Well, if i have the entire game on the physical device and it doesn’t come with arbitrary DRM stuff, i can still enjoy it in 20 years on the old console even if all the servers are shut down.
I recently saw that used Gameboy Advance SPs go for the same price like when they were new. Old Gameboy games also go for similar prices like when they were launched. Because no matter where or when. As long as the console and the cartridge themselves are working and there is electricity, the games can be enjoyed.
That is a gigantic difference from a consumer perspective, no matter what the physical production costs are.
nthavoc@lemmy.today 1 week ago
BACK IN MY DAY! The original Nintendo games cost just about 70 to 80 adjusted to today’s inflation. But at least you got a cool instruction booklet you could read on the car ride home, the full bug-free game (most bugs were fun if you found some anyway), and you actually owned the game with no strings attached. You could actually trade the games with your friends. If they started packing goodies with the games like that again on top of owning the game outright without some kind of shady DRM or license agreement, then yes, 80 dollars could probably be justified. That’s where I was going with physical copies.