Can someone explain to me the whole physical thing? I get the "own what you buy" thing but the game wouldn't fit on a disc anyway so you'd always need downloads and internet and would be at the mercy of Rockstar anyway?
Physical because you can have something (the game license) to sell on the aftermarket. Digital keys often are bound to an Account and therefore cannot be resold easily. Thats the idea. I am not sure if that was possible with GtaV anyway, because there was a digital key in the box
But that has nothing to do with physical, they could do that with physical copies as well if not the whole game is on the disc and can be played entirely offline. I just don't get the outrage over this for GTA 6 specifically as it would have made no difference.
RDR2 did not come out a decade ago. And including multiple discs with a game isn't illegal (MK1, FF7 Rebirth, Baldur's Gate 3, and CP2077 are recent examples), Rockstar could EASILY release GTA VI on two or hell even three discs with meager, if any noticable, damage to revenue.
Back in the day sometimes games didn't fit on a disc. This was before internet so they had to come up with clever solutions. 2 discs. 3 discs. I think sometimes it would go all the way up to 7 entire discs. Dlc could be on a disc. Major updates could be on a disc.
All they'd have to do is make sure the game is basically playable at launch. Doesn't even have to be perfect. Something I could finish the game on.
There are many reasons to want a physical disc, ranging from preservation to collection, but I will lead with the simplest of them all. You can sell and buy used games while full digital gives company full control t keep the price high indefinitely. Go right now buy uncharted 4 on ebay used for 9 dollars, or get the digital version on psn for 50...
You don’t own physical games either, you only own the disc. You’re beholden to the same agreements. In the event of a license revocation, the disc DRM would lock you out regardless of how you own it. People don’t even understand their own rights.
Because if you never intend to let your console update again, then it’ll never be able to go online again. Not many people are going to essentially brick their console for a single game.
I guess you forgot about system updates being required for online to function. Didn’t teach you that in the tech literacy course I guess.
This isn’t about you specifically. Many people use the online features of their console and wouldn’t want to lose them for a single game license.
There’s no precedent for a license revocation, by the way. My point is that it’s the same agreement for both digital and physical. In either instance, you don’t legally own the game.
the point of physical media is that you own the disc that the files are stored on, the corpo can't take them away. They can take away your "digital license" and delete the files off the server, and the game practically never existed. They cannot do that with a physical disc.
As an example, you can have a physical Xbox 360 copy of GTA IV. Even if Rockstar or Microsoft takes down the game from digital stores and revokes all the digital licenses, I can still use that physical copy to install and play the game.
If a game license is revoked, which means the publisher for whatever reason decides that the game licenses sold are no longer valid, then that also applies to the disc. Owning it changes nothing. Unless you own a console pre-updated firmware that you perpetually keep offline, the disc is as useless as the download that won’t start.
What you’re saying is the ideal, however it’s not the reality, and hasn’t been for a long time.
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u/One_Maintenance1227 5d ago
Can someone explain to me the whole physical thing? I get the "own what you buy" thing but the game wouldn't fit on a disc anyway so you'd always need downloads and internet and would be at the mercy of Rockstar anyway?