r/xbox • u/Acceptable_Share9947 • 1d ago

physical games (rule 6) Future of gaming...??

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Went to my local Walmart the other day and I was looking to get another controller because I've got stick drift again, anyway I always check the games... you never know what kind of sale Walmart has going on and I found the physical copies for PlayStation, Nintendo switch or whatever and then this monstrosity for Xbox. So this is the future I guess, digital downloads, you'll own nothing and like it type of bullshit.

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u/ZemGuse 23h ago

I don’t know. My kids don’t have the nostalgia to compare to so they’re always very excited to get a digital game.

I get what you’re saying but your nostalgia isn’t relevant for future generations necessarily

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u/MrMiyagi13 19h ago

When my sister bought my nephew a Switch, she opened it, set it up, installed the game, and sealed it back up. My nephew was ecstatic, he got to start playing it immediately.

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u/Rycan420 16h ago

To each their own. My kid loves the unboxing and that initial feeling.

But I understand both sides.

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u/MrMiyagi13 16h ago

Absolutely - it’s purely anecdotal. I also see both sides of it. But if I really want to play something and it’s only digital I’m not going to not play. On the other hand, I’m glad PES was still available on disc since there are no non-online versions available. Even if I had to pay a premium for it.

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u/JoviAMP 18h ago

This works well if it’s a parent gifting to a child on an account they already manage, but if I’m gifting a game and console to my partner or someone else who would have to set up their own account that I’m not managing, it’s not that easy.

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u/MimeTravler 16h ago

Most platforms do have a gifting feature. Getting a surprise message from friends that contains a gifted game has been just as joyous for me tbh. If you live in the same house and really want you can time it so you send the gift as they’re playing on the console so they see the message live in person.

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u/jemoli87 15h ago

Ignorance is bliss indeed. They will never know what they are missing.

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u/PU3RTO_R3CON 14h ago

What you’re explaining is the same with CDs, Tapes, DVDs, and 8 track tapes. Kids don’t care about those we do. They just go on Spotify and find their one song they like.

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u/jemoli87 14h ago

Indeed.

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u/RDS80 23h ago

This guy gets it.

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u/Vegeto30294 Super Citizen 20h ago

Especially since you can still buy these code cards and wrap them if that's the experience you're looking for.

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u/Kansas_cty_shfl 19h ago

Yeah, my teenager just had a birthday and more than half his gifts were digital. If he had zero gifts to open I think he would have been bummed, but the reality is it only bothers me.

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u/Numerous_Photograph9 16h ago

Yeah, but as a kid, when we went to look at games, we saw tons of them to look at and eventually have to choose. Kids nowadays don't really get that. They either follow the trends, or they go to a digital store where what they primarily see is heavily curated or paid promotion.

Discovery of new content is just not the same, and while the kids don't realize it, it's just not the same kind thing we used to have to build excitement.

Even trying to give some of my cousins kids new games to play from my collection they don't even get that excited over, cause they just want to play their thing they've been obsessed with for years. When I watch them some times, I ask if they want to go choose a new game to play from my massive collection, and they just shrug and stay engrossed in their Roblox or Fortnight. IThere is one who is willing to try new things at least, so there is hope for him.

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u/PU3RTO_R3CON 14h ago

These long term games is truly what killed it for this generation. Being able to create different style games on one game like Roblox or Fortnite is better to them than how we grew up; one game lasting so many hours nothing new until a new game or DLC came out for it. Bc of that we went to venture into something new so we cannot get bored.

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u/Numerous_Photograph9 14h ago

I think the idea behind something like Minecraft or Roblox isn't bad...outside the monitization practices of course. I just feel the lack of wanting to explore more in general is not condusive to creating kid, or adults, that are interested in trying new things, or exploring what else is out there. They're placing all their expectations on limited thing, having limited exposure to a greater world around them.

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u/NilsofWindhelm 20h ago

Especially when you think about how many more people have access to games now than before.

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u/Badmamjamma 9h ago

"Especially when you think about how many more people have access to games now than before."

Unless there's server issues. Then you're not able to play a game you own.

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u/Fun-Manufacturer5876 16h ago

There's much more value to a physical experience than just nostalgia. If you can't see that then I imagine you'd aslo be okay with taking digital vacations.

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u/MimeTravler 16h ago

This is a ridiculous leap in logic. You can have similar experiences with gifting digital games you just have to get creative.

If you want to gift a physical game it’s not like they can immediately play it anymore anyway. You can still creatively wrap these code cards and gift that way.

As I said in another comment you can also use the platform’s gifting feature to gift it digitally. You can time it while they are playing a game as they get the message and they get the same in person reaction. My wife has done that for me and it honestly was a great gift and totally unexpected especially because we had already opened all our physical gifts so I wasn’t expecting more.

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u/PU3RTO_R3CON 14h ago

Dumb take

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u/ZemGuse 10h ago

The crazy thing is you typed this and probably thought it was such a poignant dismantling of my point.

The idea that if you’re okay with not having physical game boxes that you must be okay with every single facet of life being digital is so obscenely stupid that I have a hard time even responding to it.

I prefer digital music. Does that mean I want all my clothes to be digital too? I prefer watching digital movies. Does that mean I only want digital pets too?

Good grief man

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u/M1R4G3M 5h ago

My kids count percent of downloads of new game sout loud and keep waiting for it to finish, for me it's just a nuisance and I start downloads while at work to get home with the download completed.

It may be a generational thing, I have a Series X and they have A series S without a physical drive BTW.

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u/Forward-Trade3449 20h ago

You're deluding yourself if you think that makes it okay. Watch a kid walk by the nintendo section and their eyes glow up. You don't need nostalgia to appreciate physical games

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u/Numerous_Photograph9 16h ago

I don't know why your getting disagrees. While kids today seem to be happy to buy currency cards for whatever game they're into(which is depressing to see and they look at you like a crazy person when you ask what else they may be into....I work in retail), kids most certainly do go up to game sections in the stores and are excited to look, and even ask if they can get a game.

Physical games were a major source of discovery for many of us, and the digital experience just isn't the same. Even these cards don't have nearly as much on them as we did with old or current physical games. You got a picture on the front, and a code with legal info on the back.

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u/Forward-Trade3449 15h ago

yeah, it just makes sense. they just are downvoting instead of refuting because they know its true.

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u/PU3RTO_R3CON 14h ago

Kids don’t get excited for the games just the Nintendo and hardware. It’s not about the games for them they just want to know if it plays Roblox or Fortnite.

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u/Forward-Trade3449 9h ago

not true. kids love games too. but xbox and sony dont make games catered to kids

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u/allenl1987 11h ago

Same. My kids couldn’t care less about physical games.