Freedom Gate Co.
Banned
While many people want to cling to physical, as do I, it seems like this upcoming generation may be the last time we see physical. There's no new format on the horizon at all and with digital becoming more accessible on weaker connections due to the 5G. Because of this it would be cheaper to go digital than buy a box and then buy boxed software for that box.
It's clear that there's no opponent successor to BR discs in sight, and video off SD is no where near the same quality, so Digital will end up being the king. It sucks but we have to look at the big picture.
Games are getting bigger and bigger, and even for games that aren't open-world, effects, assets, resolution, all of them are growing, and the physical format we have now is staying the same. So at SOME POINT we are going to see the return of multidisc games because a single physical disc will not be able to hold all that data anymore.
This also becomes obvious when you realize that HDD and SDD drives are becoming cheaper and cheaper. So with 2TB or higher storage capacities with high write speeds, not only do you have plenty of room for digital unlike before, but you will get improved resolution and framerate for SDD drives since the write speeds are better so it's wouldn't cause long loading screens for uncompressed visuals and frame-rate.
There's also an increasing focus by many companies to mirror your gaming on phones and other portable electronics, which if it becomes the norm will also be a big hit against physical.
To be frank, Sony and Microsoft are already investing in a digital future, they are just adding drives to the new consoles to avoid backlash from the current physical market, but as the lower income countries receive 5G, and physical becomes more costly overall the physical market will die quickly.
Some say it may take 2 more generations, but we are already seeing limits in space with VR discs, with games taking up to 85% of their capacities and, as I said before, we are looking at the possibility of multidisc games. In some countries like the UK we are seeing 50% digital in the market or more for some games.
With no other physical alternative I believe that we'll see a massive decline in physical 3 years into the next generation, and the complete phasing out of it by the end, with the Xbox three and the PS6 removing drives all together and focusing on multiscreen gaming. The box will still be there but for Digital only.
Sadly no one is currently working on a next generation physical movie/gaming format so there's nothing that can be done imo.
It's clear that there's no opponent successor to BR discs in sight, and video off SD is no where near the same quality, so Digital will end up being the king. It sucks but we have to look at the big picture.
Games are getting bigger and bigger, and even for games that aren't open-world, effects, assets, resolution, all of them are growing, and the physical format we have now is staying the same. So at SOME POINT we are going to see the return of multidisc games because a single physical disc will not be able to hold all that data anymore.
This also becomes obvious when you realize that HDD and SDD drives are becoming cheaper and cheaper. So with 2TB or higher storage capacities with high write speeds, not only do you have plenty of room for digital unlike before, but you will get improved resolution and framerate for SDD drives since the write speeds are better so it's wouldn't cause long loading screens for uncompressed visuals and frame-rate.
There's also an increasing focus by many companies to mirror your gaming on phones and other portable electronics, which if it becomes the norm will also be a big hit against physical.
To be frank, Sony and Microsoft are already investing in a digital future, they are just adding drives to the new consoles to avoid backlash from the current physical market, but as the lower income countries receive 5G, and physical becomes more costly overall the physical market will die quickly.
Some say it may take 2 more generations, but we are already seeing limits in space with VR discs, with games taking up to 85% of their capacities and, as I said before, we are looking at the possibility of multidisc games. In some countries like the UK we are seeing 50% digital in the market or more for some games.
With no other physical alternative I believe that we'll see a massive decline in physical 3 years into the next generation, and the complete phasing out of it by the end, with the Xbox three and the PS6 removing drives all together and focusing on multiscreen gaming. The box will still be there but for Digital only.
Sadly no one is currently working on a next generation physical movie/gaming format so there's nothing that can be done imo.
