Does it matter that physical video games are dying?

Cliff Notes – Does it matter that physical video games are dying?

• The value of physical games is increasingly tied to their rarity and collectability rather than gameplay quality, as many collectors seek keepsakes rather than playable content.
• The relevance of physical copies diminished with the advent of patches and updates, making the disc content often outdated upon release, leading to a shift in consumer focus towards alternative collectibles.
• The competitive landscape for franchises like Call of Duty may not change significantly in the near future, as development cycles have become rushed, potentially stifling innovation and quality in the gaming industry.

Games Inbox: Does it matter that physical video games are dying?

Do you care about physical games? (Amazon)

The Tuesday letters page asks how quickly Call Of Duty can change, as one reader asks for help speccing out his custom gaming PC.

Old argument
Reading about the super rare Xbox game going for £1,000 the only thing I can think of is… it’s not even a very good game. I doubt anyone that’s thinking of paying that much for it is doing it because they love the game but just because they enjoy collecting rare things. Which is fine, it’s not hurting anyone, but I don’t think that’s a very normal motivation for most people.

I get that people don’t want physical copies to go away, and everyone likes collecting something, but the relevance of physical copies went away the second that patches came to consoles. So… somewhere around 2000?

After that, what’s on the disc became irrelevant, because it’s never the final game. In some cases there never is a final game. So really all you’re collecting is a keepsake. Personally, I’d just collect posters or action figures or something of the games, at least they’re more fun to have in your room. But all this complaining about Switch Game-Key Cards… the argument was lost two decades ago, for better or worse.
Cranston

Time delay
As much as I’d like to see Call Of Duty get some serious competition, I really can’t see Battlefield 6 outselling Black Ops 7 straight off the bat. We’ll see I guess, but I think the problem is that by the time Activision get round to acknowledging the coemption, which will probably take a while because they’re so comfortable, how quickly can changes be made?

Call Of Duty games used to take three years to make but I don’t think there is any set limit now and that’s why everything’s got out of order – it’s just a rush to get whatever they can out of the door. That’s the sort of attitude that Battlefield 6’s success might help to prevent but that still means we’re talking 2028 at the most before there’s any shift in attitude.

Expert, exclusive gaming analysis

Will there ever be a year where there isn’t a new Call Of Duty, because Activision thought it needed more time in the oven? I doubt it, they’ll just puff up some DLC instead, like they did with Modern Warfare 3.
Focus

The flame that burns twice as bright burns half as long
RE: Big Boy Bent. I didn’t realise the Dreamcast had such a short lifespan either. I remember selling my console to a friend, then a fortnight later he said to me that Sega had stopped making games for it, which I was genuinely unaware of but at least I’d only charged him £50 for it.

It’s a shame, as it was a great console with some terrific games. I remember being blown away by the fabulous graphics of the arcade port of the boat racing game Hydro Thunder, but if I had one niggle with the Dreamcast it was the control pads, they were especially poor for beat ‘em-ups.
Adams6Legend

Accurately named
Will you get the chance to review Earthion? It looks amazing, Ancient made some of the best Mega Drive games and this looks like it’s following that tradition. Considering how much you liked Gradius Origins I hope this is right up your street.

Thanks again for everything, you’re always a great read.
Beastiebat (PSN ID)
Currently playing: Nothing, haven’t really got the time, just working through Parks and Rec for the first time with the 20 minutes I can find at the very end if the day… bloomin’ school holidays. Tell a lie, I played Game Boy Tetris on my Switch for eight minutes yesterday.

GC: Good heavens, how have Ancient been going so long? We may have missed our chance with this but at the very least we’ll include it in our end of year catch-up.

La Leyenda de Zelda
Speaking from the gorgeous island of Tenerife. It’s been a few days of sunshine, water park mayhem, and unfortunate sunburn. But when in Spain the sun always shines. Speaking of shining, I mentioned beforehand I’d be buying Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom for Switch 2, as soon as I could. GAME just so happened to spawn at the nearest shopping mall. It’s truly unique to have brought a Spanish copy of the game that will actually work in the UK, due to Nintendo being region free.

£60 for the title, but you get what you pay for. The privilege of paying top dollar to Nintendo. But at the end of the day, how many consumers can say they own a Spanish region copy, especially in the UK? That’s something quite rare actually.
Shahzaib Sadiq

GC: We hope you don’t already own the Switch 1 version, because the Switch 2 upgrade is only £7.99.

Simple desires
I’m going to be so upset when EA finally shut down BioWare. Let’s face it, we all know it’s coming and I’m amazed they’ve lasted this long to be honest. For EA they’ve been very patient with them and I’m already surprised they didn’t get shut down after Anthem. Maybe EA felt guilty for pushing them into making a live service game.

What I’m hoping is that Mass Effect is easier to make into game that non-fans will make, since the originals were pretty good third person shooters, amongst other things. I’m still not really clear why Dragon Age: The Veilguard was such a flop. The trailers were bad but I can’t imagine they were the only reason people stayed away, because the combat was the best thing about the game. Which I guess undermines my point about Mass Effect.

Maybe people are just getting tired of action role-players that aren’t Soulslikes. I don’t really understand that either, as you’d think people would appreciate the alternative an a game that wasn’t ultra hard, but here we are.

I wouldn’t mind if Mass Effect had a bit of a Soulslike about it, but I don’t think anyone has really made that concept work with a sci-fi game based on ranged combat before. Perhaps this could be the first but for me, personally I just want it to be like the old Mass Effects but with better graphics. Does that make me shallow?
Gifford

Semi-portable
Regarding the Nintendo Switch 2. Despite being a long on the making, Nintendo did not even consider at all the ergonomics of the device. This is baffling.

It is so uncomfortable to hold. I would have preferred a much smaller handheld to be fair, as well.
Sheel

Don’t ask us
I am planning to get a custom gaming PC from PC Specialist and I was wondering if other GameCentral readers could advise me on what parts to buy? As this is a lot of info to take in and I need advice for someone new (me) to buying my custom build. I would like a PC tower with 2TB SSD hard drive (a fast one, within my price range), at least 32GB RAM (fast as I can afford), i7 CPU, graphics card obviously.

My budget is £2,000. I will pay for the delivery and warranty separately to that. I have a £15 off voucher from Edge magazine for PC Specialist.

I want to target 1080p at 60fps, as that is what Simundo in the Inbox said he would do with his gaming PC when he buys it.

I have a 1080p Phillips PC monitor and a 4K LG 60 inch TV. I will run the computer on one screen at a time.

My friend is going to put my mechanical 8TB hard drive bought in July 2023 in the new PC and the Blu-ray writer both from my old PC.

I don’t want a fancy case, just one that does the job and does not fall apart, like the one I bought in 2004 from a different PC vendor. Do I need to buy bays for the 8TB hard drive and Blu-ray writer when I buy a
tower from PC Specialist?

I have to get a new PC by October 2025, as my current PC will not upgrade to Windows 11.

I do use the PC for gaming but I also use it for using office programs, printing, email, web surfing, any other task I need it for.

Could a GameCentral reader or unboxer advise me please? Thank you in advance.
Andrew J.

Inbox also-rans
I fully endorse the idea of a Lego Batman v Superman, they’ll have great fun mocking how terrible it is, I think.
Xris

Another great Switch 2 game deal from Very.
Mark Matthews

Games are getting so expensive nowadays (Mark Matthews)

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