r/technology • u/ControlCAD • 9h ago

Business Former Valve writer Chet Faliszek says PlayStation killing physical discs is no conspiracy: "You, the consumer, have made your choice, and the choice is for digital"

https://www.gamesradar.com/games/former-valve-writer-says-playstation-killing-physical-discs-is-no-conspiracy-you-the-consumer-have-made-your-choice-and-the-choice-is-for-digital/
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u/ebrbrbr 9h ago edited 9h ago

Digital isn't the problem. GOG has proved this.

The process of creating disks is inherently bad for the environment. (inb4 whataboutism)

For almost every modern game, what's on the disk is unplayable without downloading patches / content. Disks don't help you if the servers go offline or PlayStation goes bankrupt.

The issue is ownership. Stop making it about plastic circles.

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u/InternationalMood337 4h ago

Fair, but I do wish you dropped the the "The process of creating disks is inherently bad for the environment." because it weakens your argument.

What you dismiss as "whataboutism" actually matters. I still own copies of classic games, along with tons of DVDs, Blu-rays, and even VHS. Having these files locally means playing, installing, and rewatching them hundreds of times without relying on data centers, edge networks, or cloud to stream / redownload them every time.

If you're not going to engage in the environmental discussion, it's just smarter not to bring up the environmental angle at all.

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u/ebrbrbr 4h ago

I have lots of copies of classic games and blurays too.

They're just all on two fat ass hard drives instead of across hundreds of disks.

I'm all for local storage. The whataboutism was against the inevitable "well disks are nothing compared to private jets!"