VerdantTome@programming.dev 1 week ago
All of this just dilutes the real issue. Ask the majority of people who are complaining about a lack of physical media why they want physical media, and they’ll tell you that it’s so corporations can’t take it away from them after a year or two.
This can still happen with physical media. Physical media on consoles these days is already closer to a download key than a complete, ready-to-play game. At the same time, it’s been proven possible to run a profitable business with DRM-free downloads. I’d suggest that AAA publishers use DRM for 12-24 months, then switch to DRM-free, because they’re concerned about the critical initial sales period. This sort of thing has happened in the past on PC.
Physical media are no guarantee against corporations stealing their goods back after sale. Offline DRM or no DRM are.
“To ensure the best possible player experience, this game will not run until the latest updates have been installed… Downloading… Error: Resource not found. Please try again later.”
If that’s the issue, ideally that would be the fight; require digital purchases to be retained in some way.
But even though many modern devices don’t have disc drives, many people believe Sony should want to retain a complex piece of hardware on their PlayStation as a check on themselves.
I just don’t see Sony being its own watchdog. It’s an important fight, but I think gamers need to reorient about what they want, why the company should want it, and if not, how it should be legislated.
iamthetot@piefed.ca 1 week ago
The vast majority of games can be put into a console without internet connection, installed, and played in part or in whole. Nothing the publisher decides to do can change that without coming into my house and taking my disc.