Physical vs Digital Media

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gehenna

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#309352 11-Oct-2023 09:41

This came up in the PS5 thread so thought it worth a separate discussion. What's your views on physical vs digital media? Particularly games and tv/movies?

I'm almost all digital now having sold my DVD's some years ago, then my Blu-rays. I kept the rarer things that were difficult to source, and I have rips of them on my Plex server. There's also a lot of debate about this online over the past couple years as studios and streaming platforms have basically erased some content from history, given it's not on physical media and not on streaming now. So, unless you do have rips of some of those rarer things the platforms are removing, you may as well consider them non-existent.

What's your preference in general and what's your thoughts about the disappearance of digital media with no physical alternative?

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#3145205 11-Oct-2023 09:49

Like you I had gone down the digital media route but recently with the poor state of streaming services in Aotearoa especially Netflix I have more and more thinking about physical media. I never disposed of my media and have it in secure storage and I have been reviewing what devices best play these. I have a Panasonic blue ray in the garage, but it's Panasonic, yuck.

My understanding is PS5 does just an ok job with playing discs and my aging Xbox is so so.

SaltyNZ

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#3145206 11-Oct-2023 09:51

Physical media when I can get it. Never rely on streaming for anything you want to 'keep' because they just disappear without warning. If I buy a digital-only movie, I buy it on iTunes because I can strip the DRM. Likewise eBooks - only Kindle, because again I can strip the DRM. I don't do this with Steam but the risk that this will happen to a Steam game is somewhat mitigated by the fact that you tend to remember really old games as being a lot better than you find them if you try to play them again. Or at least that's my experience - like, Quake, for example, was incredible when it came out. If I try to play it today, the lack of ability to look up and down by default really annoys me.

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SirHumphreyAppleby

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#3145207 11-Oct-2023 09:56

I have zero interest in buying digital copies of media. If I can't buy physical media and have control over how I use it, I'm not handing over my money.

We were early adopters of DVD, but I held off buying Blu-rays and 4k titles until I could rip them to my NAS in full quality, without compromise.

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#3145211 11-Oct-2023 10:01

I'm firmly in the physical camp, with multiple bookcases full of discs. Every single download service I've used has reached in and snatched away something I've "bought", leaving a bitter taste. I always get discs when possible, because they effectively last forever (especially when backed up onto my NAS).

lurker

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#3145231 11-Oct-2023 10:34

When it comes to PC games, I am all in on Steam. Reinstalling games off physical media was a hassle. I use family sharing so all the kids can install and make use of those games too.

But for movies I prefer physical media and it's sad that this is starting to die off. Some films aren't available to stream and I don't want to have to join several services to cover it all.

I am not sure how much it costs companies to press a disc etc and if it is just not profitable for them anymore. Seems to me it's more that they want to force people onto their streaming platforms but I'm not interested.

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#3145235 11-Oct-2023 10:40

lurker:

I am not sure how much it costs companies to press a disc etc and if it is just not profitable for them anymore. Seems to me it's more that they want to force people onto their streaming platforms but I'm not interested.

It's not that printing a physical disc is expensive. It's that you only pay for the physical disc once. Why earn $40 for one disc, when you can get $15 every month forever?

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freitasm

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#3145243 11-Oct-2023 10:55

For years I bought lots of DVDs. Then streaming came along and I started buying digital copies instead. But not many. But now there's a lot of geolocking in place and I know the copies I have on Amazon US aren't available to play if I move my account to AU or access without a geo trick.

I've seen on this thread (4K Ultra HD Blu-ray releases, thanks @movieman) that John Wick is coming out on 4K Blu-ray, so I might buy some movies again, just in case.

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gehenna

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#3145251 11-Oct-2023 11:08

I guess in the gaming space I'm not impacted very much by being fully digital. The difference with games is they're generally only relevant in the current console/hardware cycle. You can play older games on modern consoles and PCs, sometimes, but personally i don't go back to older games unless they're remastered or rebuilt for the current generation spec.

afe66

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#3145355 11-Oct-2023 13:44

I've still got all my dvd/cd in a box under the house all ripped from the days before music copyright changes. I'm just not very trusting of online purchases remaining. Still have my bluerays in lounge

Many of us have memories of companies closing and losing access.

When work buys me office I tick the box for a physical copy for $10.

I bought the physical drive version of ps5

But I do also have 400+ books on my kindle and some games on steam...

Groucho

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#3145357 11-Oct-2023 13:46

My two cents I prefer physical media when available and will certainly be retaining the DVD, BluRay and CDs I already have. It's really frustrating when a streaming service has a certain title then it disappears. Most frustrating is when you are half way through watching a TV series then get the '... is about to leave us'. Short of pulling some unrealistic binge sessions there's no way you can finish it and no way of finding where it's going if at all.

I've finally got around to building a Raspberry Pi-based Plex server and will eventually media shift my physical content and figure out an easy way to back it up.

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#3145359 11-Oct-2023 13:51

afe66:

But I do also have 400+ books on my kindle and some games on steam...

The right Google query regarding Calibre and Kindle will net interesting results.

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eracode

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#3145362 11-Oct-2023 13:59

I have a disc version PS5 and mostly buy physical discs - usually new releases but sometimes older and secondhand. When I finish a game I will almost always sell it - not really interested in holding onto a library. Generally I can recoup about 50% of what I pay for a game.

AAA games are expensive and having a disc PS5 means I can buy a much cheaper (than digital) physical version of a new release and sell it within a few months to get a good chunk of the price back. This about halves my ongoing gaming cost and I reckon the premium for the disc-version PS5 has been repaid several times over.

Being retired I do have the time for the trading and it’s all part of the fun for me. I quite like saving a few bucks but I do it also as a matter of principle.

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PsychoSmiley

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#3145363 11-Oct-2023 14:04

There should be a drive for digital distribution, however why would I even bother with it when usually I can get physical retail for less than digital?

Steam/Valve I have some trust in and know that if something is pulled from sale, if you have you still have access to it. Sony... not so much.

EDIT: I can also be super frugal with physical media. Wait long enough and you can pick up anything AAA for a fraction of the price. Wait for sales and pick up new for $5-$10 at EB or JB.

SpartanVXL

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#3145366 11-Oct-2023 14:10

I tend to get whichever is the cheaper option for less hassle. At least in the context of gaming, this means Steam is usually good with regional pricing and has a two hour refund window. If it’s a AAA release with shoddy pricing, and I know I’m going to enjoy it, I will buy from another store online for a steam key (e.g. GMG). Almost no physical boxes for PC games nowadays.

Playstation is the reverse, the playstation store pricing is a big rip off and the sales aren’t much better unless it’s 80% off. Disc is often cheaper on release/pre-order from jb hifi etc. and can be resold like ercode has mentioned. I only have one digital ps5 game, horizon forbidden west which came with the console.

afe66

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#3145369 11-Oct-2023 14:22

SaltyNZ:
afe66:

But I do also have 400+ books on my kindle and some games on steam...

The right Google query regarding Calibre and Kindle will net interesting results.

I had a look at calibre a few yrs back out of curiosity and it looked quite good. Probably should do again for same reason if generally keeping track of interesting products.

Currently happy with kindle which I've been with for many many yrs since the keyboard with free 3g cane out in UK when i lived there. Other half and I share the account which probably confuses the recommendation algorithm.

If something serious happens and I leave the kindle world, I'll look into removing DRM or just pirate copies of all the books I've already bought.

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