I don't disagree (or at least there should be a disc drive-included version and the ability to connect any USB Blu-Ray drive,) but obviously GameStop has a motive here.

And I think disc based games should have a legal requirement to have a playable version of the game on disc.

Or at the very least, add a way to sideload DRM-free games. That's why I love my PS3, WiiU and even my Switch to an extent.

I can see them forced to have some form of resellable media Ala switch maybe. But disc's as others have stated I think are on the way out. Esp bc they're so easily scratched and everything else....like good for a time but should've had something else come in once cartridges caught back up in price. They were always quicker by a long shot....it's just that memory prices weren't there in the 90s or until now even really. If I don't like or don't want a game I want some way to sell it off and can't do that digitally bc they won't equate it to the same thing as selling a used copy XD

I thought GameStop was going all in on NFTs and bragging about how it was going to revolutionize the gaming space because you could be more "invested" in the things because you really "own" (hahahaha, fucking as if) your own copy.

Oh, wait, *checks notes

They totally are winding that down and going "whoopsie doodles!"

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2023/08/gamestop-citing-regulatory-uncertainty-winds-down-its-crypto-and-nft-wallet/

Ryan Cohen making a quick spin because he's a fucking idiot, and the only thing he has to sell is an "idea" of a company that respects its consumers. GameStop ain't it Superstonkers. This guy literally went from "You'll be buying all your games as NFTs at GameStop" to "Errm, yeah, we need physical drives, you know for the gamers, not so we can continue ripping people off with used games." What a fucking joke. He didn't care about physical media six months ago because he was all-in on NFTs.

GameStop gonna get Toys 'R' Us'd hard. If this is the best Cohen's got right now, they've got nothing.

They should keep putting whip holders in cars.

Honestly, I am all good with getting rid of the drives.

I hardly ever touch CDs these days. I keep a spare USB reader, for making a backup copy of a music CD or movie DVD/Blueray, which I use, maybe twice a year.

I have boxes of DVDs and Blu-ray in the garage, and I don't ever use them. Matter of fact, if I wanted to use them, I'd have to go find a blueray player to actually play them with.

I do all of my gaming on PC, and I don't think I have physically purchased a game in over a decade. Steam/GoG are both quite nice.

Obviously, GameStop has a vested interest in discs sticking around, but it feels like that ship has sailed. Can't remember the last time I bought a physical game and it wouldn't surprise me if the next generation of consoles do away with disc drives altogether. Not really sure how to feel about that. Kind of sad having grown up using discs, but at the same time, it just feels inevitable that consoles are going to move to digital-only distribution.

I have an XBox One S (and a PC) - really hits home when in Game Stop with my kids and they were looking around (mainly for figures and such), and i'm like "there's nothing for me here". Of course I haven't bought a physical PC title in over 10 years now that I think of it. I feel for the shop owners, they haven nothing for me to buy and I used to like going to shop around. Come to think of it I used to go to book stores quite often too, but not since i got my first kindle.

I did recently re-buy an Xbox 360 and it is kind of nice to browse second hand shops and such and just pickup a game that I can just play without internet etc.

Yeah keep that mindset and follow Blockbuster's fate.

Look, I love having a blu ray player embedded into my console. But the fact of the matter is, a lot of these consoles have decently high end blu ray players in, and they are expensive. Consider the fact that low end consoles such as Xbox Series S are probably losing money for every sale. Asking them to tack on another feature means they either increase the price of the console or lose even more money on every console sale.

You should have the option to select a digital or a disc version of a console. Maybe even be able to pay extra to upgrade the blu ray player inside your console to a higher quality or more capable one for those who want them.

I kept hoping that Sony would do a last hurrah with discs and make a console that plays them all. But with discs being pretty much antiquated at this point, I don't think it's going to happen.