• 1
• ShadowRJ
• Mon 20th Jul 2026

The physical disc topic hasn’t been slowing down yet, and doesn’t appear to be anytime soon. However I want to discuss a trend I’ve been noticing in comment sections. People who should be on the same side taking their anger out on each other, because what they’re fighting for is contradictory.

What I’m referring to are the people who are saying “bring back discs” and the people who are saying “improve digital rights”. Because although they seem to be mostly aligned (as they should) there are some contradictions that have resulted in backlash towards the wrong people.

A statement that I’ve been hearing repeatedly is the idea that “We’re fighting the wrong battle. Stop saying bring back discs, and start protesting for more digital ownership rights.” The problem with that approach is that it’s alienating people who genuinely want to keep their discs. Hardcore collectors like myself who don’t like digital games, end of.

And what this has resulted in is people bickering about “give up” “no we’re not giving up” and it’s not good for anyone. Personally, if feel we should be fighting for our physical discs AND improved digital ownership rights.

All I’m saying is that if you want to argue these cases, don’t try and say things like “the disc fight is already lost,” because that’s implying that ownership is the main motivator for physical buyers to be physical buyers, which isn’t necessarily the case.

Let’s keep our arguing with Sony, not with each other.

ShadowRJ

• 2
• Zuljaras
• Tue 21st Jul 2026

@ShadowRJ We can't have that because there are people who fight in the name of big corporations like Sony. Yes, I said fight and not support. I do not know what is inside such peoples minds to be honest. Maybe they are trolls that like to argue, I saw few of those in EVERY "discs" article here.

The opinions that are thrown around are wild:

• "I did not buy physical in 10 years, therefore I do not care"
• "Digital is the future, whether you like it or not"
• "You are in the loud minority, therefore your opinions does not matter"

Blind support for big corporations that just want to maximize their profits instead of improving the rights of the customers that they are nothing without.

And also the whole “We’re fighting the wrong battle. Stop saying bring back discs, and start protesting for more digital ownership rights.” is fallacy as the same people saying that are the ones that gobble up anything just for the sake of it and move on to the next one.

https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2022/05/random-doom-fan-has-a-novel-way-to-display-a-destroyed-switch-cartridge
https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2023/07/random-fan-transforms-their-nintendo-64-into-a-starcraft-battlefield
My Sculptures

• 3
• McSavage
• Tue 21st Jul 2026

I actually didn't realise until Sony announced the end of physical disks that the creation of all physical games went through them in their factories. It would be nice if there was a way for boutique game sellers to create their own disks but this may not be feasible for smaller companies.

Anyway, I agree with the above. There are several issues at play here and people are more passionate about some of them than others.

1. No more physical games (this is my biggest issue)
2. Sony having full control over pricing
3. Digital ownership
4. The potential for games to be removed from your library due to expired licences etc

I'm sure there are more issues that I just haven't thought of right now.

If you have a problem with any of the above, then we're on the same side really even if you are a person that purchases games digitally. This decision by Sony to end physical games has a lot more implications than simply no more disks.

McSavage

• 4
• Herculean
• Tue 21st Jul 2026

@ShadowRJ Kind of paradoxical thread to be honest. You want people to basically not argue you, but you try to achieve that by arguing them. I understand you believe you're opinion is the right one and can argue as much, but others believe their viewpoint might be the right one too. "Stop arguing and agree with me" has never worked on the internet and I don't expect that to start now.

In my opinion there is no fight here. We're here on these forums for the sake of enjoyment and exchanging ideas.

What we can do: buy physical media. In 2021 Sony was going to close the PS3 and Vita stores. People rushed to these stores and massively bought these games, resulting in a course correction on Sony's end. That's what you should encourage.

Herculean

• 5
• kyleforrester87
• Tue 21st Jul 2026

• 6
• GirlVersusGame
• Tue 21st Jul 2026

• 7
• Ravix
• Tue 21st Jul 2026

When it seems you're out of luck.
There's just one man who gives a f*************ck
⚔️🛡🐎

• 8
• ShadowRJ
• Tue 21st Jul 2026

@Ravix I think not joking about it is a smart idea. That's when people get emotional, sensetive, and lash out.

Looking back at The Last of Us Part Two backlash, a big reason as to why that went so badly is because there was no division between people who had problems with the game and biggots (at least that's what it felt like), and that caused a lot of anger from people who had genuine problems with it (like with every other game ever) and that made discussing the game miserable, even to this day.

ShadowRJ

• 9
• Neuromancer
• Tue 21st Jul 2026

"You will own nothing and be happy." - WEF

• 10
• Herculean
• Wed 22nd Jul 2026

I think what went most badly were the bigots. And I guess not enough people speaking out against them. I remember taking a step back from this site, because it effected my general mood. As a non-straight person with a close trans friend, I couldn't care less about whether it was fun or not discussing the game.

Herculean

• 11
• ShadowRJ
• Wed 22nd Jul 2026

@Herculean sorry to hear that, friend. People can be real jerks at times.

From my experience with discussing The Last of Us Part II, it appeared that there was this effort to dismiss any and all criticism of the game, even from critics who otherwise liked the game.

That caused SOME fans to start crying out stuff like “the only people who don’t think TLOU2 is perfect are bigots” which of course angered people who had genuine faults with the game, and that I believe was the main cause of people not arguing back on the bigots as much as they should’ve. Arguing against the bigots means agreeing with the zealots.

Thankfully I’ve never encountered any of the bigots, but I’ve encountered way too many zealots. The type of people who downvoted Reddit comments I made, because I dared make statements like “TLOU1 is a more consistent game than 2, but 2 has higher highs” or for making the outrageous claim that I thought Crash Team Racing was the second best Naughty Dog game, behind only Crash 2.

ShadowRJ

• 12
• Herculean
• Wed 22nd Jul 2026

@ShadowRJ I don't really like your use of the word "effort" in this context.

We live in a world in which a trans friend I have had to give up on her dream job, because she can't enter the US anymore - the country where The Last of Us Part II was made for crying out loud. Transgenders were banned from the army too. An actual effort is being made to remove them from public life altogether.

Something similar is happening in the UK. Some stupid millionaire using her money to fund anti-transgender organizations. In the last few years transgender laws in the UK have become more restrictive. And as a result getting the right care has become more difficult for these people. A clear effort is being made to prevent these people to live their life the way they want.

Those are agenda's that are being pushed. Those are efforts with intentions behind them to restrict and silence those people. You being told by someone online to not criticize a game is not an effort.

I'd also like to go back to the start of this whole thing. Because I think an effort was made to steer the discourse of The Last of Us Part II. But I think it happened a little different from what you portrayed.

The toxicity really didn't start with defenders of the game. the discourse was already toxic before the game released. Based on the leaks and trailers the game was already hard under attack for just featuring women, lesbians and transgenders. Discussion got so heated that both sides started polarizing leaving no room for normal discourse. It all started with sexists, not the other way around.

Herculean

• 13
• ShadowRJ
• Wed 22nd Jul 2026

@Herculean Fair enough, I'll accept that "effort" was a poor word choice.

And you're also probably right in regards with how it all started. I'm seeing all sorts of "woke propaganda" comments targeted towards Intergalactic, simply because it features a woman with short hair.

I think the toxicity of TLOU2's discussion largely rests on when you got into it, and from what angle. I got into it when the game was already released, and I saw some of my favourite YouTubers get criticised by people who could not comprehend a game getting any criticism (something every game gets).

You on the otherhand entered it via the vile, discusting discourse started by biggots. Put all of these different people in a room together, each with their own backgrounds, complaints, causes etc, and we were left with a hostile and toxic discussion.

ShadowRJ

• 14
• Herculean
• Wed 22nd Jul 2026

@ShadowRJ Thanks for the civil reply by the way. I doubted whether to reply at all, because anything TLOU can get toxic so fast and you seem like such a good person. My comment wasn't meant to berate you but I can see how you could have interpreted like that. So sorry if I worded that poorly.

Back to the topic at hand I'm trying to think of whether I should now start buying more games as physical discs or not. I like to make a stand by going full physical until it dies out. But all the same it feels like I'm only hurting myself, because it means I might not be able to play those games on the next system. It's a lose lose situation for us as consumers!

Herculean

• 15
• dodgykebaab
• Sat 25th Jul 2026

I think one of the key points people are not thinking about is cost of hardware.

Gaming is one of the last few sectors that even still use discs, so not only are disc manufacturing plants shuting down, so are drive manufacturing plants.

The cost of producing discs and drives is trending upwards and fewer manufactures selling either.

As we gear up for the next gen, committing to continue disc media is going to add ever increasing costs to the hardware. By the time we get to something like 2032 the cost of disc drives could be completely out of hand.

Couple this with the AI induced RAM issues, and cutting the disc drive for next gen to me looks like an easy choice to make.

Visit the greatest Gaming Youtube Channel ever made!
Search "Dodgykebaab" on YouTube.

• 16
• ShadowRJ
• Sat 25th Jul 2026

@dodgykebaab that I agree with. Though I’d counter that by saying that I see no reason as to why we can’t use an external disc drive if we wanted, such as the one Sony made for PS5.

ShadowRJ

• 17
• dodgykebaab
• Sat 25th Jul 2026

Visit the greatest Gaming Youtube Channel ever made!
Search "Dodgykebaab" on YouTube.

• 18
• ButteredCrumpet
• Sat 25th Jul 2026

On the 18th of July, you replied with this, replying to one of my comments on this site:

"Do I think Sony will change their terms and conditions? No, I don’t.

Have I been this vocal about ownership rights before this news? No. I had no reason too. I am a 99.9% physical gamer, who has never purchased a digital PS4 or PS5 game.

The reason I’m fighting hard for this, is because I like my physical games. I like my shelves of games, and I hate the entire concept of digital entertainment. It’s far less of a piece of art and more of a product. At least that’s how it is for me."

This really stuck with me, as you stated in your own words, you like physical games due to the way they look, feel and appear on a shelf. There's nothing wrong with that of course.

However, you also stated you've never focused on or fought for rights before, and this is where it shows. As your rights pertaining to a license on a disk, cartridge or a bit of paper are exactly the same as your rights with regards to a physical disc containing a license.

You stated you're a 99.9% physical gamer, okay, but then the same ownership rights, and same legal rights you're now claiming to want to fight for, applied to you when you weren't focusing on the rights.

People keep getting distracted by the medium at which they load a license from, that isn't what's at stake here, it's what you can do with said license and what you own that is at stake.

You being able to go into CEX with a PS5 disc and trade it in for cash, or let's say something else vaguely disguised as not stolen, that doesn't mean it's your legal right. That's a free market and capitalised benefit you take advantage of, not a legal right.

You in no way shape or form have a legal right to have access to second hand stores trading games for the rest of our lifetimes. You have a legal right to load up a file on a disc that allows you to access the material for as long as the Dev/Publisher/Platform Holder deems fit. They literally are legally allowed to stop your use of a Switch cartridge, disc, digital game tomorrow, and that's legally their right.

So, I agree with you, we do indeed need to resolve arguing over petty little things, and clearly people need to stop talking about rights, when they aren't legal rights at all. We all need to instead realise as gamers we are a collective, are one, and how we game doesn't matter anywhere near as much as the rights that allow us to hold on to our purchases long after a publisher cares little for them.

Before people start discussing their rights at all, they need to learn what they are. It's the same nonsense I tire of reading when British people here spout "well it's just freedom of speech". Yes, which relates to an American constitution, we in the UK have a separate constitution, needless to say few have read it, and it does not at all have the same bill of rights as the American one.

I want us all to be happy gamers for all our lives, but we are all going to have to realise that there's a big difference between liking or preferring something to be the case, because it has been the case, and what is legally our rights as consumers of video games.

Like me, I am buying lots of Switch 1 and 2 games right now on cartridge because I want to collect them physically because I can then trade them with my partner, child and others easier than this digital sharing idea Nintendo have. However, that's not my legal right, as in there literally isn't a law that allows me to trade the game. I am allowed to trade the cartridge, but the literal game I am allowed to trade, as they've never clamped down on it, but I'm not protected by certain laws as such.

It's just the moment this becomes about emotions, and wants and expectations and "well that's the way it's always been", that is when the fight for this is lost. Because one day second hand trading will be even smaller than it is now, one day platform holders will clamp down on it way more than they do, and one day people will be saying it's against their rights, not realising they never had the right to begin with.

So I fully support you, I really do, and as you know I share a passion for physical media in all forms for all manner of media consumption, but I don't share your belief that things will change on this site or any other. I hope I'm wrong, but as when Valve helped take away physical from PC, the PS4 launched to rave sales and didn't have backwards compatibility ... time and time again I am shown people (as in the majority), just don't care enough to learn both legal rights and to fight for them being bettered for all.

ButteredCrumpet

• 19
• WaveBoy
• Sat 25th Jul 2026

WaveBoy

• 20
• Exerion76
• Sun 26th Jul 2026

I agree. With modern physical releases, you are lucky if you even get reversal artwork. Not exactly exciting to collect anymore. It just boring clutter.

I have a lot of digital games, bought on PS3, 360, PSP, Vita etc, that I will never play again.
Some PS3 games, I haven't downloaded and played since 2009. I haven't lost one single game, during the last 20 years, as even the ones, that are gone from the store, due to license issues, I can still download. But IF my PS3 collection is deleted by Sony, I doubt I would even care by now. I can always download roms/iso rips, and play them on a jailbroken console or through emulation, if I ever want to play any of them again. I already got my money's worth, when I played them.

I'm 50 now, and 20 years from now (if I'm still alive) I doubt I will return to the PS5 games, just as with my PS3 collection.

We only live once, so why fight and bicker about videogames, and physical vs digital.
It's such a silly first world problem, compared to the REAL issues happening around the world.

Exerion76