Just imagine the excitement! $1000+ console potentially! Digital only! Back compat for your discs? F* you. Slow release schedule? Sure! Ultra extended cross-gen period? Why not! What a great proposition. I bet it has AI features!
Announcing that you’re no longer producing physical games at the same time as announcing that you’re shutting down a digital storefront is quite the choice
Let's say the PS6 is a digital only console (pretty much guaranteed now) and 20yrs after it's release you wanna get a game for the PS6 but they've shut down the store just like they did for the PS3/Vita. What are you going to do?
You can't go to a gamestop, a pawn shop, a flea market, ebay or whatever. This is planned obsolescence in its' final form. PlayStation now has 100% control over how you buy and play a game.
Your boy wanna sell you a game for cheap? Can't do that, gotta buy full price on PSN. Wanna give your boy a game to check out? too bad, he's gotta buy it for $70 on PSN.
This is terrible for videogame preservation and consumer rights
This year really feels like the end for traditional gaming. Consoles less affordable, layoffs galore and now physical media on PlayStation is dead. Really hard to feel any excitement for any new consoles given this - I'm sure plenty of you don't care, but it matters a lot to me.
Absolutely dystopian day for gamers everywhere. Yes, even you who doesn't care about physical games and has a fully digital library.
All this does is funnel everyone into digital storefronts where PlayStation and co. control the pricing operation. You will lose additional options and pay more for games. Look at any nearby storefront's pricing versus what you'd pay for with that very same game on PSN.
This is not about upcoming handhelds or even that digital purchases outweighing physical. It is about maximizing the dollar spent everywhere and cutting out the middle man. Pulling the trigger when PSN isn't even feature complete with things like back compat, gifting games, has major security exploits, etc. is certifiably insane.
All the SGA slander has become corny. He finished fourth in free throw attempts per game on a team that was 17th. He's as close to a throwback player as you get: a (mostly) inside the three-point line scorer who can beat you a bunch of ways. He gets calls, yes. Gets fouled, too.