else has talked more about this issue lately.
3:56 Yup, 1 major reason I turned full 🏴☠ last year, now only games that get bought are multiplayer games I rigorously research before making up my mind or buying an offline account for a Denuvo game for like 2 USD.
Instead of buying licences to play digital games, would the games being NFTs be better? I know that NFTs are mostly viewed as a scam but you can't exactly screenshot a game & get the full thing. Or is there something I'm misunderstanding about this business?
That’s tough, since NFTs can be “copied”, just without the base coding that makes it what it is (example, screenshotting an NFT image doesn’t give you the NFT, but you have the image; now the status of it being the NFT itself is really only as valuable as someone decides it is). I don’t foresee anyone trying that with copyrighted digital media, because then effectively each person who buys one would truly “own” that product, and there’s no way a movie or game studio would want to give each consumer the rights to the images, sound effects, etc within that digital media copy as an NFT would
Look. I get I'm contributing to this or whatever. But it's so much more of a hassle to get a physical copy. My bookshelf of games is actually full and it's been full for a few years now. I don't really want to wait for it to get mailed to me anymore. And the nearby gamestops have all closed. The Wallmart is like 40 minutes away.
4:32 - This actually got disputed and taken to the high court in Australia in 2017(?), as the ACCC were claiming that the PS Store were "selling" digital goods but using TOS to bypass ownership/consumer protection laws (in Oz, TOS cannot be used to bypass consumer rights). Since then, digital goods sold in Australia (even if the seller is a foreign entity) are protected by the same consumer protection laws as physical goods. 5:47 - 'Distribute for non-commercial purposes' means you're not going to rip and sell copies of it or sell tickets to watch it like a cinema. Selling off games/movies you bought is well within your legal rights, as one of the rights of ownership is the right to forfeit said ownership for any reason, including for monetary compensation. This was supported in the US with Nintendo vs Blockbuster when it was ruled that, since Blockbuster had legally purchased their games, it was within their ownership rights to lend their copies out for money. Also, you own that DVD, just not the IP on it, so no, Universal does not have the theoretical right to come in and take your copy of Jurassic Park. 14:47 - 'I could tell you to avoid digital media like the plague'.... Too late, I've been doing that since digital distribution was popularised with the PS3 era, as even then it was obvious how toxic digital distribution was.
“I can’t believe people are downloading our product for free to keep forever when we offer it at full price and can randomly take it away from them for funsies”😱😱😱
@@TheKingerd from the micro transactions apocalypse to the death of physical media I don't think we can win this anymore kingerd gaming is really becoming a hell hole
OG Wolfenstein 3d was one ofbmy 1st digital PS3 purchases. When Bethesda bought id Software rights, it was delisted in PS store and was put back up and I couldn't redownload it, only option was to purchase. Same with MW Remaster digital edition. D/L'ed it, upgraded from PS4 to PS5 and can't redownload it. Marked in store as purchase. I have the game in my trophy list so I did own it.
I don't have a problem with subscription services like game pass. Very rarely do I say, "Thank all God's that I still have the game disk for Oblivion.". Every time I play some old title, I am frustrated with the antiquated controls, graphics quality, whatever. I don't want to pay 30$ for a game I play once. If the devs get some money from people they would never see a dime from sounds like a win to me. Case in point, I couldn't get through the tutorial level of Lies of P. I'd be pissed that I am not able to enjoy the rest of the games outstanding art direction at 65$. 15$ game pass is a consumer's best friend.
Even though places like GOG have DRM-free offline installers available, their ToS has the exact same thing written. So... I don't know if that's to CYA with the publishers they work with or just a copy/paste job. If GOG is down, you'd still have the game.
The only thing I dont mind with digital is PC games from Steam, and thats because Valve has build up the reputation where I trust that even when the game (as long as it isnt a live service game) goes off the store front I will still have access to it. Steaming TV shows/movies on the other hand tho is honestly a train wreck. I dont watch much outside of anime, where I lived there was funimation, crunchyroll and anime lab. Anime lab being the one I used they all got brought out by funimation now a lot of what was on anime lab and not one funimation/crunchyroll are gone from legal steaming
Hey thank you! It’s tough, because I know how convenient and affordable digital media can be, but I think there’s only one place this road eventually goes, and it’s more restrictions at a higher price. Thank you for the super, glad you liked the content 🤝🎉
I never touch digital anything because I don't care about wasting my data cap. If it's all digital, then I stop playing games. My life doesn't revolve around a hobby. Just like I only buy the bluray for a movie I am interested in. I stopped going to the movies since the early 90's. So I get a couple discs a year
It’s a sad future for the gaming industry, while I say that I have not been buying physical games as of late and usually don’t even have time to play a game more than once let alone finish games 😅. Also missed opportunity to not insert the shirtless Mario with nipples that’s out there on your nipples moment 😂
It doesn't sound like you did your research on Final Fantasy XIV's free trial based on how you mentioned it. To clarify FFXIV's free trial includes the entire base game plus the first two expansions for free WIHOUT any time limits. There are a few limitations with accessing certain multiplayer features but you otherwise get the game for free on whichever platform you choose to play one (free trial is not transferable to other platforms). I did rewatch this section a few times and it comes off as being quite misleading in respect to FFXIV free trial and how it works. Based on the footage that is on screen it would imply to most audience that are not familiar and not paying close attention to what's on screen that the free trial is only 30 days or something.
You're correct, the footage makes it misleading and I addressed this in replies to another comment, said I'd do better about pairing what's on screen with what's being said. Message was meant to convey free trials will get more restrictive over time, not that FFIV is time-limited
Being the son of an man who loved massive speakers I so relate to Star Wars and Jurassic park being some of my favorite movie trilogies of all time. Absolutely amazing sound design and just great movies in general. Couple questions for you though, what Robin Hood men in tights? Also have you seen Mad God cause it’s made by the same person who did all the special effects for the og trilogy of Star Wars and Jurassic park. It also took him thirty years to make and if you watch it you’ll understand why
Men in tights slaps. Have not seen mad god, heresy I know, but I’ve only heard good things and I’ve avoided clips of it as much as possible because I’ve been meaning to watch it in full
I buy my games phisically, unless is a game that I'm not very interested in and I got it like for a dollar, like the Dead Island Remastered I got for XBox for like 1 or 2 dollars
What many people don’t realize is that your digital stuff is tied to verification checks. For consoles, that’s not just verification of the account holder, but the actual console itself. Let’s say you go off to a cabin in the woods to live and you being your Xbox with you. Even if you could play the game offline, there will come a point where that system tries to check in with Microsoft, finds out it can’t and then says, I don’t even know who you are and that’s it for your post apocalypse video games. There’s great news though, for many people. Emulation exists and while you may not be able to play the newest furry porn simulator game because it is always online, a great many systems and games are available for download. So maybe find a suitable backup of your crap soon.
I like this solution, but considering the large majority of indie games will never have a physical release, it's difficult not to rely on digital for someone who's into this type of games. Although, they're usually not the ones who will screw the consumer. There should be platforms where creators themselves choose to sell their products without any restrictions. Steam isn't that far from this but issues still occur. It's Valve who ultimately decides. I guess Itch io is the closest I can think of. The other problem is that some games are made specifically for a certain console hardware, so those definitely rely 100 percent on the manufacturer. Well, except for piracy, which will always be one of the better solutions.
I don’t think subscription models will work in the long-term. Most of these large companies are more concerned about constant growth than maintaining a steady stream of content/services in line with a set number of subscribers; companies setting unrealistic growth expectations leads to Amazon Prime getting ads or Disney+’s price getting ridiculously jacked up. Plus there’s soon gonna be too many subscription services for people to keep up with/care about, just like with “live-service” games. These subscription services will probably continue to grow for a while and then hard crash after that before we return to the way things were with some proper ownership. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m gonna go continue reading Dune before Frank Herbert rolls out of his grave to pry the book away from me.
About 2 minutes in I am gonna say that for me personally, digital distribution has way more advantages than downsides. Coming from a country where copies of physical games are usually overpriced by 20-30% compared to Steam (the only digital store I use) which has the game cheaper at the start, plus great sales. Also digital distribution empowered indie game devs more than ever, hence why we have been getting such a great revival in genres that the bigger dogs in the gaming industry won't touch. So despite the it being a license, which I agree is an issue, there is a lot of positives to digital distribution that get overlooked when this discussion is being had.
To be very very fair specifically to remedy on the Alan Wake 2 situation.... Even with all the success they've achieved with that game, it still hasn't turned a profit, and they're literally this tiny little Studio that has been pumping any amount of money they get back into repurchasing the rights to their own IPS. So even though Alan Wake is a huge game, and a great big success, the only reason it's a digital only game at the moment is because remedy simply doesn't have the money. Money. I always like to point it out just for people who don't necessarily know the lore of that company, because I know they want a physical release of the game as much as any of us. Which is just another reason we should all be behind physical releases, Because for many years Alan Wake 1 simply wasn't available due to Microsoft deciding to take it off of digital storefronts and physical copies being unavailable.
A huge factor I'm sure. They have a history of low but steady sales, so I see a lot of people dunking on them for not making a profit yet but if you look at their product history, that's been their MO for a long time. Steady sales that spike when the next game is announced, and Control 2 is on the way. So I'm betting it's going exactly how they'd planned for AW2. But even so, Epic not funding physical copies has still hurt their reach, I think. Probably not as much as not having it on Steam but still to a degree
Same here, I’m still looking to buy the stuff I like the most individually just to have. Idk the answer to all this be honest. I think everyone agrees subs are the most cost efficient for the amount of content you can immediately access, but I am thinking that if it takes over completely and no individual sales are left for it to compete with, it may not be so affordable anymore.
Proud pirate of the high seas and I'm glad normies are finally waking up to the fact of corporate greed and "you will own nothing and be happy about it". Main reason I download everything so I can OWN it. if companies gave me a sense of ownership, I would stop traveling the high seas. Until they do that, YARRRRRRR.
The point wasn’t a playtime limit, it was any limitations whatsoever on “free trials” being predicted to get more restrictive/giving shorter experiences over time, whether it be level caps, content restrictions, etc to entice people to pay more for a game than the entry subscription fee. Don’t let a background graphic distract you from the point being made; FFIV is the reference point, not the target of the criticism in that statement.
@@Bonirin outdated info then. As someone who plays xiv the free trial rn is truly endless on play time, and you only have to start subbing if you by the game.
@@TheKingerd While im not happy about it, ffxiv and wow engage in a ploy of "early access" for 3 days aka playing on launch day. xiv I'm at least less harsh on cause all you gotta do is preorder the expansion to get that, sucks for others who dont tho. wow on the other hand I think asks 90 USD to get access to the "early access"
Very true. And I was actually coming back to edit my comment, I didn’t mean to sound so condescending, so I’m sorry for that. I completely see how that graphic tied with my statement comes off that I’m talking about time restrictions, so I’ll keep a better eye on visual/audio combos in the future to make sure what I’m saying is better reflected by what’s seen. What I MEANT to convey is that future games could really abuse the free trial system that FFIV is currently using
You have NEVER owned anything digital in the first place, has it really taken this long for people to realise this? This is not news. What you "buy" is a right to use a product, you're buying a licence. You can't own it because you don't own the content. You don't even own anything even if you buy it as physical media.
It's more that the downsides and problems with the system are finally starting to manifest themselves. Video games as a mainstream thing is still a relatively new concept in the grand scheme.
![[LIVE] : ONE ลุมพินี 78 | คู่เอก "ปกรณ์ vs ฟาบิโอ"](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/LSOmgl0Th2c/mqdefault.jpg)
Note 1): Alan Wake 2 physical edition has since been announced for all the physical media enjoyers out there;
Note 2): Some people have rightly pointed out that the graphic I show on screen when mentioning FFIV’s free trial gives the impression I’m saying it’s got a time limit. That’s not what I meant to convey at all and will make a point to better match graphics with what I’m saying in the future.
The point being made there is that free trials could get more restrictive over time by any means, whether that be time, content, abilities, etc; FFIV is meant to be the reference point, not the target of that particular criticism.
When that part comes up just close your eyes and listen to my soothing succulent voice instead lol. Will do better next time 🤙🏻
FFXIV aka 14. You wrote FFIV aka ff4.
Some great recent movies with sound effects I've discovered that most people do not mention:
- Superman in 4k 5 disc collection
- Amazing Spiderman 1 and 2
- Legend of Hercules
- Legend of Tarzan
- Life
- Kong skull island
- Sonic the Hedgehog 1 and 2
- Ghost Rider / Ghost Rider Spirit of Vengeance
- xXx: Return Of Xander Cage
- Gladiator/Braveheart 2-Movie Collection (4K Ultra HD + Digital)
- Bumblebee,Transformers
- The Revenant
Top Blu-Ray:
- Grand Prix (starring James Garner)
- House of Flying Daggers
- Need for Speed
- Wyatt Earp (1994)
- John Carter
====
Best music streaming = Apple Music lossless
I Really Want Physical Media To Still Happen For More Than Just Years...But Also Decades.
Christopher Nolan Supports It, But Sadily, No One Else Has All because of greed...
@@555Gamingandproductions Yes and No.
I only buy physical discs for a great action movie soundtrack to make me want to rewatch a movie, otherwise I'm only going to see it once so streaming is the way to go.
Best streaming picture quality and sound is Apple TV+
If buying isn't owning, then pirating isn't stealing.
🏴☠️🏴☠️🏴☠️
*U are a Pirate starts playing*
@@FTChomp9980 bass boosted for sure too
well guess I'll end up with 2pb worth of hdds
Piracy is key comrades
Be a Pirate, Somali or Jack Sparrow
Exposure leads to Tolerance.
Tolerance leads to Acceptance.
Acceptance…leads to Suffering.
You can always count on youtube comments to be chock full of Call of Duty game over quotes.
@@Deodank Pretty sure it's a Star Wars reference. 😏
I always buy Physical Media for Games,Books,Movies,and Tv Shows will never stop it either.
Digital media is truly awful
Correction: digital media with DRM is awful, if it were not for that, being able to make your own backups would make it even superior to physical in terms of preservation
@@csolisr In my experience, piracy is the only valid means of digital preservation. When digital storefronts became a thing with Gen 7, many advocates claimed that it meant fewer games would be lost to the ravages of time. It didn't take long for people to be disabused of that notion.
In a few years instead of a house you're gonna get metaverse goggles that take you to a VR one bedroom apartment.
Asking price $950k
Ok but do I have shelter and food irl?
Not for me.
@@paulaccuardi9071 cardboard box and soylent green.
And this is why piracy is seeming more and more appealing every day. Being able to own your media, while having the convenience that comes digital files, and not buying into the garbage terms of online purchases.. *For legal reasons, I do not endorse nor participate in piracy.
This is why I always tell people to just buy a physical copy, if you know you are going to watch a movie or play a game over and over just drop the money for the physical. There is no sense in spending hundreds on multiple streaming services when you really only watch 2-3 series all year.
😭 man i miss my good ol physical world.
Buying more and more of my childhood back so ill have something to enjoy when i retire (in 40 years)
ebay
Sailing the 7 seas and backing it up on a seperate hard drive is also an option.
@@voiceofreason4551 😆
Game Companies as well as streaming services now spend an unhealthy amount of time trying to swindle consumers in a market where purchasing power has gone down and trust is falling. Only a few Triple A games turn a profit and the industry is shrinking. It's a complete death spiral. We're witnessing the erosion of quality for newer releases as development time that could have gone to delivering a better product is now spent chopping up games or inserting new ways to charge you money.
I’m still making sure Amazon is not ignoring all my media purchases recently. I went full physical media to be absolutely sure I vote with my wallet. Any PC games I’ve bought for the past two years on GOG.
g o g offer's dvd an cd's game's ?
@@creatorsfreedom6734 You can burn them to a disc, not sure if that's allowed as part of their T&C but as long as you don't distribute them you should be OK
@@creatorsfreedom6734 GoG usually offers full digital downloads that can be backed up etc without DRM, but they are just as susceptible to it. They've removed games and licenses before as well. You also cannot legally trade, sell or give away that digital copy like you can physical games.
@@creatorsfreedom6734 No, just the fact that GOG offers games DRM free (can play the game without the launcher and can download the offline-install files so that you can install/uninstall the games whenever you want, GOG are on a mission for their customers to be able to preserve single player games from old to new)
@@creatorsfreedom6734
I think GOG offers a download copy of the game, not like steam or epic g, you download the game on their website and it's in your pc, that's it
But I don't know how this works with online games
I think a new golden age of piracy is upon us. In the end, we win.
Funny how Steam says if the Steam platform goes down they'll switch on a button letting you download the games you bought from their store. But you mentioned in the video, even Valve says you just get the license to use the games.
Yeah that’s a big concern for me too - especially when someone inevitably has to succeed Gabe and/or if Valve goes public. Gonna be a blood bath if things go downhill for Valve.
Convenience vs right to own
Gaming is in a crisis. My money isn't going to any of these companies. Used physical games and piracy are the way. We're all gonna make it.
Isn’t it interesting how when Xbox One tried to restrict re-use of physical games, everyone lost their minds, but now the same thing is happening everywhere with digital media and people don’t seem to mind
The opposite is true also.
You can be terrorised by things you don’t own and didn't pay for through digital download. Anyone else remember a U2 album suddenly appearing on their iTunes library *completely downloaded* ?
I sure as hell do.
I was on my regular commute and the automatic playlist I had set up to put the most recently purchased songs jumpscare'd me with U2.
Thankfully it was free, the correct price for that slop. But I still intend to sue Apple for damages to my ears. Hahaa!
One of the many, many reasons why I've been boycotting Big Media altogether for about a decade. If they're so insistent in making their works unavailable then fine, I'll go on with my life as if they were indeed unavailable
I doubt that books will ever be removed from physical media.
Word.
This is why I didn't start going full digital until I got a ps5. Digital is a means of control. Not convenience.
Also: really dig the MIB reference and appropriate scene. 😎
Good way to put it. And Hahaha thank you. I was hoping some chads out there would get it
I'm very happy that i noticed the problem right from the start with digital media. Right from the beginning i have seen digital media as renting instead of buying. I don't mind spending more on physical media. I only buy digital media for like $5 max...because i know that i will lose it later on.
or pirate
Thanks for the video on this topic. I've also seen this trend emerging over the years, and I'm disappointed that our government has been negligent on addressing this new space of consumer protections. In fairness, keeping hardware (and the people who support it) online for older games can be an unnecessary expense.
The idea of temporary availability can work IF the consumer is made aware of it at the time of purchase. For example, clearly stating the minimum supported service end date. That way, players can make a judgment call on whether they want to spend their money on a game. Additionally, there could be business models that revolve around support for older games that the original publisher no longer supports. The player still wouldn't own anything, but they wouldn't lose access to it.
What's needed most right now, though, is proper legislation that protects the consumers from devious and dishonest business practices that essentially rob consumers of their purchases.
Edit: we really need to be thinking about digitally downloaded and online games as services, rather than products. The nature of many games these days really does fit a service model more than a product one.
Physical is dead when it comes to games. When was the last time you popped a new game DISC into your console and it DIDN'T say, update available? Granted, some of them are small fixes while others are bugs they didn’t catch in time. But this still means that the data on the disc is either incomplete or when it comes to AAA titles, can't be played without that update. Also, with the rise of the cancer known as DRM, the % of piracy of new and old games is up. Not sure about movies and shows, but I wouldn't be surprised if that number is rising as well. If people have a favorite film or show, they better get their hands on the disc version fast.
Around 80~90% of physical games are fully playable through physical cart with no downloads. The majority of patches are just QoL changes or small bug fixes most won't notice or run into. Granted there are a few publishers that are pushing this harder (Xbox, Ubisoft, Activision), and may get worse if people keep buying their games.
@@shaggysweetness Thanks for the info. Yeah I probably mostly think of the BIG publisher. Will make an edit ✍️
But disc based games are still a shadow of its former self most of the time. Which is sad 😔
@@shaggysweetness unless it's made from cd project red
@@shaggysweetness Newer console games (even on disc) do require newer console firmware though.
@@AmartharDrakestone Not always and if so many discs comes with those on them that can be installed through the disc itself.
And people wonder why the phrase "The rich get richer, the poor get poorer" exists. I wonder why.
I have argued for years that 'Economic S1av3ry' exists, and no one wanted to listen to me. Well, I wonder if anyone believes me now?
This video essay, and especially the ending half, asking "what happens now," is exactly mirroring the scenario that is played in They Live by John Carpenter. Where because of how we rely on digital media, we're pretty much letting the aliens, that we only see with sunglasses, control and own our entertainment, as a whole.
That’s a good parallel you made. I however, am all out of bubblegum
When dune part one came out on hbo max there was a mass outage that shut down our internet for days. By the time I was able to watch it hbo pulled the movie from streaming and I had to wait 3 months to buy the 4k disc. On that note I watched the movie on disc and through streaming in 4k and the disc looked so much better even with a wired connection. Moral of the story: internet can and will fail. But as long as you have power you can put a disc in anytime you want
When it comes to digital video, resolution isn't the only deciding factor for picture quality. Bitrate also plays a huge role and streaming movies have much lower bitrates.
@@AmartharDrakestone maybe you could help me with something then: why is the bitrate for blu rays so much higher on HDR? I bought a 4k player not long ago and I noticed how smoother the blu rays I watched are than the 4k discs. Is it something to do with the settings or am I missing something?
@@nhlcbj The bitrate of a video isn't something that changes depending on the player. But higher resolutions and HDR require more processing power. Maybe your player just can't handle 4K and HDR at the same time?
@@AmartharDrakestone idk, it’s a Panasonic ub820 and my tv isn’t that old. It’s not a deal breaker by any means, I was just curious
The problem is, they are slowly, but relentlessly increasing subscription prices. Eventually you can bet they will attempt to remove "digital perpetual purchase" as a whole like professional softwares did few years ago so that we won't have any alternatives other than... "Arrr."
Laws should change to call these online "purchases" as "rental". As it is, by fact, not a purchase.
Also, if even half your prediction becomes true (so far my prediction of ragingly greedy gaming companies is becoming real), I think I'll drop gaming as a whole. I already dropped AAA, blacklisted most of such publishers and with last 6 months, got burnt from Early access games that get abandoned/closed by their own publishers soon after buying. I'm just playing older games. If they take those away, I'll just move to a completely different hobby as a whole.
I miss game game disc cases they always have exciting art and others deceiving.
Imagine if we bought groceries like this. Or cars. Or clothes. Or literally anything else.
That is precisely what the World Trade Organization wants for the future.
Cars sadly, are starting to take the same path. With every car made after 2024 being required to have a 'kill switch', and an internet connection.
That would be Dystopian and would hate it.
Terrible if that was real. Buying new cars isnt worth it anyway
In the years 2001-2010, I developed my own collection of 'backup' DVDs that I made, at least as quickly as I was able to get new DVDs thru the Blockbuster & Netflix mail subs! I got it up to 1200+ movies & 300+ TV series, all in paper sleeves, that I passed on to a family member once I got into collecting my backups on portable HDDs. It's up to 6TB of movies now... The joys of being too poor to afford a nice collection.
But I for dang sure got me a set of the ULTIMATE LORD OF THE RINGS EXTENDED EDITION DVDS, because it's the idol of DVD collectors! 👌😎
6:01 In the US, you're covered under the First Sale Doctrine for physical purchases. You cannot copy and resell, but you can resell the original product or do whatever you see fit for profit. Not the case with digital. There are currently no protection under US law for digital products of any kind. The companies can pretty much do whatever they want with your purchases at any time and leave you with no legal recourse. However, some online storefronts like Amazon are working with publishers to skirt this protection and do not allow you to list games on their storefront without registering as a "distributor". I'm surprised no one else has talked more about this issue lately.
Great video. I love the comedy asides! Now I’m going to watch my physical and pirated movies 👍
An intelligent, very insighful video and much appreciated. Well done - a great analysis. People are sheep.
3:56 Yup, 1 major reason I turned full 🏴☠ last year, now only games that get bought are multiplayer games I rigorously research before making up my mind or buying an offline account for a Denuvo game for like 2 USD.
When I look at my shelf full of horror movies it brings a tear of joy to my eye. I love Physical media!
Same here!
Looks like my catalogue is gonna have to do for the rest of my life
Amen brother , keep up the great videos 🎉
Instead of buying licences to play digital games, would the games being NFTs be better? I know that NFTs are mostly viewed as a scam but you can't exactly screenshot a game & get the full thing. Or is there something I'm misunderstanding about this business?
NFTs are awful, you can just sell the ROM of a game or make the game not be tied to a external launcher.
That’s tough, since NFTs can be “copied”, just without the base coding that makes it what it is (example, screenshotting an NFT image doesn’t give you the NFT, but you have the image; now the status of it being the NFT itself is really only as valuable as someone decides it is). I don’t foresee anyone trying that with copyrighted digital media, because then effectively each person who buys one would truly “own” that product, and there’s no way a movie or game studio would want to give each consumer the rights to the images, sound effects, etc within that digital media copy as an NFT would
Look. I get I'm contributing to this or whatever. But it's so much more of a hassle to get a physical copy. My bookshelf of games is actually full and it's been full for a few years now. I don't really want to wait for it to get mailed to me anymore. And the nearby gamestops have all closed. The Wallmart is like 40 minutes away.
4:32 - This actually got disputed and taken to the high court in Australia in 2017(?), as the ACCC were claiming that the PS Store were "selling" digital goods but using TOS to bypass ownership/consumer protection laws (in Oz, TOS cannot be used to bypass consumer rights). Since then, digital goods sold in Australia (even if the seller is a foreign entity) are protected by the same consumer protection laws as physical goods.
5:47 - 'Distribute for non-commercial purposes' means you're not going to rip and sell copies of it or sell tickets to watch it like a cinema. Selling off games/movies you bought is well within your legal rights, as one of the rights of ownership is the right to forfeit said ownership for any reason, including for monetary compensation. This was supported in the US with Nintendo vs Blockbuster when it was ruled that, since Blockbuster had legally purchased their games, it was within their ownership rights to lend their copies out for money. Also, you own that DVD, just not the IP on it, so no, Universal does not have the theoretical right to come in and take your copy of Jurassic Park.
14:47 - 'I could tell you to avoid digital media like the plague'.... Too late, I've been doing that since digital distribution was popularised with the PS3 era, as even then it was obvious how toxic digital distribution was.
At this point it's becoming clear that pirating is the future
“I can’t believe people are downloading our product for free to keep forever when we offer it at full price and can randomly take it away from them for funsies”😱😱😱
@@TheKingerd from the micro transactions apocalypse to the death of physical media I don't think we can win this anymore kingerd gaming is really becoming a hell hole
OG Wolfenstein 3d was one ofbmy 1st digital PS3 purchases. When Bethesda bought id Software rights, it was delisted in PS store and was put back up and I couldn't redownload it, only option was to purchase.
Same with MW Remaster digital edition. D/L'ed it, upgraded from PS4 to PS5 and can't redownload it. Marked in store as purchase. I have the game in my trophy list so I did own it.
I don't have a problem with subscription services like game pass. Very rarely do I say, "Thank all God's that I still have the game disk for Oblivion.". Every time I play some old title, I am frustrated with the antiquated controls, graphics quality, whatever. I don't want to pay 30$ for a game I play once. If the devs get some money from people they would never see a dime from sounds like a win to me.
Case in point, I couldn't get through the tutorial level of Lies of P. I'd be pissed that I am not able to enjoy the rest of the games outstanding art direction at 65$. 15$ game pass is a consumer's best friend.
Even though places like GOG have DRM-free offline installers available, their ToS has the exact same thing written. So... I don't know if that's to CYA with the publishers they work with or just a copy/paste job. If GOG is down, you'd still have the game.
The only thing I dont mind with digital is PC games from Steam, and thats because Valve has build up the reputation where I trust that even when the game (as long as it isnt a live service game) goes off the store front I will still have access to it.
Steaming TV shows/movies on the other hand tho is honestly a train wreck. I dont watch much outside of anime, where I lived there was funimation, crunchyroll and anime lab. Anime lab being the one I used they all got brought out by funimation now a lot of what was on anime lab and not one funimation/crunchyroll are gone from legal steaming
Thanks! for the information that most should know , but seem to ignore
Hey thank you! It’s tough, because I know how convenient and affordable digital media can be, but I think there’s only one place this road eventually goes, and it’s more restrictions at a higher price. Thank you for the super, glad you liked the content 🤝🎉
I never touch digital anything because I don't care about wasting my data cap. If it's all digital, then I stop playing games. My life doesn't revolve around a hobby. Just like I only buy the bluray for a movie I am interested in. I stopped going to the movies since the early 90's. So I get a couple discs a year
It’s a sad future for the gaming industry, while I say that I have not been buying physical games as of late and usually don’t even have time to play a game more than once let alone finish games 😅. Also missed opportunity to not insert the shirtless Mario with nipples that’s out there on your nipples moment 😂
It doesn't sound like you did your research on Final Fantasy XIV's free trial based on how you mentioned it.
To clarify FFXIV's free trial includes the entire base game plus the first two expansions for free WIHOUT any time limits. There are a few limitations with accessing certain multiplayer features but you otherwise get the game for free on whichever platform you choose to play one (free trial is not transferable to other platforms).
I did rewatch this section a few times and it comes off as being quite misleading in respect to FFXIV free trial and how it works. Based on the footage that is on screen it would imply to most audience that are not familiar and not paying close attention to what's on screen that the free trial is only 30 days or something.
You're correct, the footage makes it misleading and I addressed this in replies to another comment, said I'd do better about pairing what's on screen with what's being said. Message was meant to convey free trials will get more restrictive over time, not that FFIV is time-limited
Being the son of an man who loved massive speakers I so relate to Star Wars and Jurassic park being some of my favorite movie trilogies of all time. Absolutely amazing sound design and just great movies in general. Couple questions for you though, what Robin Hood men in tights? Also have you seen Mad God cause it’s made by the same person who did all the special effects for the og trilogy of Star Wars and Jurassic park. It also took him thirty years to make and if you watch it you’ll understand why
Men in tights slaps. Have not seen mad god, heresy I know, but I’ve only heard good things and I’ve avoided clips of it as much as possible because I’ve been meaning to watch it in full
I buy my games phisically, unless is a game that I'm not very interested in and I got it like for a dollar, like the Dead Island Remastered I got for XBox for like 1 or 2 dollars
Long live piracy. If I cannot buy it and legally own it, then downloading a copy is not illegal either since I don't own that pirated copy either 😂
Way off topic. But do I hear Hollow knight background music? Nice!
Indeed.
What many people don’t realize is that your digital stuff is tied to verification checks. For consoles, that’s not just verification of the account holder, but the actual console itself. Let’s say you go off to a cabin in the woods to live and you being your Xbox with you. Even if you could play the game offline, there will come a point where that system tries to check in with Microsoft, finds out it can’t and then says, I don’t even know who you are and that’s it for your post apocalypse video games.
There’s great news though, for many people. Emulation exists and while you may not be able to play the newest furry porn simulator game because it is always online, a great many systems and games are available for download. So maybe find a suitable backup of your crap soon.
Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...Pirates are alive in well in 2024!
I like this solution, but considering the large majority of indie games will never have a physical release, it's difficult not to rely on digital for someone who's into this type of games. Although, they're usually not the ones who will screw the consumer. There should be platforms where creators themselves choose to sell their products without any restrictions. Steam isn't that far from this but issues still occur. It's Valve who ultimately decides. I guess Itch io is the closest I can think of. The other problem is that some games are made specifically for a certain console hardware, so those definitely rely 100 percent on the manufacturer. Well, except for piracy, which will always be one of the better solutions.
This is why I support GOG. They are the only example of an all digital future I would be ok with. Until then I'll never stop buying physical media.
Don't forget Itch io, which is even better imo. GOG decides what gets on their store, while Itch allows pretty much everything as far as I know.
I don’t think subscription models will work in the long-term. Most of these large companies are more concerned about constant growth than maintaining a steady stream of content/services in line with a set number of subscribers; companies setting unrealistic growth expectations leads to Amazon Prime getting ads or Disney+’s price getting ridiculously jacked up.
Plus there’s soon gonna be too many subscription services for people to keep up with/care about, just like with “live-service” games. These subscription services will probably continue to grow for a while and then hard crash after that before we return to the way things were with some proper ownership.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m gonna go continue reading Dune before Frank Herbert rolls out of his grave to pry the book away from me.
Can this industry just crash already
I hope so.
good food for thought
I own a physical DVD of Space Balls 👍
Haha, me too.
You still don't own with some physical versions, also.
About 2 minutes in I am gonna say that for me personally, digital distribution has way more advantages than downsides. Coming from a country where copies of physical games are usually overpriced by 20-30% compared to Steam (the only digital store I use) which has the game cheaper at the start, plus great sales. Also digital distribution empowered indie game devs more than ever, hence why we have been getting such a great revival in genres that the bigger dogs in the gaming industry won't touch. So despite the it being a license, which I agree is an issue, there is a lot of positives to digital distribution that get overlooked when this discussion is being had.
“You will own nothing and you will be happy” 😂
@@Love_Crafts_HP i ve got a golden ticket !!!
Honestly had no interest until I saw that the janitor from Control made a cameo, love that Finnish guy.
To be very very fair specifically to remedy on the Alan Wake 2 situation.... Even with all the success they've achieved with that game, it still hasn't turned a profit, and they're literally this tiny little Studio that has been pumping any amount of money they get back into repurchasing the rights to their own IPS. So even though Alan Wake is a huge game, and a great big success, the only reason it's a digital only game at the moment is because remedy simply doesn't have the money. Money. I always like to point it out just for people who don't necessarily know the lore of that company, because I know they want a physical release of the game as much as any of us. Which is just another reason we should all be behind physical releases, Because for many years Alan Wake 1 simply wasn't available due to Microsoft deciding to take it off of digital storefronts and physical copies being unavailable.
A huge factor I'm sure. They have a history of low but steady sales, so I see a lot of people dunking on them for not making a profit yet but if you look at their product history, that's been their MO for a long time. Steady sales that spike when the next game is announced, and Control 2 is on the way. So I'm betting it's going exactly how they'd planned for AW2. But even so, Epic not funding physical copies has still hurt their reach, I think. Probably not as much as not having it on Steam but still to a degree
Try buying and playing Marvel Ultimate Alliance 1+2 today digitally.
I think Ollie is a Portuguese water dog
I found him only after combing the darkest corners of the dark web
I'm always a bit reserved about subscriptions. Even if it's a good deal, I still wont support it whole heartedly.
Same here, I’m still looking to buy the stuff I like the most individually just to have. Idk the answer to all this be honest. I think everyone agrees subs are the most cost efficient for the amount of content you can immediately access, but I am thinking that if it takes over completely and no individual sales are left for it to compete with, it may not be so affordable anymore.
I don't pay for anything I don't own and boy do I play a TON of games. I'll let you do that math and come to your own conclusions.
🏴☠️🏴☠️🏴☠️🏴☠️
Proud pirate of the high seas and I'm glad normies are finally waking up to the fact of corporate greed and "you will own nothing and be happy about it". Main reason I download everything so I can OWN it. if companies gave me a sense of ownership, I would stop traveling the high seas. Until they do that, YARRRRRRR.
I'm still going to spend lots of money on games that I'll never play 😂
Just pirate it.
My man, pirating is the future for digital freedom in this criminal online space. And that is good ^_^
Brother you showed a clip of the godfather and passed it off as some 70s movie. I am seething.
The FFXIV statement was just blatantly wrong. There is no playtime limit on the free trial, which contains the basegame and 2 expansions currently.
I mean it says 30 days all over the website. You mean you can squeeze in all 720hrs of non-stop FFXIV game in that, or what..? (I haven't played it)
The point wasn’t a playtime limit, it was any limitations whatsoever on “free trials” being predicted to get more restrictive/giving shorter experiences over time, whether it be level caps, content restrictions, etc to entice people to pay more for a game than the entry subscription fee. Don’t let a background graphic distract you from the point being made; FFIV is the reference point, not the target of the criticism in that statement.
@@Bonirin outdated info then. As someone who plays xiv the free trial rn is truly endless on play time, and you only have to start subbing if you by the game.
@@TheKingerd While im not happy about it, ffxiv and wow engage in a ploy of "early access" for 3 days aka playing on launch day. xiv I'm at least less harsh on cause all you gotta do is preorder the expansion to get that, sucks for others who dont tho.
wow on the other hand I think asks 90 USD to get access to the "early access"
Very true. And I was actually coming back to edit my comment, I didn’t mean to sound so condescending, so I’m sorry for that. I completely see how that graphic tied with my statement comes off that I’m talking about time restrictions, so I’ll keep a better eye on visual/audio combos in the future to make sure what I’m saying is better reflected by what’s seen.
What I MEANT to convey is that future games could really abuse the free trial system that FFIV is currently using
DOGS!!!!!!!!!!!!
Countries that are not supported by Sony, are no country at all.
Cute doggies
we will have subscriptions just for skins :)
but, you'll be so happy!
You have NEVER owned anything digital in the first place, has it really taken this long for people to realise this? This is not news. What you "buy" is a right to use a product, you're buying a licence. You can't own it because you don't own the content.
You don't even own anything even if you buy it as physical media.
It's more that the downsides and problems with the system are finally starting to manifest themselves.
Video games as a mainstream thing is still a relatively new concept in the grand scheme.
You can resell your digital games but you can resel your physical games.