I'm embracing physical media again, slightly.

[entremet]

I'm still mostly a digital person, especially for video games, even with all the PSN rumors. Games just make perfect sense digitally, especially today in the days of crap packaging, no manuals, multiple patches and so on. I also hate switching discs and carts. I love a digital jukebox for my gaming.

I'm not a Luddite either. I love new technologies. And love Letterbox, a digital platform, for movie discovery, for example.

However, I've resubbed to some of my favorite magazines, luckily many are still going strong. Getting them in the mail is nice surprise, something I remember from my childhood with gaming mags.

I've also been buying more physical books again. During the height of the pandemic, a few of my favorite independent shops almost went out of business. They both created crowdfunding campaigns to save their businesses and luckily they exceeded their funding and look to be doing well again. One of the is pretty niche and the owner actually mans the cashier and provides great recs.

But mostly, I miss the serendipity of going to stores and finding things on a lark, getting recs from real people, not algorithms and getting lost in bookstores and record shops. Plus we have huge archives of media that will never see streaming services either. I also miss the cult hit in the movie world. Those are just harder to find these days. You're either a mega blockbuster or an Oscar worthy classic. As much as I love the MCU, it really has changed cinema.

Again, most of media of media collections are still around 80 percent digital and I'm not giving up the convenience. It doesn't have to be either/or.

However, it is nice getting away from screens and algorithms.

What about you?

 

[shaneo632]

I just find myself becoming increasingly averse to clutter. I don't want more Stuff beyond what I really "need." I don't really have any sort of nostalgia for tangible things; if most media could be digital I would be cool with that.

Video games are the only thing I really use physically because I can rent/sell them on and so few games are actually worth £50 to me as someone who cuts through the critical path usually.

 

[gdt]

I still stick with physical books. Besides that's, it's super rare for me to get a physical game..

 

[entremet]

I just find myself becoming increasingly averse to clutter. I don't want more Stuff beyond what I really "need." I don't really have any sort of nostalgia for tangible things; if most media could be digital I would be cool with that.

Video games are the only thing I really use physically because I can rent/sell them on and so few games are actually worth £50 to me as someone who cuts through the critical path usually.

Click to shrink...

My physical media collections are still very small. And I purge stuff all the time. I also live in an apartment, so I do have edit my collections a lot.

 

[shaneo632]

My physical media collections are still very small. And I purge stuff all the time. I also live in an apartment, so I do have edit my collections a lot.

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Ironically for me I recently moved into a 3-bedroom house so I have a ton of room and yet I'm still increasingly trying to minimise the things I have on shelves etc. I so rarely revisit things I've already watched/played that there's little interest in keeping most of them around.

 

[BasilZero]

Still going more digital but will get physical only if it's cheaper

Cutting away from cluttering

 

[astro]

Physical consoles games are still the best deal by far.

Sell them all when you're done, rebuy the ones you want to keep digitally later in a sale.

Books and comics will always be better physical, imo.

Pretty much everything else is digital for me.

 

[entremet]

Physical consoles games are still the best deal by far.

Sell them all when you're done, rebuy the ones you want to keep digitally later in a sale.

Books and comics will always be better physical, imo.

Pretty much everything else is digital for me.

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I could never get into selling games. I've done a few times and it was always regret lol. So sticking to digital games was not a big leap since I never sell back anyway.

 

[astro]

I could never get into selling games. I've done a few times and it was always regret lol. So sticking to digital games was not a big leap since I never sell back anyway.

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There is no regret, though. That's the point. You sell all physical "when you are done" (if you are never done, you never sell), and you rebuy digitally in a sale those you feel you need to always own after actually testing that you indeed can't live without them.

Just like anyone I bet you have many games you finished once and left alone. This would weed those out and save you money. Digital content bloat is also a thing.

 

[MonadL]

I still have physical comics, books, and movies just because I collect relatively few of them. Outside of Switch games though I'm all digital and can't see myself ever going back.

 

[JJH]

I'm majority digital except for some console media. After the latest PSN bs and the BC issues last generation I would never go digital on consoles unless it's Game Pass or PS+.

 

[J_Viper]

I have a fair collection of films that I am now regretting as I plan my next move. Even though 4K streaming has gotten to a very strong point, a UHD disc still provides the best viewing experience.

I'm cool with going digital on games though, especially since most physical releases are so bare bones anyway.

 

[kamineko]

I buy artbooks physical.
That's it, really

 

[Alligatorjandro]

I will always prefer physical games.

 

[Fliesen]

I just find myself becoming increasingly averse to clutter. I don't want more Stuff beyond what I really "need." I don't really have any sort of nostalgia for tangible things; if most media could be digital I would be cool with that.

Click to shrink...

This.

 

[ParanormalFupa]

I tried that years ago and the magazines full of stuff I already read online just stacked up wastefully.

 

[TaterTots]

I've never stopped buying physical books. Video games, movies, etc. can stay digital for me. Though, I am interested in vinyl now.

 

[Deleted member 46493]

Only physical thing I purchase is books - my dream is a giant room with full bookshelves.

Gaming? I got the digital PS5, so kind of stuck... but I barely buy games anyway so it's fine. For Switch, I've been thinking of buying Nintendo games physically and selling them when I am done, so their cost comes out to like $20 or less after the sale.

Movies I went full digital as a teen who pirated all of the Criterion films. I have horrible quality standards for visual and audio quality so 4K Blu-ray is lost on me.

 

[EnlightenedMint]

I used to be a physical book person, but the clutter became too much.

I do still buy physical occasionally if the books aren't on kindle though.

 

[CamberGreber]

The Best looking Netflix 4k film looks worse than the worst looking bluray.

People have forgotten how much sharper looking blurays are.

 

[Dogstar]

I like printed media, such as books and magazines, and buy way too many, although lockdown has curtailed some of that. For reading it's nice to get away from a screen, which I don't want to be glued too all the time. I'm becoming less inclined to buy blu rays as the boxes look awful, and I've come to realise I don't re-watch that many, so it's a lot of space taken up for little reason... they often end up dumped in the garage. Games I still buy physical, as our internet is poor (not that it always helps, with mega day one patches) and there is the trade in potential... also buy used very often.

Music, I like vinyl and CD's for the most part, but I do buy MP3's or stream sometimes. If it's something special then vinyl is the only way for me.

 

[Nameless]

Mostly just books and 4K/HD/Criterion Blu-rays that mean a lot to me.

I did just order the complete Sliders DVD Boxset because digital storefronts want $80-100 for the entire series in SD.

 

[52club]

I thought this tweet was interesting when it comes to what people are willing to sacrifice for the convenience:

 

[Ryuelli]

I've started dropping physical media for games recently but have been buying more and more physical UHD movies.

 

[Ravensmash]

I've been buying more and more physical books.

I like my Kindle, but a physical book feels like a unique item and there's a novelty in that.

Likewise, I've been getting a print version of a magazine because I find it far more relaxing to read long texts on paper than via a website.

Games, when I do buy a new one, is dependent on price. New release will usually be physical though - too expensive through the PSN store.

 

[Serule]

Books and comics will always be better physical, imo.

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I definitely prefer physical books, but comics? I think trade paperbacks are are good but I picked up some individual issues recently (some of the DC New Future stuff) and was surprised at the poor quality of paper & printing.

 

[astro]

I definitely prefer physical books, but comics? I think trade paperbacks are are good but I picked up some individual issues recently (some of the DC New Future stuff) and was surprised at the poor quality of paper & printing.

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Not all comics are printed poorly, and there are decades of comics here not just current releases.

 

[Min]

Honestly, physical bookstores have LCD best sellers on shelves. I can never find anything good unless it's a renowned used bookstore or a specialty store.

The same could be said for movies, games, and music. The truly weird stuff isn't going to be in physical stores.

Algorithmic recommendations have really expanded the things I've experienced.

 

[shoptroll]

I did a purge a year ago of a number of DVDs and CDs and don't really regret it. The only things I kept are things I have a deep fondness for or would be harder to re-buy. Don't really regret it.

Video games are another matter entirely though, and that's largely a limitation of the medium and the industry that's been built around it.

I still stick with physical books. Besides that's, it's super rare for me to get a physical game..

Click to shrink...

I like physical books too, but I've recently started tapping into using the local library a lot more instead of buying a personal copy for things that are more of a "one and done" experience.

 

[Jedi2016]

For me, it's about the quality. Compression for streaming is shit, so I still buy movies and music on disc, and while I do rip the music, I do it myself with a lossless codec, far and away better than the MP3s they still push on you from digital storefronts. This is for stuff I want to keep long-term. If it's TV series or something I'll only watch once, I have no problems sticking to watching it online.

Video games are bit-for-bit the same and play exactly the same whether it's physical or digital. So it comes down to efficiency and ease of use. Digital is the way to go.

Books... Technically it's the same in digital form. I do insist on reading digital books on an e-ink Kindle and not an LCD screen like a phone or tablet. Again, ease of use leans toward the Kindle, but I do still have quite a collection of physical books and won't be getting rid of them any time soon, and I will still buy physical books now and then, especially hardcovers depending on the book. I just finished reading through Lord of the Rings in paperback and The Silmarillion in hardback, and right now I'm reading a hardback copy of Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. But then, since I don't have copies of them already, I was probably going to pick up digital copies of Red Dragon and Silence of the Lambs. (I'm also wrapping up watching Hannibal on Netflix, hence the interest in the books).

 

[Deleted member 10795]

I'm digital for everything outside of books. I just prefer reading a physical page.

I think games are bottom of the pile when it comes to any urge to return to physical. I could make a justifiable case to return to physical music and film, as well as books, but I have no desire to return to physical games.

 

[Ernest]

I soured on music streaming - mostly due to lack of quality audio, but also due to missing content, and streaming a poor master of an album when a superior one exists. So I've gone back to vinyl in my home and CDs in my car.

 

[dunkzilla]

Magazines and comics are nice physical. But I don't have the space so I'm digital for everything bar vinyl.

 

[SaltedPork]

I'm have physical media for my favourite games (PS4/5/Switch) and 4K Blurays. I go physical on books as well, since I dont have a tablet. I purge fairly often, but my 'collection' is barely more than 30 bluray boxes in size so its not a massive pain.

 

[TOM 2]

I still get physical Switch games. About half of my Switch collection is physical.

I have gotten rid of my CDs, though. Streaming beats it out of the water, IMO. Access to literally thousands of albums for $10/mo, that's a no-brainer.

DVDs/Blu-rays as well. I've been getting more and more digital copies, especially if said copies include the bonus content that's normally on-disc.

 

[Tbm24]

I continue to buy physical books and likely won't ever stop. Between me and my wife we have 2 full book cases at this point. Idk, I enjoy having it/knowing we've collectively read 80% of what we own.

I'm also almost obsessively into collecting UHD blu rays and I watch them pretty damn often. I've cut back on physical games however as A) I'm 90% PC and B) I have 60 physical switch games and played maybe 20% of them. I had to stop.

 

[Serule]

Last year I bought a handful of physical Vita carts because I couldn't fit any more digital games on my memory card.

 

[AliceAmber]

I'm an old who still prefers physical. And since the pandemic I've been streaming movies for friends, works way easier with physical discs.

 

[RichardHawk]

Gross.

 

[CloudWolf]

For films physical is just the absolute best option. Streaming is just a terrible proposal for enjoying film, as you have to first do research where the hell a certain film is viewable, then hope that that service is available in your country and that that specific film is also available and then you have to get a subscription if you haven't yet and there's no guarantee if that movie is even available anymore the next month. The only viable digital alternative I would say is good is renting a movie on Amazon or Apple or something, but that still has the drawback that you have to actively search for whatever movie you want to see and it loses the discovery aspect.

But of course, Netflix and co. are also terrible for discovering films in comparison to a good old fashioned video store. At the video store you can freely browse and discover something cool looking by just spending some time going through the trays, while on Netflix and their sort you get an algorithm (and a marketing team) that just decides for you what you will find.

I'm also pretty sure that even when I look for a specific genre on Netflix or Amazon Prime Video (say: Horror), it will not actually show me every horror film it has, but still show me a selection based on whatever the algorithm thinks I will like most. Actually, I know this happens in Disney+, as Star didn't actually show me all the Alien films when I sorted on horror, even though they're all tagged as 'horror'. Which just makes me wonder: why even include the genre categories if you are not willing or able to show all you have of that particular genre when a consumer searches for it?

When I was in Helsinki two years ago, I actually came across a small video/DVD store (these pretty much died out here in the Netherlands) and it felt like I was in heaven. Walked out with a couple of early Kaurismaki films that I would've never have been able to watch (legally) if it wasn't for them being in that store.

 

[Pargon]

I never stopped buying physical for films or music, but I have recently started buying more physical media again.
As I get older, I regret either having to or choosing to get rid of things like old media and gaming hardware.
I've ended up rebuying many things - when I can afford to. The problem is that much of it is either in heavily-used condition or new but entirely unaffordable for me - and I always kept everything in perfect condition. I don't want someone else's stack of old magazines.
And many things I've been looking for are not available at all.

I've recently been on a kick of revisiting TV shows that I used to watch or seeking new ones from that era. A lot of modern TV does not interest me at all.
I've also intentionally watched those shows on a 'schedule' rather than binging an entire series at once. It's kind of nice to set aside time and look forward to "Sunday at 8 pm" to watch the next episode of something.

There is no regret, though. That's the point. You sell all physical "when you are done" (if you are never done, you never sell) […]

Click to shrink...

The problem for me is that I might think I'm done and have no interest in ever returning to a piece of media.
Then, sometime later - possibly many years later - I will have the urge to return to it or revisit it with someone that has never seen it before.
And at that point, it may no longer be easy to get back something I already had once.

I don't want to give the impression that I have shelves full of discs, books, magazines etc. - because I don't.
But I regret most of what I have parted with over the years.

 

[Deleted member 19813]

Manga. I buy mostly physical and digital (Kindle) for OOP stuff.

 

[FlexMentallo]

I buy physical movies still, although way less frequently than I used to. I have been tossing the packaging for years, though, discs go in a binder. This is mostly since I have a nice audio setup so the sound quality is generally a lot better with physical discs. Also I like a lot of classic/arthouse/foreign/grindhouse type movies and they drift in and out on streaming, although I guess I could go for Criterion and Arrow streaming subs to counter that issue somewhat.

I still have some streaming subs as well - HBO Max in particular has been really good value for me.

Games, comics, books, music are all digital and have been for years at this point.

Edit : Art Books I am still physical but I don't buy them as often as I used to.

 

[GalaxyDive]

Between being PC-primary all of last gen and just digital the much more convenient way to go on Switch, part of me does miss the tangibility of a physical collection. I have a bookshelf full of (mostly) seventh and eighth gen games (as well as bins full of SNES and N64 carts), a lot of which I'm liable to play emulated (or a PC release of) if I ever touch again. I guess part of it's just shelf appeal in some regard, my favorite thing on there is probably a Japanese copy of FFIX.

That's something that probably contributed both to me re-embracing the Gamecube to the point of importing a spice orange JP console and swapping the shell onto an NA one (despite the fact that Dolphin is such an amazing emulator). And also continuing to fill out my CD collection from my favorite Japanese band (and a few others here and there).

 

[TaySan]

I'm on a horror movie boutique Blu Ray click and I'm collecting Arrow Video, Vinegar Syndrome, Indicator and Shout Factory releases. :) So many cool and weird movies to collect.

 

[GamerJM]

I buy and collect physical games and am passionate about them.

I like physical books but I don't have an impulse to own them. Libraries are amazing.

Everything else I'm pretty okay with digital because of the precedent of non-permanent consumption that's always existed with them (radio, TV broadcast, movie theaters). I'd love to own some of my favorite albums and movies on vinyl and blu-ray respectively, eventually, though. We do have a collection in the house for movies/books/vinyl but they're mostly whatever my parents buy.

 

[astro]

I never stopped buying physical for films or music, but I have recently started buying more physical media again.
As I get older, I regret either having to or choosing to get rid of things like old media and gaming hardware.
I've ended up rebuying many things - when I can afford to. The problem is that much of it is either in heavily-used condition or new but entirely unaffordable for me - and I always kept everything in perfect condition. I don't want someone else's stack of old magazines.
And many things I've been looking for are not available at all.

I've recently been on a kick of revisiting TV shows that I used to watch or seeking new ones from that era. A lot of modern TV does not interest me at all.
I've also intentionally watched those shows on a 'schedule' rather than binging an entire series at once. It's kind of nice to set aside time and look forward to "Sunday at 8 pm" to watch the next episode of something.


The problem for me is that I might think I'm done and have no interest in ever returning to a piece of media.
Then, sometime later - possibly many years later - I will have the urge to return to it or revisit it with someone that has never seen it before.
And at that point, it may no longer be easy to get back something I already had once.

I don't want to give the impression that I have shelves full of discs, books, magazines etc. - because I don't.
But I regret most of what I have parted with over the years.

Click to shrink...

Yeh, I get this, so my comment wasn't quite right. It's a difficult thing to predict for sure.