Will this become the new vynil?
Physical disc production ending in Jan 2028 for new games on PlayStation
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Re: Physical disc production ending in Jan 2028 for new games on PlayStation
#792Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's amazing how many people throw around the word monopoly without remotely understanding what it means.
They were using the word correctly, "monopoly" doesn't only mean greatly dominant player in an open market. Current consoles are by definition vertical monopolies.
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Re: Physical disc production ending in Jan 2028 for new games on PlayStation
#793Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's amazing how many people throw around the word monopoly without remotely understanding what it means.
They were using the word correctly, "monopoly" doesn't only mean greatly dominant player in an open market. Current consoles are by definition vertical monopolies.
There is no legal, economic, or dictionary definition of monopoly that supports your position. The closest example is "aftermarket" (what you call vertical) following the 90's Kodak SC case, which has long since fizzled out. Monopoly might as well not mean anything if you can define it however narrowly you want.
Re: Physical disc production ending in Jan 2028 for new games on PlayStation
#794Earlier quoted context omitted.
They were using the word correctly, "monopoly" doesn't only mean greatly dominant player in an open market. Current consoles are by definition vertical monopolies.
I think we should encourage this framing of "monopoly" more. You can be a tiny company and still be a monopoly. If you're the only grocery store in a (walkable) town where many elderly people don't own a car, you're a monopoly. If you're the only company allowed to sell beer at a football game (that doesn't allow fans to bring liquids into the stadium), you're a monopoly. If you're a school cantine, and school rules…
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Re: Physical disc production ending in Jan 2028 for new games on PlayStation
#795Earlier quoted context omitted.
They were using the word correctly, "monopoly" doesn't only mean greatly dominant player in an open market. Current consoles are by definition vertical monopolies.
I think we should encourage this framing of "monopoly" more. You can be a tiny company and still be a monopoly. If you're the only grocery store in a (walkable) town where many elderly people don't own a car, you're a monopoly. If you're the only company allowed to sell beer at a football game (that doesn't allow fans to bring liquids into the stadium), you're a monopoly. If you're a school cantine, and school rules…
None of your examples pass any of the checks for a monopoly unless you twist the definition of "market" to be the narrowest possible. Situational exclusivity is not the same as a monopoly, and these examples don't pass the hypothetical monopolist test or the cellophane fallacy.
Re: Physical disc production ending in Jan 2028 for new games on PlayStation
#796Earlier quoted context omitted.
Prices on Steam are set arbitrarily. Getting things at "50-90% off" could just as well be described as sometimes getting them at normal price and otherwise getting them at 2-10 times normal price. It's not a used game market unless you can transfer it to other people an unlimited number of times without the original company getting a say.
I have no idea what world you're living in. No prices on Steam are anywhere near 2x the "normal" price, let alone 10x. Companies that set their prices to the typical MSRP are generally seen as largely out of touch (with Japanese companies being particularly renowned for this), let alone above MSRP.
50% off is equivalent to sometimes being normal and sometimes being 2x normal. Likewise, 90% off is equivalent to sometimes being normal and sometimes being 10 times normal.
If something costs $10 "normally" and is $1 with a "discount of 90%" you can just as easily say it costs $1 "normally" with the $10 being 10 times "normal". It's purely arbitrary which one you label as the normal price.
Re: Physical disc production ending in Jan 2028 for new games on PlayStation
#797Great buildup on Sony's side to gain trust in this move in the gaming community ahead of this announcement when just this week they again pulled hundreds of "purchased" movies from customer's libraries without refund, reminding everyone that digital content is rented, not owned. https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/06/sony-erases-digital-...
Sony also used to mock digital only approaches. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWSIFh8ICaA Now at a time when memory and storage prices are at an all time high - they pull a move that directly hurts the customer.
> Official PlayStation Used Game Instructional Video
this is how you don't share games on playstation :(
Re: Physical disc production ending in Jan 2028 for new games on PlayStation
#798Earlier quoted context omitted.
And don't forget closing the PS3 and Vita Playstation stores, which they announced at the same time: https://blog.playstation.com/2026/07/01/an-update-on-playsta... This is a weird marketing strategy. They must feel free to do as they please since they know consumers are trapped.
In the long run I think consoles might get replaced to "consolerized" PCs (they are already technically, but I guess we might see more advanced software environments like steam boxes). Neither Sony nor Microsoft had a consumer orientation and they will likely loose against the competition. Physical media was a method to have a "plug & play" game, although that changed in recent times. With that I don't think classic…
Many Switch / Switch 2 games can still be played offline with just the game card.
Re: Physical disc production ending in Jan 2028 for new games on PlayStation
#799Great buildup on Sony's side to gain trust in this move in the gaming community ahead of this announcement when just this week they again pulled hundreds of "purchased" movies from customer's libraries without refund, reminding everyone that digital content is rented, not owned. https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/06/sony-erases-digital-...
Digitally rented content is rented. My music via Bandcamp/iTunes, my games from their developers’ websites/itch.io/GOG, and my ebooks are owned (for the purposes of the “owned”/“rented” distinction people are making here). Not all physical things are owned, either. Wrong distinction. We can ask for better with respect to digital.
This is a very good point. DRM is not the same as digital.
There doesn't seem to be a lot of clarity though around reselling digital downloads the way there is with physical media (first sale doctrine, etc.)
Re: Physical disc production ending in Jan 2028 for new games on PlayStation
#800Earlier quoted context omitted.
I have no idea what world you're living in. No prices on Steam are anywhere near 2x the "normal" price, let alone 10x. Companies that set their prices to the typical MSRP are generally seen as largely out of touch (with Japanese companies being particularly renowned for this), let alone above MSRP.
50% off is equivalent to sometimes being normal and sometimes being 2x normal. Likewise, 90% off is equivalent to sometimes being normal and sometimes being 10 times normal. If something costs $10 "normally" and is $1 with a "discount of 90%" you can just as easily say it costs $1 "normally" with the $10 being 10 times "normal". It's purely arbitrary which one you label as the normal price.
I have no idea what argument you're trying to make, or if this is just some bizarre semantic thing. The normal price is the non-discounted price. In some domains like clothing where there is a perpetual 50% off a price that never is set that high, that's an exception - but one that has nothing to do with Steam.